"Share joy" . . . is that code? I am like several others and would love to give it a shot, but am not going to buy a pain stick and blades right now. I still have a DE/SE razor or two I need to master before I can justify the new additions. Looking forward to reading the experiences of any that decide to give it a try!

Charlie, not very likely. I am limited to the number of hobbies involving possible injury. I'll stick with motorcycles for now.

November 17, 2015

No Variation NoVember
This No Variation month is perfect for me to learn skills with new-to-me equipment.

Razor: Mongoose B3
Blades: Feather Artist Club Professional (4)
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Manna
Brush: Omega 31025 Scarlatti Boar
AS: Changes at will. Today: Proraso Green



Two-pass shave. (XTG,ATG) Face-lather.

@clint64 you were right!
I used a cutting angle just a bit off the slant part of the cap by dropping the handle ever so slightly. I got more feedback and a more complete cut - both being most noticeable on the ATG pass.

Four hours later and I’m still smooth, unlike yesterday. So I will continue to work at using this new angle consistently. Hoping that with about 10 more shaves this month I can find that consistency. But as Clint also commented to me at the beginning of the month, it would probably be best to do a second month focus with this razor to solidify the technique.

That’s the dilemma.
I already have my next 5 - 6 months mapped out just with the razors i currently own!

Cheers!
RT

Well it is in keeping with the holiday spirit. Red and green are the seasonal colors. We're saving green by dumping carts for traditional methods (yes in theory but let's pretend) and the red from slices, dices and other effects of learning makes it a truly joyful holiday experience!

I am glad that worked for you. What you might consider is a Monday -Friday focus on the Mongoose and leave weekends open to explore other razors. That at least gives you a chance to use some of the other razors.

365/8= ~46 blades per year. At that rate, I will be set up until 2019.

(I am not an MD)

Sounds kinda like essential oil sensitivity!

My Month with Utopia/GSB so far...

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It's amazing how sometimes a slight strategic change yields big dividends. Very nice!

It may not be theory alone. For me I can use different types of blades for different amounts of time comfortably. Its a range but for this I'll stay at the lowest end of that range. If I figure up the amount of blades I can get for $20 with the amount of shaves I can get from each type of blade I get something like this.

$20 DE blade (Kai) 150 shaves ($0.13 a shave)
$20 injector blades (Schick) 112 shaves ($0.18 a shave)
$20 SE blades (GEM) 80 shaves ($0.25 a shave)
$20 cartridge (Gillette fusion) 20 shaves ($1 a shave)

Sure we spend more on razors now but we save so much on blades that most of our razor purchases are bought using our savings. Some people wetshave using carts and disposables and some use canned foam with the vintage types of razors so I couldn't count soaps brushes and aftershaves as part of this switch. Straights are a different beast. Sure one blade can last multiple lifetimes but strops, Hones. . . .

This was my approach also. Don't rush through and miss a potential fave.

Then we have guys like @Bama Samurai who can use 2 DE blades a month. That same $20 could get him 750 shaves or 2 years and 20 days as long as one of those isn't a leap year.

It is. It took me over 3 years to figure it out.

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Or some kind of sensitivity. I can't use Arko becuase it makes my face red and angry, and it kind of burns.

What type of bowl is that? There are many lovely styles- Polish, Talvera, Turkish. Never seen that style

Mexican Terra Cotta Bowl

Very cool looking bowl.

Thank you!

Poetry at its finest. Wonder if I can get all that on my tombstone? LOL