JUNE 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

June 27th, SOTD (Shave 18 of this focus)
One days’ growth
Prep: Hot Water Splash and Homemade Pre-Shave Oil
Razor: W.R. Case & Sons “Registered No 023” 1905-1914
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel Horsehide/ Linen (Post Shave Only)
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: Clubman with Menthol added

I was going to shave this morning, but I checked a tracking number, and it said my razors from @HolyRollah would be delivered today. The razors look even better in person! Ended up settling on the Case razor, because it was one I didn’t think would be able to be saved.

Used water and homemade preshave oil for a no shower prep. Lather was excellent, I made it very thick and dry for the first pass, to get the oil off my face. Razor was very keen and smooth. N/S pass was almost DFS by itself. Second pass, I added more water to the lather, and went S/N. This razor feels longer than some of my others, but was a breeze to shave with. One cut where I set it down too hard reminded me that it is very sharp. Did some touch up on my neck for a great shave. Mostly BBS, with a few trouble spots, so we will call it DFS. The wood scales are beautiful. First shave with an American Razor, and I loved it!

Looking at using these three razors for my focus next month, and maybe trying to limit the rest of my stuff to American made as well.

 

Adam, that is great. You guys have come so far in just a couple of months. Of course have the masters get your tools in top working order doesn't hurt either.

 

I've been thinking of my July Focus. After spending a month with DE razors, I am ready to go back to SE Razors, consisting of my Mongoose and a couple of GEM razors that I received as a PIF. Keeping with that same theme, I will use only shave soaps I received as PIFs as well.

 

Glad you enjoyed your initial run! That Case had (has) developed some severe hone wear over the years & also developed a frown. The frown is gone and surprisingly the razor took a nice even bevel and keen edge. This goes to show you that even razors that look too far gone can sometimes be redeemed and still be good shavers. Of the bunch, the Green Lizard was the tricky one with that funky striated thin blade….

 

I am switching up the plan...I am declaring Williams to be done. I have a couple of soaps I want to try before blade trials in July. Will be using a new Derby and a new soap later to see how Derby reacts to 2 more soaps before I close the books on June. Williams was great and all...

 

30 Day Focus with Cadet OC!


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New Blade today in order to try La Toja Shave Stick. I switched to the Plisson and lathered in shave stick fashion. One good coating and a wet brush made enough lather for the usual 2 pass smoothness plus a little touch up on the chin, all with plenty of lather to spare. Good skinfeel 30 min post shave. Finished with alum and FW. Hot, sunny and super dry, other than...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a Great Sunday!

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Every element besides brush in July is forum PIF stuff for me. I like that theme!

 

How would you describe the scent of La Toja?

Good minds think alike.

 

Maybe I am nuts here, but rosewater is what came to mind. Slightly citrus too. Not strongly scented though.

 

Thanks sound like I would like it. I need to finish up some of what I have first.

 

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!!
June 27, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Vie Long 12750
Soap - Tabac
Razor - '55 Gillette Superspeed
Blade - (3)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

The final contender from the World is up today and ready to go. The American Personna Lab Blue takes the field to try and defeat the Greek Bic for the honor of going against the Russian finalist. I even got up a bit earlier than normal even for a Saturday to make sure I had plenty of time and focus to make it an even match. Had a couple of cups of coffee and headed for the shower. Whipped up another excellent lather with the Horse and Tabac and had a nice slick base. This is gonna be good!

First pass. Still sharp. Like the Bic, this blade seems to age well with sharpness. However - there is a hint of drag. Nothing major by far, just a light drag that isn't quite enough to cost smoothness points. However, what will the irritation be? Second pass, XTG as always on face and neck. Still just a hint of drag but it cut well. Rinsed and lathered the neck for the cleanup. Picked up the razor and.........wait.......that spot on my left neck.......red.........uhoh......yep boys and girls we have a nick that showed up on the second pass. Went ahead with another XTG but skipped the G-slide as I had DFS after the XTG on the neck only. Well, there it is....the final horn sounds and the round is over. Now to check the scoreboard.

Sharpness - Still have to give it a 1. Performed as well as it did the first time when it comes to how sharp it is. The light drag may indicate sharpness is fading but not much. I hit the alum after the shave and there was a burn but it didn't last except on the one nick. I'm going to say a 1 as it all faded before it was time to rinse. The result? DFS for the 2. That's 4 so far. Now, to the smoothness and drag issue. I was prepared to stay at a 1 for smoothness since the result hadn't changed from previous shaves but......it did nick me. Technique was solid, the blade simply failed on that one spot. I'm adding that to smoothness so that is a 2.

Total - 6

By the slightest of margins, mainly a little blood, the Personna dropped the ball and lets the Bic slip ahead. Yes, you got it...the winner of the World round is...........

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My reaction to the Bic winning its division? I'm not totally shocked or surprised, but I hadn't picked it out of the lineup to win. Based on pairings I expected it to beat the Super Max SP, which it did, and thought it would go against the Kai and likely lose there. Instead, the Kai lost against the Super Max SP which was then defeated by the Bic as it made its way to the win! My pick for the world division? I thought the Kai and Feather would meet and the Kai would win based on my previous uses. Shows how much I really know, eh?

Tomorrow we return to the vaunted Russian division. It's Voskhod up first, followed by the Ladas (a crowd favorite) on Monday to determine the Russian finalist. I know many of you suspect the Voskhod is an easy winner based on my personal bias but just like the rest of the shaves I'm going to judge based on what I get on each shave. I'm actually eager to see how these two blades fair on their 3rd shave against each other. They are both favorites of mine. Hope you all had a good Saturday and I'll see you tomorrow from Russia!

 

An All-American artisan shave for Sunday.

To follow my German theme yesterday I decided to honour my motherland and go as American as possible. The main character being William's Purist kamisori. The French point seems to be the biggest challenge for me. I did 3 passes and some clean up, on the positive side very little irritation. On the negative two small nicks, one above my lip and the second I caught my ear with the French tip. The frustrating, I am still just short of a DFS. This month I have been able to greatly reduce the irritation when I use a straight and I am getting closer shaves but no where near where I want to be nor what I can achieve with a DE.

Homemade Pre Shave
QCS Iced Key Lime cream
Rudy Vey Bog Oak brush with a xxx D02 silver tip (xxx censored since was not made in the USA)
Robert William Purist kamisori
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Homemade AS
QCS ASB
Sonoma Scents Studio Tabac Aurea

 

Beautiful razor!
...and those french-point razors can get-cha if you're not attentive!

 

30 DAY RAZOR AND COLD WATER FOCUS



PRE: MUSGO REAL ORANGE AMBER
RAZOR: MAGGARD 18C
BLADE: BIG BEN (3RD USE)
BRUSH: OMEGA S SYNTHETIC
SOAP: KELL'S ORIGINAL ENERGY
POST: REEF POINT ADMIRILTY BALM
SCENT: STEPHANS ISLAND LIME MENTHOLATED

Had a great BBS 3 pass shave. The cold water shaves have been second nature at this point. I haven't used Kell's in a while and I forgot how good of a soap it really is. The Reef Point balm is a part of the shave I look forward to, great scent and very moisturizing. 2 thumbs up! hope everyone had a great shave!

 

Open Comb Focus
Day 17

Prep: Hot shower
Razor: Gillette New SC
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: Omega 10083 Boar Brush
Lather: Proraso Green
Post: Cold rinse, Alum, Witch hazel

This was a much needed shave after a busy week.

Did 3 passes and ended up with a BBS. No nicks, cuts or irritation.

 

06/28/2015
Razor – Gillette Old Type with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Voskhod (2)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega Boar
Lather – Tiki Cabernet Neroli
Post - Witch Hazel & Fine L’Orange Noir



Good shave this morning. I am finding this razor very mild, perhaps to mild. I find myself having to work to hard to achieve the results I want. I will change up the blade tomorrow and see if that improves things. Finished off with Fine L'Orange Noir and I am for a motorcycle ride in the North GA mountains.

 

And even sometimes when you are attentive. The razor is beautiful but scary so I pay very close attention.

 

30-Day Focus in June
Closing out the month of June, I decided take the last three days of this month and use the top three razors from the eleven I've used over the past two months.
This wasn't an easy choice to narrow it down to simply three as I've had many terrific shaves from a variety of razors. However, there were those razors that simply stood out from the rest by exceeding my expectations of what a great straight razor shaving experience ought to be. One that immediately came to mind was the recent C-MON 'Cadillac' I was using the past five days. It delivered simply brilliant results every morning with ease.

As I have mentioned in previous postings, one of the most invaluable aspects of this "30-Day Focus' has been the consecutive day use of razors which has allowed me to define which of my razors are those that have earned a place in a daily rotation. Those that may have fallen short will be relegated to the drawer, or better yet, sold off. This is not to say that anything was wrong with these razors—I don't believe I have had a bad shave from any of the eleven I've used, but the competition was stiff and certain razors just stood out above the others. Still, the hardest part for me remains in determining which of them must go.

Aside from the aforementioned Cadillac razor, another of my top razors from the May/June Focus was the J. A. Henckels 'Friodur.'
This one completely surprised me as prior to the Focus, I had only one shave—rather unremarkable —with it. The more I used it however, the more I enjoyed the extremely smooth, keen edge of the large blade. This one stood out for its sheer comfort in its' shaving ability. Extremely close shaves with no irritation. An outstanding razor.

 

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!!
June 28, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89L
Blade - (3)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

The final matchup to determine which Russian goes against the Bic! The mighty Voskhod is up for its third round today....facing off with its Mostochlegmash cousin the Ladas. It's Teflon vs. Stainless in this matchup and the teflon blade goes first.

The setup for these two is the EJ DE89l with the Omega Pro 48 Boar and MWF. It's one of the best combinations I've found and this was a great shave. The tall loft 48 really got into the MWF after a short soak and produced gallons of lather. Serious, thick, rich, slick, wonderful, cushiony.....I'm running out of adjectives to describe it. MWF has taken over my number one soap spot during this month no matter which blade wins!

First pass.....the Voskhod proves its durability with a sharp edge and a smooth pass. Again, this blade is known for improving as it goes through the first two or three shaves and this one is true to form. Second pass, XTG and again smooth, sharp and effective. Left with the neck to finish up and BBS is within range. Changed technique just a bit.....instead of an XTG on the neck I went total Gillette Slide...on a sharp angle. Sharper than any I have tried before, well successfully anyway. The Fat provided all the slickness I needed and I finished with a quick ATG under the chin....and it looked like the baby was rocking. Only one concern....even though the blade felt smooth and didn't produce any noticeable irritation....what would the alum find after that aggressive of a slide?

Scoring - Sharpness - 1. No doubt about that one. Smoothness - No issues at all. And, no nicks, cuts or anything even close. That's a 1. Irritation - Alum went on...I closed my eyes and felt.........virtually nothing. Even on the neck where I was so aggressive with the slide, nothing. That's a 1. Now, to that BBS finish. Felt my cheeks.....baby smooth. Sides of my neck? Incredibly smooth. Under my chin from the neck to the goatee? Seriously? Yep, not quite there. The baby came into the room, spit up on the carpet and left. Have to call it DFS due to that last area I went ATG. Just missed it. That's a 2.

Total - 5

So, the Voskhod stays consistent through all rounds. And sets up a real challenge for the Ladas. Place your bets and buy your favorite brand shirts....this one should go down to the wire!

 

June 28, 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) (1)
After Shave: Myrsol Agua Limon
After Shave Balm: Gingers Garden



Skipped shaving on Saturday. Excellent 3-pass shave today on the two-day growth. The extra growth allowed me to find a slightly different angle to the growth pattern on my jaw area. A slight adjustment to my XTG and ATG seemed to be a little easier and efficient. (maybe I need another 30-day Rule for this slightly different angle? maybe not. )

Cheers!
RT