June 22, 2015

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

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: Arko
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword Stainless (India) (2)
After Shave: Myrsol Agua Limon
After Shave Balm: Gingers Garden



Great 3-pass shave yesterday after a two-day growth, left me with an easy 2-pass today. I’m finding that by not chasing BBS, I’m focusing better on technique and being very content with shaves that are light years beyond past cart shaves, while I continue to hone sharp habits.

Cheers!
-RT

Day #2 of 5; 30-Days of June
Second shave with this C-MON. These vintage C-MONS remind me a good deal of the Bresnick Dubl Ducks. Similarly-designed German-made blade shape. I find these style of blades to be very easy to use as they have not only a smooth feel, but also provide good audible feedback. For newcomers to SR shaving, they are a good choice, particular if one can find a round-tipped model.

Nice work! I have also noticed that if I focus on "shaving well" rather than "BBS", the results are better!

Are you testing a prototype for a soap maker, or one of your creations?

Razor: Gillette Aristocrat, 1947, Birth Razor
Blade: Gillette, Platinum (4)
Brush: Semogue 1305 Boar Tri Colored Wood Handle.
Soap: KnockOut Shave Cool Blue
Mug: Soak my brush in the Old Spice coffee mug for about a minute.
A/S: Afta A/S & Sin Conditioner

Much better lather tonight with this soap. I'm using the same approach to each brush soap combination. DFS tonight.

I am seeing more and more KO Shave products. What is the scent profile of Cool Blue?

This puck has a classic cologne fragrance. Refreshing, spicy, lavender, amber, jasmine, musk, oak moss, and sandalwood.

Love the stamping in the strop - nice work Adam (@Drygulch)

Day 21 - 22 June 2015

30 Day Rule Focus with a Cadet OC!


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Day 7 on the blade, I forgot to change it...oops. However, the blade still delivered a more acceptable shave today. I used the shave stick method again and did the normal 2 pass routine. Much less irritation today, my angles must have been off yesterday. ISZ balm and Osage rounded this one out for a little Menthol Monday diversion. Maybe I will remember to change the blade tomorrow! Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a great Monday evening!
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June 20, 22 - Shave 15, 16
Prep: Hot shower, Aveeno 5:1 face wash
Brush: Omega 48
Preshave: Stirling Mentha Preshave oil
Soap: AoS Sandlewood Cream
Razor: 20th Gemstar Jordan 5/8 spike tip. 22nd Sears Craftsman Round tip - both 20 x linen strop 40 x leather strop
Strop: @Drygulch Modern Barber Strop 24"x3"
Growth: 20th 1 day, 22nd 2 days
Post: Cold water splash, Alum, Clubman AS, AoS - Sandlewood
Passes: 20th WTG, XTG, DE clean up pass. 22nd WTG, XTG, Clean up

This is going to cover two shaves as I was away from my computer for the weekend celebrating my birthday on the 20th and fathers day in the Bay Area (Pinole) with my family and this mornings shave.

First thoughts, my co-worker gave me AoS sandlewood cream and post shave balm - I wouldn't go out of my way in the past to buy any more sandlewood products since my last experience with TOBS was so obnoxious. I was pleasantly surprised by the mild scent of this cream. Not only did it produce a great lather easily but I - almost - enjoyed the scent.

20th first - Gemstar Jordan is a great shaver, honestly, I couldn't have asked for a finer 1st pass. I almost stopped there, but who am I kidding, all I wanted for my birthday was a bbs! So I chased the baby and was rewarded with my best straight shave ever. 2 passes wtg/xtg - de clean up pass. Whenever I get a new soap my 13 daughter has to approve of the scent and she approved with a big smile! I couldn't stop rubbing my face and neck all night. I think I've moved from novice to intermediate straight shaver after this shave. Still learning which ways to stretch my neck skin for 2 passes. But definitely getting better!

22nd next - Stropped up the craftsman, I think it's funny how I would never consider craftsman for anything other than garage tools, but back in the early 1900's I guess there were few options for manufacturing. It was an good shave - maybe it was the honing, but it doesn't seem to be as smooth of a shaver as any of the blades I've had @gssixgun hone up for me. But all that said, I was able to get a dfs from just two passes. Even used the straight for clean up - but that was because the point is round!

I got called out on my rad this weekend. So the duck will have to wait
Cheers,
Eric

Would like to see a photo of the craftsman. I have one too and it is a great shaver.

I got called out on my RAD too. I'm going to hold off on any purchases for a while.

Happy Birthday, Eric. I always enjoy your posts. You have made some tremendous progress over a relatively short period of time with your straight razor shaves!

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!!
June 22, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Tabac
Razor - '46/47 Superspeed
Blade - (2)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

Back to India for the first World bracket in the Elite Eight. The Vidyut Super-Max Platinum is up today and I am putting it and the Bic in the '46-'47 Superspeed I had replated by Chris at razorplate.com . I haven't used the razor since its return so it's time to give it a run. As with all SS's the early one is a mild razor and after the replate it really shines. This was the first vintage razor I bought and has a top spot in my collection. So, with the Pro 48 and Tabac providing an outstanding lather, let's get to work.

First pass was a bit strange. The blade remains as sharp as before but appears to be dragging quite a bit. So, maybe it isn't as sharp as before? It got a 2 last round. Or, is it the blade dragging or the razor itself? Stopped after one side to rinse the razor well, wipe it down and go again. It has been cleaned since it came back from plating, just not sure if that's it or if it's really the blade. It isn't tugging, but rather dragging....if that makes sense. Anyway, finished the first pass and had a decent result so maybe it's the lather? Tabac is normally more than slick enough. Maybe not MWF slick but close enough. Hmmmmmmm. Added water to the Tabac and focused on the lather for the second pass. Seems like maybe that was it. XTG for the second pass and.....yeah still that draggy feeling. Lather didn't seem to make a difference. Finished with a very nice DFS on the face, CCS on the neck. Third lather, even more water and wetter lather and......on the neck only.......still got that drag. The blade is cutting, it's not pulling or tugging, just getting bogged down a bit. XTG and G-slide for the DFS finish.

I'm a bit confused on scoring so I will preface this by saying.....I reserve the right to modify this score tomorrow depending on the Bic. Basically, if the same drag occurs with the Bic I am going to have to assume it's the razor or lather and adjust. If the drag is gone, we know it's the blade. So, here we go...........Sharpness - 2 because the passes were effective...however if the drag is only on this blade I may revise that score as that could explain it. Smoothness - 3....yes, due to the drag. If the drag occurs on the Bic, then this will get revised as well since I can't blame the blade. Irritation - 1......not much burn. Less than the last round so I'll improve it by one. Result - DFS for the 2.

Total - 8 This is actually 1 better than its round against the Kai. I fear this may be the end of the SM Platinum given the Bic's last round but we'll see. I've been surprised before in the tournament, I may be about to get another surprise now.

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Happy Birthday. I received the AOS Sandalwood cream and balm as a gift as well and you're correct. It's really a pretty good shaving cream.

Hey, happy birthday and Father's Day !

(but that's pretty cold, being called out on RAD on your big weekend.)

Oh well, look on the bright side...you can always join us for all the fun here!

Cheers!
- RT

We're getting down to the last week of the month....time FLIES in this thread. Anybody have next month lined out already? I'll be returning to the CJB as I work toward getting the kamisori ready to go. I'll throw in some DE shaves as well, probably centered around a particular setup for those days. Still working on that part of it. But the majority will be straight, straight, straight.

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Soap-maker proto. Good stuff, too!

I suppose that the next logical step for me after a 30-day Rule will be to test other blades that would work well for me in the fat handle Tech I'm learning on? Probably try a different blade each week.

(Maybe even a Russian?!!)

Be careful future comrade - shaving with Russian blades may give you happy Russian feet!