1/23/15 - BSG - RESET Day 18 Prep - Hot Shower, towel soak Brush - Omega 48 Soap - Proraso Green Razor - '46/'47 Aristocrat Blade - Voskhod (3) Post - RazoRock Alum Stick & Proraso Another 3 pass day and I could hear the baby crying. Decided to touch up to get it and shouldn't have. A couple of small nicks and enough burn from the alum to spank me for being a bad boy and chasing that thing. Live and learn. Overall another good day though. I think maybe the extra effort with a 3 day old blade was my real downfall.
Day 20 Lab Report - 30 DAY RULE with a Slim Day 20was a really nice evening shave. I am starting to think I could have spared my self some time and just started in 8 or 9. This Slim, set on nine, with the store brand Personna blades is finally performing. I was easily able to get to two pass DFS with little touch up. The biggest thing I am having to keep in mind is blade angle. If I drop the handle too low, the blade really tends to scrape me up. However, when keeping the angle of attack low, I am getting shaves that are both close and comfortable. The irritation issues have cleared up. 14 hours later I am surprised how close this shave was. 10 more days or so and I will know if this razor is a keeper! Happy Friday Y'all!
The menthol and Eucalyptus in Noxzema is very pleasant, to those of us who enjoy them, and are not allergic to them. I have been using Noxzema for the last two months, and totally agree about how good a prep it is.
Day 21 of 30 30 DAY RULE with a Slim J2 Gillette Slim Adjustable Kroger Israeli Personna VDH Kit Badger TSD Lanolin Shave Stick - Barber Shoppe Scent Today's Great Cheap AS™ is AV Ice Sport! Back later with another report!
Today is the 24th shave of the 30 day shave challenge. Pep: Hot Shower, hair conditioner on beard, Noxzema once out of shower Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog Pruf Blade: GEM stainless Teflon coated (23rd shave) Cream: Body Shop Maca Root cream, with 6 drops of mbomb Aftershave: TSD witch hazel with Eyucalyptus, Body Shop maca root balm, and Old Spice current edition for the finale As I am on days off, it was a very relaxing shower and shave, and the 3 passes I did left me with a DFS+. I have no idea if I should replace the blade, but with good shaves like this, I will keep on, just to see how long I can go with this one blade. At this rate, the 20 pack I ordered from Connaught should last for years!
Day 19 Prep: None Brush: Van Der Hagen (the one from the premium kit) Soap: Van Der Hagen Luxury Blade: Hill Country (rebranded Personna) Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89 Post: Nivea, Old Spice Good shave but could be smoother. Also I'm not sure if I'll make it to the finish line with this soap since I have to pick some more up. I know if I see something else I'll be really tempted to pick it up, maybe I can withhold for 11 more days. Also for some reason I have an itch to get bay rum even though I've never smelt it before.
[quote="txskimo, post: 779502, member: 13480"<...>Also for some reason I have an itch to get bay rum even though I've never smelt it before.[/quote] Uh-oh... That is a very slippery slope! There are more types of bay rum than there are grades of badger hair! I really like bay rum scents, but not everything labelled rum is what I htink bay rum should smell like. I was going to post some thoughts, but you may be better served by searching the TSD archives. Make sure you have some time on your hands. We like to yak it up over bay rum fer dang sure!
Uh-oh... That is a very slippery slope! There are more types of bay rum than there are grades of badger hair! I really like bay rum scents, but not everything labelled rum is what I htink bay rum should smell like. I was going to post some thoughts, but you may be better served by searching the TSD archives. Make sure you have some time on your hands. We like to yak it up over bay rum fer dang sure![/quote] How does it compare to Old Spice in your opinion?
Day 23 - BSG ATT S1 Kronos Rapira PL Plisson Proraso white pre Cade soap & balm 3 pass BBS. No weepers or irritation. Added some proraso pre to the mix as I was missing menthol.
If I tried graphing all aftershaves with cartesian coordinates, I suppose Old Spice and the various bay rums would be in the same quadrant. However, I don't think their points would be real close together. Hmm... how 'bout this... It's difficult to compare an apple, to a banana, to an orange, right? If I had to choose just one, I guess it would be the banana. However, they might be in the same quadrant if the other quadrants were crispy bacon, pizza, and beer. There are days when I splash on the Old Spice (love it, even though the Shulton formula was better!). There are days when I go for Pinaud's Virgin Island Bay Rum. Other days would be the Ogalalla Bay Rum (I'm currently out). I have some pimenta racemosa (the original "bay rum plant") essential oil and do not care for the scent by itself. However, I intend to combine it with some other scents for my own take on bay rum and expect it to be great. All things considered, I guess I would suggest starting with Pinaud or Ogalalla. I didn't care for Tiger. I liked Masters at first, but it has lost much of its appeal to me. There are a lot I still want to try. ... <sigh> ... stupid ASAD...
You didn't fail. You learned a lot in those 22 days. My advice going forward is this. Only change one piece of your shave out at a time, so you get a new soap and razor, don't use both on the very first shave, this way if something goes awry you'll be able to pinpoint the culprit. Now head over to the SOTD I'm waiting for you
SOTD January 24, 2015 Prep: Hot shower. Axe Shield Face Wash Razor: RazoRock Stealth Slant Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux Brush: L'Occitane Plisson Lather: Maggards Chai Tea Post: Alum.Thayers Lavender WH. Aftershave: Clubman Vanilla My first shave with a Maggard soap, very easy to lather, slick and cushion-y. Go out and get it!
1/24/15 - BSG - RESET Day 19 Prep - Hot Shower, towel soak Brush - Omega 48 Soap - Proraso Green Razor - '46/'47 Aristocrat Blade - Voskhod (1) Post - RazoRock Alum Stick & Proraso Another good shave. Three passes just because I didn't want to stop. Two had me at DFS, the third didn't quite catch the baby but close enough for a Saturday. It's a mind warping menthol kind of day!
January 24, 2015 On day 23, I used my Mongoose loaded with a Feather Pro blade (day 6) and my Kent BK4 brush. All of the shaves this week have been great, but I changed up my soap (sssshhhhhh...don't tell Bama Samurai ). During the journey, I have exhausted my supply of Mike's Natural Soap and Mitchell's Wool Fat. I threw the remnants of these soaps into my container of Stirling Naked and Smooth Soap. I also added a sample of Queen Charlotte Soap and smidge of glycerin to make things interesting. I named this proprietary blend of shaving soap "Queen Mike's Smooth Fat." I'm sure you'll let me know if you can think of a better name. All kidding aside, I had one of the best lathers and shaves with the Mongoose I've ever experienced. The lather was extremely slick and protective, and it felt great afterwards. This experience makes me want to experiment with different soap combinations. As usual, I finished with alum (very little bite this morning), Thayer's Lavender, and unrefined shea butter. To make things even better, my Bride approved of the end result. We awoke to a beautiful sunny day with a bit of snow here in Kentucky. I enjoyed some classical music and had a very relaxed shave. I hope you all have a restful and blessed day.
Day 24 of the 30 day rule for me, and all is going well now. Razor: Merkur 45 Blade: Derby Extra (1) Soap: VDH Deluxe Brush: Omega 10049 boar AS: Thayers Witch Hazel w/Aloe Warm shower and face wash with Ivory bar soap on a super soft wash cloth. Lather building on the face today, left the bowl sitting on the shelf. A lighter and slightly thinner lather works best with this super light-weight razor. I've learned how to load plenty of soap, but keep it pretty wet at the same time. Face lathering takes a bit longer for me than using the bowl, but that's ok because the womenfolk went to see about buying some bottle calves, and I've got the run of the place. I normally don't listen to music while shaving, but this morning is different. I've got practice enough with this rig now, and I'm confident that a bit of Vivaldi on my radio in the bedroom isn't going to hurt anything. I'm nearing BBS with this setup now, and I must say I'm quite pleased with all my choices. I found that once I got the hold angle figured out, (which is quite different from most of my other DE's) the razor is quite good at trimming my moustache, and cleaning up around it too. It's something like that sports car that has no power steering or brakes. You are in charge, and the results you get are directly proportional to the care you take when using it. If you've not tried a really lightweight razor and you are thinking about it, this one will likely fit the bill. It can be had from some vendors for just a bit over 20 USD, which isn't inexpensive really, but with a bit of care, I can see it lasting a good many years. I've really come to a finer appreciation of the 10049 brush too. Many think the Omega pro series brushes overly large and a bit sloppy, but I don't find that to be so. I really like the 49, and while it is not quite as soft as my 10048, it is an excellent brush and I can't see myself without one. Happy Shaving Everybody!!
1/24/2015 30 Day - Shave # 24 Prep - Hot Shower Razor - Mongoose Satin B2 Blade - Kai Mild (6) Brush - Rubberset 400 with WSP HMW Lather - Soap Commander Confidence Post - Witch Hazel and Clubman AS I love weekends! Took the time for a full 3 pass shave this morning and caught the baby. Seriously this might have been my best shave ever not just the best with the Goose. Have a great weekend.
Day 20 Prep: Noxzema Brush: Van Der Hagen (the one from the premium kit) Soap: Van Der Hagen Luxury Blade: Hill Country (rebranded Personna) Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89 Post: Nivea, Old Spice First time using Noxzema and can't really tell a difference at this point but I'll keep using it and see where it goes. As for everything else it's the same old story. Decent shave minus a mole on the back of my head I nick from time to time. A few spots that could use another pass or two back there but I didn't want to press my luck and ending up nicking myself more.