DEC 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I switched to my third birth year razor today. I dialed my Fatboy to 6 and loaded a new Shark blade that I found floating around the medicine cabinet, lathered up some Route 66 and shaved away. The Fatboy works very well for me on six or higher and I got a very nice two pass BBS with very little cleanup. Some witch hazel and Déjà Fougère AS and I was ready for the day.
SOTD
Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Omega boar brush
Gillette Fatboy (G3)
Shark blade (1)
Witch Hazel
Déjà Fougère AS
Happy Friday!

 

18 DEcember 2015

Planned Shave



Feather Popular TTO
Feather Hi-Stainless (2)
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Soap Review Test Sample B
Alum
Osage Rub (Just a splash, don't get nuts!)

Have a great Friday evening!

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Razor: Gillette Milord 1946
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum (5)
Brush: Omega Professional 10049 Boar Red Handle
Soap: Route 66 Lumberjack
A/S Myrsol F./Extra

Everything working together. Starting to better handle boar brushes, which is part of my focus this month. I'm getting very good shaves as a result of playing around with razor angles and pressure.
Have a great Friday night and outstanding weekend.

 

Great pic again Doug!

 

Thanks very much @Salty Belle.

 

It was so nice, she quoted it twice! All kidding aside, sublime soap!

 

Sometimes I do that, and I don't know how it happens.

 

I know, I don't even know how that happened!

 

I shaved my head earlier with my new soap Monsavon Bol à Raser, fantastic post shave, this soap is very slick!! The one area it does lack in is scent, which is fine with me. It's not strong I'd say a 3 out of 10, a fresh citrus-y.
My face is well moisturized from my shave this morning, for $8.50 this soap is a big winner. No frills packaging works cool with this shaver.
I'll use it again tomorrow with my Oscar11 brush and my Flare Tip.
Silky smooth.

 

The Twelve Ten Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve ten blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve ten of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve December 20th.. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 18

Razor - Gillette New LC
Blade - (2)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Silvertip
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea

It's FRIDAY!!! For those of you that have the weekend off anyway. Day two of the Baili Super Platinum. Not sure what to think of the Baili line given the inconsistent performance between the blue and green blades at this point. Further testing will be required.

Soap today is Tabac using the Wolf Whiskers custom silvertip. What a great brush. Loaded with almost no effort and produced a great aromatic lather. I'm getting to the point that if I have Tabac and MWF in the den I'm perfectly happy. Went to work with the New LC and the feel was a bit smoother than yesterday, though yesterday wasn't horrible. I got a DFS yesterday on two passes and a touch up. Went WTG and ATG for the second pass and yep, there it is. Very nice DFS, maybe even BBS or borderline in two passes, no touch up. Either this blade is far better than its blue cousin or the New just makes it that good. Impressive finish for this Chinese entry.

Tomorrow we go to the last blade in the month. Skipping both of the Dorcos and going straight for the final Chinese entry this month. The razor is the el-cheapo Long Feng, chosen by random.org to pair with the MEM blade. This could be a finish to remember, one way or another. Hope you had a great Friday!

 

+1

 

+1

 

Too funny.

 

12/19/15

Gillette New LC
Rapira Super Stainless (2)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Pre de Provence
Pinaud Clubman Original

Third day with the Pre de Provence and my first face lather with it.
A small amount of warm water on the top of the soap to soften while soaking the brush. Spread the small amount of bloom water on my face and neck. Today I loaded the brush for only 10 seconds. Surprisingly, this gave me a nice amount of product. I guess over time the soap has softened and it seems to be releasing product more easily.


I began to lather on my face and this produced a nice thick creamy lather. 2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Pass 2: ATG. Small amount of touch up using the lather on my face. Did a cool water rinse and then spent a little more time touching up my trouble spots. The Pinaud Clubman stung a little, but settled down quickly. The brush still had enough lather for another pass. It was easier to see squeezed out. It looks a little watery in the picture, but it preformed fine during my touch up.


A nice near BBS from the first face lather with the Pre de Provence and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC. The PdP lather was a little thinner, but still offered good protection. There was less lather, but I expected that because I only spent 10 seconds in the container. Tomorrow, I'll load more.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

12/19/2015
Razor – Gem 1912
Blade – Gem Stainless PTFE (5)
Brush – Brothers Bristles with WD HM
Lather – B&M Seville
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine Platinum



Continuing with the vintage razor focus for December I am revisiting the Gem 1912. Using B&M Seville from a shave stick, I whipped up a very good lather. Seville is a very thirsty soap but adding water slowly as you lather brings out the best in the soap. I went with a 2 pass shave, XTG and ATG followed up with touch ups around my chin and under my nose. I didn't catch the baby and most likely didn't scare him either but I did get a very good shave. More importantly, I was able to at last get a decent shave under my nose. Not perfect but I'm getting there. Today also provides an interesting comparison to Gem 1912 Damaskeene I used last weekend. While very similar, I do find the 1912 Damaskeene noticeably smoother. Finished off with a splash of Fine Platinum. Hope everyone has a great Saturday.

 

December 18 & 19

Z3 Gillette Super Speed
Feather (1 & 2)
Semogue 830
Route 66 Lumberjack (thanks Doug )
Two passes plus touch-ups
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Floid Vigoroso

My shaves with the Super Speed continue to be great! Two passes (WTG & ATG) plus XTG touch-ups around the chin and jawline are all that I need for near BBS shaves. This morning, however, I changed things up a bit by doing both passes ATG on my lower neck. Early indication is that I got a closer shave in that area. I'll see how it feels and looks tonight.

I want to echo what everyone is saying about the Route 66 shave soap. It smells great, lathers easily, and provides great slickness and protection. It has definitely earned a spot in the rotation. In fact, it's so good that I think a major U.S. highway should be named after it. Oh wait... Salty Belle, you done good!

I want to wish everyone here and their families a very Merry Christmas.

 

SOTD
December 19, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Flare Tip Super Speed 1959 E1
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Monsavon Bol à Raser
Brush: Oscar11 Root Beer/Black 28mm Silvertip
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Myrsol F/Extra
Great shave. Monsavon Bol à Raser is absolutely amazing! I'll do a review later, this soap is well worth the $8.50 and some. I'm getting fantastic shaves from the Flare Tip, just as good as I would from my Mongoose. Oscar11 brush is a beast! 10 swirls on the puck and I had enough soap for the entire 30DC.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

The Twelve Ten Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve ten blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve ten of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve December 20th.. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 19

Razor - Long Feng
Blade - (1)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - MWF
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea

The last blade in the changed schedule arrives! The razor is the Long Feng, that wonderfully inexpensive and cheap (yes both) Chinese delight that actually works, it's just a bit on the harsh side it seems. Aligning the blade is a bit of a chore but once it's in it isn't all that bad. Certainly light years ahead of the Rapira razor. Lather is provided by BoSFat and was a great one this morning. I'm seeing a two soap rotation forming.......MWF, Tabac, MWF, Tabac. It's been coming for some time but it just gets more natural to reach for one or the other.

Got everything lathered and the blade loaded and went to work. I am happy to report that, finally, in this month of surprisingly good or simply "meh" shaves that I have found a Chinese blade that lives up to my expectations. The MEM Super Silver Platinum is an all Chinese blade and boy is it dull, tuggy, rough, irritating, horrible at times and just all around filled with the goodness I've come to expect from most Chinese blades. I managed two passes, one WTG and an XTG (and wasn't THAT one fun). It was reaching the point with the XTG that as soon as the razor got close to my face I was already wincing. What is surprising is that those two passes produced a CCS. And, while the alum burned, it certainly wasn't the hottest I've felt it, but this is no Flying Eagle. This one can actually cut hair if given enough opportunities.

I am probably one of the few who can appreciate finding a blade like this that shaves like what I know it is, yet outperforms the worst in class to actually be usable in an emergency. With the Flying Eagle, given the choice between it and a tin can I'd take the can. At least the MEM would be usable a few days before having to drop to the can.

While I know I said two days on each blade I'm not going to pursue this one another day. It showed what it can, and mostly can't, do. I'm going to go ahead and start with the W.B. Speed Rabbit straight tomorrow to add an extra day of work leading up to the Soviet straight. So, it's been a fun month so far with the DE's and, honestly, not nearly as horrid as some months I've spent trying blades. But, onward and forward to finishing the year with an ultimate TTT test. Hope you are having a great weekend! Here's the Long Feng with a REAL blade. Chinese aluminum and Russian steel.....a much better combination if you're going to try it!

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