March 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

03/10 - Dialing in the Slim: DFS all around. Changed settings on the Slim half way through the second pass and it made a marked improvement. No irritation, weepers, or alum burn. Vie-Long provided another excellent lather with a cream. – still pretty stinky though.

• Growth: 1 day
• Prep: Shower; Corn Huskers Lotion
• Lather: Geo F. Trumper Violet
• Brush: Vie-Long 12705 Horse
• Razor: 1964 Gillette Slim (3,2/1,3 for touchup)
• Blade: Voshkod (3)
• Post: Alum; Musgo Real

 

I broke in one of those brushes for my February focus. It smells like a wet sweaty horse being bathed with medicated shampoo. When I didn't rinse the soap off the brush after shaving for about a week, it took care of the smell.

 

Glad you are coming along with the right hand!

 

No pic tonight. Too busy with the kids.

Weekday shaves are going well with the Cadet OC for the most part. I'm getting great shaves, but the blade is a "bit" more irritating with the abridged weeknight routine. Switched over to Mitchells Wool Fat and Stirling Coniferous A/S for some facial soothing...

I am hoping that the vintage Gillette OC is a touch less agressive. It may be my perfect shaver if it is.

 

Interesting. I'll lather it up and let it sit awhile. Thanks for the tip.

 

You won't be sorry....(I'll help with the Razor acquisition disorder) The schick injectors are a dream to shave with, and the SE GEM and Eveready razors are, in my opinion, the next best thing to straight razor shaving... and the feedback is amazing.

 

Sir, you are not the only one! I believe we all take our health, wealth, and happiness for granted......until......

 

Sorry for not posting for a few days...... life sometimes gets in the way. My dear wife is recovering from pneumonia, and things have been a bit hectic. On the other plus side, I have been having a great time learning to face lather with my WD silvertip (24mm, set in 10mm). So far, I am using the Nivea sensitive cream (about an almond sized dollop, along with about 5 drops of TSD m bomb. I take my presoaked WD, flick out the excess mositure, and pick up the cream from the palm of my hand, with the brush. The lather is smooth, refreshing, and to me, the right consistency and wetness. I also have much less cleanup, as I do not dirty a bowl. Of course, I am still using the March 24, 1914 patent lather catcher. I am VERY happy with the results I am getting. The second last shave I did, I used a carbon blade, for a change up, and enjoyed it as much as I do the Stainless PTFE. No bad shaves here for me!

 

March 30 Day Rule - late post for Tuesday shave.




Another good shave from a solid razor! Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

03/11/15
Prep – MR GLO
Razor – Gillette New Long Comb
Blade – Persona Lab Blue (1)
Brush – RV with TGN Finest
Lather – MdC
Post - Witch Hazel and Dove AS Balm



While I enjoyed the ATT S1 for a week, the S2 which is the open comb version was a big let down for me. Looking back over my notes, the worst shaves of the year were with the S2 and I only used it for 4 days. I am very happy that a friend let me try these razors out for a couple of weeks. Maybe next time, he will let me use some of his different handles which might have made a difference. I can say that the quality of the ATT razors are fantastic. Just so happens that I get along better with M2 and R2 heads.

So with that experience, I decided to move onto the next razor in this month's focus, the New Long Comb. Taking it easy today with a 2 pass shave with touch ups provided a fantastic work morning shave. I am amazed at how mild yet efficient this razor shaves. My plans are to finish out this week and all next with the New LC.

 

March 11, 2015

Pre- Face wash with warm water
Brush Soak- Sriracha Mug of Doom™
Razor- Ikon 102 Slant
Blade- Personna (2)
Soap- Dr Jon's Hydra
Brush- VDH boar
Post- Cold water rinse, Osma Alum block, Thayers Witchhazel
Aftershave- Captain's Choice Lime
Smell Good- Fine L'Orange Noir

Two and a half passes :WTG , XTG, cleanup

I'm in love with the scent of this soap. I'm a big fan of all the Dr. Jon's that I've tried except the Hex, but this is definitely one of my favorite smells.
Just fills the room with citrus. So I paired it with the CC Lime, because well, it's lime. Got some great lather from about 15 seconds of loading, and
about a minute and a half of hydrating and working the soap. Enough that I had a good bit leftover after the 2.5 pass shave.

Still using my left hand for the left side of my face. I'm getting much better with the control and getting the angles right on my jaw.

Thought of something for myself on remembering my grain patterns while I shave. I paint the lather directionally depending on which pass I'm doing.
Helps me out a lot when I just zone out while I shave, especially since my beard grows in so many directions. Simple, but it works for me.

Only had minimal burn from the Alum, which just tells me I getting
better with my technique.

 

March 30 Day Rule

Plan for 11 March


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New blade on tap for today...last blade went eleven shaves! Getting better by the day!

 

Very nice! Glad it is all coming together for you!

 

03/11 - Dialing in the Slim: Another comfortable DFS with no weepers or burn. I used setting 3 on the Slim for everything except ATG on the neck. It might just be dialed in now. Col. Conk may take a little extra time to lather up but the slickness seems to be second to none.

• Growth: 1 day
• Prep: Shower; Corn Huskers Lotion
• Lather: Col. Conk Amber
• Brush: Omega 49 Boar
• Razor: 1964 Gillette Slim (3,1/3,3 for touchup)
• Blade: Voshkod (4)
• Post: Alum; Captain’s Choice North - scent is better on the skin than in the bottle.

 

03/12/15
Prep – MR GLO
Razor – Gillette New Long Comb
Blade – Persona Lab Blue (2)
Brush – RV with Shavemac Finest
Lather – MdC
Post - Witch Hazel and Dove AS Balm



Fantastic 3 pass shave this morning. Not quite BBS but oh so close. I am reminded again with today's shave, how well the New LC works for me.

 

March Focus- Be modern, Learn to use my Feather Artist Club razor. Any touch ups with a modern DE.

March 12th, SOTD (Shave 7 of the focus)
One and a half day's growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor Start: Feather Artist Club SS non-folding with Pro-Guard Blade (4th shave on blade)
Razor Finish: Maggard MR6 Van Der Hagen/ Weishi
DE Blade: Sharp Durablade- Stropped 30 times per edge (2nd shave on blade)
Soap: Barrister and Mann Cedar, Lavendar, and Lime Tallow based soap, bowl lathered
Brush: Omega 1066 Boar
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Kyovu Original
So I shaved last night when I had a little more time. Used the Artist Club. This time I kept the angle steeper, rather than resting the back of the head on my face. I also did the left side of my face with my right hand, and the right side of my face with my left hand. Its kind of cool shaving with a hand that has no muscle memory of doing it. Very much have to pay attention. I did two passes with the Artist Club, WTG and XTG. Two nicks. I did an ATG pass with the VDH razor. It is almost to mild to really get a good shave with. Going to try a Feather blade with it, and see how it does. Overall, I would say CCS. The shave was actually pretty good after the Artist Club, but I wanted to try for better.

 

03/12 - Dialing in the Slim: Another great DFS today. I think I have the Slim dialed in now so I am going to send it out to get the blade gaps adjusted. Not a 30 day focus but a very valuable one.

• Growth: 1 day
• Prep: Shower
• Lather: Palmolive Stick
• Brush: Wolf Whiskers 24/50mm Silvertip
• Razor: 1964 Gillette Slim (3,3/1,3 for touchup)
• Blade: Voshkod (5)
• Post: Alum; The Veg

 

March 13 Plans

Stirling Sheep soap
Merkur 37C slant bar
Feather blade (day 1)
Omega 10098 boar (pic to follow up in upcoming SOTD posts)
Stirling Naked and Smooth soap
Two passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, & unrefined shea butter

This will be the maiden voyage of my Omega boar brush. It is already much softer (and obviously larger) than my Ever-Ready boar, but oh man was it F U N K Y out of the box. This must have been one wild boar! I've been soaking it, airing it out, and shooting it with gamma rays all week, and I believe it will be tame enough to use for tomorrow's shave. But just in case I'm wrong, I'm shaving before my shower.

Enjoy your Friday!

 

Tsk, tsk, tsk. I keep telling you not to let the AAA membership expire.

 

I did the same thing for my new Omega 10098. Works great!