30 Day Rule/Focus; July 2024. All Are Welcome!

27th July 2024.


​

Shaving Recipe for today.

Prep: Warm shower:/Cien Moisture Shower Gel.

Pre:
Cold wet flannel to my face & head.
Cien PURE Fragrance Free Sensitive Bar Soap.
Brush: Yaqi Sagrada Familia 24mm Synthetic.
Bowl Lather.
Bowl: Tesco's Ceramic 'Cosmo' Side Bowl.
Lather: OSP Grapefruit and Menthol Shaving Cream
Blade: Gillette Nacet. (D1)
Razor: 1940's Thin Handle Gillette Flat Bottom Tech. (ENG)


Post:
Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./Cold water face & Head wash with brush squeezing's,/Alum Rub./Cold Water Rinse./Homemade (~Spring/Summer mix~) Lemon, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Essential Oils.5 Menthol Crystals Mixed Together With Care+Witch Hazel./ Floid mentolado Vigoroso ASL./Bulldog Original Moisturiser.

Greetings,

(Face & Head Shave)

A new shave set up to start the weekend.

The last few weeks I've been using the Feather Hi Stainless, which have paired up superbly with all my razors. I've revisited the Gillette Nacet blade for the last remaining days of July to get a comparison with the Feather Hi Stainless.

What I like about the Gillette Nacet blade is the smoothness and efficiency of them. The Feather instantly wins for it's Sharpness, but the Gillette Nacet feels smoother, which is something I prefer in a blade over sharpness.

Another close comfortable efficient combined face & head shave with no errors to report.

Finishing the shave off with a few small dollops of Bulldog Original Moisturiser.

My face & precious swede are feeling smooth and smelling divine.

Stay safe, and enjoy the start of the weekend ladies & gentlemen.

 

Thank you, Joe.

 

Great pic and post!

And I agree - when it comes to blades, I will take smooth over ultra-sharp any day of the week.

 

Super post and pic!

A few comments:

1. I agree about the razor. The Henson is a great DE razor. With the way it is designed, finding the shaving "sweet spot" is almost foolproof, leaving the user free to concentrate on things like maintaining very very light pressure. If you have a Henson and like it, you absolutely do NOT need to go down the razor rabbithole in search of other razors -- you will NOT find a better shave anywhere. (Don't even ask how many DE, SE and injector razors I own or have tried, because I don't honestly know the answer.)

2. TOBS Avocado was the first really good shaving cream/soap that I used after switching from canned foam. Very easy to lather, slick and protective, great post-shave skin feel and not hugely expensive. TOBS comes in lots of great scents too. I later fell waaay down the soap rabbithole, searching for the "perfect" product. As a result, I now have more soaps and creams in my stash than anyone really needs (uhmmm... okay... 85 at last count -- more than I will use up in my lifetime). And honestly, I could have stopped at TOBS.

3. I fell down the brush rabbithole too. Over 20 brushes later, I can confidently say that the modern synthetic brushes are every bit as good as the natural hair brushes, without requiring any animal sacrifices. In some ways they are better: they do not require pre-soaking like boar brushes, they load and release their lather quicker than boar or badger, they dry quicker (great for travel), require less or no maintenance, and are usually cheaper. That one you have is a perfectly adequate good-quality synthetic.

4. Having said that, if you ever do decide to try other brushes, though, I would recommend you take a look at the Simpson's Chubby 2 Synthetic imitation badger. An absolutely superb synthetic brush that almost perfectly mimics a badger and at a very reasonable price. If I was only going to keep one of my brushes, that would be it.

5. Balms and splashes -- another rabbithole. There are hundreds of them out there. Whatever scent you want, you can find a dozen good ones. And I consider that strictly YMMV territory, so you're on your own there. Most serious soap makers make balms/splashes to match their soaps. I know TOBS does, and i believe they are pretty good. (At least they should be -- TOBS has been making the stuff since the early 19th century...)

 

SOTD 20240727 Brutiful

ischiapp.blogspot.com​

 

fine start to the weekend.

 

-The-Weekender-
canadian x-1 rocket
omega
the body shop
clarins



good morning gents
lovely work shave
fantastic macas root lather
smooth rocket 2 passer,minor buffing
clarins to finish
awesome
have a great weekend everyone
​

 

Nice shave this morning with Barbasol/Osage Rub. The Barbasol solved the bunch of hair that was forming on my jaw....didn't like the way that felt. Course it solved my whole face and neck too. Hence the name, BarbaSOL. Zeroes on cuts, Knicks, Polka-Dots. One pass. The Osage felt GOOOD later. Closed with One Man Show cologneAs Outstanding As It Gets. .

 

Nice setup and shave Barry. I have never tried the Nacets, but have heard they are very good blades.

 

fine start to the weekend Paul.

 

I agree.

 

Beautiful razor and shave Gary.

 

Thank you Gary.....might return to same tomorrow. The Barbasol is at a point where it all comes out like a cloud now, not a snake. I like clouds.

 

thank you Joe.

 

Thank you, Joe. The Gillette Nacet are a great blade.

 

Thank you, Gary.

 

July 27 SOTA Headshave and Faceshave

Good afternoon.

Shavette Shave #566
Magic by Master Barber
Derby 1/2 DE Blade (6)
Rockwell Model T V1 (5)
Zorrik DE Blade (fresh)
Soap Commander Vision SS
Pinaud-Clubman Classic AS
Stirling Boar Brush
Stirling Alum Block
Personal Care Witch Hazel
Beard Growth: 30 hrs
Dome Turf: 4.25 days



I was overdue for a headshave so I picked my Model T loaded with a fresh Zorrik blade. This blade is really sharp and it's much smoother on the second use. It mowed down my 4+ days of dome turf in 2 passes. Did get two weeps on my left side, but they left no trace with the application of the alum. Did get some feedback behind my left ear, but everywhere else on the dome was silent. The shave resulted in a cueball smooth dome.

I used the Magic by Master Barber Shavette that was loaded with the Derby 1/2 Blade. On its sixth use it was still sharp, but I was noticing that it was starting to be a little rough. I only did two passes to get a nice and comfortable shave without any red leakage. The alum was mostly silent. As an aside, I did bin this blade.

Soap Commander soap never fails to produce a nice, creamy and slick lather. Here's my lather:



Splashed on the witch hazel and the Pinaud-Clubman Classic aftershave to top the shave. Take care.

 

Lovely shave and post John!

I have the same experience. It works well the first few times but unless you are regular Nicker and use it most days, it's useless after that. Like those superglue tubes you buy, use once, (hope they work, not all of them do), ziplock bag in sealed glass bottle, next time you open it the whole thing is rubbish. Waste of time and money

Lovely post and shave. The Derby are a good mixture of smooth and sharp

Great comments John. I like my Chubby 2 Best Badger, but have two things against it: it takes ages to clean up and dry out, and secondly the handle is too fat for me. I prefer the more tapered handles. But it is great for the softer soaps.

 

Saturday 27 Jul 2024, late post



Days growth = 1
Prep = Hot water prep
Preshave = Proraso
Cream/Soap = Colonel Conk Bay Rum
Brush = Pura Setola
Bowl = Timeless
Razor = Empire Razor Patent Pending…….can't find out anything about this razor. 4 dollar op shop find
Blade = Permasharp (2)
Passes = +
Post = Usual CWR, Alum, rinse, pat dry, Thayers,
Balm = after suinthis razor I felt the need for some Nivea Men Sensitive post shave balm
ASL = Sterling Bay Rum
Score = 9.5 /10
Damage = none

Interesting little razor. Light, not what I would call sophisticated or flash. Small and manoeuvrable, so that is good at least



It has a fair amount of blade exposure, meaning I had a tentative start getting acquainted with it. Light pressure at first, but because the razor is so, shall we say insubstantial, it bounced around a bit with a large amount of audible blade feedback. So it needed more pressure to convince it to stay in contact with the face and do its job. Ultimately 3 passes and touch ups were needed, which generally means the razor or my technique are lacking. Near the end of the shave the required angle and correct amount of pressure were found for an overall very good shave. A sense of more exfoliation than I would normally accept, and in anticipation of the Bay Rum, some Nivea balm was applied

That said, I am smoother in my right lower neck than usual. There was some Alum stinging there but no damage. So in future I think that this area of my neck would benefit from me opening up my adjustable razors or use a more efficient OC razor

The Conk Bay Rum has a delightful scent. Nice thick lather, but still not as good as Tabac or Sterling, (sorry Mr Conk)

Hoping that you all had a super Saturday

 

28 Jul 2024
Days growth = 1

Prep = Hot water prep
Preshave = PRORASO
Cream/Soap = Sterling Bergamot Lavender
Brush = Omega 10049 boar
Bowl = Timeless
Razor = Merkur 37C
Blade = Big Ben super stainless (1) ( binnned )
Passes = 3 +
Post = Usual CWR, Alum, rinse, pat dry, left over lather, cold water rinse, Thayers
ASL = Whiskey Woods
Score = 9 /10
Damage = none. Good shave, no damage

The 37C didn’t gel with the Big Ben, hence 3 passes were needed, with much touching up and multidirectional buffing needed. Good shave overall

Binned the Big Ben

The more challenging areas received more attention, slower and more patient strokes with less pressure, which seems to be the way to go

The Sterling was fantastic. Easy lathering. Super slick, the scent is mild but pleasant enough, but the performance is really where this shines

My blade bank is finally full after more than 18 months of wet shaving. Time to seal it up, label it and bin it. Onwards and upwards

Have a great Sunday one and all