Only first shave with one, but I'd put it on level with Personna Lab Blue/Med Prep. I don't recall what Neal @NCoxSTL said about the Q-Shave blades except that he wouldn't be buying 100. Thank you Clint. I did good this month. Getting better at maintaining Focus. Only two moments of distraction; A Red Tip shave, and I had to give the Black Beauty a try. I haven't heard anyone fuss about the Ming Shi, even though they might all come from the same production line. I'm pleased I spent a whole $14 and satisfied my Futur envy. Thank you Doug. You have set the bar high on photos and I'm just trying to keep up. Life's too short to shave with mediocre soap. Donate them to a Shelter? Some of the Urban Outdoors Men (& Ladies) might could use a shave.
Razor: Gillette Red Tip Blade: Personna Tungsten (24) Brush: El Druida Red Heart Chakte Kok/African Blackwood 2 Band Soap: Nuavia Blu A/S: Floid Blue Scuttle: Junichi Tanaka Blue The 30 day rule in November was my first 30 day rule. I am very happy I made it through the month although I must admit the last week was tough. The Gillette Red Tip with the Personna Tungsten 74 blade is amazing. I got 24 very good close comfortable shaves with the razor and blade. I had to spend a little to much cleaning up tonight so I thank the blade for an outstanding performance and will change it tomorrow. The El Druida brush with the 2 Band knot is second to none. Nuavia Blu is one of my favorite soaps with a great scent and easy to lather. It has all the qualities of an excellent soap. Floid Blue is also a favorite of mine and I still feel the same way after using it for a whole month. All in all it was a good experiment and I had a great month. Thanks to everyone who took part for all your outstanding pictures and setups.
Thursday evening November 30. - shave cream challenge Gillette Black Beauty on 4 / Topaz Platinum ( 2 ) 30DC LE Maple Cashmere synthetic brush Mystery Sample A Alum and Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum splash (after 1/2 hour wait) I used the first sample in the @Vlasta Shave Cream Challenge again tonight, this time measuring the "dose" of cream with a spoon. I will use the same amount of all future samples. It was a good three pass shave with a cream that seemed to work well. I noticed good residual slickness left on my skin after each pass. The postshave feel was a bit drying, however, hence the use of the Jeeves splash after half an hour. The Jeeves splash itself was great; I am really glad I bought it. It is a different bay rum than my Clubman VIBR with, I think, orange in it to sweeten it and no cloves. The splash also has more skin hydrating elements in it, as well as a mild menthol kick. Very nice. I started a Rule this month to learn the quirks of my Semogue SOC boar brush and my MWF soap properly. However, both seemed well slotted into place after a week, so I abandoned the Rule for a series of mini Focuses. The first was to try my new matte black Supply Single Edge injector V 2.0. The next was to break in my new Simpsons Chubby 2 Synthetic brush (aka "the Soap Destroyer"). Then to test my six new Simpsons creams. And I have ended the month by starting the Shave Cream Challenge. Not much consistency but it has been fun. For Decadent December, I will enjoy myself with the Shave Cream Challenge for a couple weeks, using my Delta Echo refurbished Gillette Black Beauty and my 30DC LE Maple Cashmere synthetic brush. Then I think I will continue trying new soaps and creams and go through my accumulated samples. I will give free rein to my choices of razors and brushes for those tests, however. And when my ultimate decadent brush arrives -- the Kent BK12 -- I will wallow in badger luxury. All topped off with my assortment of balms and splashes, many acquired on Black Friday. It should be a good month. I look forward to seeing you all in the December thread.
I agree Mark. I was going to finish out the week with Nuavia and had already taken the pictures for Friday and Saturday. As much as I enjoy the soap, I just couldn't do it. So I will be putting away Nuavia until next year.
November 30, 2017 No shave today. After the last couple of mishaps, I decided to give my skin a rest and heal a bit. It's been another interesting month. My main focus was the Pure Badger knot in my 30DC LE brush. This went well until the knot popped out because of my gluing failure. I'm still considering my options about reglueing or replacing the knot. Although KMF was my mainstay cream, I did get the chance to finally try Der Vergulde Hand soap and reacquaint myself with the joy of Arko. Along the way, I picked up a few new razors including a Bakelite Star, a cheap Chinese Tech clone, and two very special Injectors. Finally, there is the blade I don't want to talk about.
For the knot, grab some 100% silicone from the hardware store. Put some masking tape on it to hold it in place for 48 hours. Solid bond, but removable.
Monthly wrap ups are becoming interesting! Glad to see incremental improvement for folks. For some it's razor handling technique. Others working on lathering skills. I'm envious of the SR users who hone their own and understand just how much I don't know. Photo montage? POW!
NOVember!!! November 30 - Warming up for DECember Razor - Delta Echo NEW LC Blade - (3) Soap - Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum Brush - Jayaruh #54 Post - Alum I was surprised to find a package waiting when I got home today. Everything I've ordered has arrived so I was expecting nothing. Hmmmm. From @Drygulch so it's a possible dare. Could be a really horrible razor, a terrible blade selection, binder clips, anthrax, you know, the usual. Well, I'm happy to say it was actually a very nice early holiday gift - Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum soap! Awesome! This is a soap I have on my "buy to try" list and just hadn't gotten around to it. It's made by veterans in Buckner, Missouri. I've heard good things. So, for the last night of NOVember, I got the JR54 out and opened up the new soap to give it a test. The Bay Rum scent is quite unique. They add a touch of orange, patchouli and vanilla to the traditional bay rum scent and it's quite unique. I am still getting used to it but I don't mind it at all. It seems to be growing on me. Something traditional re-imagined. I like it. It's a tallow based soap, and I like that too. The JR54 loaded very easily and when I went for the face lather I had no difficulty getting a nice thick and slick lather. The feel during the shave is great as it seems to provide good glide and protection. Two passes and some neck touch up and I finished the month with the baby on board. Great shave by the razor and blade combo but definitely enhanced by a very nice soap. Huge thanks to @Drygulch !! A nice addition to my soap collection. And another nice enabling action as well! Well played, sir, well played.
