NOVember
November 1

Razor - Feather SS
Blade -
Brush -
Soap -
Post - Cold compress, Alum, Cold compress, Styptic, Nivea Original Post Shave Balm

The month of the Feather SS has begun. NO Variation November is underway and in 30 days this beast will be tamed. Or I will have bled out. Either way, it's a victory for someone. Started the day with my usual Sunday head shave and who shows up as I start that? Crazy Ivan. Thought I had locked him out, but there is this voice in my head as I'm shaving the right side over my ear........"try the Feather SS on your head......no, seriously, just a one pass on the left side." My initial reaction is, "yeah, right that's nev...........hmmmmmmmm." So, I finished the area over my right ear and picked up the SS and did a pass on the left side. Pretty wide open flat space there so actually worked pretty well. Even flipped it over in my right hand and did an XTG. No blood, no issues, so put it down quickly and finished the whole thing with the Merkur 23c. Hopefully Ivan is gone now.

Went to the Feather SS for the face and settled in with a bit of zen. Just let myself relax and remember the grips. BoSFat for the perfect lather, though I'm playing with that as well. Trying different amounts of water just to perfect it a bit. For now it's absolutely great so here comes the sharp stuff.

First pass down the right cheek. Feels very familiar but I worked on angle. Kept the blade flat and started down adding angle gently until I felt it work. Held that angle and worked down to the jawline, no problem. Felt smooth, looked good. Rinsed and continued down the right jaw and neck. Nice. No need for medical insurance on that side. Went left and tried using my left hand. Nope, just too unsteady to start. Changed to Japanese grip with the right and worked down the cheek, then switched to the left for some clean up. Went down the neck with Japanese grip. Very nice. Looked down at the razor to rinse and saw a tiny spot of blood near the blade heel. Checked and had a very small nick where I had let the blade rock a bit. No issues, it stopped with a quick bit of pressure. Second pass was XTG on the right, nose to ear, same on the left. Switched hands as it felt appropriate, used the Japanese grip quite a bit. Went XTG on the neck and made good progress. And, about that time Ivan showed up again. "Try a Gillette Slide....what 's the worst that could happen?" I called Igor in and had him beat Ivan into submission.

Went for the third pass, just trying for a nice even shave. Just some clean up where I knew it was rough, including my right jawline under the ear. Everything else was good enough so I went under the right ear, set down and........raised the blade slightly toward the tip and found that 's not a good idea. I knew that, just had a nasty reminder. As I started the stroke the tip dug, I cussed, pulled back, and watched the trickle of blood. Yep, there you go. Went ahead and worked on down from there and called it good. Held a cold rag on it for awhile, then went for the alum which was better than I remember. Mostly neck burn and of course the cut. More cold rag then styptic and called it good. No more blood and I finished with a very nice CCS. I call that a win for the day.

Another month off and running! Hope you are having a great weekend and that you're cheering for @Rufus T. 's Mets today!!

I'm using the same razor this month. What is "Japanese grip"?

I'm going to focus on using my injector razors this month with the Mongoose mixed in. My replacement B3 head should come in this week. Also if I'm lucky I may be adding an F type to the family.
Razors
G3 injector
PAL adjustable
B1 repeater
L type injector
F type (maybe)
Mongoose B3

That's what I call the grip for a true kamisori shave where only the dominant hand is used to grip the razor and the Omote (flat side) of the blade is always kept to the face. Using a Feather or western ground straight it doesn't matter which side of the blade touches, but in a true kamisori the curve of the blade on the Uma side makes it difficult to get the angle. It's designed for use with a single side on the face. The " Japanese grip" is just a modified grip from using it on the dominant side, in my case the right. You basically turn the blade around keeping the same side to your face, and then adjust the grip to allow for proper angle and motion. It's a shift in the position of the fingers to pull the blade toward the hand and achieve the right position. Here are a couple of probably very bad pics to try and show it.

First up.....the standard grip.



Next up, the "Japanese grip".



Notice how the side of the razor with the removable piece will be touching my face at all times. The standard grip is what I use on the right side, the Japanese on the left. Hopefully that illustrates it a bit. I started doing that in August in order to get the grip down for a true kamisori. I have the kamisori, just haven't gotten it fully shave ready yet. After this month, though, I should be ready to pick it up and just naturally shave with it. Obviously the grip change isn't necessary if using any other kind of straight including the Feather. You can just change hands no problem. But if you aspire to a kamisori I think it's a good training method using the Feather.

November Focus

Feather Artist Club SS
Feather Professional or Super Professional
Semogue 830
MdC scented

The Feather AC is a fantastic razor, and it has the ability to deliver a scary close shave. It can be unforgiving, so that makes it a good teacher. In fact, it has helped me refine my current technique using DE razors. My goal this month is to further develop my two-pass shave technique by practicing the basics - prep and post, lather, skin stretching, etc. I will give up closeness in order to work on technique. I don't consider a BBS shave with irritation or stinging cuts to be a good shave. Hopefully, my shaves should improve as the month unfolds. I plan to switch to afternoon/evening shaves to allow me to have more time.

I will use the same razor, brand of blade, brush, and soap. Depending on my progress, I may try a Feather Super Professional in the Feather AC. Otherwise, the blade will be the Feather Professional. I have a relatively new Semogue 830 boar brush that will get broken in. Soft tips and good backbone make it ideal for face-lathering, but I have trouble loading it with enough soap or cream for more than two passes. I hope to sort that out this month. I've used MdC scented soap very little, so I will get to know it this month as well.

I plan to use a variety of aftershaves, including Trumper's Coral Skin Food, Alt Innsbruck, Captain's Choice Bay Rum, Fine L’Orange Noir, and Fine Platinum. Anything goes here. Most days, I plan to include a photo and a song that describes my SOTD.

I welcome comments and input, and I look forward to following everyone's progress this month!

Thank you for the pics. It explains it well. I would like to graduate to a true Kamisori someday so this helps a lot. I do use both hands so probably won't reverse the grip often, but will concentrate on keeping the same side against my face. Thanks again!

We can learn together. There are a few of us trying to master this razor this month. I agree that chasing BBS with it can be a bad thing. I had some weepers this morning from trying too hard. I will practice technique this month and hope the results improve gradually.
Have fun!

That sounds great! We can all learn from each other, that's for sure. I found this YouTube channel that may offer some helpful hints for us: https://www.youtube.com/user/JataiFeatherRazors

For example:



Enjoy!

Congrats Neal! You're off and running! My first Feather AC shave will occur later tonight. In case you are interested, I picked up some useful tips from this video:

Hi Guys,
Hope I'm not too late to do the Nov 30 thingy.

I participated in the Sept 30 with a Kai Excelia Kamisori and I think I have almost tamed it. Went a bit quiet in Oct, but I did pick up a Feather Artist DX folding so will be using that for Nov.

I have noticed a few of you are using the Feather SS. Good luck, looking forward to hearing your experiences.

Interesting video. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome back to the 30-day focus! I am interested in following your progress with the Feather AC folder.

Thanks Brother!

I also added another couple candles in my own Great Pumpkin juju offering!

I love that guy! I actually watched that video way back when I first started with the CJB. Still a good one to go back and watch again. If nothing else it proves it can be done! Once you get your shave on and get it posted the
три брата will be on a roll! You, me and @mrchick rocking the Feathers this month!

Game update.
(Spoiler Alert: not politically correct.)

I read a report somewhere where Citi Field announced that no overweight women will be admitted to the game tonight.

Their tickets will go to kids.

I personally do not think it's because they trail 3 games to 1 and on the verge of elimination.

Gotta love those Metsies, always thinking of the kids.

November 1

Feather Artist Club SS
Feather Professional (1)
Semogue 830
MdC scented
Two passes
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Alt Innsbruck

Goals
Further develop my two-pass shave technique by practicing the basics
Break in and get more experience with the Semogue 830
Get more experience with MdC

This evening’s shave included two WTG passes and provided a DFS on my cheeks and an SAS on my neck.

I did 100 swirls with the brush on the MdC (probably twice what I needed) and had slick lather for two passes. It seems like I should have had more lather. I’m still figuring out the Semogue brush.

I quickly found the blade angle on my cheek, and I could no longer feel the blade moving across my skin. I keep the wide part of the blade holder about a “blade holder width” off my skin. The first pass went OK, although I encountered some trouble right under my nose. In that area, I can’t maintain the blade angle, and it feels like I’m scraping the whiskers. I just have to go extra slow and not try to remove everything in one pass.

The second pass was going well until – BAM – the blade left a half-inch cut along my lower lip. It was due to operator error. I was nervous on the first shave with the Feather, and I simply lost focus. I’m coagulating now. I ended up with a couple of tiny weepers under my nose and one on my upper cheek, but overall not too bad aside from the small cut.

On a positive note, I navigated the blade over my chin with relative ease. I expected more trouble in that area. It helped having the water turned off while I shaved. The alum barked, but I was glad that I had it for my lip. Tomorrow is another day, and I’m glad that November is a 30-day month.

Have a great Monday!

I tried daily shaving. I made it four days. It's still shaving, and you will have to see how your face holds up.

3 passes wtg resulted in a fantastic no irritation BBS. The last time I used this uber aggresive little razor, I had irritation that I had not encountered wet shaving. The main goal of this focus month is to tame this hot rod and it seems like it may be easier than I first thought.

The type F is a beauty. I have been looking for one and am looking forward to hearing more from you about how it shaves.

No Variation November? Let me go look at my den, and see what all I have. Wow, 23 straights, one shavette, five DEs, 12 soaps, over 30 types of DE blades, and five brushes. Lock it down to one razor, blade, soap, and brush for a full month.

I think I am going to try Mo Variation November. I am going to use three very different type of razors this month. A straight, a DE, and a Shavette. I will stick with one brush this month, an Ever Ready 100T that has been reknotted with 22mm synthetic knot from The Golden Nib. I will keep my every 9th shave soap rotation going.