July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

In keeping up with my 30 day focus on straights, I have decided to focus on all things related to straights as well as shaving. This includes but not limited to: shaving, stropping, honing, and strop making. Maybe OCD is setting in, however, if I'm gonna do this I may as well jump in with both feet.

 

30 day rule
MDC Face Lathered
Ladas blade
Slim Adjustable set to 7

Face lathering MDC does bring out a out of good qualities in the soap. I am always pleased with how well it lathers and protects. MDC does, however, have a tendency to dry the skin. While MDC lets me skip the pre-shave oil, it does not allow me to skip the post-shave moisturizing. This is something I can easily live with.

3 passes and a very nice shave.

BTW - I am using cold water

That works well for creams. While I prefer to dab a little cream on my cheeks, putting a little cream on the end of the brush does work well. However, the question was how would I do 2 soaps, as opposed to a soap and a cream. When I am doing a bowl mix I load the brush with one soap and put some of the other soap into the bowl.

 

My Pre-30-Day-Rule period is well underway with the blade sampling.

I have used the Personna Lab Blue for its first three-day rotation. The first two shaves were very good close shaves. The third a little rougher, a little tugging during the shave, and definitely more irritation after. I know some of it is technique, so that is why I will be revisiting the blade later in the month.

Have done a couple days now with the Astra SP. WOW! It is a very smooth blade. Both shaves have been near BBS, which is something I have never gotten before. No tugging, no irritation. Today I hardly noticed the blade was there at all. Really hoping day three turns out well too.

After tomorrow's shave I will be switching and doing the first three-day rotation with the Voskhod blade. I will find out if it lives up to all of @NCoxSTL's hype.

 

AOS pre oil
Strop VB llc latigo black
24 mm WD hmb brush (not Simpson in pic)
AOS sandalwood cream
Dovo Ebony Spike
AOS alum block
AOS sandalwood balm
Nickle sized splash of clubman original.

2 passes with the SR. With the grain. To include just a single pass around jaw line and chin. Found good stretching tech for jaw line. Chin ...not so much. Took off the scab that's been trying to heal since I started this focus 10 days ago. SE LA vie. No guts, no glory. Nothing great ever comes easy. Still it was a great shaving experience today.

 

So what techniques are you using for streaching the skin? Sharing them can be helpful for everyone.

 

If you wish to maximize your über-lather experience, load your brush with your favorite soap, in a bowl add a dab of your favorite cream and a tsp of glycerin.
Whip it up and you'll wind up with some of the most dense, decadent lather imaginable.

 

Well, @Drygulch I'm glad you asked...Some of the tips I received from my visit with a vintage barber:
Hold SR at bottom of side burn line, then pull up above the razor and shave down. Also, pull up in the middle of face, bout even with the bottom or middle of ear, shave down. This second stretch spot will pull that jaw line skin up above the jaw line. Once the skin is released, there is a clean even cut under the jaw line. I'm still working on the chin thing. That's one thing I forgot to ask about....

 

I have total confidence in the World Champion blade.

 

I always shave my neck first. Don't know if that is right, but it works for me. For the chin, my routine has been to get some alum on my fingertips, and pull the skin right under my chin down. This holds the chin steady. I do very short strokes, like a half inch. As I scrape the lather out of the way, I open up new places to hold. As long as I use very short strokes, this seems to work pretty well. The chin is also where I cut myself the most often. Ussually, from putting the razor down too hard.

 

Apologies Mark, I misread your post! Oops.

 

Still waiting for some forward thinking shaver to incorporate rubbing the puck on their face as part of 30 day focus....<sigh>

 

Viva il Black Tip!

 

I will try it tomorrow.

 

That is what I did along with some horse trading!

 

I did. June 16-27 2015. Williams was the puck. It actually worked out great!

 

I remember!! Just thought that someone would do it for an entire month...smh

 

Razor: Gillette Blue Tip SS
Blade: Feather (1)
Brush: Every Ready 100T, Boar
Soap: Knock Out Shave Cool Blue
A/S: Lucky Tiger
Day 2.

Got a great lather tonight with the Knock Out Cool Blue. Loaded the 100T with enough lather for a full 3 pass shave. The feather blade performed outstanding in the Gillette Blue Tip. What a difference a soap makes.

 

Outstanding lather!!!

 

Here's another FREE suggestion for you SR shavers in this JULY focus:

• A Virtually Strop-free month

Assuming your razor (choose one) is in good 'shave-ready' condition—meaning you get a smooth, comfortable shave— see how long you can go without stropping before you begin to detect a deterioration in the quality of the shave. I've gone 3-4 days (forgot my strop) at most.
Adam @Drygulch posted where he had skipped/forgot to strop for several days. Odds are, unless your beard is like barbed wire, you wouldn't experience a dramatic difference in the shave.

There are some who have voiced the opinion that daily stropping does more harm than good to the edge and is unnecessary to maintain a good edge. A weekly refresher on a coticule or barber's hone is all that is needed.
I can't say I'm in agreement with NOT stropping a razor, although I do find the idea of having to do exactly "50 on linen; 75 on cowhide, finished with 50 on horsehide"-type of regimen to be more OCD than practical. Sometimes less is better.

Check out 4:15 in this vid for what its worth....