March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Congrats Brian. It's unbelievable that you buttered your toast XTG this morning, but I'm sure you can attribute success to your solid SR technique.

So I guess the extra cleanup crew at The Hampton Inn got to go home early!

 

-Henckels 13/16
-Maggard Black Fiber
-Lavanille
-Stirling Glastonbury

I gave myself a tiny little slice today. Pretty much stopped bleeding with a little cold water, and I was able to scrub away any sign of it a little after the shave, but I swear to God I don't know what I was thinking. I had set the razor in place, and was just starting an ATG cleanup stroke, (so a little pressure) and I started to turn my head. I have no idea why. I felt it right away and stopped, but it could have been a bad one. It is probably for the best that I didn't play with carriage bolts and Feathers today. Otherwise, a nice DFS all the way around.

 

Thanks. I didn't even get any of their towels bloody

 

Andrew, your son is awesome! I think he'd look good with a full face lather, although Mom may not approve.

 

Thanks so much Jim.

 

I have the old knot out and I'm just bringing up TGN as I type.

 

I'm so sorry, Adam. I'm praying for you and your family.

 

Thank you, Charlie. The brush has worked out well.

 

Thank you. I am using the phone for pics this week. I like the ones with the DSLR better but the phone is much easier.

 

The brush handle looks great. With a better knot you'll have a great brush. Another great winter photo. How long does winter hang around for you?

 

I hope Neal didn't hit the coffee pot too much today. You know how that makes him jittery. He really needs to focus on the nuts and bolts of tonight's shave.

Pass the popcorn.

 

I'll be relaxing in front of my iPad waiting for his posts

 

Thanks very much Clint. Sometimes Winter seems like it lasts forever.

 

Are you doing any sort of enhancing or filtering? You have just had some very vivid shots this week.

 

I am about to go there too, in a few minutes. I also have a shedder.

 

I need a 22mm, want a silvertip. Shavemac, is $64 plus shipping, Envy is 40 shipped, and TGN is 30 plus shipping. I am really kind of stuck.

You liked that Grade A TGN, right?

 

Thank you, Charlie. @mrchick made it a bit further than I did! I have to admit, it is a. It more intimidating holding that blade up to my face than I had anticipated.

 

Thank you, Jared. I am not sure I will do it again.

 

Prayers sent for your mother's peace and for strength and serenity for you and your surviving family and friends. The death of a parent at any age is hard; take your own time to grieve her properly.

 

Synthetic Days 5 & 6:



Yesterday, when I was using the Chubby, I was telling myself that I was probably mistaken when I said the Duke synthetic would be my desert island brush, and that this had to be the best synthetic ever made. It is mega dense, and it has that wall of badger feel. Or at least it is close enough to believe you are using something that isn't synthetic. When you load it up full, the issue of a tough splay pretty much resolves itself, and it has a wonderful scrub to it. But when it all came down to adding up the points, at least for the sake of this contest, it falls a bit short of the Duke. While the ivory handle is classic Simpson, and a looker on the shelf, I prefer a little something more to grip on such a fat handle. I took just a little off in the loading; not because it is hard to load, but to really saturate it for a good multi pass face lather it takes a little time. Honestly, I like this brush more than it actually scores in points.






The Maggard synthetic is another low cost workhorse of a brush; good enough to be in a rotation at home, great for a traveler that doesn't make you feel like you are giving up anything. The handle is a handle. Nothing to complain about, nothing to get excited about. It is fairly comfortable in it's size and grip, so scores well in function, but comes up pretty short for me in the looks department. The color is supposed to be a bronze or copper or something, but all I see is brown with a little metal flake. The fibers look very similar to the v1 Muhle black fiber, which means the exaggerated kinkiness shows when looking at it. The fibers are springy, when loaded lightly or used with a bowl it can be a bit of a flinger. When it is stuffed full for a big ole face lather, it wants to birdnest when splayed, and while it provides a decent scrub, it almost needs a reset between "splays". I do not know if it is because of the kinked fibers, but it does not seem to want to give up its lather quite as easily as other synthetics. It doesn't hog it badly, but coupled with its small size, you will end up completely painting out your last passes and cleanups. Despite its shortcomings, for the price Maggards charges for these, it is still a worthwhile purchase. This is my main travel brush, and I am quite happy with it for that purpose.



This finishes up my synthetics, and I am really looking forward to using my silvertips. I normally mix up lathering between bowl and face, so I am going to be mixing up some big ole bowls of lather next week.