April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Nope, the same stick Chris sent me a while back to try. I just haven't used it in close to a month.

 

OK, I was in on the carriage bolt razors stunt, and I am planning participation in Cinco de Julio, but I draw the line at this one. While I like to eat PB, I can in no way stand to have the smell of it on my skin for a full shave.

 

Thanks very much Jim.

 

You know how people are always comparing their lather consistency to yogurt? Just sayin...

 

I agree, @mrchick , Brian is now the representative director for the Dark Side. Now he just needs his own Ti fighter tpomamke his travels smoother.

 

April 5, 2017... A new journey begins...

So I didn't do a daily shave yesterday, April 4th. After the blood dried (literally)after Monday night's shave, I realized I had torn my face up pretty good. So I decided to give myself a pass on Tuesday, give my face an extra day to recover. So today, Wednesday the 5th, I started out my day with a terrible shave from the electric razor. Which was fine as I just needed it to get me through the day.

And now for this evening's shave....

- Schick Eversharp Injector E (?), it is from Canada, eh.
- Chinese Schick Injector blade
- Dr. Jon's Savannah Sunrise Soap
- Maggard's Orange pre-Shave Oil
- Simpson's Case Best Badger Brush
- Alum
- Stirling's Margaritas in the Arctic balm

So tonight was my first shave with a SE razor, in this particular case what I believe is an E model Injector from our neighbors up North. I wanted to stick to the KISS principle, so I decided on only two full passes with some touch ups if necessary and that was it. And I was going to stick to it.

So I stuck to my pre-shave routine, of showering and letting the brush soak. After my shower, I shook out the brush until no more water was coming out, and picking up the tin began to swirl. Dr. Jon's has never disappointed, and the makings of lather were soon to rise. Satisfied that my brush was well and loaded, I splashed some warm water on my face, applied a few drops of PSO into my palm, and began to work it into my face. I don't like eating oranges, but I sure do enjoy the smell and it was nice having that scent wafting up into my nose. I picked up the brush and tin again, gave a few more swirls, and then began to face lather.

After getting a good coating on my face, it came time for the fun part. To try out the injector. The first pass with a WTG everywhere except the upper lip which I did a WTG/XTG pass. I even did a pretty decent job of WTG on the neck. I only nicked myself once, right below the bottom lip. I then splashed some more warm water on my face to see how the job went, and it was decent. I went back to the brush and applied a second coating.

The next pass with XTG everywhere except the neck, where i did a ATG. Everything went well with only another nick on the jawline, but it closed quickly. Once done I splashed some more water on the face, running my fingers around to see what needed touching up. One by one I then applied a thin coat of lather, before taking the razor and going ATG. Results were great.

Having gotten the worst of the areas needing a touchup, I splashed water one more time and checked to see how the shave went. Next came the alum, which burned in some areas, but overall wasn't that bad. Certainly nowhere near as bad as the last couple of shaves. And rounding it all out was a dollop of Margaritas in the Arctic, which was pleasant and not as searing as usual either.

Overall I give it 3/4 stars. There were a few areas (directly under the chin, back of the jaw) that I could have worked on, but decided not to. I didn't want to press my luck. I did seem to notice some irritation during the shave, but nothing serious. Overall pretty good for a first time injector shave.



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April 6

Mastro Livi Grifetto, Tabac, M&F blonde badger

This months focus is to compare my finishers but I am also including a couple of 'reference' edges. This razor is a couple of shaves in from ML honing the razor.

The lather was slick and wet, the edge was very smooth and sharp. Four passes and no irritation and a smooth face.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A

 

Dang that's a cool brush

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Beautiful razor, Keith! Interested in a trade for a Trac II?

 

Thanks! It is one of those brushes that gets overlooked a lot and then when you use it you wonder why. It is my wife's favorite though. Long handle, and doesn't hog lather.

 

For me, the E is a pretty efficient shaver, but it is oh so smooth. Honestly, it was my E2 that pretty much ruined DE shaving for me, and once I started using it, I never really used DE's since. I am not the only one. If you look at the injector party thread, it is full of reprobates who started on them and never looked back. @PLAla is one of them. For me it was DE's, then injectors, then modern SE's and now shavettes and straights.

Glad it worked out for you.

 

Thanks. Like I had previously mentioned, I want to get into straights, so based on recommendations I'm starting SE. I was actually quite surprised at how well it went. I know blade choices appear to be limited, but how do the Personna's do vs the Schick?

 

The new brush was waiting for me in the mail today. West Coast Shaving Torch w/ Tortoise Shell pattern and 26mm synthetic knot. Feels great. Soft, nice backbone, will be fun to try out tonight. The two tucks of Astras were freebies and you can never have enough of those around.

​

 

Pretty soon, you'll be able to shave with a Trac II.

 

Great looking brush, Neal! Can't wait to hear how it works for you.

Simpsons brushes are pretty nice too.

 

For me, it depends on the razor. Overall, I much prefer the Schicks, especially since the injector package on the Personnas is a POS. But I find the Personnas comfortable, and they are inexpensive. Lots of really goos moderns out there too. I just found the SE blades to such comfortable shavers.

I never really intended to get into straights in the beginning, I was just playing around with injectors because they were cheap. One thing just kind of led to another, and I thought the shavette thing would be a fun challenge. But when I got hooked on them I suppose it was pretty inevitable that it would happen eventually.

 

I have a Trac II handle and some carts, and TBH, they aren't bad shavers at all. I would be bummed if I had to give up my razors, but they are super cheap and don't give bad shave. I'm sure that a focus with them would make the shaves much better too. Hopefully I don't have to find out.

 

So what moderns are out there? Injector wise, I know of the SP, and maybe the PAL?

 

And heck Neal, you don't even need to start expensive to get a great brush. Simpsons butterscotch is really nice because it almost looks vintage right out of the box. Much more scotchy than a lot of the stuff coming out now.

 

Don't forget-Cleans hones in hotel room
Thanks