August 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

www.stltoday.com The Post Dispatch. Overnight count is usually up by mid-morning. Other than that, not much.

 

We should organize the first annual 30DC Meet up at the Chevron station by the first East St Louis IL exit on the interstate. Should be a good time.

 

Nah. East St. Louis is too tame these days. BP Station just off of I-70 and North Grand would be more interesting.

 

August Focus Day 4:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
TOBS Eton College SC
Gillette Super Adjustable
Stirling Unscented PSB
TSD Floid Blue Type AS

My second shave with this razor, and it was definite improvement over yesterday's shave. I set the razor to 1 (I was on 5 yesterday). While it was mild, it was also very efficient. I got an easy DFS on two passes, and could have got caught the baby had I chased a bit, but I let it go.

Yesterday's shave seemed irritation free immediately after my shave, but I noticed a little bit on my neck an hour or so later. This shave was smoother, so I'll be paying attention to see if I notice any irritation later today. As of now, I am definitely primed for a good day. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

SOTN August 3rd


Ikon X3 Slant
GSB (2)
DR John's Hydra
Satin Tip The Purest
Homemade tangerine AS

Good morning friends.I had an awesome shave with the X3 last night. A night and day difference from my first shave with it.

I started if by making a super slick, delicious smelling, lather with the hydra and put the razor to my face. Knowing that riding the cap didn't work I went the opposite direction and was close to riding the safety bar. Bingo! That was the trick, the razor cut close and efficient! 3 passes later man I'm smooth, welcome back baby! No feedback from the alum. And my homemade tangerine AS made for a devine paring with the hydra. 10 hours later and I'm still feeling smooth! Have a great day my friends!

Sent from my Galaxy S6 using Tapatalk

 

August 2016 Adjustable August

August 4

Razor: 58 Executive set on 9
Blade: Royal Red
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Tabac
Post: Cold water rinse, Alum block

I got my shave in this morning with the Royal Red blade. I kept the soap and brush the same as the last two shaves for the sake of science. I used a brand new blade to rule out degradation in quality as the primary reason for increase in irritation. My hope was that with the Executive set on 9 that the aggressiveness would further increase the closeness of the shave, maybe even get that near BBS or BBS, without increasing the irritation level that accompanied the shave. My shave with the Executive set on 6 ended up a solid DFS, but with some bite from the alum and irritation.

Starting off on the WTG/XTG pass reminded me that this is not the sharpest blade, even at the more aggressive setting. When using a blade like the GSB on 9 you can tell just how sharp that blade is and it is a beast on 9. This blade is just not nearly as sharp. I do believe this blade is below both the Derby and Dorco 300 in sharpness to me. The pass went well and had good reduction. Some minor irritation but probably a little less than the irritation I got on the previous blade's second use on 6. I set about to do the ATG pass and see where it ended up. The pass went well. Felt the blade and actually got some decent audible feedback on this pass. Again some minor irritation, but in the end probably still a little less than the previous shave with a twice used blade. I did some touch-up on my chin and jaw line and gave it a test.

I think the end result is near BBS. I still had a couple spots that were not BBS. The cheeks and neck were clear BBS. The chin and one area of the jaw line would need more work. Could it get to BBS? Probably, but I am not chasing, especially with this blade. The alum did have a little bite to it. Especially on those areas that I had to do touch up. But all in all, I think it was less bite and less irritation than the previous shave.

My conclusion is that these "baldes" are definitely designed for barbers and are less than optimum quality so they degrade fairly significantly with use. I also have a thick, coarse beard which makes all blades earn their keep. I have never pushed a blade to see how long they will last (this may just have to be my focus next month to see how far a GSB can go), but I have had many blades be completely spent after 3 shaves (including the vaunted Voskhod and the feather). I really do think this blade is primarily suited for a one and done use by a barber in a shavette. If that is your plan, this is one to consider. For use in a DE razor, I definitely say take a pass, move along, nothing to see here.

My phone will not allow a picture to be uploaded for some reason. I will try to edit the post later to upload a pic.

 

Thursday Shave

Brush- Semogue 620
Razor- Schick Fashion Razor aka the Hussy
Blade- Chinese Schick
Soap- Mama Bear's Obsession
Post Care- Crystal Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Osage Rub
Pinaud Bay Rum

I'm continuing to focus on my injector razors. I'll be using the Hussy through this week then sending it off to @PLAla for a pass around I'm starting. There's still plenty of time to join in. It was a weird shave today, the Mama Bear's soap kept pulling a disappearing act. I've not had this trouble with it before but I couldn't get the lather to stay. What was there though was extremely slick, the Hussy just slid right through it. Three passes and I'm dolphin smooth. The alum was completely silent, the Osage Rub felt fantastic and the Pinaud bay rum complemented the Obsession soap. It's been 5 hours since I've shaved and I can still smell the soap and still can't feel a single whisker. Have a great day folks!

 

IN!

 

August 4, 2016
Adjustable August
Gillette Fatboy and Slim, PAL and Schick Adjustables

Today I move to the Gillette Adjustable Slim (1961 G1) a PIF from our ol’ buddy @wristwatchb



1-day growth, 2-pass shave.
XTG-7, ATG-5 (3 on chin)
7 o’clock Blue for this shave also.

Two previous shaves with the Fatboy allowed for a smooth transition to the Slim. Those two shaves also allowed me to hone in my technique with these type of razors.

The shave outcome was smoother and more complete, closer to excellent. Was it the razor? Or was it my incremental technique adjustments after two days with the FB?

I had assumed that I’d have to go through at least this first week of adjustment to both razors, while next week I’ll hope to be able to focus more on their differences.

Cheers!
RT

 

I've been stabbed, cut, beat, tazed, pepper sprayed, cs gased and shot at but so far never shot. Might be a new exciting experience. I'm in.

 

Awesome Adjustable Arko August!!!!

August 4

Grand Blade Trial


Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (2)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Post - Alum, Nivea, The Veg

Moving on to the next blade in line we go from probably China (if our assumptions are correct) and the Royal Red to St. Petersburg, Russia and the Gillette Stainless. This is a blade I've never tried which is a bit surprising given it's a Russian. Of course it's not a Moscow Russian so that probably explains that.

Great lather as always this morning and that was even with me half asleep and probably not loading enough on my face from the stick before I started. Arko and the Omega work very well together to hide my weaknesses.

First pass WTG and I will have to say, I almost forgot I was shaving. It was seriously that smooth. No audible feedback, just a quiet smooth pass over my face. The Slim at 2 is, of course, super mild and I wondered if I was even cutting anything. Apparently I was as the first pass ended VERY nicely with a really nice reduction.

Second pass XTG and again, no audible but the result was already DFS. Impressive! Can I hit the baby on the ATG/Gillette Slide? I say YES! If it wasn't BBS it was only the tiniest bit shy of it so I'm saying it was. Really amazing performance especially on the mild setting. How in the world did the blade do it? Well, clearly my superior technique and knowledge.......ok, ok, so the blade is obviously super sharp. And super smooth. Makes it easy for a mild razor to do its job.

Interested to see how well it does at 6 tomorrow. For today, alum was totally quiet, Nivea was just to keep things in shape and the Veg set me out the door feeling GREAT! Here's to a great day for all of you!

 

+1

 

We will give you a three second head start. I suggest you run in a serpentine pattern

 

When you go from a bad blade to a good blade it makes the good blade seem that much better.

 

Hate I don't have any of that blade to give a go tomorrow. Sounds like it was certainly the right direction after the Royal Red!

 

I also like Twisted Tweed very much. There are so many Rout 66 soaps that I like it's hard for me to put one above another.

 

Yeah, cause serpentine always works!

 

Hey! I found @Rufus T. 's cat.

 

Hey wait a minute, I resemble that!

 

@NCoxSTL - looks like we've got a movement happening here.
A few more and it might qualify as a convention.
From there it's not too much of a stretch to achieve mob status.