December 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Decadent December 2016 - Day 22



Just for fun, back on the Charlie Danger setup with the Hero finish. Set it to nine and rode the cap per usual, and 'Murica's finest blade delivered the day two goods. @RetLEO-07 --you are most correct, these are indeed nice blades! The alum was a cool stone, the skin was smooth and the Veg felt great. Just got home from a visit to a really nice little Pho joint with Mrs. Samurai and Son of Samurai. I had the usual, a large bowl of noodles, thin sirloin, tendon and tripe--topped off with bean sprouts, culantro, purple basil, limes, chile paste and fish sauce. I go to this place about once a week, and it was nice to have them come along tonight. About to select a pipe and peruse TSD for a bit. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a fantastic Friday!

 

Besides, who's going to argue with 450,000 Turks?

 

Vlad, but that's another story.

 

Yeah, well, he'll argue with anybody. With enough vodka anything's possible.

 

I thought his name is "Anis" /snicker.
Ok, that's funny. I don't care who ya are.

 

Decadent December!!

December 22


Razor - Delta Echo New Long Comb
Blade - (2)
Soap - Route 66 The Black Pearl
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Post - Alum

Long day today. It's slow going into the holiday, as it should be for us, and I knew I had a great shave waiting tonight. Wanted to try another sampler of Route 66 and I chose The Black Pearl. My first impression is, shall we say, non-committal. Not sure what to make of it. Seems a bit on the floral side but I'm letting it grow on me. SWMBO is not giving me much positive feedback to work with. Her comment - "it's not really you". I'm thinking I'll pass on this one. Hey, that's the first of three I've been "meh" on.

Now, as far as the lather goes? Wonderful as always. The Wolf did a great job of loading up and the face lather was very nice. The New did what a New is supposed to do. Gave me a two pass near-baby that I turned into the baby with a bit of j-hooking and sliding. Fantastic shave again with this awesome razor and setup.

Tomorrow is the 23rd, meaning we have 9 days left in December. As my original focus was to be decadent Soviet style, meaning Russian steel with questionble razors, I will finish that way. Enough of this incredible decadence you all have foisted on me. I'll be using the Consul that @cmorris357 included. I'll use three of the Moscow blades and I'll choose from the following: Voskhod, Rapira SS, Sharp Star, Rapira Chrome, Rapira Swedish, Ladas, Rapira Platinum Lux. I'll use random.org to choose three. Three days on a blade. Starting tomorrow at the mildest setting and moving through all 9. We'll see what the knockoff can do! Hope you're all set for the weekend. Time to get that shopping done if you haven't already!

 

Way to take one for the Team Neal! Have you used this type of Soviet knock-off before?

 

No I haven't. The closest would be the Mladost II, but that one is not an adjustable. It's the "highest quality" Soviet DE I've used, though and....in true fashion....it's nothing to write home about. Uneven gaps, all the usual problems, just not as dynamically bad as some.

I watched a video last night on the Ideal, which is the Soviet knockoff of the Black Beauty from Gillette. Seemed like it has a lot of the same issues, but not as pronounced. According to that individual he thought it was milder than the Black Beauty. I have heard that the Consul is a lot more aggressive than the Slim/Fatboy. We shall see.

 

Also Jared @PickledNorthern

 

Crank it up to 9 and dry shave! What's the worst that could happen?

 

Tiger? Go for the gold.

 

How ironic would it be if the only razor that could make a Tiger actually work is a defective Soviet one? Seriously....what are the odds?

 

Apply a little toilet paper, down a shot of Smirnoff, and it's off to sell, sell, sell. A new Swedish mattress under every tree.

 

Thank you sensei

 

Decadent December 23 -

Gillette FatBoy (3)
Gillette Platinum-Plus vintage blade (1)
Simms 1930s boar reknotted with 22mm Maggards blacktip synthetic
Finnish RazorMaster Uula coffee-scented soap
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original

Today I tried a new blade, soap and brush. The result was a good shave with quiet alum.

I am guessing the blades date from the late 1960s or early 1970s when Gillette was first pushing its newfangled blades-in-a-dispenser as making changing blades in a DE TTO just as easy and safe as changing one in a Schick injector -- no touching of the blade ever required. These blades come in a dispenser and only have a slot to fit TTOs; if your razor uses 3 posts of some kind, you're out of luck. Rather oddly limits their general usefulness.

Anyway, the blade works fine and seems very smooth, although it doesn't seem as sharp as yesterday's Israeli IP. Gave me a good DFS shave. I'm happy because I can use my 6 10-blade dispensers for shaving instead of keeping them as useless collectibles.

I'm also pleased with how the Simms turned out, as it was my first attempt at a brush restoration. Instead of epoxy or silicon, I used a non-toxic waterproof white glue called Weldbond to fill the handle and hold the knot. The Maggards blacktip synthetic is the same colour as the original bristles and feels stiff but soft on the face.

I got the Finnish soap cake in a lot from a European shaver on the forums. The soap is a medium hard soap that stays in its cake shape but is easily squishable with the fingers. It has a lovely scent of fresh strong coffee, and lathers easily. The lather seems to dry fairly quickly but refreshes easily and gives good cushion and glide. The face feel afterwards is soft, smooth and not at all drying, which perhaps is not surprising with a soap that contains lanolin.

I will continue rotating through my daily razors with different blades in each, but I think I will spend a few days enjoying this soap and brush.

 

That sounds like my old theory about Tiger blades- that somewhere there was a Soviet-bloc razor that they were actually optimized for.

 

December 23, 2016
Cobra Classic
Feather Pro (2)
Doug Korn DK7 with Druida Manchurian
Nuavia Rossa
Witch Hazel

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Happy Friday everyone. The DK7 whipped the Rossa into a wonderful lather. Since I had the time this morning, I went with a full 3 pass shave ending in a near BBS. Applied a bit more lather to that trouble spot on my neck and I was off to chase the baby which I managed to catch. Overall a fantastic shave with no nicks, weepers or irritation. I hope everyone has a great Friday.

 

One way to find out...

 

Thanks Jared!