April 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix&Discussion Thread

This should shed some light on her temper...she's very Irish.

 

Ah yes. Now I get it.

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So is my wife but she didn't get the red haired temper that her mom has, her sister on the other hand...

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This morning I slightly altered my routine but only to the extent that I used cold water rather than hot. Zero irritation.
Reordered some Arko last night but will stick the month out with the Edwin Jagger Pomegranate and lime soap. Have a great day all.

 

04/13/2016
Cobra Classic
Feather Pro (3)
Brothers Bristles with Sunrise Synthetic
Mystic Water Orange Vanilla
Witch Hazel
Folsom & Co Capri
Whipped Shea Butter



A very good shave this morning. Going with a 2 pass shave, XTG & ATG, followed by minor touch ups ended in a near BBS. I did end up with a nick below my lips due to operator error. Finished up with a splash of F&C Capri. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

 

30 Day Focus April 13, 2016
Another wonderful shave with Cella. Wonderful soap!

 

SOTD April 13, 2016

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Vintage Wilkinson Sword, England (3)
Razor: Maggard MR1 handle with V2 open comb
Brush: Satin Tip 'The Purest' synthetic
Lather: Ginger's Garden Salty Mariner
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Old Spice knock-off, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG



Break in focus again due to the Wilkinson blade. I'll be back with Russian blades tomorrow!

Nice shave this morning with the Maggard razor, vintage Wilkinson blade, and Ginger's Garden soap. That soap is really fantastic. It has great post shave feel and good skin care along with good cushion and slickness.

I've enjoyed enhancing my witch hazel with various aftershaves. Sometimes I use just plain witch hazel followed by balm but other days I like a little scent. This knock-off Old Spice I'm using smells pretty good! I enjoy it. It's from Fred's Discount Pharmacy and a large bottle was only about $2.

I went with two passes today, no touch-up. Pretty smooth shave. I hope you all have a great day!

 

April 13 - Straight Shave 42
Wade & Butcher French Point
PSO, hot shower, Nivia face wash
Jayaruh #40 Synthetic
Route 66 Sea & Citrus Soap & Balm
Alum

I screwed up my total straight shaves for a couple posts, think I have it right now..

Excellent shave this morning, gonna call it BBS! WTG, XTG, ATG and touchup. I really like the new Rt 66 balm! Have a great day all!

 

I'm glad you liked the cold water, I'm definitely a fan. You should join us in the Fellowship Of Cold Water Shavers
Here's a banner you can use in your posts

Welcome to TSD!

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I only recently started playing with soaking soap pucks as the result of experimenting with the Marvy soap but, after reading this, I decided I had to try it with the puck of Williams (actually a puck of Williams topped with a small, persistent ring of VdH) in my mug. Emboldened by the results, I decided to try it with my floppy Chinese Badger brush.

The results were extremely satisfying. A decent lather with little effort and I think I could even get used to the softer brush.

 

Arko April in Russia!

April 13




Razor - Edwin Jagger DE89l
Blade - (2)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, The Veg

Second day of the Dorco ST-301 Platinum trial. After a somewhat surprising start yesterday it's time to push this piece of steel. It's all about chasing the baby today. Or flaying a layer of skin trying. So off we go. Arko is a great choice for this kind of exercise as it will stay slick and easily re-lather if I need more. The DE89l is pretty mild but not too mild so it should work well for the chase. Now, does the blade have it in it?

First pass was a bit concerning. It felt ok, not too rough, but still not the smoothest. But, unlike yesterday, I felt the effect was a little weak. Seemed a bit rough after I finished the first pass. Is the blade losing it a bit? Second pass, XTG and a much better finish to the pass. Face was near BBS, neck has some work. Pretty typical for my shaves. If I could get rid of my neck I'd have an easier time every day. Of course, my head would also sit right on my shoulders and I'd be even shorter than I am. So, it's the third pass that will make the difference.

Made sure I had a really good lather and went to work ATG. Face first and I could tell I was there. After the first time over with ATG I no longer heard any audible feedback. That's gotta be it for the face. Neck was an XTG, followed by an ATG, followed by a daring G-Slide. By daring I mean I don't know how I avoided a slice. Light touch, keep the pressure off and maintain speed is all I can say. Checked at that point and had my usual two spots still mocking me. Touch up time. Went both directions XTG on those spots, then another G-slide....in the reverse direction of angle. Called it a shave. Can't do more than that.

Rinsed, and here comes the alum. As aggressive as I was I figured it would be a hot day. Not so much. Nice. A bit of heat on the neck but I earned that. I'll take it. Rinsed again and went ahead and got dressed and then checked it. Did you hear the music? That's the sweet sound of the Baby entering the room. Yep, got it. Even SWMBO noticed when she gave me a kiss. That is one smooth shave from a blade that I didn't think could do it.

@Douglas Carey I think you're onto something here. I'll give it another day just to see how it lasts through three full shaves but I am impressed. That's two Dorco's in a month that have worked. Who is that man behind the curtain?! He has to be a wizard!!

Good news!! The boys sobered up had a great night's sleep and made some progress. They got too close to a military base and barely escaped being "recruited". But judging from the training picture they sent they might have been a great fit!

​

 

I'm giving the VdH the credit for that lather.

 

For a buck and change and an often free empty cream tub its worth trying. I've done it since I was 15. Only 13 years but I've not had it disappoint yet.

 

Slept in a bit today and woke up at 6:00 instead of 4:30-5:00. Got my synthetic to try killing this stubborn little ring of Route 66.

CJB
Feather Pro (is it day 5 or 6?)
WD synthetic
Route 66 Sweeny Todd
Floid Amber

The lather was great. I started out with a little ring of soap left and ended with about the same amount. I've been using this SAMPLE since the end of last month. I can't wait to get a full size one. It may just last forever.

So on to the shave. First pass was great no issues except that it had a slight pull in the goatee area. I relathered and went from bottom to top. Still pretty smooth. A bit tuggy on the goatee area still but nothing like some DE blades I've used. I rinsed off and noticed a bit of patchy redness. I cringed inside and slapped on the Floid expecting it to hurt. It tumbled a bit on the neck but otherwise was quiet. The CJB ended up sliding off the edge of the sink and the blade wacking into the mug I keep for lather water so it has gone to blade heaven. I have the Super Pro loaded up and ready for the morning.

I have a bit of stubble if I rub ATG all over but it is smooth and comfortable every other dirrection so I'm calling it a DFS.

 

Super lather Arko and Williams. Face load the Arko mug load the Williams, lather and enjoy. The Arko helps the Williams lather up and the Williams makes the Arko less drying and adds a bit of slickness. The smell is about the same.

 

Soap Focus
I can't give up trying to get good performance out of MWF. I managed to get w very nice lather this morning. The issue is that it is just not slick enough. I'm spoiled by Route 66. At least I will have a cool looking tub when I finally use this puck up
SOTD
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Doug Korn synthetic brush
Schick Type F
Chick blade (2)
Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Ogallala Bay Rum
Have fun!

 

There is the kit I'm using:

Prep - soak brush while showering. Wash face with Neutrogena soap.
Razor - Edwinn-Jagger DE89bl
Blade - Derby (came with razor)
Brush - Parker Safety Razor Silvertip
Soap - DR Harris (Arlington)
After - Aftershave (Mary Kay Domain)

Shave went well today - I took all the time I needed, but inside I felt like my teenage daughter in front of the mirror!

I was getting a bit down as I was trying to bowl lather. I've got a post on the newbie page about having trouble with it. My Parker brush is very soft - and the puck hard! Today I put some water on the puck while I showered (bloom...?), but when I loaded the brush, I did not choke down on the brush at all. I started to whip the lather in the bowl (remember - smooth kitchen bowl for now), and not much was happening. I started adding water, and bingo - lather began appearing. Perhaps next time I'll skip blooming the puck, use more water as I did today, and see what happens. Anyway, the lathering went well, which came as a surprise!

Began shaving with 3 passes decided upon (WTG, XTG, ATG). Double checked that, yes, I did in fact know which way the stubble was oriented. First pass - phew - no blood. An improvement already! Second pass I cheated above and below my lips - went ATG. Couldn't really figure out how to go across in those spots. Second pass brought a red spot directly below my chin, on the throat area. Third pass went well, but brought blood in that spot. Not much though - just enough to notice.

After the 3 passes, I did have to do some more "clean-up". Is that common for you guys, or just my poor technique showing through here? All told, in a couple of trouble areas just below the jaw line I needed perhaps 3 more "hit it with the brush, and then the razor" spots. GRRR. Don't like that.

But, all in all, I'm thrilled with the shave. Perhaps a total of 3 "spots" - only 1 had blood associated with it.

Doing the 30-day RULE with theDerby blades. ANY AND ALL advice is welcome!

Thanks,

Gary

 

Glad you had a good shave! You're in the right place for advice.

Have you thought about face lathering as opposed to bowl lathering? For me it seems to skip a step from first bowl lathering then going to the face. I like the exfoliation factor as the brush works the lather straight on your face. Bowl lathering controls the lather more. I like to face lather personally. You can dip the tips of the brush into your sink to add water while face lathering. You can also sprinkle water straight into the knot for the same effect.

I don't think blooming soaps is necessary. I also don't think it hurts anything. I don't bloom my soaps, other than Mitchell's Wool Fat. You can always add more water if it's too dry or pasty. Only add a few drops at a time.

Everyone's experience with blades is different and unique. Some work for one group and another group cannot use them. Personna lab blues are my standard blade but a recent convert of mine can't use them. They weren't good for his skin. Derby is a divisive blade - some use them with great ease and others say it's a terrible blade. I haven't tried one. But I will be trying a Derby blade on April 30 however, as many of us use Arko, a Tech razor, a Derby blade, and the Veg in our shaves that day. I know @Bama Samurai is using Derby blades at the moment, as well @swarden43.

As far as clean-up or touch-up - I would still do some even after three passes. There are just some areas that need a little more focus. Most of the time I do a one or two pass shave with touch-up. There are always areas that could use more time but I try to limit myself and not overwork an area. I want to avoid irritation if I can.

I would like to invite you to try a cold water shave. There are several of us on the forum who use cold water while shaving. It's invigorating and helps to limit irritation, for me at least. Check out the link in my signature for the Fellowship of Cold Water Shavers!

I hope that helped in some small way. You'll get a lot more advice coming your way!

 

Gary, you are doing very well. If you concentrate on mastering the techniques, the results will come. It just takes time. Everything sort of clicked for me a little over 30 days into the process.

On the lathering, that takes time and practice as well. Since you are bowl lathering there is nothing wrong with practicing even if you are not shaving.

 

Okay Chris, you have a choice between going to the Warriors game tonight or Kobe's last game. Which do you pick?