May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Blade Focus Day 6:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
AOS Ocean Kelp
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Feather Blade
Stirling Unscented PSB
Florida Water AS

Last day on the Feather. I really enjoyed this blade. I provided three smooth, close shaves. I am looking forward to the next blade.

 

Good post , thanks...

 

DAY 5 of the 30-Day
Back to the ol' reliable Böker this morning after a one-day Sheffield venture. Light, fast, maneuverable…an ideal-sized razor for a quick three-pass shave early his morn. Only thing that really kept my speed-shave in check with the razor's square point. One small nick occurred as I was attempting to trim around the 'stache, which is where a square point really shines in reaching and 'manicuring' tight spots. As I was removing excess growth stubble on the upper lip, a sharp sting was evident that I had cleanly sliced a 1/16" line. It happens…...

 

05/6/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade –Feather Super Pro (10)
Brush –Rudy Vey with Shavemac Finest
Lather – TSD Signature
Post - Witch Hazel and Captain’s Choice Bay Rum



Another great near BBS 2 pass shave this morning. The TSD Signature is a very interesting take on Bay Rum that I really enjoyed. Again the lather was very slick with nice post shave feel. I did mess up the lather by having to much water in the brush at the start. I was able to salvage it by reloading the brush before the first pass. Just one of those days. Finished off with a splash of CC Bay Rum which paired nicely with the soap.

 

Voskhod is in my top three rotation with Wilkinson sword and yellow Gillette 7 o'clock.

 

Good to know that it's not just the newbies that nick themselves!

 

May 6th , SOTD (Shave 4 of this focus)
Two and a half days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade and Butcher 5/8 Square point (post 1890)
Strop: Chromexcel Horsehide- 20 laps on linen, 40 on leather
DE Razor: 1941 National Razor Company Bakelite Razor
DE Blade: Astra SP- Stropped 30 times per edge (3rd shave on blade)
Soap: Barrister & Mann's Fireside (Brandy scent)
Brush: Semoge Boar
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Aubrey Men’s Stock North Woods

My shaves are much better when I have at least two day’s growth. I used the straight for a N/S pass, including my chin, then did a S/N pass, but didn’t do the part of my chin where I have been cutting myself. I used skin stretching, and carefully went over my face with the straight, listening for the sound the full hollow makes when it is cutting. That sound is helping me figure out the angle needed. I wasn’t paying close enough attention and cut an inch and a half off my left sideburn again. My wife also commented that the bars on my horseshoe mustache are getting very thin. I think I might end up clean shaven if I don’t pay more attention. I used the National Bakelite razor to do a WTG and ATG on my chin between the bars on my mustache. My neck was actually in good enough shape that I didn’t touch it up. Overall, I would say DFS. If I had touched up my neck with the DE, it probably would have been BBS. Very little feedback with the alum bar, so the skin stretching and listening to the razor is helping.

 

The progress you have made over the last month or so is fantastic.

 

NOISEMAKERS: Audible feedback is helpful, at least to me, as it reinforces the a sense of purpose that I'm actually removing something. Full-hollows tend to 'sing' much louder than most other blades. I mentioned the 'silent killers' yesterday—those large wedge razors that yield absolutely NO sound as they shear off stubble. Razors such as this 1.0" wide Wade & Butcher full Wedge take some getting used to as they shear über-close with nary a sound emitted!


In contrast to the silent wedge above, this large-bladed 13/16" full-hollow Tortolani (Brooklyn, NY) razor was probably the LOUDEST razor I've ever used.
My wife actually asked "What are you doing in there?" due to the loud rasping noise the razor made....

 

Day 5 (late post for Tuesday)

30 Day Rule with a Schick!



Recycled the pic because this Schick blade feels like day one...it's amazing that in day five, I was able to get to near BBS on two passes. I did it by trying to shave precisely and by using skin stretching even more than before. Automatic!

Have a Happy Wednesday!
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Like @Drygulch since switching to TSR (with DE clean up) I need a 2nd day of growth to get a great shave.

May 6 - no shave
Razor prep work today
Straight: Started with Gemstar DFS Razor #214- blade AJ Jordan, 5/8, Double Hollow Grind, Spike point
After contacting Glenn, he thinks that some more stropping might return the edge before a rehone. So I'll paint my face up with some TSD Signature soap and get to stropping. Might do this while watching the semi-final game of the Champions league soccer game.

 

Brush Focus: Day 5
Brush: J. Peterman 1903 Silvertip Badger, Dark Brown Mock- Tortoise Shell Handle
Gillette Super Speed, 1947 Birth Razor.
Gillette Platinum Blade
Bowl: KO Shave
Soap: Jack's Soap
AS: The Shave Den Coconut
Old Spice Coffee Mug.

This brush looks good is a nice size, however, it doesn't perform well. Doesn't hold water like other Silvertips I have and has virtually no backbone at all. Paint only. At $89.00 dollars a pop you could spend your money more wisely. This one goes to the back of the bus. It does look good though. Day 6 for the for the Gillette Platinum Blade and it is holding up well. The Shave Den AS, coconut is one of my favorites.

 

Prep: Hot shower, facial scrub (although I really don't think it adds a benefit)
Razor: Genco Henry XX
Brush: Omega 48
Soap: Caties Bubbles LPV
Post: Pinuad Bay Rum

Today was a so-so shave. You know what, I'm going to be optimistic and call it a good shave. Although adding more water did make for a more comfortable ride the results from today weren't near as smooth. I think maybe it has to do with the feel of the razor changed as it glided instead of feeling like I have to push or pull it. Now that the razor is feeling easier to maneuver hopefully I can focus more on angle and pressure and tie all of this together. I'm in no rush this is a fun adventure even though I haven't had a bloodless shave yet lol.

 

Shave 7 of the 30 day brush focus/trial - Head Shave!

My wife commented yesterday that my scalp stubble had a little more "silver glow" than she'd noticed before, so I took that as a signal to pop in a mid-week head shave. I'm rotating through 5 brushes with Dusy Kabinett and seeing if I can learn anything about each brush. Today was the TGN synthetic knot in the Burma Shave handle I received from @MoAllen earlier this year. It is an amazing brush! I loaded the DK for about 15 seconds and then whipped up a slick and shiny lather in my bowl. I ended up with enough lather for 3 full scalp passes and could have done another if I'd needed it, but I didn't. The Merkur blade in my Weber was used for the 5th shave and shows no sign of slowing down. I could easily use this set-up every day for quite a while.

Prep: warm wash with Kirk's CocoCastile soap and Cornhusker's Lotion
Lather: Dusy Kabinett (perhaps the finest shave soap ever)
Brush: TGN Synthetic
Razor: Weber PH
Blade: Merkur Super (5)
Post: Clubman Classic Vanilla

 

Love the Futbol theme!

 

Not ideal results today on Barcelona but we have one more in Munich.

 

MAYhem & Mercy
May 6, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Tweezerman Badger
Soap - Williams (Finally.....something that lasted a bit)Mug Shaving Soap
Razor - Rapira
Blade - (2)
Post - Alum, Nivea Replenishing Post Shave Balm

Day two on the 7 a.m. and it was in the Rapira after yesterday's disaster with the Soyuz 1...although that is why I named it that....disaster. Better shave in the Rapira though far from great, at least during the process. One side of the blade is definitely sharper than the other. Only one minor nick with the duller side. The drag was still evident but better than yesterday, but I think the aggressiveness of the razor was overcompensating for the dullness and unevenness. Finished the shave with, surprisingly, a DFS though barely.

The Williams problem.....I let the puck soak a couple of minutes with hot water on it, shook the brush out to damp and went after it. Got a mountain of soap bubbles out of the Old Spice mug. If it had been dense it would have looked like foam from a can. Alas, no density. However, when I face lathered I got a thin lather that actually covered my face and lasted through each pass. It was slick enough to count as lather as well. I'll stay with that formula a few more days.....super wet puck, damp brush....and confirm the results. Then try to tweak it to a bit thicker lather. Maybe there is hope!

For tomorrow's final day on the 7 a.m. I'm going back to the Soyuz 1. I want to try and center the blade better. I think it's getting angled in the head due to the tightening process and it drags on the threads...if that makes sense. If I can get it loaded with an even gap, or as even as the Soyuz gets, I'm thinking I can improve the result. If it works with the Rapira it should, at least in theory, work in the Soyuz. We shall see.

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So today was a total departure from my May focus.... mostly because I picked this up from the Post Office, and just had to try it.
I have no idea just which Russian Slim this is, but I must say it looks great. It really is quite heavy, compared to my Tech, or SuperSpeeds, or Krona. I tried it with a Wilkinson Sword blade, set on 3. I tentatively took a pass, and found it to be a bit more aggressive than I have been used to, but a really nice shave! Two passes later, I ended up with a few weepers at the neck area, purely due to sloppiness on my part, and a DFS_ BBS shave. I really like it, and later, will see what adjusting the dial accomplishes. I also have a Black Beauty coming in soon, so it will be interesting to compare the two. DA, Comrade!

 

So excited to use the Wilkinson for my clean up from the straight this month. Get some great shave buddy!

 

Thanks. The Wilkinson Sword blade was my first DE blade, back in November, and I still refer back to it when I want to determine what I think of a new razor!