JUNE 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Day 15 - 16 May 2015

30 Day Rule Focus with a Cadet OC!


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Put in a fresh blade and decided to try something new today. I used Williams as if it were a shave stick...and it was the best lather and best skinfeel yet. If you bowl lathered Williams before and were disappointed, try it and "rub the puck on your face" (h/t @CyanideMetal ). You may be surprised!

I went the standard 2 pass for DFS. I have really gotten the hang of this OC razor, and wow does it shave close! I didn't actually use the balm today, I changed the plan after I snapped the photo. Kept in simple on the finish, just a little alum and back to one of my faves--The Veg. Smooth, clean and fresh as a Hungarian Cavalry Officer in Napoleon's time. After decanting the Veg a while back, I love it even more now. Other than that...still raining in Colorado!

Have a great Wednesday!
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Missed this one!
Cool man, Gimme some sunshine, band!

 

I have been mostly absent this last few days, but have been shaving, and keeping notes (insert wifely eye role here) I have had four shaves with the Personna Lab Blue blade, in my Canadian Fat handled Tech (1932 type, made in 1951) I have felt the shaves to be DFS - BBS. What I have noticed is that the face feels smoother longer. Tonight, for example, I finished my shave at about 4 PM, and here it is 3 AM and the face is mostly smooth. That is really great. The shave doesn't feel any closer, and there isn't any extra irritation, but the face feels smoother longer.

 

06/17/2015
Razor – ATT R2 with Triad Helix SS
Blade – Feather (1)
Brush – Rudy Vey with Shavemac Finest
Lather – MdC
Post - Witch Hazel & Myrsol Agua Balsamica Sample



Great 3 pass near BBS work morning shave. About the best I can do during the week. The MdC whipped up a great lather and paired well with the Myrsol Balsamica.

 

Great looking picture and razor.

 

Thank you for the kind words sir. The razor head is on loan from my best friend, Wade. This way I get to try it out without spending the money.

 

Day #1 of 5; 30-Days of June
First of five consecutive shaves using the Dubl Duck Goldedge, a traditionally-shaped 5/8" 3-pin scaled razor. The DD has always been one of my favorites as it is not only a well-designed, visually gorgeous razor, but it also is one of the smoothest-feeling razors I've ever used. I don't think I've ever had a less than stellar shave using the Duck, and this morning's was no exception. A noisy three-pass shave with some touch-up resulted in a near-BBS shave.

 

June 17, 2015

30 Day RULE - “Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse….”

Morning Hot Shower
Prep: Pre-Shave Oil - The Art of Shaving
Soap: Arko
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword Stainless (India)
After Shave: Proraso Aftershave Splash Green

2-pass shave, WTG/ATG. For the rest of the month I'll be working this same 2-pass process to turn each stroke into an established routine. (muscle memory)


Without touch-ups - a very satisfying shave.

With touch-ups - I'm chasing it.....

Cheers!
RT

 

This is exactly what I've been thinking about my shaves lately! All through the day I'm grading the closeness of the shave and as much as anything else, that's a distinct difference from when I used carts. And it's really just arrived the past few days as I've focused on technique this month. Almost as rewarding... come the time for the next shave and the realization that it is extremely well set up due to the shave the day before.

Cheers!
- RT

 

June 17 - No Shave for me - one day
After a full couple of weeks of everyday shaving, my face needed a rest. Plus I celebrated the Warriors NBA championship too much last night!

 

June Open Comb Focus
Day 12

Prep: Coconut oil, hot shower
Razor: Gillette New SC
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: Omega 10083 Boar Brush
Super Lather: Proraso Red Soap/TOBS Sandalwood Shave Cream
Post: Cold rinse, Alum, Witch hazel, TSD Sandalwood AS Milk

Great overall scents today.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to shave everyday anymore. My skin is sending me all sorts of signals.

 

June 17th, SOTD (Shave 10 of this focus)
Two days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade & Butcher 5/8 with rough wood scales
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel Horsehide/ Linen (20 on linen, 50 on leather)
Soap: Jabonman Lima-Incienso (Menthol)
Brush: Eveready 100T re-knotted with 22mm TGN Synthetic
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman with M-Bomb

For today’s shave, I used a soap that was a gift from @rakkasan2187 that came along with a razor trade. I hadn’t heard of it, but apparently it is a handmade soap from a Spanish artisan. It smelled awesome, easily whipped up a great lather, and to my surprise, was menthol. I will be enjoying the rest of this soap. It’s good stuff.


Did a two pass shave, and had a mostly DFS. Lathered my neck for touch up, and think I finally figured out how to hold the razor to get most of my trouble spots. Left hand, shaving the right side of the neck, tip of razor pointing down, looking through my arm. Got the angle a little off, but managed to get the damn whiskers!! Whoo hoo! Not going to call it a BBS, but so close I can taste it! Was a little nervous holding the blade this way, it feels like playing twister, except if you fall you are holding a very sharp object at a point that will bleed a lot.


Overall, great shave, DFS plus. Added some menthol to the Clubman for a nice finish. Its 8 hours past the shave now, and my face is still smooth.

 

Sounds more like describing a game of Twister...
Directionally, are you pulling or pushing the blade in a downward stroke? I'm trying to picture in my mind's eye what you are describing, but regrettably, all I see is this guy
...who is definitely NOT looking through his arm....

The Bottom Line: No matter how you achieve it or want manner of strokes you use, getting a smooth shave sans blood is a good thing!

 

The hair has a grain where ATG is from the right side of my face to the left, but slanted down. If I try and get it from below, I can never quite get the ATG pass. With DEs, this spot is easy, start near the base of the neck and angle up towards the chin, mostly going from the right side to the left. I have been struggling with the straights to duplicate this pass.

 

June 17

MdC facial soap
Muhle R41 (2013)
Feather blade (day 3)
Omega Pro 98 boar brush
D.R. Harris Almond shave cream
Two passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Nivea Sensitive Post-Shave Balm

I was in a rush and skipped yesterday's shave. Today's shave was especially nice and close, particularly with this set up. I hope everyone's having a great week!

 

The SR Hokey Pokey...

 

Day 16 - 17 May 2015

30 Day Rule Focus with a Cadet OC!


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Day 2 on the blade...Yesterday's shave was so close I probably could have skipped this. However I went shave stick again with the Williams and did one XTG pass with a little chin touch up for DFS. I am actually amazed by how close this OC shaves. I am so glad I chose it for this month's rule, I feel like I have seen the full potential of this razor. It might even get to stay in my collection! Other than that...it's about to rain again in Colorado!

Have a Groovy Thursday!

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I'm traveling at a conference until June 23, but that is not stopping me from enjoying learning more about shaving! I am still on a blade focus and liked what happened during my last 16 shaves. I used up a box of Big Ben Super Stainless. Decent shaves for not much more than 3 shaves per blade. I wrapped up this box with a head shave of about 6 days worth of stubble and the final use was just a but tuggy, but 2 passes got it done. I used the exact same set up for my face this week and everything was pretty decent. Tomorrow is a Nacet. Hope it works out.

Final verdict on the Big Ben - good shave every day, but beyond 3 uses, the blade loses effectiveness rapidly. YMMV.

 

First shave in almost a week if not a week exactly. I got my Genco back from @HolyRollah and what a difference. I couldn't necessarily tell a difference at first but I'll explain in just a minute. Started off with a nice hot shower then used a coconut oil sugar scrub my wife made. Now I don't believe this softens the whiskers or anything BUT as long as it's the last step in your shower routine it will leave your skin slick. I can't recall the name of the soap I used but it's something new my wife got me for fathers day and this stuff rocks! Easy to lather and it's slick itself as well not to mention the scent is amazing. Did a three pass shave and nothing to brag about as far as skin smoothness. There were little patches here and there but I'm still really new to straights since I haven't been shaving often so I was still happy with the results.

The part that really made my day was when I grabbed the alum. Every time I've used it, it lights me up pretty good unless I used a DE. The alum was completely silent! I've gotten to alum to bite even when I've had worse results in terms of a close shave. Extremely happy with the newly honed razor and I hope I don't mess it up on the strop and can continue these results and move forward.

 

I was going to wait for Friday for my next straight razor shave but finally I have a western grind kamisori. So today I took my new Rasurpur 6/8 western grind 1/4 hollow carbon steel kamisori for it's maiden shave. I really like the handle and not having the scales, it feels easier to adjust the angle and definitely easier to see what I am doing in the mirror.

3 passes and a touch up, very light irritation and almost to DFS. This is 2nd best ever SR shave. Since this is the first shave with this razor it should only get better. Very light irrigation and no blood!

Proraso pre-shave
QCS Cubano Breeze
Whitehead Scuttle - today was a hot lather shave
Kent BK8
Rasurpur western grind kamisori
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Homemade vodka menthol AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Cuba EDT