February '16 - 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion Thread

2/1/16

Gillette Old Type
Supermax Super Stainless (3)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Aqua Velva Ice Blue



Happy Menthol Monday!

My first shave with the Gillette Old Type since my October Open Comb focus.
I transferred the Supermax Super Stainless from my Phoenix DOC since it only had 2 shaves on it and I wanted to see how it would do in the Old Type. Actually, pretty well. The blade was sharp enough to give me a near BBS without nearly the effort I used in the DOC. No doubt because the Old Type is a more aggressive razor than the DOC. It felt a little rough in a couple of my trouble spots, but that may have been due (in part at least) to the lather. The Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic was less slick than the MWF. Most likely because I didn't use enough water. It seemed pretty thirsty, but I’d already added water several times and I thought that with my face wet it would be slick enough. It seemed to start out that way, but I found the razor dragging in a couple of places so it appears I was wrong.

A nice comfortable 2 pass, light touchup, near BBS from the Gillette Old Type with the Supermax Super Stainless. I enjoyed the Stirling Mita, but should have added a bit more water while building the lather. I broke out the Aqua Velva Ice Blue for the first time since early November to partner with the Mita. They make a wonderful mentholated pair.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

 

This is an addition to my previous 30 day focus posting for February. Here is a picture of the four razors I will be using this month...one for each week with the Gillette 7 o'clock Super Stainless blades. Should be an interesting month!
1. Gillette Heavy Tech
2. Gillette British Flare Tip Rocket
3. Gillette Aristocrat
4. Gillette Super Adjustable Black Beauty

 

Nice group of razors.

 

The Mongoose that is my intended focus this month is out for delivery today. Unfortunately, I'm on my way out of town until Wednesday night on a business trip so I will be focus free until Thursday.
Body Shop Maca Root cream
AoS Pure Badger brush
EJ DE89/Griest Stainless Handle
Feather (1)
Alum
Ogallala Bay Rum AS
Have a great week!

 

For my chin, and the bad spots on my jaw, I do very short strokes with the razor, and will do multiple light passes. I make sure I am stretching the skin with Alum on my fingertips, and keep the strokes under a half inch. With a straight, stitches are always an option.

I also do the Gillette Slide with a straight by holding the blade at an angle while I do the pass. Its much more fun without the guard.

 

I'm not sure that you can do worse than China, even if you tried! Maybe leaving blanks outside to rust before packaging them. But short of that......

 

Czech Republic, maybe?

 

Almost same exact setup as yesterday for my 2nd SE shave of this focus. Ever Ready razor and JR 13 brush. But today's lather was "Maya" by Mason Boutique, which lathered and smelled beautifully. No nicks at all today. DFS for this cold day in Colorado. Supposed to be getting 6-10 inches of snow by tomorrow morning.

 

So my January focus was a success. Just a quick update on it--I have broken in my Semogue OC Boar brush, for the most part at least. I think within ten shaves it will be there, but already had around 20-25 shaves with it. My Manhandled wood shop Boar brush is still not broken in. It is a 24mm brush and seems to be a lather hog, so I am still getting used to it. But it is a beautiful brush. I only have around 5-10 shaves with that one. I also picked my daily razor which is a Merkur 1906 closed comb with a Voskhod Blade. Super smooth, mild, but still gets a great shave. I love the vintage look to the razor and it just performs great. Plus, I can travel with it and abuse it since a new one is so cheap. I also acquired a slant razor in January, a Merkur 37c which I absolutely love! Very happy with how January turned out.
As for February, I am having some difficulty deciding what I want my focus to be. I have some things that need work on. I am going to work on developing an aftershave balm to match my soap. I don't think I will be done with it by the end of Feb, but it is a goal. As for products and such, I am not picking one set of products to use the whole month, I like having a variety and choosing each day. I do not have a specific razor I would like to use this month, either. My Manhandled wood shop badger brush got damaged when I shipped it with my aftershaves that broke. The coating got eroded by the alcohol and is now chipping. My goal for February is to try and sand back to whole coating and re-coat it. Some brush surgery to save the 28mm finest badger. I also want to focus on breaking in my 24mm Manhandled boar brush which is not close to being broken-in. I also got a new Vie-Long brush that is a mixture of badger hair and horse hair. I don't expect the break-in time to be more than a few shaves, but I would like to break that in this month, as well. I guess Feb is the month of breaking in brushes for me!

 

Ah yes. The fearsome Tiger.

 

Enjoy the maca root, if you haven't already.

 

Thanks I like it. It lathers up very well.

 

Michael, just a quick thought on the Vie-Long mixed brush. Sometimes V-L brushes don't do too well with a real "splaying" action. Try to mainly use the tips of the brush to avoid getting any birds nests or tangles. My V-L horse only brush may be my favorite. I had a mixed brush that ended up being a little too soft for me, but it did have a bit of a challenge in tangling in the first few weeks of use. Good luck.

 

February Shave Focus

So I've pretty much put February shave focus together. Very similar to @Mr. Freeze93 actually. (I promise I'm not copying.) It's going to be pretty darn near a "rule" month. (I.e., one soap, one brush, one blade (brand/model)) The only variation is going to be brushes which will be all my synthetic brushes in rotation. Since all but one are Plisson clones of one brand or another, the brush part will mostly be about which combination of knot diameter, loft, handle I like the best.

• Brushes will be Ubersoft II in Rubberset 200 handle, Muhle HJM, Razorock Plisoft, Stirling Kong
• Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
• Razor: Gillette New long comb/heavy handle (red/black standard)
• Blade: Voskhod
• Aftershave: Whatever suits my fancy

What I hope to learn? Like I said, which synthetic brush I prefer. I'm pretty well convinced that MWF is my singular favorite soap. We'll see how that holds up with a month's dedicated use. I think of the Gillette New LC as a candidate for my favorite razor, but I've never really used any of the candidates all that much except for my Fatboy. Time to put the other three under the microscope. I may go less than a full month with the LC if I'm decided I've got nothing further to learn about it a couple weeks in. We'll see. I've already committed to the Voskhod as one of my favorite blades as I have 100 of them, but it remains an enigma to me as it seems to need a "break in" shave at least on occasion and seems to last forever. I want to form a more concise opinion of this one blade. Oh, one more thing: I thought about making this a hot water shave month, but in the end, I decided against that. It wouldn't give a fair comparison between synthetic and boar. Plus, I just really like cold water shaving. Maybe come March I'll feel differently.

 

That's a fine looking focus in my opinion.... I should do something like that Just kidding. I do agree with you about MWF...even though I struggle at first to get it to lather once I get the ration right there is no denying it is a top quality soap. It would easily be my absolute favorite if it had menthol.

 

And now Part 3 of the seemingly never ending saga of my 30 Day Focus for February...my soaps. I am going to use a 7 day rotation, so I can use each soap with each of my four razors....with my Gillette 7 o'clock Super Stainless blades. I might mix in the occasional cream, eg. TOBS Natural.
1. Cella
2. Haslinger Schafmilch
3. MWF
4. Pre de Provence
5. Proraso
6. Saponificio Varesino
7. Valobra

 

You could always M-bomb the MWF. I'm yet to try M-bomb myself but I've heard good things.

 

Which variety (color) of Proraso?

 

I agree with @Mr. Freeze93 that this focus/rule looks really good. I also really enjoy MWF. I've only used it a couple of times so far but it's going to get used a good bit more this month.

 

Proraso White!