DEC 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

What kind of hones are you using?

 

I'm voting for popcorn. Don't worry, Neal, I still have your back. (As long as I am far enough away that the blood spatters won't get me.)

 

Dec 8 Shave 2.1

Back in Seoul and it's cold. Now that I'm hope the second focus of December, creams. Going with my favorite QCS Fougere cream and a Whitehead scuttle. Broke out the kettle so I could have a hot lather

I missed shaving with straights so today it was my Jerry Stark 6/8. Four passes and only a tiny weeper, I guess it's like riding a bike. Alum test and only the faintest tickle. Did not quite catch the baby but close.

Irritation A Closeness A-

Queen Charlotte Soaps Fogere cream
Thater 2 band fan
Whitehead scuttle
Jerry Stark 5/8 round point
Dry Gulch strop
Lucky Tiger AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Houbigant Fogere

 

I'm getting shaggy fast. Even not feeling well Ill work in a shave somehow. Might be something easy like an injector or disposable single blade.

 

Wd synthetic
Cremo
Fat Boy set on 9
Sputnik on its 4th shave
Axe Shield post shave balm

One pass with G-slide on the next, XTG all over with minor touchups on the chin and under the jawline. Near BBS. This is the first time I've ever turned up the fat boy to 9. I liked it. Fast shave maybe 2.5 minutes. Missed BBS by a few hairs under the nose and a few hairs of stubble on my neck. Only irritation was a one inch spot on my neck where the G-slide was a bit steeper then it should have been. Sealed up with cold water.

 

SOTD
December 8, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Mongoose B3 Dr. Bomber Handle
Blade: Kai Captain Original
Lather: Chiseled Face Sherlock
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Chiseled Face Sherlock
Using the Mongoose is such fun, I'm so close to being able to get a DFS in 2 passes. That's pretty darn good. CF Sherlock is very nice! Thanks again @theFAT98 Clint. The RR Plissoft is my go2 synthetic.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

Naniwas. For this one I only had to do a few laps on the 12K and then I stropped it on my Lynn Abrams modular paddle with a felt pad loaded with .5 micron diamond spray about 10 strokes, then scrub leather for 20, then English bridle for about 40. Brought it back real nice. I have the Naniwa 1000 for bevel setting, and the 5000 and 8000 stones for general sharpening, but this blade wasn't bad enough to start over.

 

December Focus

The Twelve Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 8

Razor - Razo Rock TTO
Blade - (2)
Brush - Vie Long 12601 - The Pony
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold water, Witch Hazel, Nivea

After yesterday I was curious to see if I could focus in better on the shave since I wouldn't have a bleeding scalp distracting me. Also, I wanted to focus a bit on the razor since I found that minor flaw in it. Just wondering if it makes a difference or not. So, the Pony and Tabac for the lather and, I found myself having a bit of trouble loading the brush. What the...?! This is an automatic combination usually. Did changing my schedule really disturb the date/time continuum that much? Added some water to the brush and went again on the puck and still didn't seem right. Added a bit of water to the puck, something I don't normally do with the Tabac and felt like I got a decent load. Went to the face and got an instantly great lather. Maybe I'm just being too picky or not paying enough attention.

Grabbed the RR TTO with the Dollar Platinum and started in. The blade is cutting very well, and the aggressiveness I feel is coming from the razor, not the blade. Not bad, though, smooth but noisy. Flipped the razor around to the other edge...the one with the defect and immediately felt a difference. Much more aggressive. I wouldn't think the defect would cause that since it's actually a missed cut at the front of the scuttle. Nothing about the blade gap should be affected. But, it definitely feels more aggressive. Went second pass XTG and found the same thing. Properly cut side worked great, a bit aggressive but smooth, the other side is almost scary at times in how it feels. Two different gaps perhaps? Can't tell with the naked eye. Could the defect be causing lather to jam the razor on that corner creating the phenomenon? From the looks of it yes. Went G-Slide on the neck and switched sides. Wished I hadn't. The side with the mis-cut is highly aggressive on the slide. Interesting.

Finished up and grabbed the witch hazel today. Boy, talk about a burn. Ouch. Nivea to the rescue and all in all I finished with a mid-level DFS. Can't complain about the result, only the irritation level. And, in this case, I'm pretty sure the Dollar Platinum from Vidyut in India isn't to blame. I'm laying it on the razor. I've used this razor before but never for any consistent amount of time so I've always considered it aggressive, which it is, but never picked out the fault before. I'm rather disappointed in Razo Rock at this point. Seems like QC would be better. Yes, the fault is out of sight, mostly, and doesn't appear to change things but boy does it ever. At least I got a decent shave out of it and the blade gets a pass.

Tomorrow.....well it's a Chinese blade. Need I say more? Have a great day.

 

For those using straights, I think there is an interest in the focus group threads of what kind of maintenance steps are needed to keep the blades going, or what is needed to sharpen them up. I have a 1K Naniwa, and natural stones up to finishers I use. The more information we can share, the more likely we will be to get more people to try straights!

 

I would love to see this.

 

Planned Day 8 - DEcember 2015



Stirling Closed Comb DE
Gillette Silver Blue (3)
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
TSN Flying Mango (from Secret Santa)
Alum
TSD ISZ AS under Pinaud Lilac Vegetal

​

Continuing with DEcember, day three planned for the Stirling. Days one and two were really nice. Trying a new soap today from Secret Santa! The Stirling DE is slightly more aggressive than either the DeFitch or the Utopia I have used recently. Expecting another great shave tonight. Posting at lunch because I am headed out to Denver this evening with Mrs. Samurai for dinner and a little fun. Gorgeous out on the prairie today, 62F with light wind and mostly sunny skies! Finishing up some chores and then off to get ready. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a great Tuesday afternoon!
​

 

Me also!

 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

AlumiGoose with Triad Ti Helix Hex
Feather Pro #1
Varlet Orion
Tabac Shave Soap
Alum, Witch Hazel +Menthol, Whipped Cucumber Melon Shea Butter
Tabac Aftershave

Today’s shave was a beautiful two passes and clean up. Closeness A+, Irritation A. I caught the baby with a brand new razor. The first thing noticed about the alumigoose is, it’s light. The Shiny Head weighs 19.2 grams. I decided to use a titanium handle for added weight and a better grip. The second thing I noticed was increased audio and tactile feedback from the razor. I could hear and feel the whiskers being sliced off, down to individual hairs. I shaved with the lightest touch. It was hard to believe it was a Goose. The Alumigoose shaves at least well as, and possibly better than its predecessor. Tabac is a friendly old scent for me. The Soap is easy lathering, thick creamy and very slick. Ended this shave with a good splash of Tabac Aftershave. I’m ready to Rock N’ Roll. Have a good Tuesday folks.

Late addition:

The Varlet Orion has a full face feel with very soft tips, excellent flow through, and zero scritch. It splays easily yet maintains a good backbone. The Orion finest badger is well suited for face lathering, building lather easily. The knot held enough lather for 4 or 5 passes. The handle is well designed, fits comfortably in the hand, and has a great grip. The knot size is 25.5mm, the loft is 47.5mm, and the handle is 57mm tall.

 

December 30 Day Focus--Gillette Executive and Stirling Kong

December 8

Razor - 1958 Gillette Executive Adjustable (WTG 6, ATG 5)
Blade - Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Brush - Stirling Kong
Soap - Tabac Stick
Post - Cold water, witch hazel, TSD Bourbon Vanilla


First, I want to say just how much I love the Tabac soap. I also am a huge fan of the shave stick aspect. I wet my face good, then smear the stick all over until it looks like every hair has some soap, I think this was either Clint's or Chris's recommendation regarding a shave stick. May be overkill, but WOW the lather it can produce! I also want to give props to @Queen of Blades and the amazing bourbon vanilla scent! This has to be one of my favorite scents and works great with the Tabac!

The razor is just a joy to use. I love the heft to it. You feel like you are holding a real tool and not a toy, especially as compared to the L6. The weight also makes the WTG/XTG pass which is more generally N/S on my face really easy to accomplish because you are working with gravity. It does mean I have to pay extra attention to staying on the cap and keeping the blade angle when doing the ATG pass because it is generally against gravity and I need to ensure not to force the issue (basically the same lesson that @DFrazier learned after only a couple weeks--let the razor do the work).

Today was the day to try Vince's theory of setting the adjustment levels on my Executive. Starting out more aggressive on the WTG/XTG first pass. This pass was incredibly comfortable. I noticed a fairly significant difference in aggressiveness going from 5 to 6 on the Executive. Seemed like more of a jump than 4 to 5. The shave was incredibly efficient and no irritation at all. Excellent reduction on the first pass. I then reduced the aggressiveness back down to 5 for the ATG pass. Another very efficient very smooth pass. No irritation from this pass either. Had a little touch-up in my two main areas around the adam's apple and at the chin. Neither area had any irritation when done. Second cold water splash to test. Felt nothing anywhere on the face. At first test, it was definitely BBS smooth! How would it hold up is the question. Well, it is now 7.5 hours since my shave. I just did a little faceturbating and it is still incredibly smooth with no sign at all of prickly stubble showing up yet. This may be one of those rare shaves where I get 10+ hours out of a shave! The gauntlet has been thrown down. Going to be hard for Chris's settings to top today's shave, but we shall see. I will probably give both settings a few shaves at the 5 and 6 settings as they definitely produced an excellent shave today.

 

I just got done shaving my head, possibly one of the worst head shaves ever!! I'm all broken out on the back and side of my noggin. Painful. Man!!

 

Beautiful Mark!

 

Razor: Gillette Super Speed 1948-49 No Date Code
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Brush: WDC-5 Boar Green Handle Whipped Dog 24/65
Soap: RazoRock Don Donato
A/S: Booster Iced Lime
Another DFS tonight. Had the brush knot wrong. It is a boar knot from Whipped Dog. This brush is breaking in nicely. I really like the Gillette Platinum blade. Booster Iced Lime is a very good A/S.

 

What happened?

 

I, for one, appreciate the information. Using the pain sticks has been an interesting dip into the world of straights, though without the hassle of the maintenance. And I'm sure the shaves are different once you try the traditional straight. Using the Durham Duplex was also an interesting look at that type of razor, and the fact they made a strop attachment for them intrigues me. I'm trying to find one so I can try stropping the blade next time. and, of course, I'm pretty sure I'll try traditional straights, and my traditional kamisori, before too much longer. The power of the Dark side is strong, after all.

 

What is going on around here.......apparently not the week for head shaves.