January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

I like that Rooney, really nice "bloom".

 

1/26/16
Today was my 22nd consecutive shave with the Blackbird and the 10th on the Persona Lab Blue blade. I continue to be amazed and astounded with this razor. 2 passes and near BBS and the blade shows no signs of being dull.

I sort of remember back in the late 70's and early 80's that we made a blade last a month. I wonder...

 

Hello TSD My shave today:



Day 2 of my Futur/Progess comparison. This time I used the Progress on setting 4 (5 is maximum, the Futur has a 6 setting).

The Mühle Synthetic brush lathered the Stirling soap effortlessly. A good amount of slick, creamy lather, more than enough for my shave. I'm beginning to like this brush, but I still think the WD synthetic is better. The smaller Mühle will make a really nice travel brush though - I'll just have to buy one of those handy travel tubes.

The Progress set on 4 did a great job today. Very pleasant, very gentle and at the same time very close shave. Seems as if I prefer the upper end of the scale with my Adjustables - provided that it's loaded with the appropriate blade. The GSB is still going strong - good for a few more shaves. I still prefer the overall feel of the Futur though.

Two passes, as usual, WTG and A/XTG, a bit of cleanup along the jawline. Nice BBS shave today, no irritations, almost no Aftershave burn. Straight A

 

.
Gentle and close, what more could you ask for in a razor?

 

You're right ... these two Merkur Adjustables are both fantastic razors and one could be happy with either of them as his only razor. Which one is just a matter of personal preference, i guess.
But I also love variation - as do most of you guys, I guess. And then there's this voice in your head that keeps telling you: "The next razor you buy might even be a little more enjoyable"

 

January 2016 Focus -- Blade search for the 1958 Executive

January 25

Razor: Gillette 1958 Executive adjustable
Blade: MEM Chinese knockoff then GSB
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Stirling MITA
Post: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel, Nivea Balm

Last night I decided to listen to my inner Neal, Ivan, Igor, Boris (you decide) and try a random blade out of China. As I mentioned in my last post, the tryablade.com website indicated these were being disposed of cheap because they appeared to be imitation blades. Well, I don't know what they were trying to imitate, but either they failed miserably or I never want to touch the original! This blade made the derby seem like a feather. Heck, this blade made a well worn shovel seem super sharp. I honestly am not sure it could slice through air, much less my beard.

First pass WTG. I started down my right cheek and after finishing the very first stroke realized this may not be the best idea. So I focused, made certain angle was right, and went forward. I should not have listened to myself. I finished the first pass and my face felt like it had rubbed raw. I figured there had to be good reduction at least, nope! I think I still had 75% of the beard growth sitting there and what little was gone I think was yanked out and not cut by the blade. So rinsed with cool water and got the fire on my face reduced. OK, a smart person would have stopped here. Well, I decided to go forward and start an XTG pass on my neck to see whether it would do any better. After a couple strokes common sense returned and smacked Ivan in the face. That blade went into the blade disposal bank and I grabbed a GSB to finish my shave. Finished with a DFS- shave salvaged from the miserable shave offered by the MEM blade. I am pretty sure I would have had a POS shave had I not gotten Ivan and the crew out of my head. My face was on fire and thankfully the M-bombed witch hazel and the Nivea Sensitive Skin Balm calmed everything down. This morning there was still a slight sting to my neck where I started the XTG pass with the MEM.

Next up for me will be a first time with the feather. Looking forward to using it after having used the Bolzano that was sharp and so smooth.

 

This effort just HAS to be honored with an imitation of the fight song

 

Focus - Hard Soaps
Today I decided to take one of my favorite razors for a spin. I loaded my Leresche 51 with a Nacet Stainless blade and did two passes with MWF. What a nice shave. No irritation and BBS. I like this razor!
SOTD
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Doug Korn brush
Leresche #51
Nacet Platinum (1)
Alum
St. John's Bay Rum

Have fun!

 

Malden always called his partner(then a very young Michael Douglas)"Buddy-boy", and was a huge 49ers fan.

 

Razor: Gillette Milord 1940
Blade: Gillette Silver Platinum (1)
Brush: Fendrihen Silver Tip 22/49
Soap: Route 66 Lumberjack
A:S Fine American Blend

Excellent 3 pass shave today. The Milord is an outstanding razor. Route 66 Lumberjack can not be spoken highly enough. The Fine American Blend is a perfect finish. Have a good day.

 

Fantastic picture Do we want to know what you did with that chainsaw?

 

In February I cut down some trees and prepare them for burning next year.

 

So you just use it as intended ... that's reassuring No Ontario chainsaw massacre

 

Ha ha... that was funny.

 

Love that shot!

 

Ha ha ha...

 

Hi all,
Didn't post yesterday as my wife decided I needed some flatpack furniture to do. I've used my hands all my working life and used near enough every power tool known to man. The flatpack wardrobe still took me 3 hours to complete, and there was plenty of swearing. Of course I threw the instructions away without even reading them. Should have time tonight so see you shortly.

 

Very cool pic!

 

Thanks very much.

 

Let's try this again, shall we? I have been through a battery of tests and retests in the past week and, along with the continued withdrawal from a week's worth of heavy pain meds, I've spent a lot of time sleeping and staring into space. It's back to work tomorrow so time to shake it off and move forward. I do feel better, more or less like myself again. Just need to find that plumber who can give me a new system in place of the junked one I'm carrying around with me. The Docs don't seem to think that's a reasonable idea. No imagination.

Catch up time! Went to Chicago and took the Mongoose with me. He enjoyed flying to and from there as the weather was perfect for a goose. Nice and cold and snowy on the way there. I made sure he was nice and comfy upon arrival and throughout his stay there. He seemed to enjoy lounging at the sink.


He also showed off for my roomie for the time I was there. A younger guy from Green Bay who brought along his electric razor and was totally fascinated when he saw the goose sitting there beside my Arko stick and brush the first morning. I had a chance to discuss how foolish he was to use such a ridiculous device as that electric thing and gave him some pointers on razors, blades, etc. We had a great conversation all thanks to the Mongoose. I had three shaves in Chicago, all with the setup mentioned and all were fantastic.

Landed back in the Lou, shaved the first day and then decided to go to the hospital for awhile. Well, I didn't, my pancreas did. Hate it when it bullies its opinion on me.

Yesterday I used the Mongoose again with my Wolf Whiskers Silvertip and MWF to get things back to a normal level. Quite a bit of growth going with my stupor fading away. Got a nice DFS and called it good for a Monday. This morning I switched up and pulled out my EJ DE89l and a Sharp Star. I needed some RUSSIAN GOODNESS in my life after so much time and got a great shave with the BoS and Tabac. Also got my head back to bald the past couple of days and I'm ready to rock and roll. Or at least walk slowly back to work and watch my diet, avoid that nasty fat and enjoy all the yummy goodness of veggies and high proteins. I guess the baby backs I had in Chi-Town will have to hold me for awhile.

I'll be trying to get caught up here a bit in the next few days. January is almost over and I need to figure out what to do in February as well. Missed you all and glad to FINALLY be totally back. Happy Tuesday!