August 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Red Tips are great razors for sure.

 

Outstanding picture.

 

Now if you really want to challenge people, change your avatar to something beautiful or handsome, and watch as people try to reconcile the image with the CT.

 

It is tricky enough for some of us to figure out what all of the CTs mean, that could almost be considered cruel.

 

What do you mean change? I am handsome!

 

Especially those ears! What's not to love!

 

And such a sweet smile

 

AUGUST FOCUS - 1958 EXECUTIVE

Wednesday's shave with the Exec resulted in a really nice, close, comfortable DFS. I put the razor on 7 for all three passes (XTG, XTG, ATG). I was a little apprehensive because of my problems earlier this month, but Wednesday gave me the courage to try the higher settings again. So Thursday I try the Exec on 8. Guess I'm slow, or there's more of a learning curve than I thought.

 

August 19, 2015

Adjustable August Slim-apalooza
30-Day Focus - Gillette Adjustable Slim / Fatboy



Pre-dinner shave.

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: Arko (homemade travel stick)
Brush: ? An unknown synthetic (no markings)
Razor: Gillette Fatboy (1961)
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (2)
After Shave: Proraso Green

Fatboy settings at:
5 - WTG
5 - ATG
No touch-up or repeat strokes. This is as much about technique as it is about finding the best settings on this razor for me.

Two days in a row of Arko face-rubbing, face-lathering goodness.

I like the heft of the Fatboy compared to the Slim. The shorter size didn't bother me at all. Clean, close, comfortable, smooth. Will go up with settings tomorrow to get more off on the first pass.

Cheers!
RT

 

You get a pass on this one!

 

Beautiful bowl! I really enjoy the traditional cobalt paint jobs.

 

I'll be interested to see how you compare the Fatboy to the Slim. After I really got the hang of using the FB, I liked the weight a lot and ended up selling my Slim. The Slim was a fine razor, but I liked the FB better and wanted some funds for something else (which ended up my Phoenix).

 

August Focus - Slim and Feather AC
August 19
Razor - 1964 Slim (J1)
Blade - (3)
Brush - Vie Long 12705
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold splash, Alum, The Veg

Day three on the Slim and Bic. The Slim was on 9, wide open and ready to go. Yesterday's shave was really great so we'll see if this blade can take another notch up in aggressiveness. I got the bigger horse out of the brush stable and lathered up the Tabac. Awesome scent. I need to get this up in rotation more. I'm actually down to a 4 soap rotation at the moment and may be increasing this one to extra shaves. Fantastic lather.

First pass was nice. Smooth, feedback, aggressive but not dangerous. Definitely a bit more bite than yesterday on 7. Finished up and went for the XTG and really got a nice result on the face. DFS/BBS there, still not quite DFS on the neck. Went another XTG and ATG on the neck and got a near perfect DFS out of it so I stopped. Usually if I push at this level I end up irritated. Alum proved my wisdom. Pretty hot on the neck, face just a slight burn. I think yesterday's result was actually the best when factoring in irritation. So, the result for Slim and Bic is to use it on level 7.

So far this month I have determined the following settings are ideal for the Slim. With Voskhod, 9. Feather, 3. Ladas, 5. Bic, 7. Tomorrow I'm going to the Sharp Star and we'll be back at 5 to begin.

Got a couple of packages in today. I'll get to the Haul shortly.

 

OK....if one of our 30 Day Focus Group participants were to happen to have a slip......It doesn't nessessarily mean that they were a bad boy....Right?.....Lol!
Look....ahhh....well......ahhhh
Ok, here it is....Today is Day 7 of my 30 Day Focus on my Schick E2, and I errr...I shaved with my Schick I2 ..
I was going to do another comparison and ahhh, It just kinda got out of hand....I couldn't help myself...

So come on and help me here....

I ended up getting one of those "Best Shaves of Your Life" kind of shaves from my 1955 Schick Hydro-magic today...
I was really thinking of doing a comparison but the HM was like Magic from stroke #1 and what could I do?

So I'm thinking of making this Focus about the E2 and the I2 and how they compare....What do you guys think? I do know, I dig the E2...and it achieves similar results in fewer strokes....But there is just somekind of indefinable magic that happens with the Hydro-magic....I think I need to get to the bottom of this...

Comments
1. 1st pass....like heaven, paid no attention to detail, and raced around my face with reckless abandon.
2. Rinsed relathered, and once again, raced around my face, tempting fate at every hairpin turn, Gillette Slide and Buffing
3. Buffing: forget it...this I2 is a buffing monster...I could just non stop do a rapid buffing move with my wrist and move it around my face and it would still be irritation free, but very close.

This Eversharp-Schick Hydro-magic was Eversharp's first real deviation from the original Injector design. They managed to keep Schick's design integrity, but make an improvement with the H-M lever for cleaning...and also the handle design really rocks. Razor looks like an Aston Martin. And the razor is mild, but still very efficient. Not as efficient as the E, but because of the mildness, moves like buffing, brings new rewards to the table... If I buffed like that all the time, with the E2, people who own stock in the StypticPencil companies would be celebrating and sending me letters of appreciation...

 

Hey NCN,
Funny you bring this up. Started thinking the same thing after my first shave with the Fatboy after spending about 3 weeks working the Slim for the first time. So I'm a long way from making decisions/ assessments yet.

What I know so far.
Fatboy heavier, I like that. Makes me more aware of needing no pressure.
I'm not aware of maneuverability benefit with Slim, as some shavers report, because I do not shave nose/lip area or chin due to mustache and goatee.

Technically, that's all I can speak to right now. Slim at 9 for me was a very close shave, comfort was dependent on factors beyond the razor itself - effective use of soap, and I only tried one blade - GSB. (Which is my preferred blade at the moment, but I've only been at this for 3 months.)

I'm sure I'll have a preliminary assessment at the end of these last days of August, but I'll probably hold onto both until I do additional trials.

So many razors, only 1 shave per day!

Cheers,
RT

 

Just a comment about stretching skin and how I do it, for what it's worth...
My hands are usually soapy/wet when shaving. So when I pull to stretch skin, I use a small, thin barber towel, or washcloth, folded into a small footprint (so I can see with both eyes) that helps me grip the skin better for a more taut pull. - YMMV

Cheers,
RT

 

Glad to see the progress Herm!
(And not to go unmentioned, one beautiful razor you've got there!

 

I've found that if you wet your fingers and rub them on an alum block, you can get a non slip grip on your skin even if it's wet and soapy.

 

I for one would love to see the comparison as I have an E2, E3 and an I2 - and have NEVER shaved with any of them!

Hope to get to 3-4 SEs in September!

 

And if you keep shaving with that Slim at #9, it will be hard to find enough whiskers to shave once every day....you might have to wait through that 12 hour BBS then the 18 hour DFS and then another 4 or 5 hours to reach 5 o'clock shadow status.....}8^))