March 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion | Page 144

MrEE · Mar 9, 2020

jtspartan said: ↑

March 9th
NEW LC w Derby Extra (1)
APShaveCo Fan / Evan's Aluminum
SV Cubebe combo
Thayers
View attachment 220166 7th day of the NEW focus, 4th and last for now with the awesome LC. Whipped up an exceptional and nicely scented lather, well-guided by Evan's handiwork. I loaded up a Derby after seeing @jluc pull one out on the weekend. I started with Derbys as part of my original Fendrihan blade sampler 3 1/2 years ago. I think it was 10 Derbys, 10 Astras, 10 Feathers, 10 Voskhods and 10 Merkurs, iirc. The Merkurs were laughably bad (I don't think I have any left to revisit, because I would...), everything else got pretty much used up. There were 3 Derby blades left. Now that I think of it, I think there was a tuck of Derbys in with the EJ 89 when I bought it as well. Anyway, it did a fine job today. Are other blades sharper? Yes, but this was plenty smooth enough. A little jawline touchup after 3 easy passes and I am very smooth.
Have a great day all!
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Nice shave Jason! Love the picture! I haven't tried Derby. The sample pack I ordered a year ago included some Derby blades, but I zero'd in on Voskhod and never looked back. The remnants of that sample pack has long since been given to others.

MrEE · Mar 9, 2020

brit said: ↑

View attachment 220164
good morning gents,monday canadian shave,canadian early new sc with a thin handle/platinum,brush by Jason omega 10098 replica,razorock lime..fantastic 2+ pass near bbs,no drama..lime a/s to finish..have a great day everyone..
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So, you're the one who got the Omega replica. Very nice! Great Shave! That razor is in great shape.

MrEE · Mar 9, 2020

Hembree said: ↑

ATT Focus, to long to be mini anymore.

Great shave this morning. I went with the R2 plate which is an open comb and a Voskhod blade this morning. Well I started with the Voskhod anyway. Completed the first pass with the Voskhod and it was tuggy and I just was not "feeling" it so I grabbed up a Derby. Boy what a difference. The Derby was smooth and the shave felt like it was suppose to. Completed a smooth third pass as well. Now before the Cartel sends Natalia to rough me up I will try the same shave in the morning with fresh blades. The Voskhod may have had more mileage on it than I thought.

The Imperial soap still impresses me and produces some awesome goo. Tapped out with some Clubman aftershave lotion.

Could the Derby work better with the ATT? Time will tell. I started out with Derbys and used them for about four years. I know a blade is a blade but I can tell the difference between the Feathers and Astra in the ATT. Anyway, more testing and thanking to do.

Hope everyone has a great Monday and I am trying to figure out why I am work so early. I hate time changes. View attachment 220168
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Well, nice shave even though it shows the dark side of a Voskhod. I'm going to say I love time changes just to be disagreeable.

Have a great day Danny!

9nein9 · Mar 9, 2020

Linuxguile said: ↑

SOTD March 9th

Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
RazoRock Game Changer OC .84
GSB (3)
Simpson's Trafalgar T3 (26mm, Frigate Class)
Stirling Satsuma discuss and Glacial Satsuma AS

The Game Changer train keeps on rolling! This morning I used the .84OC. The shave was nearly identical to the .68. You do get a little bit larger of an angle adjustment window but the sweet spot is in the exact same place. Built a wonderful super goop lather with the new Simpson's Trafalgar T3. The lather was so slick and the Game Changer loaded with a third use GSB sliced off the whiskers with ease. No stubble remained and there was no irritation either. Froze my face off with big splash of the Glacial Satsuma AS! Have a great day my friends!

Sent from my Galaxy using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Fantastic shave Andrew!

9nein9 · Mar 9, 2020

SilverSwarfer said: ↑

View attachment 220174

3/2 Shave #10 was the best yet! The edge I had built on this razor was the best I’ve felt in my limited experience. Really, I think what’s been missing is the wisdom of benchmarking my apexes. More to follow on this through Shaves #11-12.

From the 1st stroke- I had the sense of confidence + pride in the edge that I had a really smooth ride (for me), through my new WTG, WTG, ATG progression. Experimenting with some new skin stretches: mainly opening the mouth, puffing cheeks, tongue jams, and ear tugs.

Ended with 4-5 weepers: 2-3 chin and lip, 1 neck, 1 high cheek. Cleaned up perfectly though my skin needed a 24+hr break/rehab at this point.

View attachment 220216

3/4 Shave #11 was bad. I spent a long time between shaves reading scienceofsharp and I went at the hones when I should not have. I introduced an irresponsible variable and this caused bad results. Lesson learned, though I thought I was making improvements... I was fooling myself. I could feel sharpness fade rapidly through the 1st pass and knew this one was a “punt.” I took it back to the strops and called the shave after the 2nd WTG pass.

View attachment 220220
3/5 Shave #12 was my “rebound” shave. I went back to my adapted honing progression. Added a few compulsory tweaks, and ended up back in fine fashion as Shave #10. I noticed in this shave, that I’m finding a bit of a groove. My process may be forever comparatively chaotic (just how I like most tasks... interesting), but that may end up acceptable in the end. I’m not deciding that now and I’m keeping all options open. As I transition, I feel much more confident and realize I’m not pre-meditating stroke by stroke. I’m calling that progress. Results and comfort show improvements and that’s keeping me slap happy.

Further Thoughts

Thursday night I was feeling feverish. This carried into Friday and I finally realized I was not feeling the ultra-hyped and dreaded COVID-19; but rather some complications from a recent surgery. I ended up in the hospital, where I now sit, awaiting a final procedure in the morning and anticipating discharge on Wednesday. I mention this to explain my lack of activity/contribution of late.

I have a lot of catching-up to do! I tend to disengage from pleasurable and positive things in troubled times, so as not to create any unwanted negative associations between the “good” and the “bad.”

Trying to adjust my so-proclaimed great edge from Shave #10 was a mistake. I mean I totally drank the SOS Kool-Aid and fouled my edge. Conceptually, I think there’s some benefit but I’m too green to tinker so often. This may be a bit of a setback and I’m hoping that being aware of the situation will keep it under control.

I won’t see another opportunity to shave before Wednesday night so I have something nice to look forward to! I’ll be plotting my software carefully until then.

I’m still focused on improving comfort around the mouth. I think I have some work to do here. My guess is that I’m using too much pressure and employing skin stretches sub-optimally. I’ll need more reps, some experimentation, and some advice I think. I’ll work on describing the input-output better as I continue to drill into my perceived issues in this area.

Experimenting with some new AS treatments has been fun! I’m enjoying the products selected so far. Glad to have the flexibility here. No regrets in my brush-soap-razor selection. The soap scent I find to be of mild and pleasantly “clean” aroma, which fades quickly and has clashed with nothing so far.

It could be that lather is related to comfort. I think my lather game is strong. I’m hyper aware of the consistency, slickness, and time invested in my lather. More likely, I think over-tweaking my edges is a culprit in this area. But ever mindful of the lather I remain!

Click to expand...

Great reports Andrew!

9nein9 · Mar 9, 2020

Shavette shave #6
Drama free. 2 passes. Shaves are getting closer every time.

Linuxguile · Mar 9, 2020

SilverSwarfer said: ↑

View attachment 220174

3/2 Shave #10 was the best yet! The edge I had built on this razor was the best I’ve felt in my limited experience. Really, I think what’s been missing is the wisdom of benchmarking my apexes. More to follow on this through Shaves #11-12.

From the 1st stroke- I had the sense of confidence + pride in the edge that I had a really smooth ride (for me), through my new WTG, WTG, ATG progression. Experimenting with some new skin stretches: mainly opening the mouth, puffing cheeks, tongue jams, and ear tugs.

Ended with 4-5 weepers: 2-3 chin and lip, 1 neck, 1 high cheek. Cleaned up perfectly though my skin needed a 24+hr break/rehab at this point.

View attachment 220216

3/4 Shave #11 was bad. I spent a long time between shaves reading scienceofsharp and I went at the hones when I should not have. I introduced an irresponsible variable and this caused bad results. Lesson learned, though I thought I was making improvements... I was fooling myself. I could feel sharpness fade rapidly through the 1st pass and knew this one was a “punt.” I took it back to the strops and called the shave after the 2nd WTG pass.

View attachment 220220
3/5 Shave #12 was my “rebound” shave. I went back to my adapted honing progression. Added a few compulsory tweaks, and ended up back in fine fashion as Shave #10. I noticed in this shave, that I’m finding a bit of a groove. My process may be forever comparatively chaotic (just how I like most tasks... interesting), but that may end up acceptable in the end. I’m not deciding that now and I’m keeping all options open. As I transition, I feel much more confident and realize I’m not pre-meditating stroke by stroke. I’m calling that progress. Results and comfort show improvements and that’s keeping me slap happy.

Further Thoughts

Thursday night I was feeling feverish. This carried into Friday and I finally realized I was not feeling the ultra-hyped and dreaded COVID-19; but rather some complications from a recent surgery. I ended up in the hospital, where I now sit, awaiting a final procedure in the morning and anticipating discharge on Wednesday. I mention this to explain my lack of activity/contribution of late.

I have a lot of catching-up to do! I tend to disengage from pleasurable and positive things in troubled times, so as not to create any unwanted negative associations between the “good” and the “bad.”

Trying to adjust my so-proclaimed great edge from Shave #10 was a mistake. I mean I totally drank the SOS Kool-Aid and fouled my edge. Conceptually, I think there’s some benefit but I’m too green to tinker so often. This may be a bit of a setback and I’m hoping that being aware of the situation will keep it under control.

I won’t see another opportunity to shave before Wednesday night so I have something nice to look forward to! I’ll be plotting my software carefully until then.

I’m still focused on improving comfort around the mouth. I think I have some work to do here. My guess is that I’m using too much pressure and employing skin stretches sub-optimally. I’ll need more reps, some experimentation, and some advice I think. I’ll work on describing the input-output better as I continue to drill into my perceived issues in this area.

Experimenting with some new AS treatments has been fun! I’m enjoying the products selected so far. Glad to have the flexibility here. No regrets in my brush-soap-razor selection. The soap scent I find to be of mild and pleasantly “clean” aroma, which fades quickly and has clashed with nothing so far.

It could be that lather is related to comfort. I think my lather game is strong. I’m hyper aware of the consistency, slickness, and time invested in my lather. More likely, I think over-tweaking my edges is a culprit in this area. But ever mindful of the lather I remain!

Click to expand...

Andrew, You are making great progress with both honing and straight shaving. I hope you get to feeling better soon!

brit · Mar 9, 2020

Trigger said: ↑

Canadian cool shave Gary!
Click to expand...

thank you Joe,good afternoon..

Edison Carter · Mar 9, 2020

SilverSwarfer said: ↑

View attachment 220174

3/2 Shave #10 was the best yet! The edge I had built on this razor was the best I’ve felt in my limited experience. Really, I think what’s been missing is the wisdom of benchmarking my apexes. More to follow on this through Shaves #11-12.

From the 1st stroke- I had the sense of confidence + pride in the edge that I had a really smooth ride (for me), through my new WTG, WTG, ATG progression. Experimenting with some new skin stretches: mainly opening the mouth, puffing cheeks, tongue jams, and ear tugs.

Ended with 4-5 weepers: 2-3 chin and lip, 1 neck, 1 high cheek. Cleaned up perfectly though my skin needed a 24+hr break/rehab at this point.

View attachment 220216

3/4 Shave #11 was bad. I spent a long time between shaves reading scienceofsharp and I went at the hones when I should not have. I introduced an irresponsible variable and this caused bad results. Lesson learned, though I thought I was making improvements... I was fooling myself. I could feel sharpness fade rapidly through the 1st pass and knew this one was a “punt.” I took it back to the strops and called the shave after the 2nd WTG pass.

View attachment 220220
3/5 Shave #12 was my “rebound” shave. I went back to my adapted honing progression. Added a few compulsory tweaks, and ended up back in fine fashion as Shave #10. I noticed in this shave, that I’m finding a bit of a groove. My process may be forever comparatively chaotic (just how I like most tasks... interesting), but that may end up acceptable in the end. I’m not deciding that now and I’m keeping all options open. As I transition, I feel much more confident and realize I’m not pre-meditating stroke by stroke. I’m calling that progress. Results and comfort show improvements and that’s keeping me slap happy.

Further Thoughts

Thursday night I was feeling feverish. This carried into Friday and I finally realized I was not feeling the ultra-hyped and dreaded COVID-19; but rather some complications from a recent surgery. I ended up in the hospital, where I now sit, awaiting a final procedure in the morning and anticipating discharge on Wednesday. I mention this to explain my lack of activity/contribution of late.

I have a lot of catching-up to do! I tend to disengage from pleasurable and positive things in troubled times, so as not to create any unwanted negative associations between the “good” and the “bad.”

Trying to adjust my so-proclaimed great edge from Shave #10 was a mistake. I mean I totally drank the SOS Kool-Aid and fouled my edge. Conceptually, I think there’s some benefit but I’m too green to tinker so often. This may be a bit of a setback and I’m hoping that being aware of the situation will keep it under control.

I won’t see another opportunity to shave before Wednesday night so I have something nice to look forward to! I’ll be plotting my software carefully until then.

I’m still focused on improving comfort around the mouth. I think I have some work to do here. My guess is that I’m using too much pressure and employing skin stretches sub-optimally. I’ll need more reps, some experimentation, and some advice I think. I’ll work on describing the input-output better as I continue to drill into my perceived issues in this area.

Experimenting with some new AS treatments has been fun! I’m enjoying the products selected so far. Glad to have the flexibility here. No regrets in my brush-soap-razor selection. The soap scent I find to be of mild and pleasantly “clean” aroma, which fades quickly and has clashed with nothing so far.

It could be that lather is related to comfort. I think my lather game is strong. I’m hyper aware of the consistency, slickness, and time invested in my lather. More likely, I think over-tweaking my edges is a culprit in this area. But ever mindful of the lather I remain!

Click to expand...

My prayers dude.

Get better

brit · Mar 9, 2020

Hembree said: ↑

Beautiful Gary......all the way around!
Click to expand...

thank you Danny..

jluc · Mar 9, 2020

9nein9 said: ↑

View attachment 220231
Shavette shave #6
Drama free. 2 passes. Shaves are getting closer every time.

Click to expand...

Terrific progress and picture, Patrick!

Linuxguile · Mar 9, 2020

Norcalnewb said: ↑

Awesome picture, Andrew!
Click to expand...

Thank you, Jim!

9nein9 said: ↑

Fantastic shave Andrew!
Click to expand...

Thank you Patrick!

9nein9 said: ↑

View attachment 220231
Shavette shave #6
Drama free. 2 passes. Shaves are getting closer every time.

Click to expand...

And a great shave too!

Trigger · Mar 9, 2020

9nein9 said: ↑

View attachment 220231
Shavette shave #6
Drama free. 2 passes. Shaves are getting closer every time.

Click to expand...

Awesome shave, Patrick!

brit · Mar 9, 2020

jgreenepa said: ↑

View attachment 220170
SOTD 03/09/20

I really enjoyed the use of Evan’s (@MrEE) Badger/Boar hybrid brush in yesterday’s shave. It is a well-balanced brush with beautiful knurling and performed superbly yesterday. For today’s shave I decided to use Alpha Shaving’s T-400 Rubberset tribute brush. The uniqueness of this brush is that it allows for the use of different knots with the same handle. I own four ferrules, two 24mm and two 26mm. Each ferrule accommodates a single knot. I’ve already mated a synthetic knot and a hybrid 70/30 to the two 24mm ferrules. I’ve ordered a Badger knot and a Boar knot for the two new 26mm ferrules. The beauty of this brush is that it is now effectively four brushes in one. As soon as the two new knots arrive, I will epoxy each to an empty ferrule and be in business.

For today’s shave I selected the 24mm ferrule mated to a 70/30 Badger/Boar hybrid knot. After yesterday’s delightful shave, I again selected the Colonial Silversmith loaded with the same vintage Polish Wizamet Super Iridium blade. I began the shave with my regular cold water rinse following my shower. The brush, which had been soaking in warm water, generated a nice thick MWF paste for the face and head lather to follow. After completing a very leisurely, but vigorous face and head lather, I was left with a glistening, thick protective covering for both shave surfaces.

The Silversmith is such an incredible shaver, I’m always surprised that it isn’t better known. It’s so smooth that the efficiency of the shave always seems a surprise. The first WTG pass felt as though I was just brushing the lather away, until a check revealed the incredibly close shave (DFS+) delivered. I could have quit this morning after that first pass, but I guess I’ve become addicted to the velveteen smoothness of a true BBS. And that second ATG pass put the baby to bed, as my Atlanta CPA shave mentor is wont to say. I finished the shave by painting the MWF back over the newly shaved surfaces and leaving it there as I disassembled and cleaned both the brush and the razor. The result was a post-shave feel that is amazing. I feel clean, smooooth, refreshed and ready to take on this warm, sunny Philadelphia day. I wish all of you reading this an outstanding day! God bless you all!

RAZOR: Colonial Silversmith
BLADE: Vintage Polish Wizamet Super Iridium (2)
PREP: Cold Water rinse
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T400 Rubberset Homage Badger/Boar Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum
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awesome shave and pic Jeff,good afternoon..

brit · Mar 9, 2020

9nein9 said: ↑

Nice setup Gary!

I got some old Berkeley blades here if you want to try one out . MAYhem is just around the corner

Didn't Natalia already pay you a visit in the past?
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thank you Patrick..

brit · Mar 9, 2020

clint64 said: ↑

Simply gorgeous Gary.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

thank you Clint..

brit · Mar 9, 2020

MrEE said: ↑

March 9th
Menthol Monday

Razor: Gillette Superspeed
Bkade: Personna Platinum Chromium Red (2)
Brush: Restored Certifyd
PS: Proraso Green
SS: Godrej Cool Menthol Cream
AS: Osage Rub

Still have the traveling box. Got more stuff on Saturday to fill it back up. I wanted to say farewell to this replated Superspeed. It was the last Superspeed I did and boosted my confidence enough that I started replating razors for other people.

The shave was good, really good. Makes me think I should avoid my RedTip and Adjustables set at maximum for a little while. I seem to be getting slightly better shaves with the medium razors. Previously I would press harder with the less aggressive razors because I'm not feeling the blade. That wasn't a problem yesterday and today and both shaves were amazing.

However I will be getting my 3 shavette shaves in this week.

View attachment 220173
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awesome shave and pic Evan..

brit · Mar 9, 2020

9nein9 said: ↑

Thats cool Terry. Would an elastic hold the blade securely enough so that you could change it out easily without having to use glue?

Awesome Jim!

Keith is welcome here in Canada, the other 2, I have mixed feelings about as we already have one guy in parliament with a larger than life ego and front page space is getting limited.
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brit · Mar 9, 2020

Paul Turner said: ↑

I guess I "snuck in" a Menthol Monday qualification by switching to Mennen Skin Bracer. What a day for it too...sunny and pleasant. A short-sleeve day for sure. But it was a nice shave with the magnificent goo of Gillette Foamy, followed by the MSB. For goo, only one pass is necessary for me. I had to do some touch-ups in various areas the pass missed. But all came out well. Pretty Excellent.
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fine shave and pic Paul..

brit · Mar 9, 2020

Linuxguile said: ↑

SOTD March 9th

Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
RazoRock Game Changer OC .84
GSB (3)
Simpson's Trafalgar T3 (26mm, Frigate Class)
Stirling Satsuma discuss and Glacial Satsuma AS

The Game Changer train keeps on rolling! This morning I used the .84OC. The shave was nearly identical to the .68. You do get a little bit larger of an angle adjustment window but the sweet spot is in the exact same place. Built a wonderful super goop lather with the new Simpson's Trafalgar T3. The lather was so slick and the Game Changer loaded with a third use GSB sliced off the whiskers with ease. No stubble remained and there was no irritation either. Froze my face off with big splash of the Glacial Satsuma AS! Have a great day my friends!

Sent from my Galaxy using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

awesome shave and pic Andrew..

Is it okay to eat cookies and ice cream together?

Yes

Yes