30 Day Rule/Focus; January 2025. All Are Welcome.

Alabama awesome shave Danny. Man, you got NY temps down there! Stay warm my friend!

 

So just copy and paste here. Why be an outlier?
It gives us a perspective to what you are using.

 

Love it

 

January 9, 2025

Jillette January

Razor - Gillette Fat Handle Tech
Blade -
Soap - Tabac (Tallow)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Badger
Finish - Aqua Velva Musk

Ok, well. Confusion reigns but it's all sorted out now. I mentioned last night I'd be using a 1956 Tech tonight. Guess what? I don't own a 1956 Tech. I have a 1950-56 Gold Fat Handle Tech. It was on the Ball End handle shown in my picture. When I discovered what it was I had already taken the picture, and remembered seeing a Fat Handle somewhere around here. Yep, attached to a New LC head. I hadn't pulled that razor out this month since I already had my better New LC in the rotation. So, I changed handles and voila! A 1950-56 Gold Fat Handle Tech appeared in my hand. So I went back a couple of years (maybe) from the Red Tip. Oh well.

I chose the Gillette Wilkinson Sword blade and wasn't unhappy with the choice. It isn't going to win the smoothest blade of the month award but it is sharp and effective and not at all difficult to work with. In the milder Tech it provided a good finish after two passes. I did a third just because I was being picky.

Soap was Tabac with the Wolf Whiskers badger. Luxurious, and my wife recognized the scent instantly when I gave her a smooch after the shave. I then applied the Aqua Velva Musk to finish it off.

Nice shave to end a nice day. Snow in the forecast tonight. Not as much as the last time. Enjoy your evening and have a fantastic Friday!

​

 

Excellent shave Neal. It is ironic because I like the Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades very much. Yes, blades are definitely a ymmv thing.

 

Yes they are. I could easily shave with Wilkinson's if that's all that was available. No complaints. Honestly, as long as there is good technique, the blade choice really does come down to personal preference. With a few exceptions. Worst blade in the world still goes to the Tiger blade. Holy moly was that thing ever a disaster.

 

hard to beat a tech shave. 4 basic shaving staples..

 

The Tech sometimes seems to draw disrespect from some in the shaving community. It is often seen as a very mild razor, which it does fall on the mild side of things. The blade gap is 0.022 inches, slightly above a Blue Tip and below a Flare tip. Consider, however, that the starting gap on a Fatboy is exactly the same. I have found that the Tech is no harder to use in achieving a perfect finish than a Superspeed, Fatboy on 1 or any other Gillette. It's simply a basic 3 piece razor that does what a razor should in the hands of a person who knows how to shave. Sometimes just having that simple of a razor in my hand adds to the satisfaction of finishing well.

 

For Alabama, I assume 21 is cold; we call that winter shirtsleeve weather up here.

Anyway, sounds like a nice shave. The brush and razor are true beauties!

 

Nice shave and pic, Neal, even if the razor is accidentally frankenrazored in the photo.

When did Gillette take over Wilkinson Sword's razor blade line?

 

I remember the Tiger blade tests a few years back. IIRC, in the race to the bottom for title of Worst Blade, it didn't even have any close competitors.

 

I have never understood the contempt shown the Tech by some on the boards. It was a very simple razor that performed its function perfectly -- let any user with any shaving competence at all obtain a decent shaving result (while costing Gillette very little money to make and letting it sell millions of blades). And decades later, the Tech still works just fine.

I expect tomorrow I will shave with my Dad's Canadian-made triangle-slot fat-handled Tech.

 

Gillette bought a stake in Wilkinson in 1989 to produce blades outside of the EU. The Gillette Wilkinson's were, perhaps still are - still checking- made in India. Wilkinson and Gillette are actually competitors as Wilkinson is part of Edgewell Personal Care, a subsidiary of Energizer. Gillette owns Duracell. The war of batteries and blades.

 

The Tiger definitely ran right to the bottom of the heap, dug a hole, dug it deeper, then fell into it with the force of black hole gravity. There were certainly some stinkers among the blades I tested, but none that compared to the horror of that thing.

 

Thank you John. To my knowledge, yes the Lea & La Toja sticks have been discontinued like most other shave sticks, purely down to lack of demand and the manufacturers not making enough profit. However, you can still buy them from buyers on e-Bay at extortionate prices.

 

Thank you Joe. The Old Spice bottle is a replica of the original bottle that P&G brought out when taking over the Shulton francize in 1990, starting with Whitewater then Swagger and a few other new fragrances followed. I've never had the pleasure of trying the original Shulton version, but I do like the P&G original.

 

Absolutely Joe. The 37c is probably one of my all time favourite DE razors. I've finally realized why it's taking me so long to pair with The 39c, it's not because the handle is longer giving the razor extra weight, it's because it has a "barber-pole twist" handle which when wet is slippy making it difficult to hold and to keep your shaving angle. They should have used the same knurling as on the 37c which would have made it so much easier,"for me" and comfortable to manoeuvre & shave with. That's my only gripe with the 39c..As always YMMV.

 

Aas I said before, I list my plan on SOTD and mention the names on "30Day Rule" as I describe the shave and other relative thoughts. Frankly, I think that's all that's needed.

 

One change from yesterday's shave-the
Brush-Jayaruh #59

Real nice shave..I got the problem on the right cheek that I missed yesterday. This was another of those shaves where one pass appeared to satisfy me, but I went ahead with the 2nd, so as not to waste a good amount of soap on the brush. Stoylin's Oud Sigma is rapidly becoming my favorite of Doc&Nurse Ezlovan's soap offering. That doesn't mean I plan to flip the Agar, as both are fine for Oud/Agarwood, but you get more of the scent with Oud Sigma. Great close from Agadir A.S>(from the store where all products consist of Oud Wood.). No skin damage done. As Outstanding As It Gets.

 

@Yehuda D -, I thought you'd like to know that I made a move on Master Soap Creations-Vintage Spice. It's currently sold out at Pasteur's Pharmacy, but I told them to let me know when it's available again.