March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

1.) mrchick - #8, 91/100
2.) keithmax - #16 Kent BK12 93/100
3.) hodge - #5, 88/100 (#5 was an obvious pick for me.....see avatar)
4.) jtspartan - #4, 93/100
5.) clint64 - #5, 88/100
6.) ryx - #22, 90/100
7.) norcalnewb - #9, 88/100
8.) Fly2High - #3. Rudy Vey 28 mm Shavemac, 88/100
9.) NCoxSTL - #13 Maggard Synth 82
10.) Ob1page - # 11 Manhandled Woods Ubersoft II, 64

 

That is a sweet looking Aristocrat!! Great photo as well.

 

The technique that really helped me with tha jaw, and all areas really, was skin stretching. By lifting the flesh of the cheek upward with the off hand, the skin that normally covers the edge of the jaw can be moved to the side of the face. This provides and easy flat surface for shaving, allowing easy passes in any direction.

 

What happened to ten?

 

Nine eight it.

Sorry, I have a 9 year old. These are the jokes...

 

I'll tell you what happened: Fly2High and Neal Cox came in tied for 9th.

 

That's what I get for rushing to post, it's fixed now

 

Day 2:



To me, the Simpson Best grade is sort of a Jack of all trades knot. It makes for a pretty good all around brush, and I like them a lot, but it really doesn't excel in any one category, except maybe scrub depending on the knot. My little Classic 2 is like a Chubby 1 that didn't quite fill out all the way when it grew up. With a 23 mm knot as dense as anything I have ever shaved with and a stubby little 44mm loft, it is a fireplug of a brush, and a great face scrubber. So even though I have several finest brushes upset at their sitting it out on the sidelines, I am letting the Classic play with the 2 bands.

The handle has that traditional Simpson look, similar to a Duke, but with slightly less pronounced curves and a single ring. In use, it is a little too small for my taste to be a daily driver, but is enjoyable enough to use in a rotation. The overall coloring of the hair is good, and the banding is pronounced, but it has a lot of black tipped hairs visible at the top, enough to announce to you that it isn't top grade hair.

I am a full three pass plus clean ups shaver, and in order for me to get this brush to pick up enough soap and work it in deep, it takes me some time to get it loaded. Once that knot is filled up though it gives a fantastic scrub; maybe just a little scritch without being scratchy, which I love. The knot splays surprisingly well, much better than one would think from looking at it. Its problem is that it hogs lather. It easily spits out the first two passes, but leaves you painting on an awful lot of strokes to get that third pass and clean ups out. It will give it up, but not without a fight. And when all was said and done, I squeezed another passes worth out of it before I rinsed it out. It is just a very small knot to be that dense.

Almost every quality brush can be great for a certain style of shave. For a quick two pass guy, who face lathers in the morning before work, this would be just a fantastic brush. For an evening shaver who likes to relax in a ton of lather, this probably isn't the best fit.

So tonight's scorecard:

 

Just to sort of explain again my process behind the scoring. Every brush starts with a baseline score of five in every category. So today, the scores of five are not "failing" per se, they just mean that they perform that role at a basic or minimal level. Also each brush will be scored in each category based on how I feel they should perform for that type of brush. So conceivably a boar could have a higher score in soft tips than a silvertip if it is a great boar and a poor badger. That was the inly way I could figure out to have all types compete and keep it fair.

I set it up this way, because I didn't want to just hand out a nine in softness for the first soft knot I tried, because then you are stuck when the next one is a bit softer and you have to give it a ten, and you have nowhere else to go. I am hoping this way there is room to really let things stand out if they are exceptional.

So when you pick your scores, please note that yesterday's brush, one I really, really like scored 77% , and a Simpson that retails for over a hundred dollars just got 72%. Scores can be adjusted or changed up until Midnight tomorrow.

Sorry this little experiment ended up so off the wall, but the giveaway part was an afterthought or I would have maybe done it in a little more standard of a fashion.

 

Jared,
All you are doing is comparing each brush against a perfect brush in that category and determining how it differs from perfection for that brush. It is a little different from what I thought you were doing which was finding which brush you own is best for you.

No problem . Just one question. Is it not possible to have a tie coming from different categories this way?

 

Razor: Mongoose B2 w/ Timeless Dimpled Handle
Blade: Kai Titan Mild (5)
Brush: Oscar 11 w/TGN Silvertip Grade A
Soap: Jeeves Soap Private Study
Aftershave: Fine Platinum

 

I suppose it is possible that a scores could total up and tie. I think odds are slim, but if there is, we will have some sort of shave off for the last few days.

It still does end up finding a favorite of sorts since so much of it is subjective.

 

Another great write up. Follow this along all month will be fun.

 

The brush looks even better in a close up photo. Very cool background.

 

Thank you Clint.

 

Killer shot, Clint!

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How are you liking the skin bracer? I just picked up a bottle along with a bottle of clubman. I sniff some similarities and some nice distinctions.

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Thank you Andrew.

 

Great shot Clint. So which which came first, the counter to match the brush or the brush to match the counter?

 

1.) mrchick - #8, 91/100
2.) keithmax - #16 Kent BK12 87/100
3.) hodge - #5, 88/100 (#5 was an obvious pick for me.....see avatar)
4.) jtspartan - #4, 93/100
5.) clint64 - #5, 88/100
6.) ryx - #22, 90/100
7.) norcalnewb - #9, 88/100
8.) Fly2High - #3. Rudy Vey 28 mm Shavemac, 88/100
9.) NCoxSTL - #13 Maggard Synth 82
10.) Ob1page - # 11 Manhandled Woods Ubersoft II, 64

I adjusted my score.