July 1, 2015
working on SR Focus

prep: warm facial scrub with soap rinse, apply AOS pre shave oil..lavender
Razor: Dovo Ebony Spike
Strop: VB LLC. Latigo 2"
Cream: AOS Sandalwood
Brush: Simpson Special Best Badger S1
Post: Witch Hazel, AOS Salnalwod balm, Clubman original

Made it to two complete passes with SR. No new Cuts. Cleaned up with DE R89.

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!! THE FINALS
July 1, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Razor - '59 Gillette Ball End Tech
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

In the tradition of other great sporting events like the NCAA tournament, who advertises March Madness and finishes in April, so goes the June World Tournament of Blades.....finishing in July but finishing nevertheless!

The final shave features the Voskhod. Yes, many of you predicted this based on my personal preference but I will say that I wasn't convinced it would be here, or that it would beat the final competitor. I have a number of favorite blades that I felt would be able to win this thing. More on that in a moment. On to the shave. :wave:

Pro 48 and MWF for the lather. A bit thinner today than I've been getting but still nice and effective. The new Voskhod was loaded and waiting and so the first pass began. Nice sharp feel as always, and smooth. I will say that a new Voskhod has a bit more feedback than some but it glided nicely through the lather and got a good first pass result. Lathered for the XTG and again no issues. Face finished DFS and the neck was left, which is pretty normal for me. Lathered and checked. No blood from the XTG pass like I got yesterday. Did another XTG on the neck then added G-slides as usual for the toughest areas. I'm feeling a slight tenderness which tells me the irritation may be up. Wrapped it up, rinsed, hit the alum and......let's score it.

The Bic scored a 7 due to the nick on my neck. I'm seeing no blood or other issues from the Voskhod. Sharpness - 1. No surprise there. Smoothness - 1. It felt good all around. Result - DFS - 2. Irritation - The alum was not quiet today. Clearly my neck is tired of the constant work with G-slides and some buffing. The burn equaled yesterday's level from the Bic so let's wait out the duration. I always count to 30 after putting the alum on. Yesterday the burn was gone at 25. Today.......counting.......counting.........and at 20 it fades, 21.......22.......23........24.........annnnnndddddd.....it's done at 25. Long enough to cost it a point, not long enough to add 2. So, the Irritation score is a 2.

Total - 6

And your champion blade of the World in 2015..............................




Am I surprised? Not totally but.....here is how I thought the brackets would break out. I thought Voskhod would win the first and second rounds then face the Sharp Star, which I thought would make it to the final four. Nope, Ladas beat Sharp Star so it set up the Voskhod/Ladas matchup. I honestly thought Sharp Star had a chance to win over the Voskhod, but it didn't make it there. On the world side I thought the Kai would make it to the final four and likely meet up with the Feather for an all Japan bracket. Nope, the Kai bombed in the first round as did the Feather....setting up the stage for the Bic, which is excellent, to take that bracket. Without the slight nick yesterday this would have been a tie between Voskhod and Bic.

Did I learn anything? Yep. I learned that razor/blade selection is important to a great shave and I discovered the Derby is a really nice blade, if not quite on the highest level. I also had a lot of fun!! Alright, enough of this foolishness....on to July and a 30 day Rule with the CJB (and the Gillette LC as the DE "relief" razor).

Wednesday
warm shower/cold water shave
Omega Mixed Midget
Alt Innsbruck PPE
Stirling Glastonbury mixed with 6 drops M-Bomb
Gillette Red Tip/Gillette 7 o'clock green Permasharp Stainless
cold water rinse
Monster Cube Alum
cold water rinse
Tend Skin
Levan Rose Beard Oil
Cheseled Face Cryogen ASL .........Most definitely colder than The Rub or Penguin, and just a tiny bit colder than the Glacials WH.
L'Artisan Parfumeur Patchouli Patch

Nice 2 pass face,1 for the dome,BBS all around!

Stay frosty,my friends!

Welcome to the SOTD. I like the brush.

Odin's Day:

Prep: Hot shower, Neutrogena Invigorating Face Wash, TSD Jasmine Sambac preshave balm
Brush: Simpsons 56 Best Badger
Soap: Ginger's Garden Oakmoss
Razor: Merkur 41c 1904 OC
Blade: Bic (1)
Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG (1, 2, 3)
Post: Cold water splash, Bloc Osma alum, Dickinson's WH, Pinaud Clubman AS splash
Cologne: Forest Aoud by Montale

Call today a reset day, before moving on to a 30 day RazoRock focus. I loaded up the 41c today, in deference to @Herm2502's call for it yesterday. I was immediately struck by how much thicker a cushion I got from the Ginger's Garden than from either Stirling puck, not to mention how much less work I had to do to produce good lather. The lather was so good, and the shave so enjoyable, in fact, that I went against my better judgment and did an ATG pass on a new blade, which, predictably, got me a couple of weepers on my upper lip, along with nearly BBS results.

WEDNESDAY
First shave of July; opted to go to the UK for the majority of my morning's gear. Three very smooth passes = DFS!
I applied some recently-made aftershave 'shea butter' balm which left my skin feeling rather nice!
Have a great hump day, all!

1 July 2015

* Wolfman WR1-SB + UFO Colibri SS
* Super Iridium
* WSP Manchurian + Oscar11 All-Amber C7
* Mystic Water White Tea & Ginger
* Unrefined Shea Butter
* Bergamot/Vetiver EO



​

Outstanding! Thank you for doing this comprehensive project! Congrats Voskhod!

1Jul15

Awesomeness!

I've been using the Barbershop soap that came in a mug I got in an antique store. Excellent soap. The lather just seems to grow the longer it sits. I end up with too much lather by the end of my shave. I had no irritation or nicks today. Usually Brut is my worst for stinging no matter how good my shave is but today was barely any stinging at all! And a DFS it is.

EJ DE89
Astra SS(2)
VDH badger
Barbershop soap
Brut

7/1/2015 first day of my NBJ shave kit.

Have not used the Gillette Ball End Tech in forever. I will give it another three shaves to really appreciate it.



The Tabac soap can make any razor-blade combination better.

Dave

I have just got some of the ingredients for making my own post stuff (balm and or moisturizer and or splash) including shea butter, jojoba, a few essential oils, and I am waiting for witch hazel and aloe, amongst other things. How do you make yours with shea (if you don't mind me asking)?

Wednesday Shave

Pre: Shower
Razor: Gillette Fat Handle Tech
Brush: Whipped Dog
Blade: Voskhod
Cream: Arko for Men
After: Clubman Pinaud

A terrible shave. Razor burn, 2 weepers. This was the final run with me using this cream and now I know, it's gotta go. Not a fan. Arko soap may be good, but Arko cream most definitely is not.

From memory: Render 16oz of pure unrefined shea butter over a double-boiler (very low heat) until liquid; pour shea into mixing bowl. Add 1-2 ounces each of jojoba oil ,almond oil, apricot kernel oil, + some drops of Vitamin E. Add a dozen drops (or more) of essential fragrance oils. Whip with electric hand mixer over a bowl of ice until the content resembles slightly runny frosting; pour into jars and cap. Don't wait too long to pour otherwise the mix will set up.

SOTD:

iKon OC w/Bulldog Handle
Voshkod (1)
Shavemac Americana
TOBS St. James
Thayer's Rose witch hazel
Floid Blue

I also found Clubman hair gel today!

Omega Pro 49 / Brion shaving cream / Feather / Gillette SuperSpeed Q1.1954 / Feather / Skat AS

My SuperSpeeds are all good performers. I think it is technique mostly.

"As a rule it is best to screw the blade down to the guards tight, but for a close shave, turn the handle about 1/8 of a revolution to the left and raise the blade from the guards."

" To shave with "The Gillette", it is the simplest kind of act. All that need be observed is to shave at the proper angle. This is easily determined at the first trail; if it scrapes or pulls then you know that the cutting position is not correct. Shave as you would with the same slant as you would with an ordinary razor, at an angle of 45 to 60 degrees. In other words have the blade almost flat with your cheek with just enough angle let the edge get an easy hold on the beard. Try it over a few times. When it shaves so easy the touch is scarcely felt then you know that is the right angle."
From the book: The Complete Gillette Collector's Handbook.

Today's continuation of my exploration of blades I will be doing during July as what I call the Pre-30-Day-Rule period.

Today's Shave:

Prep: Hot towel several times after a good scrub with an unlabeled facial cleanser.
Brush: VDH Boar that came with the Deluxe Kit
Soap: Stirling Lemon Chill (LOVE the menthol!)
Razor: Lord LP1882L aka L6
Blade: Astra SP
Passes: WTG, XTG, touch up
Post: Cold water splash, Old Spice AS

The Stirling Lemon Chill did its job of providing a nice smooth slick surface for the new blade. I also cannot complain about the BLAST of menthol that hits you with this soap. Used the Astra SP today for the first time after having used the Personna Lab Blue the last few days. The Astra seemed smoother on this first run than I remember the Lab Blue being on its first run. Got a really good close shave today, no nicks, no weepers, no irritation. Very minimal touch up needed, mostly on my chin which is a pain in the behind most of the time anyway. Just a great shave. Hopefully this combination will work again this well tomorrow! Tomorrow I am also going to try real hard to get a decent picture of my stuff to post since I like looking at everyone else's pictures.

Wednesday's Shave

Prep: Hot shower w/ Grandpa's Pine Tar
Soap: Arko
Brush: Omega 13522
Razor: Eversharp Schick G1
Blade: Schick
Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Balm

Close shave today but irritation city! Idk if there's something wrong with the fresh blade I put in the Injector this morning or if I just totally forgot how to use one or what.

I'd like to see a picture.