March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I have seen that video. Ok. I tend to try to only go the the puck once. Maybe I just need more as others have said. Thanks for the help

 

Day 14 of 30 days of straights

Another good shave today with a 6/8. For me, this appears to be the perfect size

DIY Pre-shave Oil
Sampsons All Natural
30mm High Mountain White set an extra 10mm deep
3 passes, WTG, XTG, XTG
6/8 Square toe

 

I just sprayed water out of my nose laughing so hard !!

That is too funny!!

Stingy Frank

 

I don't mean to imply that you should do it the same way I do. Just more to explain the difference if it doesn't look quite the same. There are a ton of ways to do it, and none are wrong, just different.

 

I love that phrase!! Well, presumably it wouldn't take me long to settle into Western lifestyle, but I'd just be another Easterner moving West.

 

Too-shay .

 

Interested to see what you think. I bought one earlier this year, and they shave pretty okay. Reminds me of the milder Schick injectors.

 

You nailed the description of the Tuxedo knot. As for Jim @Jayaruh - He's gone passed Craftsman into Artisan territory.

 

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Eight Ball with Envy white two-band
Savionniere Du Moulin
Asylum Evolution
Feather HS #2
Chatillon Lux Champs de Lavande
Brooks Brothers Classic

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March of the Soaps Focus

Crowne & Crane, JR #130 synthetic
Gillette NEW LC and Feather blade
Alum &Pinaud Special Reserve AS


Late report on an earlier shave. Next sample from The Pass-around Box is a vegan soap scented tobacco leaf, amber, & vanilla. In keeping with my newly adopted procedure I wet my face using the moistened brush and rubbed the soap on stubble to load. The Maggards knot in cypress handle made quick work of raising a decent lather. On the sweet side because of the vanilla note, the tobacco is very much present. WTG pass and I captured the lather off the razor combs. Into the suribachi bowl and up jumped plenty more suds for the next two passes. Great scent as the lather took on more water, nice glide for the very sharp Japanese blade. No errors during touch-ups or buffing. Alum was a little loud for my neglecting this razor these past months. Next October I'll tame it again. Finished with a deeper tobacco & leather AS/cologne that complimented well.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

March Madness & Spring Cleaning!!

March 8

Razor - CJB Greager AC
Blade - (2)
Soap - Tabac
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Post - Alum, Nivea

Time to get back to the pain stick. And, yes, I'm giving the Greager another go in spite of discovering its flaw. Now that I know the issue I'm going to see if I can adjust and make it work. My plan is to stay off of the tip of the blade because that's where the gap opens slightly. My thinking is that the blade is chattering just a bit at that spot and that seems to be the area that keeps bringing the blood.

Tabac for the soap. I've neglected it while playing with the new kids on the block. Just like my return to the Fat a few shaves ago I was instantly reminded why these two soaps have stayed at the top of my ranking. That classic scent and lather....it will never leave my den, even if it does share some time with a few newbies.

Another focus on this shave is pressure. Basically to avoid it. I sometimes find myself pushing a little bit with the pain stick trying to accomplish too much at a time. That will hopefully not be an issue.

First pass was actually quite good. I worked the center of the blade more and didn't try touching up with the tip. And, when I turned the fixed side of the blade to my face I lightened up even more than normal so that the slight curvature wouldn't dig in. No blood or other problems on that pass. On the second pass - I'm happy to say it went as well. Knowing where the blade got slightly out of line and how to avoid it made a huge difference. I did some touch up and ended up near-BBS. Alum was a touch hot but not horrible. Nivea cooled it down very well.

Clearly the Greager is a nice cheaper version of an Artist Club razor and, if it didn't have that slight flaw, would equal the performance. It's just kind of a crap shoot on whether or not the one you get will be less than perfect. I'll keep it around for occasional use but will go back to the Feather SS tomorrow to compare again. And, in the next few days, I'll have the Kai Captain to throw into the mix too!

My Monday was uneventful but long. Is it Friday yet?

 

Go split some wood and carry water. You'll feel, well, maybe better.

 

Wrung out Kung fu on six? Three minutes flat y'all.

Woooooooooooooooooo!

 

Awesome brush! I love his 400's and am seriously thinking of making one of them my next brush. Great artistry and function!

 

Cake....

The Parker really has some heft. It actually requires a bit of concentration when switching from the light Magic. Verdict still out. The Magic is so fun. The slide mount gives a rock solid stiff edge in a wedge profile for the almost real SR experience. Hmmm.

 

Glen made your blade perfect. Great scales! Really cool. And I've used his edge before...they're so nice! All newbies should try a @gssixgun (or any true honing expert) edge in order to know what it's supposed to be like.

 

March 8 (Wednesday ) - Gem-style SE focus

Gem 1912 / Gem PTFE ( 2)
Kent woodhandled boar brush
The Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap )
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original

After working on light fingertip-held shaves for the last two weeks, I moved on to my actual March foci today - shaving with my Gem-style SEs while finishing off The Eternal Tub.

The Kent brush whipped up a good load of lather tonight. After a couple false starts, I think it is finally getting properly broken in. After tonight's shave, I loaded it with the last of the lather and left it to dry soapy to help the process along. The Eternal Tub is now down to about its last half dozen shaves.

I bought several new types of soap last week but today realized that when The Eternal Tub finally empties I won't have any more TOBS. Considering how well it worked for me, that's just stupid. So I went to my faithful Canadian dealer (Fendrihan) and bought tubs of Avocado, Sandalwood and Lavender. Then, being back on a soap buying kick, I went to Connaught Shaving in the UK to pick up some Italian soaps that Fendrihan didn't carry: Vitos and Valobra soft soaps and creams and a new offering from Pannacrema Nuavia called Pure 2O that comes in plastic tubs and costs about a quarter of the price of those Blu, Rossi, and Verde ceramic pots. Has anybody here tried it?

I used the old brass Gem 1912 today in a normal grip but with light pressure. I like the way the blade sings as it cuts the stubble, I like the neat lather-catching design of the razorhead, and I like how easy it is to "ride the cap". I don’t like how big and clumsy the razor feels compared to a DE or injector.

I did my usual diagonal passes on the cheeks and neck and XTG on the chin and upper lip. Then I relathered and went for an ATG pass everywhere. That may have been a mistake. Up until then, I had a DFS. After that, I had a true BBS even on my normal trouble spots.

Best shave any razor has given me to date! Yaay!!

Then I did the alum rub and it stung a bit everywhere. So instead of my now-normal Thayers Witch Hazel Aftershave (with 20% alcohol and no glycerin), I backed all the way down to the ultra-mild alcohol-free Thayers Witch Hazel Original. That seemed to calm everything down.

However, when I looked in the mirror after I was done all the postshave, I found I had two still-bleeding weepers, one right under my chin and one below the middle of my lower lip! Hiss! Booo!! And an hour later, my chin and neck were feeling a bit raw and I had to break out the Nivea Sensitive balm.

Overall, I am still very much undecided about these SE razors. I expect the best thing to do will be simply to shave with them for the rest of the month without expectations and then sit down and assess how I like them after that.

 

March 9, 2017​

Mongoose B2 with Triad Ti​

Feather Pro Super (5)​

Chubby 2 Synthetic​

Route 66 Lumberjack​

Floid Blue​

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I am glad that the work week is coming to an end. After a one day break, I am back to the Chubby 2 Synthetic for the remainder of the week. I just lover this little lather monster. The CH2 whipped up a mountain of lather and I just love the scent of Lumberjack as I face lather. Sticking with a 2 pass routine, XTG and ATG, followed by some touch ups ended in my normal excellent work morning shave. A splash of Floid blue provided a wonderful end to a peaceful start of the day. I hope everyone has a great Thursday.

 

Wonderful picture, Charlie!

 

March 9 SOTD:

Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Stirling Port-au-Prince SS
Schick Type G3
Stirling Unscented PSB
Fine Fresh Vetiver AS

I have just about worked through all of my shave brushes, so I pulled this one out. I originally bought it for my wife when she showed some interest in using shave soap, but found I liked myself. This morning, I remembered why I stopped using it: It is a shedder. I dropped a couple of dozen hairs this morning. It works well, but I just don't like shedding. I may have look at another Vie-long, as it does work well. The G3 worked very this morning, and I have a DFS after two easy passes. I love how the Stirling Port-au-Prince scent hangs around for a while, and it pairs nicely with the Fine Fresh Vetiver. Even with the shedding brush, it was a great start to my day. I hope everyone has a great day!