January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

That isn't the best pic. It makes it look worse than it is. I think it will clean up and hone ok. I really don't think I would have any trouble shaving with it as much as I enjoy shavettes. Shavettes are so darn convenient. I just know if I start that rabbit hole I am going to want to learn to hone for myself. I would send it off to start with though. It's not one I want to practice on and butcher.

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My tip for that is at www.gemstarcustoms.com -- Glen ( @gssixgun ) is a TSD supporting vendor and did very nice work on my Ralf Aust. There are others here too, but I've used only Glen's service.

 

I will check him out. Thanks! Referrals are always welcome, especially from this crew. Any referrals on strops?

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@Drygulch would be a great choice there. He does excellent work.

 

I purchased a @Drygulch Leatherworks 45 series black leather/poly strop. Strops are not something I know much about, but I like the one I have very much, and considering it's occasional use it should last basically forever, if I oil it and care for the leather. Adam knows this stuff, can explain his wares better, and knowing him...he will even mention stuff he likes that isn't even his! His writings really helped me learn to SR shave, he was one of the first to blog the whole experience on this episodic thread. Knowledgeable and helpful guy, and 30 Day fixture.

 

This is Adam on Etsy:

Drygulch Leatherworks

 

January Shavette Focus

Brand X Cream & Omega Pro 98
Weck Sextoblade/ fresh Personna
Gillette Flare Tip/ fresh 7 O'clock
Alum block & Pinaud Clubman AS


Third time to run this Beta cream up the old shave flag pole. I tried a well broken in boar this iteration of testing. Same procedure of moistening the brush, but with a little longer soak. Shake out most of the water from bowl & brush, back end of a tea spoon to dip up some cream. It's a thirsty product that allows great control of hydration. After achieving and applying wetter is better lather I took my full N-to-S pass, more lather applied and W-to-E on cheeks & chin, S-to-N under jaw line. No blood from the muted corners of the fresh 57mm blade. Lathered again and applied the Flare Tip with Flair. First time using a Gillette 7 O'clock Yellow - smooth and comfortable! Took an all over tour of my facial shaving area again with no blood. Rinse, quiet alum, DFS for the win. A heroic splash of my new favorite, cheaper than Canoe, but oh so Barbershop scented AS now decanted into a glass bottle. This Focus thing is working out.
Good Shaves Y'all

 

I own several of Adams strops and I add my recommendation to contact him.

 

January 11, 2017​

Timeless OC .95 Gap with Windrose SS​

Feather (2)​

Rudy Vey R7 with Shavemac Finest​

Route 66 Twisted Tweed​

Witch Hazel​

Floid Blue​

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Another great near BBS 2 pass shave this morning. This brush is my softest badger and is pure luxury face lathering with Route 66. I finished off the shave with a splash of Floid Blue. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

 

Mashing it up might help to kick the scent up a notch if it has been sitting in that "ketchup cup" a while.

 

That is a fantastic brush, Mark. I like that you picked something a little different for Peter to build; one that didn't just scream WW. That makes it unique. Does it have the coin in the base, or is it a very early one?I always try to guess whose brush it is before I look at the description. I had a guess on that one, but I was wrong.

 

Great way to set up that photo. I can see the brush, but I can almost feel how soft it is from my living room.

 

SOTD January 11, 2017

Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick J1 injector
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: Route 66 Rum Runner
Post: Witch hazel splash, Speick, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Very nice shave this morning. Route 66 continues to be great soap. The Omega boar didn't load up as much soap as I know it can so I'll need to experiment with it again tomorrow. The J1 was new to me as well. It's exceptionally smooth and easy to use. Great result today. I wish the same for everyone else!

Have a great day!

 

Thank you Jared. I really hadn't thought of it that way until you pointed it out. At this point I'm still working on taking good photos. I do want to learn more about composition though.


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Another NEW Focus shave with the Feather Black blade. Today's shave was better than the last three. It was a true 2 passer. There was some touch up work needed in the neck area, but I think that was me rather than the blade. I was being extra careful. Finished off with Clubman AS. All this week I'm using Proraso Green shave cream from the tube. It's been underutilized in my Den lately. Have a great day y'all.

 

SOTN January 10th


Gillette Red Tip
Dorco Prime Platinum
Italian Barber Amici Soap/AS
Satin Tip The Purest
Crown King Scuttle

Good Morning friends! A wonderfully marvelous shave last night with IB Amici, I absolutely love this spicy grapefruit scent. I decided to test the Dorco Prime blade and compare it to the Dorco ST-301 that I used last shave. It is definitely a touch sharper and smoother then the ST-301, but for the same price or a little more (or a little less) a better (IMO) Russian blade can be had. Have a great day everyone! If anyone here would like to give the Dorco Prime a shot I've got the hookup!

 

Still off focus today, as I have visitors this week at work and have to shave daily. No picture today. Beta testing a cream, and using the Schick injector. Good stuff. Face is clean but irritated from repeated daily shaves. Have to shave again tomorrow, then will give it a day off. For me, I don't enjoy shaving every morning, as my face gets plenty irritated. Next week should be back to every other day, and large straights. Going to use this cream until it is gone.

 

January 11, 2017

Razor: F2 Gillette 195 Adjustable (3)
Blade: Astra SP (3)
Brush: Razorock Plissoft 22
Cream: Kiss My Face fragrance free

First of all, a bit Thank You to all of you who suggested the KMF. As soon as I started lathering, I could tell this was going to be a winner. Nice and slick and I could definitely feel more cushion than with the Venus gel. I need to work on dialing in the lather, but still had a very nice DFS and the Alum was much quieter this morning.

No feedback as yet from my bride, though, so that jury is still out.

 

1/11
Continuing my focus on hard to lather soaps.
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Today I changed up the brush. I am using a Parker finest badger. It is a smaller brush with a decently stiff backbone. I let it soak while I showered and then gave it 3 good shakes & squeezed out the water. I loaded the brush until it could hold no more soap and then dipped the tips under water and loaded some more. It still didn't seem to have enough soap, so I dipped the tips again under water and loaded it a 3rd time. I then moved to the bowl and made I over flowing bowl full of lather. It was still a little thin for my taste, but much better than I was getting with the big boar Omega 10098. It seems that the boar was holding soap in the inside of the brush that was never getting made into lather. I'm just about there with this badger I think that maybe if I had stopped after loading it twice without wetting it a 3rd time it may have been just right.

 

I started a thread a little over a year ago on Mitchell's Wool Fat with specific interest in how to lather it. You might find some interesting tips and ideas. Click HERE.