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

Shave #6 30 day focus thread
6/27/15

shaver = dovo Astrale 5/8
Soap = Williams
Brush = VDH = Boar
PSO = basil~lime
witch hazel
AS = Himalayan bay rum
ASG = AOS sandalwood

The more I use this razor the more I like it. The shaves are getting much smoother with a BBS/DFS with DE clean up which is been much less the more I use the Dovo. It was a non eventful shave.
Keen blades & smooth shaves Gents !

June 28

MdC facial soap
Muhle R41 (2013)
Feather blade (day 1)
RV Shavemac two-band silvertip brush
D.R. Harris Almond shave cream
Two passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Nivea Sensitive Post-Shave Balm

This has been my set up all month, and the shaves have been great. No doubt, the R41 is the best performing DE in my rotation. Two passes always provides a near BBS shave for me. I switched from my Omega Pro 98 to the Shavemac two-band brush this weekend. These brushes perform quite differently, yet I enjoy using both of them. The Omega wins for value, and the Shavemac wins for luxury. I have a Semogue 830 and an Edwin Jagger synthetic on the way, thanks to you bunch of enablers .

I spent some time yesterday cleaning up a group of Gillette Fatboys, Slims, and Super Speeds for myself and a couple of buddies. I plan to use a birth quarter FB and a birth quarter Slim in July as part of my introduction into vintage wet shaving. Both razors feel really good in the hand, and I look forward to seeing if they can match the R41 in shaving performance.

Have a great week!

There's been much discussion around different blades this month. I want to share a couple of mental images I have when certain brands are mentioned. For the life of me, I'm not sure why this is happening. I'm sure my friends here will enlighten me.

Voskhod



Feather

In my salad days I had a greater appreciation for the efficiency and connection I was able to cultivate with the former, while the latter proved to be much more testy and temperamental for the price.

However, as they say, YMMV.

Cheers!
RT

Razor: Gillette Red Tip
Blade: Gillette, Platinum (4)
Brush: Omega Boar
Soap: Les CocoNuts (test)
Bowl: Wife bought it for me in Montreal. $4.95
A/S: Osage Rub
Day 28
Been away for a few days visiting one of my sons and his family. My daughter-in-law has a company that makes products from coconut oil. She gave this shave soap to test as she is introducing a men's line of product in the Fall. While in Montreal my wife bought me an Omega Boar brush, therefore, instead of going back to my beloved badger brushes in July's focus I will be using this new boar brush. "Discretion being the better part of Valor". Anyway I had a DFS tonight.
I did buy her earring's.

Great picture. Love the bottle with the cork.

Thanks.
That bottle is half-empty so its getting close to the time to make another batch!

Do you sell this A/S?

Only if I wish to get in trouble with the ATF for shipping alcohol between state lines.
Easy enough to make it at home:
My Bay Rum

You should read the law. It has to do with the percentage of alcohol. 40% you are in trouble, 20% you are not. I get A/S shipped to me all the time.

My understanding it is illegal to manufacture for resale aftershaves made with rum, vodka, etc. The ATF is very touchy about resale on distilled alcohol use and the distribution thererof.
Most commercial aftershaves are made from denatured alcohol-i.e. non-drinkable.

You would know best.