August 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thanks Jim!

 

Fabulous recap and photos Joseph. Excellent shave to start the month.


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Very nice Joe.


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Excellent setup and picture, Pierpaolo!
That's a great rendition of Scarborough Fair.

 

Terrific shave and photo, Jim! I've thought about the razors I've seen with differing sides, but decided against them as it would just be another factor I would have to give attention while shaving. I'm glad this one worked well for you today.

 

Thanks, Andrew.
I've become a collector and I didn't have anything like this in the collection. Unfortunately not convinced I'm going to keep it.

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Magnificent shave, Joseph! First class in all aspects.
After posing my question yesterday, I appreciate you demonstrating the coordination of Tabac and Alt Innsbruck (they both still remain in my shopping cart).

 

Excellent shave, Joe and I look forward to your final conclusions on the Cryogen.

 

SOTD SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020

This month’s TSD theme is ‘Go for the Gold’ coined by our erudite 30DC shavemaster from the Latin, ‘Aurum’ meaning gold. Do I hear the opener from Barber of Seville in the background? In keeping with that theme, I will include a gold safety razor or my Dovo Special which is the only straight razor I have with som gold on the blade as I continue my face-shaving straight razor focus this month. I am hoping that my anxiety while straight shaving will dissipate at some point so I can actually enjoy my face shaves.

My August kickoff shave went as expected. The three pass (WTG, ATG, XTG) resulted in a bloodless DFS which I cleaned up with my favorite Valet Auto Strop, the VC4. This model represents 40 years of incremental improvements and is easily one of the best shaving safety razors I own, vintage or modern. After ensuring the facial VBBS, it readily smoothed out my scalp stubble to the accustomed VBBS level by gliding through and brushing away the usual, slick MWF coating leaving your humble narrator in his usual cool, clean state of velveteen bliss!

RAZOR: Genco 35 (Mug), Valet Auto Strop VC4 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather FAS-10 Carbon Steel (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Rabid Banana Preshave Cube
BRUSH: JR Custom Rosewood Silvertip Badger #378
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat w/ 6 drops of M-Bomb
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brushsqueezings followed by Humphreys Lilac WH and Osage Rub. Finished with Krampert’s Frostbite.

 

Fine shave, Jeff and great start to the month!

 

I don’t think it will be, Jim (as far as hurricanes go). You just gotta keep your eye on them when your house is in the NOAA “cone of doom”.

 

Smoooooth!

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Randy, when I was in southern Utah a few years back, our van driver took us in to the town of Hurricane for tour. It isn't pronounced as it looks-it's HER A KIN. Boy, did I get a lecture when I thought it was HurriCANE. (Friendly lecture, but he was saying "Ya better call it HER A KIN now that you know".)

 

Thank you Clint! It has been an experience with Cryogen these past 2 weeks.

 

Thanks Andrew! It will be tomorrow late in the morning or an early afternoon shave.

 

Fine shave, Joe! I'll bet you'll be happy to move on to other soaps for a little bit.

 

Awesome shave Jeff! I am glad that you are plodding along with straights. It really is a mindset to conquer any trepidation you have considering your physical issue and the prior bad experience years ago. I can't compare myself to you, but I really had no business shaving with straights, let alone shavettes. I say this because I have always been klutzy and just the thought of shaving with an open blade was quite daunting. Somehow, I got the urge to order a Dovo shavette and had my first open blade shave in Oct 2018. I came into it with a positive attitude. That first shave was an epiphany because I did not cut myself. I am not sure but I think I did a 2 pass shave from the get go. Was the shave great? No, but it was a socially acceptable one. I was so enccouraged by that shave because it gave me confidence that I could do this. I contribute my initial success to respecting the razor and not fearing it. At shavette shave #14, I did my first headshave and I was like wow! I almost had tears in my eyes. I have shared this story a few times here, but I believe it was necessary to repeat it to encourage you and others who want to get into straight shaving. Everyone's journey is different. I am proud of your perserverance and I know that you will look back and say that you enjoy straight shaving because you kept going. In summation, if you and I can straight shave, then any one can. You are an inspiration Jeff!

 

Great way to start the month, Jeff!

 

Thanks Bruce! It will be the 16th day in a row using Cryogen. 5 with my "bad" puck, 1 test lather with my new puck and the 10 consecutive shaves thereafter. Yes, I am looking to use my other soaps after tomorrow. However, it was perfect timing to use the Cryogen during this heat wave.