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

Vaseline intensive moisture lotion
WD 6/8 open razor

No water at the house this morning so the lotion was preshave, lather and aftershave. 1 pass N/S for a new DFS.

 

Vince, perhaps a tube of shaving cream might be work better with the brush. I have Nutrogena shave cream in my motorcycle travel kit. Just a thought.

 

Thanks. It shaves as good as it looks.

 

SOTD February 4, 2016
Focus day 4

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Rapira platinum lux (4)
Razor: Maggard MR1
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: Soap Commander Vision
Post: Witch hazel splash, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Easy CCS this morning. I have a few hairs on my neck near the Adam's apple that are stubborn but I let them slide for the sake of time as well as fear of irritation. I could have gone back and gotten those hairs but they aren't visible so it's okay.

The Soap Commander Vision is a great product - nice, bright scent with good lathering and slickness. The post shave feel is great. This is the sixth shave with that sample size and I can probably get two or three more shaves out of it.

The Maggard MR1 seems to be a mild, efficient razor. I'll be comparing the closed head with the open comb later this month. I have had no issues or any complaints at all with the Maggard razor. I've had no irritation or nicks or weepers lately either. I'm not sure who coined the "technique trumps tools" phrase, but it's correct! My technique has improved enough to move to this razor without any problems. That's encouraging.

Tomorrow, as per the focus I set up, I'll use a new soap and a new brush, but continue with this razor and blade.

I'll be on a short weekend trip beginning Friday afternoon so my weekend shaves may include my new vintage Gillette travel razor. We'll just have to see!

Hope you all have a great Thursday!

 

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Soap: Al Shaving Sapone da Barba
Brush: Rubberset 400 #4 HMW @clint64 restore
Razor: Blackland Blackbird
Blade: Feather #2
Post: Alum, Witch Hazel, Lavender Whipped Shea Butter, Folsom & Co Shambala

Well here we are in Shave School. What the...? My shave today was a two pass BBS. Closeness A+ and Irritation A, with a weeper under my chin. I used Noxema for a pre-shave and it worked great. Love the feel of it. The 400 High Mountain White has that luxurious full face feel and had zero trouble whipping up a Knockout slick lather. The Blackbird was smooth and efficient again. Finished with a nice splash of Folsom and Co. Shambala. I hope everyone is having a terrific Thursday here in Shave School.

 

Nice picture!

 

February Focus - German blades

February 3

Razor - Merkur 23c
Blade - (3)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold rinse, Alum, The Veg

Day three on the Timor. The Fat on the Wolf today and I had a bit of trouble with the lather. Unusual for me with MWF but I haven't used the Silvertip with it as much as the boar. Seemed like I didn't get the brush loaded enough and had to go back and add a bit more water and work it some more to get a passable lather. Never did get it as good as BoSFat. But, it was good enough for the shave.

Third day on the Timor and I'm impressed. It took three passes to get a near BBS today so it seems to be losing a bit of effectiveness each day but it's still outperforming a lot of other blades. I have gone through three days without a nick, weeper, cut or any other nonsense. And, the alum, while a bit warmer today on my neck due to the G-slides I did, was still well below what you might expect. I threw on the Veg to start my week selling and raised a toast to the Timor. Fine blade and I feel like I could get a couple more days out of it if I have to. However, it's had its three days in the morning sun and earns another four and a half steins. Overall a great start to German month and I'll be moving to the Elios Inox tomorrow.

One factor I haven't discussed is price. The best price I have seen on a bulk buy of this blade is around $25 to $26 for 50 blades shipped. That works out to around $50 per 100 or 50 cents each. Pricey.....but my honest opinion is they may be worth that, especially if you can get more than three shaves out of them. The experience is just that comfortable.

​

 

I know it's a bit off focus, but how was the shave from the floating Personna?

 

Average. Pass. Agreed.

 

Day 34 - 90 Day Intro to SR

3 February 2016



Whipped Dog "Sight Unseen" 5/8
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Route 66 - Lumberjack
Alum
*Osage Rub*
​

Back to the WD for day 34. I have finally settled into a replicable pattern that produces a DFS in two passes with some jaw and chin touch up. Still going with @Norcalnewb baseball pattern , the first pass was a breeze. I must have had a good day on the strop! After a second hybrid pass, I decided enough was good enough, and called it a day. The irritation was noticeably better today, verified by by a quiet Alum application. In honor of all the shenanigans and related PSAs on yesterday's thread, Osage Rub was the AS today. There was no other option! Had a blast late this afternoon out in the field, spent a while throwing lures for the puppy in the snow. He loves it! Back in the freezer near Denver, Super Bowl fever in full effect. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a triumphant Thursday!
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Three perfect days is pretty impressive!

 

Agreed! I've rarely had that experience short of a Russian.

 

February 2016 Focus -- Schick injectors

February 3

Razor: Schick Injector G Type
Blade: Chinese Schick Injector (1)
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Tabac
Post: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel, Fine Platinum


Didn't get a chance to shave yesterday so today's shave had some growth. Today was a crazy day that never seemed to stop so just now getting around to posting (I say today but in reality it was yesterday as it is 1:35am here). Oh well.

Second shave with the G type was much better than the first. I started the shave by reminding myself not to use any pressure. As a matter of fact I wrote a note and stuck it on the mirror in front of me so I wouldn't use pressure and would be reminded of that all shave!

I took the advice of @Bama Samurai @Rufus T. and @Billyfergie with regard to finding angle. Started with the head against my face and dropped the handle ever so slightly until it was slicing away. The first pass WTG/XTG went very well and had very good reduction with no irritation.

Second pass ATG also went really well. No irritation. A very nice pass. Had to do a fair amount of touch up on the chin and around the Adam's apple. Ended with near BBS and no irritation. No pressure is going to be my key as I fought the temptation the entire shave.

The Tabac really is a great soap. Love the scent and it is great on slickness. Like @NCoxSTL the soap is SWMBO approved. She chose Fine Platinum to go with it and when done she definitely approved. Happy fiancee made me very happy!

Hopefully tomorrow (well today) slows down and is a little smoother (and the shave just as good).

 

Sounds like it went perfect! I've had some truly awesome shaves on those razors. The gap and exposure really facilitate minute adjustments to angle of attack, but serves to punish those who lean on the handle.

 

+ 1 ..

Billy..

 

Straights Focus February 4:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
TOBS Eton College SC
Henry Sears and Son Queen 3/4
Stirling Unscented PSB
Fine Platinum AS

I spent a little time on clean up after the first pass, and ended with a DFS. It was comfortable and efficient this morning. A nice start to my. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

I used a G-type injector on two shaves last weekend. I really enjoyed it! The SE and Injector Party thread had a few tips for me, mainly to use light, light pressure. I did and it worked beautifully. Glad to see others enjoying these razors!

 

2/4/2016
Mongoose B2 with Triad Ti
Feather Super Pro (2)
Romera Olivewood Synthetic
Mystic Water Lavender
Witch Hazel
Folsom & Co Capri
Whipped Shea Butter



Another great near BBS shave this morning. The Feather Super blade is my favorite blade for the Mongoose. As expected MW Lavender provided a super slick lather with top notch post shave feel. Finished off with a splash of F&C Capri. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

If I am part of the 30 day focus, do I post my daily shave here or on SOTD?

Anyway...here is my shave for today, part of my 30 day focus:

Rusty Blade Pre shave oil
Gillette Heavy Tech/ Gillette 7 o'clock Super Stainless
Semogue / MWF
WH / Proraso ASB

Wonderful shave this morning. I didn't use Noxema as my preshave. I didn't want to spoil the scent of MWF...one of my favourites. The 7 o'clock is performing very well. This is shave number 5 with this blade and it is still very sharp. I am noticing it is not naturally a smooth blade. Seems to keep its edge. Overall though, a really nice shave.