July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I did a quick shave in the hotel room this morning. One pass with the straight, and one with the DE. DFS, and headed to the airport.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Saturday, July 18, 2015Day #17 with the B-3 Mongoose
Shower, Mystic Water Soap Yemaya, Neutrogena Face Wash
B-3 Mongoose with with Triad Helix Hex TI
Feather ProGuard #1
Doug Korn D-7 Ivory & Aqua Marine Finest
La Savonniere du Moulin
Alum Block, Stirling Black Ice Witch Hazel, Unrefined Shea Butter
Chilled Proraso Aftershave Lotion
Brooks Brothers 1818

I changed blades for today’s shave. The Feather ProGuard blade in the Mongoose gave me a noticeably closer shave than the Feather Pro or the Kai Mild. The shave was too close in a couple of spots. I overloaded my DK D-7 Aqua Marine with the La Savonniere du Moulin Soap, 30% ‘Asses Milk and whipped up a reasonable, yet underwhelming lather on my face. The AM has a pleasant soapy scent with decent moisturizing. Two pass bliss today. The Black Ice made me stand up straight and the Shea Butter felt incredibly soothing. Topped today’s shave off with refrigerated Proraso Aftershave Lotion. Whoa Nelly, what a chill!

​

 

I have backed off loading as well. Twenty circles around the mug gives me a wee bit more than three passes of face lather. Like you, I am also trying to optimize the mix.

Great pic again! Is that shave soap a fougere type scent?

 

Have a safe journey my friend!

 

Nice comparison of the two experiences. IMHO GSB simply outclasses Shark in sharpness by quite a bit. Did you sense the Shark blade dulling over the course of its life?

 

July 17, 2015

30-Day Focus - Blade Trials for Gillette Tech
Weekly Trial for: Personna Red, Derby Green, Gillette Silver Blue, Voskhod

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: Catie's Bubbles Mile High Menthol
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (3)
TSD Witch Hazel
After Shave: Myrsol Agua Di Limon
Mustache Wax: Dirigo Blue

3rd day on GSB. Two-pass shave. Don’t need to continue their trial any longer - the three shaves on this blade have been the best I’ve had since converting from carts. This will be one of my preferred blades for this razor.

Onto another blade tomorrow!


Received sample of Dirigo Blue Mustache Wax from @swarden43
- TSD Tutorial author on How to Grow, Maintain and Wax your Handlebar Mustache

My fairly thick mustache is near the start of handlebar length. It’s fairly well-trained, but will naturally grow straight down into my mouth without wax. So it needs a strong hold to get through the day. I’ve looked forward to trying Steve’s formula after using various commercial brands over the years with mixed results.

Initial thoughts:
Scent - pleasant, mild and subtle beeswax aroma.
Application - Easy. Just as described in the tutorial.
Hold - Just after application, hold appears ready to face the business day.
Tough day for a 1st-day trial - Seattle weather forecast - 90 degrees!
Will report the user experience after an extended test period.
Thanks Steve!

Stay cool all!
Cheers!
RT

 

Not bleeding is usually good!

 

Day 17 - 17 July 2015

30 Days of Maggard and MITA!


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Round 2! Day one with ASCO. This blade has been the surprise. It again provided a smooth and close automatic two pass shave. No weepers, irritation or anything negative. A truly great shave today. Finished with Alum and TSD 2x Iced Floid Blue Type AS. Looking forward to the weekend! Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a great weekend!
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I have found it to be preferable.

 

No, it has a pleasant soapy scent all its own.

 

Thanks Chris,

I didn’t really detect any difference in the blade’s sharpness. I’ve had good luck with their longevity. My second Shark lasted 10 shaves (but that was right after I started DE shaving). I’m down to 3 days with each trial because I want the blades to turn in their best performance. I really liked the Shark at first because it seemed sharp enough and smooth enough. But as I get a bit better in my technique, I’m beginning to think they’re just not as efficient for me as the Silver Blue. Another reason that concerns me is that the Shark tempts me to add pressure in an effort to get a closer shave. I certainly don’t want to encourage any more bad habits.

 

No pics today I was in a hurry.
SR focus
Today's razor. Boker 51 , a 4/8 dwarf
This is the smallest SR I have.
Handmade strop and pre oil
WD HMB brush
AOS cream
AOS post balm
Clubman original

Nice shave

 

I am interested in your thoughts on the different blades you've tried.

 

07/18/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Triad SS Helix
Blade – Feather Super Pro (6)
Brush – Every Ready with TGN Finest
Lather – MdC Fougere
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol F/Extra



The time off from the Super Pro paid some dividends with this mornings shave. A fantastic 2 pass with touch ups provided a BBS. For me the Super Pro gives a spooky close shave. Finished up with the Myrsol F/Extra which has a nice classic scent and cooling menthol.

 

1956 Gillette Super Speed Flair
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Proraso Sandalwood cream
Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Current Blade under review: 3rd Gillette Silver Blue

Shave #1 with 3rd Gillette Silver Blue blade. Fine BBS results, a great shave. Very close, really comfortable, no nicks, weepers, irritation or razor burn.
2 Full passes: Pass 1: WTG on my face (N/S), and XTG on my neck (N/S). Pass 2: ATG. At this point, I had a near BBS shave.
Lathered up again for touch up. I used some stretching to get the remaining 3 spots with slight stubble just below my jawline. On my final rinse I could not feel any remaining whiskers. While applying my Aqua Velva I felt a couple of tiny spots that weren't perfectly smooth, but once the A/S dried, all felt BBS.

A delightful 2 pass shave from the Gillette Silver Blue. I was able to get a closer shave with less work than with the Shark Super Stainless I used the previous 3 days. I think the Silver Blue just went to the top of my list.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

30 day rule - Day 18
MDC Lavender Face Lathered
Ladas blade
Slim Adjustable set to 8
3 passes

I am back to counting to 3 while loading the brush. This provides more than enough lather for 4 passes, even though I usually take 3.

I tried something different today. I have read a number of people change the setting on their adjustable between passes. I tried it today. I left the slim at 8 for the first 2 passes and changed it to 4 for the third pass. I got a very nice shave, but it it too early in the day for me to tell if it is any better or worse than yesterday. I will repeat tomorrow and see what I think.

 

Phoenix Dbl OC Focus Day 17:

Homemade PS Oil
VDH Boar Brush
Stirling Cool SS
Phoenix Dbl OC
Stirling Unscented PSB
Skin Bracer

Swapped to a Gillette Silver Blue today, and have a DFS as the result. This razor just works for me. Now that I have a few weeks in, I will be curious to see how it goes with my other razors.

 

Razor: Gillette SS, 1948-49
Blade: Personna Blue SS(7)
Brush: WDC-5
Soap: KnockOut Shave-Cool Blue
A/S: Lucky Tiger
Day 18

Good shave this evening. The brush is working perfectly. I'm happy I added extra weight to the handle to get the loft I wanted. KnockOut shave soap is great. Got 7 days out of the Personna SS, a little tugging on one side tonight. Lucky Tiger my go to A/S.

 

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