January 2015 30 Day Rule/30 Day Focus Pic and Discussion Thread- All are Welcome

Friday! Day #8 of the 30 day BSG challenge

• Music: Joe Jackson & Friends, Heaven And Hell
• Prep: hot washing cloth
• Brush: TGN a grade silvertip badger in Oscar11 handle
• Soap: Cella
• Razor: birth quarter Gillette Slim (@ 4, 5, 6 & 7)
• Blade: Derby #5
• Shave: 3-pass + touch-up
• Post: cold water rinse, Jeris Musk for Men

A very nice and close shave!

Have a great day, ya'll!

 

Gillette LC New
Gillette Silver Blue
Semogue BC Mistura
Institut Karite Soap
Alum
Nivea ASB

A much nicer shave this morning after the rough one yesterday. It is still well below freezing here, so I decided to add an ASB to help.

Only 22 more days.

 

SOTD
January 9, 2015

Prep: Hot shower. Axe Shield Face Wash
Razor: RazoRock Stealth Slant
Blade: Astra SP
Brush: L'Occitane Plisson
Lather: Mike's Natural Hungarian Lavender
Post: Alum.Thayers Lavender WH.
Aftershave: Floid Black
Mike's Natural Soaps are the real deal! Slick, great scent, easy to lather, cushion-y, post skincare that's one of the best! RRSS/Astra pared well.
Go out and get it!

 

1/9/2015 30 Day - Shave # 9

Prep - Hot Shower
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade - Kai Mild (2)
Brush - Rubberset 400 with WSP HMW
Lather - Soap Commander Confidence
Post - Witch Hazel and Captain's Choice Sandalwood AS



Very nice 2 pass shave with touch up around the chin. No nicks, weepers or irritation. The Kai blade is smoother today. It seems that blade smooths out with use. The scent of the soap is very subdued and seems to go well with what ever aftershave I use for the day.

 

Day 9 BSG

ATT S1 Kronos

Rapira PL

Plisson

Cade Soap

Cade Balm

Had a 2 pass DFS going. Decided to chase the baby and added a third pass. Very close to BBS. A little irritation on my chin, which is very unusual. Loving Cade balm.

 

1/9/15

Same as it has been for a few days. With the proper focus, I am at a simple 2 pass shave with a little touch up and the shave is good. I'm pondering regrowing my goatee. Not because the shaving of my chin is hard, but because I've had facial hair for a long time.

 

Day 6 Lab Report - 30 Day Rule with a Slim BSG

This shave occurred Thursday night after arriving in Syracuse, NY area after a day of travel. This is the reason that I chose store branded Personna and TSD shave stick for this, because I knew at least 4-5 days of my January would be on the road. It turned out to be a good choice.

Stayed with six for this one..tried more of the skew cut technique on the neck, and I am happy to say that all of my neck soreness issue seems to have resolved. 2 pass DFS in this shave, woke up this morning with a face that felt great. Gonna try to make tonight a very good technique shave.

Happy Friday!

 

For general consumption...

Is everybody (especially newer guys) posting here SOTD - SoS: January 5, 2015 - January 11, 2015?

What about "What did we learn from our last shaves, gentlemen?"

Also The Haul: January 2015 is the place to display new shaving goodies!

Happy Friday!

 

It's now been 9 days/shaves with the GEM Clog Pruf and PTFE coated blade (9). 1-3 were a challenge, but this week has been superb. The higher cost of a SE blade is certainly negated when one is getting at least three times the use out of it. I'm curious to see if tomorrow's new blade is as harsh as the first or if it was more of a technique deficiency at the beginning of this month. Of course, I may just keep going with the original blade and push it...real good.

 

Are you stropping your SE blades at all?

 

SOTD 9 - BSG:

Prep: Shower
Soap: Arko
Blade: 7'oclock SharpEdge (yellow)
Razor: Ball End Tech
Brush: 24mm WD Black Badger
Post: WH , VIBR

1 WTG, 1 ATG except on my trouble spots. I was pressed for time this morning, so I skipped a few things, but it was still a good shave.





Also on another note, I got a LEA shave stick from another member here and I did a test lather with it last night. Doesn't seem particularly slippery but it did develop a decent lather:

I shaved a few little bits in the bowl:

Beginnings of lather, I added a little bit of water,





I'll post a longer review after the 30 days are up, and I can try to shave with it. It has a nice soapy smell, and kinds of reminds me of arko though not quite.

 

Days 8, 9
my 30-day rule
razor: Ever Ready 1924 SE
blade: Personna GEM teflon coated
brush: Omega 31064
soap: Williams

Day 8 was a BBS (hooray! ). I missed a spot, but it was more stupidity than technique, so I'm counting it. Also, I wonder if I am now being hyper-sensitive to "BBS-ness." Ever notice something and just that notice magnifies the thing in your attention? I do that sometimes and might be doing it for this 30-day thing.

Day 9 was a BBS, but I burned a couple of spots. I can think of four possible contributing factors:
1. I accidentally skipped the PSO.
2. Hypersensitivity lead to excessive baby-chasing
3. I should either "ride the cap" or use no pressure. I may have been doing something in between.
4. Blade is at the end. I think I am on shave #5 or #6 with this blade. Though @Omaney gets 9 shaves from the same blade, I don't think I can go that far!

The skew cut seems to be doing the trick. A right and left skew complement each other on the flatter areas, but hollows seem to show a preference!

Tomorrow I'll start with a fresh blade and pay attention to the cap and pressure. Since I am now getting BBS(rf)**, I wonder if I am going to see additional improvement! If not, though I really like the ER1924, I may prefer other razors. <sigh> This disturbs me just a bit because I intend to thin my herd in the near to semi-near future.
(Ouch! That hurt just typing it out. Wish me strength, brother addicts. Wish me strength.)

**BBS(rf) = BBS (reasonable facsimile). Because we approach BBS asymptotically, no one ever reaches 100% BBS.

 

Day 8 - Thirty Days with Merkur 34c (Jan 1-Feb 4 [No shave on Saturdays]) BSG 1-9-2015

Hot Shower and Prep - Neutrogena Men Invigorating Face Wash, & Wm. Neumann & Co. Peppermint Leaf Bar Soap
Razor Merkur 34c
Blade Astra SP (2)
Brush - Plisson Synthetic
Lather - Poraso Green
Post - Warm & cool water rinse, WH & RazoRock Problem Solver Lime Scent AS Splash

Due to my acne breakout I left the face wash on my face a few extra minutes. I completed a two pass NS - SN shave. Decent results. I was able to shave the breakout area with no blood letting. However I got in a hurry doing a touch up on neck below my chin. - no lather, bad angle. It felt bad but the blood did not show up until my rinse. Luckily it was not too bad. Styptic did its job. I did heavy WH on the acne area and I will use some moisturizer before going to bed tonight. No shave tomorrow so it will give my face a break. Oh well they can't all be perfect shaves.

 

SOTD January 9, 2015

This is the eighth day of my 30-day adventure to improve my shaving skills using the Mongoose. Preshave consisted of a facewash with Stirling Sheep soap and warm water. I used my Kent BK4 brush and face lathered using a Mike's Natural Soap shave stick. Mike's is one of my favorite soaps, as it has great slickness and skin conditioning. I was short on time this morning and forgot to use glycerin. It made no discernible difference. I like my larger Kent BK8 for daily use. I usually reserve the BK4 for travel, since it is smaller, but I'm sticking with it for the duration of this adventure.

I shaved WTG followed by XTG on my face and XTG/ATG for both passes on my neck. The Feather blade on day five performed well and should easily last a week or more. I finished up with Thayer's Lavender Witch Hazel and unrefined shea butter.

All was good on my two-pass plus touch-up shave - no nicks or irritation! I would be satisfied to stick with this set up indefinitely. I will have more time tomorrow morning, so I'm planning my first three-pass shave of the week. I've found that my skin can tolerate an occasional three-passer.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

 

1/9/15 - BSG - RESET Day 4

Prep - Hot Shower, towel soak
Brush - Omega 48
Soap - Proraso Green
Razor - '46/'47 Aristocrat
Blade - Voskhod (1)
Post - Aqua Velva Musk

Another early start and late finish. New blade today and I honestly couldn't tell a real difference between the old blade with three days on it. Voskhods are good and I know can last, but still changing after three just to keep it consistent for the month. Will probably let the last blade of the month go longer before switching to GSB for the comparison.

Results were awesome today. DFS approaching close to the mythical baby face and my neck is improving every day. Just in time there was a registered package for me. Ammo to keep it going!

​

 

I remember Aspen. One of my favorites from days past. The ladies loved it!

 

Jostalli
Alum block does wonders for your acne and it is a antiseptic it is just a suggestion after you shave dip the alum block in cold water rub it on your face it will sting like the dickens if your skin is raw or Cut but it will help stop the bleeding and heel the razor burn. After about a minute or so wash it off with cold water the you can use witch hazel and your usual post shave routine...just saying

 

That's a great setup there, Charlie. Three of my favorite gear in play. Sounds like the Mongoose is working out for you.

 

01/09 – Day 7 with the Weishi

Objective: Survive a month using low end entry level products.

• Growth: 2 days
• Prep: Hot shower; Corn Huskers Lotion
• Lather: Arko – Face lathered
• Brush: Escali Badger
• Razor: Weishi 9306/Microtouch One
• Blade: Derby Extra (3)
• Post: Alum; Aqua Velva Ice Blue

Today’s Results: Been busy and a little under the weather. I had a really good shave today. Only did two passes but it was a DFS. Hopefully back to normal tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

 

Saturday! Day #9 of the 30 day BSG challenge

• Music: Philip Glass, The Hours
• Prep: hot washing cloth
• Brush: TGN a grade silvertip badger in Oscar11 handle
• Soap: Cella
• Razor: birth quarter Gillette Slim (@ 4, 5, 6 & 7)
• Blade: Derby #6
• Shave: 3-pass + touch-up
• Post: cold water rinse, Floyd AS balm

Today the lather was a bit thin. I had lots of it so I put on a thick layer. Between pass 2 & 3 I paused to help SWMBO leave. The street was so full the car in front was at 1/2 foot distance and the one behind at 1 foot. The shave was nice, but the blade is at its end.

Have a great weekend. ya'll! Make it count!