March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Was it sent USPS?

 

Congrats. The Envy White is a fantastic knot.


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An instant CLASSIC!!

 

Yes. Fortunately. A lot of times if stuff is sent USPS handing off to Canada Post, it just sneaks through without being caught for the 5% PST ( Provincial Sales Tax) and 5% GST (federal Goods and Services Tax aka Gouge and Screw Tax). Anything under $100 in declared value gets through tax-free about 90% of the time. Every now and then, they snag a package, and then you have to pay the postie the PST and GST and also Canada Post's $10 "handling fee" for collecting same. (This time, I paid $3 for each of the taxes and then $10 for the service charge.)

But that's hugely better than when someone sends something UPS or FedEx -- the companies always collect the tax on any amount -- and then they ding you a $50 service charge on top. This same brush coming UPS would have cost me an extra $56 instead of $16 with the $50 going to UPS for "brokerage fees".

Which is the reason I never ever use UPS or FedEx for anything anywhere if I can possibly avoid it...

 

Thread Hijack

http://theshaveden.com/forums/index.php?threads/54962/

 

It certainly is. It bloomed out nicely after soaking and also smelled a bit of animal, so I just did a test lather with it and the new TOBS. A quick light swirl of the brush on the cream, a palmful of water in my lather bowl, and the lather just exploded. The brush held enough lather for about 3 or 4 passes with more in the bowl. And the brush was stiff enough working the lather in the bowl that it would obviously give a good controlled face scrub. A perfect brush right off the bat. Unreal.

I finally understand all the fuss over badger brushes...

Oh, the new TOBS Avocado Cream is very nice too. It actually has a pleasant light scent of fresh green vegetables where the scent on my old tub had mostly disappeared. And the cream loads on the brush with just a quick swirl and then lathers immediately in the bowl. My old tub was acting more like a medium-hard soap, taking about 30 seconds to load and then longer to lather up, although it was very reliable in its performance. I think I will really enjoy these fresh tubs of TOBS and expect I will highly recommend them.

 

Fantastic picture, Doug!

 

March 14 - felt like Dark Chocolate



Merkur 34C HD
Voskhod teflon
Jayaruh #148 brush - Dark Chocolate
DIY PSO
Stirling Tuscany
Alum/TWH
Nivea S-PSB

Upon seeing the latest Jayaruh brushes and seeing its near twin in honey, I approached Jim to see if I could buy them both. They came so fast and as with any new item, I couldn't resist trying them out as soon as possible.

Jim does excellent work. The photos do not do the brushes justice. They are even better up close and work fantastically. The backbone is perfect, enough to know the brush is working and capable of working a puck but soft enough for a truly pleasureable experience. I think anyone can cut a handle but not everyone can make a great shaving brush. Jim does. This is my first synthetic knot and it outperforms my Silvertip in every way. Better backbone, soft tips, great scrub without any scratch and can load quickly off a puck. I did not soak this brush but just passed it under the shower head. Quickly I had the best wettest and thickest lather to date. Application was silly smooth but with enough backbone to work the skin for some mild exfoliation. The knot felt like mink. It held enough lather for 4 full passes and plenty for more than a half face touch up. All that and there was still some in the bowl.

Today I showered with the last of Scott's Pine Sheep bath soap and it left the shower smelling great. I am not sure if it was this scent before the Tuscany or what but to me Tuscany smelled great. Maybe I just wanted the smell of spring on a Nor'easter snowy day. Whatever it was, I was very happy with the scent. It could be that it has changed too. Maybe it just needed a bit of pine to me.

I did three passes, WTG, XTG, and ATG and some touch up for a DFS+. The lather was great and gave me a super smooth first pass. Unfortunately I ruined everything with a little pressure on the next 2 passes since the Voskhod just weren't cutting as close as I liked. Alum proved what I suspected - razor burn. I was really lit up.

In all, I think the 3rd day of the Voskhod is their last. They were good and smooth but seemed to irritate more easily than the Astra SP for me

In the end, if it wasn't for the skin irritation and missing a small difficult spot, this would have been BBS.

I cannot wait for the next shave with this brush and will need to think long about deeper setting the knot in the Phoenix.

 

Is it "hunting" if you take one bare handed? Get close enough and you'll have to defend yourself with extreme prejudice...


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I think Brompton pretty much created the concept of the 20"-wheel folding bike or at least perfected it. And after nearly 50 years in that niche it has gotten very good at making them. I expect the two of you will have a blast using them. BTW, if you become really adventurous on them, I believe Brompton also has little luggage trailers that you can hook on behind to carry your touring and/or camping gear...

 

Judging by the pic, the only thing "constricted" may have been the blood flow to the judgement section of the brain box. That being said, is it too late for me to be included in your will? I will be watching this Rube Goldberg shave effort with much interest!

 

I have put together a shaving will before but, unfortunately for those named, it was never needed. I'm assuming I won't bleed out until I have enough time to quickly tell SWMBO where to send everything. Oh, and thanks for pointing out that typo. Constricted should be constructed, but there may be something Freudian in there.

 

Thanksm Clint! It's another lather monster.

 

-Feather AC
-Chubby 2 Synthetic
-Stirling Limes, everything else....

Stirling's limes is just such a refreshing way to end a day. I wish there was a way to make that lime scent last, because it it seriously great.

One thing I noticed tonight, is when you jump from using straights for a few days, back to the Feathers, you had best mind your p's and q's. I got SUPER smooth tonight, but had a few weepers from being a little heavy handed. Cold water cured them, but the alum was HOT. Good practice.


Super busy day, and the last night the boy is home on break from school, so I will finish up the synthetics and post the scores tomorrow.

 

So I did another daily shave. Since I'm going out of town in a couple of weeks I demand used to get a travel brush, a Simpson Case. I wanted to break it and get a feel for it before my trip.

Soap was still TSD Gunmetal, and the scent was faint. Especially against the smell of a new badger brush. The brush seemed to do good at lathering, but the lather kept seeming to get sucked down.

I did three passes with some touchups. A few nicks, nothing serious but more irritation than I normally experience. So I think I might skip tomorrow night and go back to every other day for a wet shave.

And though I only got four days out of it, I think I'm going to pitch the Polsilver blade. Just didn't feel the same and I got plenty more to try. Maybe Vokshod next?

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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Doug Korn Prototype TGN Finest
Mike's Natural Barber Shop
Asylum Evolution
Gillette Silver Blue
Stirling Soap Barbershop Aftershave
Brooks Brothers 1818


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That is the brightest brush handle I recall ever seeing. What size batteries does it take?

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