March 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

March 30th

Gillette SA w Polsilver (3)
B & M Seville
TGN Finest Fan/ Maple Handle
Thayers Unscented
Stirling Barbershop AS


Last Day of the '69 Black Beauty focus. First day back after a week's vacation with the family. A few days in Seattle and then 5 days/4 nights in Disneyland. A great time was had by all. Back home to brown grass and the last remnants of snow on the edges of the yard. Sigh.
I was very excited to shave back home this afternoon, and thought that I'd push my limits on the SA a bit. Went 7,7,5 on the 3 passes and went truly ATG on my neck to finish. The lather from the Seville and my Face Lathering Fan was exceptional, and the Polsilver was as smooth-feeling as ever. I paid for my shave, though. When I go truly ATG on my neck, it is very predictable. Predictable as in KABOOM. 3 weepers on my neck that needs the styptic and quite a bit of irritation afterwards. Apart from the blood, though, this was a true BBS shave. The barbershop splash is one of my wife's faves.
This will be my last shave of March,and with the Black Beauty for a bit, as I start a new focus on Saturday. What did I learn? I learned that I can get excellent, predicable shaves with this razor with the settings on say 7, 5, 5. As far as blades go, I think I got very good shaves with every blade I ran through the razor this month, but I would put the Astra and Polsilver a bit ahead of the Voskhod and SharpStar. The other thing I learned this month? Keep my big mouth shut as I am off to design and start a few brush handles to demo as potential 30 Day Crew LEs...
Have a great day all!

 

Cool pic, Señor.

 

I do not know the right term but is it cushion or loft ? Simply put it just did not feel thick and cushiony. Do not get me wrong it is cushiony just a little less so than Stirling. Of course I am new and I wouldn't be surprised I just whipped it too much or added a little too much water or something. I do tend to take a long time preparing my lathers. It was interesting to see the differences.

 

Thanks, Jared. I'm no photographer, just used the Chrome finishing feature on the iPad.

 

Thanks Jim!

Sent from my Galaxy S6 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks Jared!

Sent from my Galaxy S6 using Tapatalk

 

Finally! I'll call off the search party. Once they're sober enough to reply to the text.

 

I found Tony's @Omaney review of the razor. Will pass on it. I really had no idea until you told me.

 

March Madness & Spring Cleaning!!

March 30

Razor - 1918 Gillette Old
Blade - (3)
Soap - Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Brush - BoS Omega 10060
Post - Alum

Final shave with the Old with a Voskhod on board. Two really nice shaves already so is this the one that gets away? Not if I have anything to say about it. Considering that this razor almost ended my shaving adventures two years ago after only five shaves, having two in a row that were BBS, then near-BBS with only a small minor weeper on the first one - that's pretty fun stuff. So on to the third.

Route 66 for the lather and I had to adjust the water a bit with the BoS. I'm not sure why but I seem to be stingy with adding water to the puck on the first load. I think because it's a lanolin soap I tend to want to treat it like the common wisdom says - go with a dryer brush. However, I forget to put a little water on the puck first to get it ready to load. Anyway, by adding some water to the brush tips during the load I ended up with a nice brush of soap and a very nice and slick face lather. No complaints at all.

Two and a half passes - same grip as yesterday - same everything and the baby showed up. Yep. No blood, just a smooth perfect shave. Alum was again a bit hot in a few spots but that's it. Here's what I also realized - I haven't been building irritation over the three days. Two years ago every day added to the growing fire. But, I realize my angle was all wrong and I was probably taking off a layer of skin with every shave. No wonder I nearly cashed it in. The Old Style is not a razor for a newbie, but once you've got technique mastered it's a really fun razor to pull off the shelf and do a few runs with. I'm tempted to give it a 30 Day Rule one of these days just to see if I can maintain over an entire month without getting the irritation out of control. Could be some fun! I'll leave you with one last look at a 99 year old beauty.

 

Another AWESOME month guys and gals! Can't thank you all enough for hanging out here and making this such a great place! One day left in March. Ready to get a head start on April? Well.......

HERE YOU GO!!!!!

 

March of the Soaps Focus

ToBS and Vulfix 2235
Schick J1, Chick blade
Alum block & The Veg


Hello, my name's Rick and I'm a soap sniffer...
This generous sample of sandalwood cream came to me through a trade with John @Sparrow. Soon as I started pawing through my samples this evening it spoke to me. Not that I understand the language of Soaps, but the scent is impressive. Moistened the badger brush John @John Ruschmeyer traded my way and dipped tips. Straight to the Osaka suribachi for quick and easy lather. WTG pass using the J model Schick Chris @Bama Samurai passed my way. Lather, ATG. Lather, XTG. Lather, clean up on my neck & chin. Huh... still had lather. That Taylor's goes a long way. Rinsed and rubbed. Inspection revealed DFS+ even in my hard to get lower center neck swirl. I could have skipped the alum for how cool it swiped. Having no sandalwood AS I went with a Heroic finish.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

It's been a fun month guys.

 

Back from my trip to the homeland and time for a 'proper' shave.

Today's lineup:
PRC Damascus first shave after a refresh on Shapton 16k
Simpson Polo 8 Super
R66

It was a 13 hour flight back and landed 5 am local time so I got some sleep then my gf woke me up and told me to clean up. Everything went as expected very wet slick lather, smooth but very shar edge. No blood and just a tickle from the alum, I am smooth now spend the rest of the day in a jet lag haze.

Irritation A Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A

 

Good to see your return

 

Beautiful but scary. That type of razor usually draws some blood from me.

 

I will say this: It is not one I will be using pre-coffee or post-beers.

 

Thanks. Another soap to look for (like I need more of those )

 

March 31 (Friday ) - monthend cleanup of blades

Supply Provision Single Edge injector / Personna Injector ( 5)
Supply Provision synthetic brush
Kent-branded MWF
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Aftershave

This is the second or third time I've used MWF and it lathered quite easily for me. I put a sprinkle of warm water on the puck while I washed my face, then lathered up with a damp synthetic brush. About 30 seconds loading the brush - roughly twice as long as usual for soaps for me - resulted in a well-loaded brush. I then just whipped it as normal in my bowl with a palmful of water. The result was a good creamy lather that provided excellent slip and glide to my shave. In fact, the slip was so good I actually doublechecked my razor to make sure there was a blade in it.

It was a pleasant shave that was a good end to the month of shaves. I then dumped the blade, leaving all my razors to await fresh blades in a fresh month.

This month I learned to shave with the Gem-style single edge razors. The two 1912s I was using seemed clumsy at first but improved markedly once I readjusted their shaving head angles back to near factory specs. I found I liked shaving with the Gem and EverReady 1912s and the Gem Junior 1912 variant. I found the 1914 and 1924 models were unpleasantly harsh and aggressive shavers but found they tamed down considerably with a shimmed blade - although I still don't particularly like using them. All in all, I found the early model Gems are viable razors for me that will have a place in my occasional rotation. I haven't had an opportunity yet to try the later TTO and pushbutton model Gems (which were designed to use the modern thinner blades), but I am now actively searching for some of them too.

It was a worthwhile Focus that taught me about a significant segment of my collection and expanded my skills past DEs and injectors.

I also finally killed off the Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap ) - which had long since ceased to be a scented cream.

Finally, I started trying some other products, including using both Arko and MWF for the first time.

 

March 31, 2017​

Cobra Classic
Feather Pro (6)
Brothers Bristles with Tuxedo Synthetic
Fine Italian Citrus
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Happy Friday everyone. The lineup this week has worked very well together. The Fine Italian Citrus has been a joy to use and the Tuxedo knot has really impressed me. Two passes and minimal touch ups left me clean shaven and ready for the work day. I hope everyone has a great Friday.

March has been a great month. I have spent the month using SE Artist Club Razors. I find the AlumiGoose to be the most aggressive followed by the Cobra Classic and Mongoose. All three provide exceptionally close and smooth shaves. Both the Reef Point Tranquility and Fine Italian Citrus soaps have really impressed me with their performance and scents. I have enjoyed following everyone during the month. The progress made by the guys learning to use SRs has been remarkable. I am looking forward to next month. ​