February '16 - 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion Thread

2/3/16

Gillette Old Type
Rapira Super Stainless (1)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original

First shave with my Gillette Old Type loaded with a Rapira Super Stainless.
Normal 2 passes with minor touchup followed by cool water rinse and a small amount of additional touch up. The Rapira SS was smoother than the Supermax Super Stainless, except in the center of my neck where I had the weeper yesterday. There, the blades felt about the same. During my touchup, I was careful to go slowly and make sure I had plenty of cushion when I went over that spot and it felt better. Another example of needing to pay close attention to angle (as Chis @Bama Samurai said) when going over sensitive areas or where the skin is curving. I ended up BBS except for one spot close to my Adams apple that I can only feel when I put my head down and hunt for it.

A nice comfortable near BBS with the MWF, Gillette Old Type, and the Rapira Super Stainless. The Clubman stung a little today, but not too bad. The MWF generated loads of lather from the 20 seconds I spent in the container. After my shave I had tons of lather left:



Hope everyone has a great Wednesday

 

Wow! I still have so much left I suspect I won't need to buy anymore this year.

 

Indeed.

 

2/3/2016
Mongoose Satin B2 with Triad Ti
Feather Super Pro (1)
DK7 with Druida Manchurian
Mystic Water Lime
Witch Hazel
Folsom & Company Shambala
Whipped Shea Butter



After such a great week shaves last week with the AlumiGoose, I was little disappointed in the last 2 shaves with the Mongoose. While the shaves were very smooth, I felt I was having to work to hard for the results in just 2 passes. With that in mind, I changed out the blade for a fresh Feather Super Pro. The Mystic Water Lime scent was fantastic and adding water slowly produced a wonderful slick lather. I have found a very slick lather is the key to the Mongoose. I went with 2 passes, ATG & XTG paying particular attention to my trouble spots as I went. With one touch up on my jaw line I ended up with a BBS. More importantly the shave was smooth and irritation free with no nicks or weepers. I would rate the shave an A+ for Closeness and A+ for irritation. This was one of the rare work morning shaves that everything clicked. I finished up with a splash of F&C Shambala. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

 

SOTD
February 3, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip 1959 E1
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Klar Kabinett
Brush: Semogue 610
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Folsom & Co. Capri
Sweet shave. Klar Kabinett is a fantastic soap, I really enjoy using it. The 610 needs a lot of love! And I'm going to give it all it needs and some! From what I can tell this brush will be great once it starts to get broken in. F&C Capri is a very nice aftershave. I'm stuck on this Super Speed... My iKon Short Comb OC head will be here tomorrow so I'll give that a go on Friday. Noxzema is a nice change of pace for a pre-shave from what I've been using Axe something or another. I'll shave my head later today with my Gillette Atra using the same soap.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

MWF. I like it as much as the next guy, but one thing MWF lacks that so many others have is slickness. I don't find MWF to be the slickest soap on the market, not even in the middle of the road. Next time you use it check it out.
Of course YMWV...

 

February 3
Edwin Jagger DE89
Feather (3)
PSO, Hot Shower, Nivea Face wash
Omega 10066 Boar Shaving Brush
Chiseled Face Sherlock Soap
Alum, Chiseled Face Sherlock AS
Doc Elliott Beard Balm

DFS today, really like the Sherlock sample, I will have to get a full tub

 

Have two shaves to catch up on.

February 1, 2016 (Shave 1 of this focus)
Razor: Cattaraugus The Magnet
Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Chromexcel Horse/ Linen
Soap: Barrister & Mann Bay Rum
Brush: 24mm Badger in quilted maple handle
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Alum Bar, Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Lustray Blue Spice

Decent shave, but not fantastic. This razor is thin and light, so can give a good shave, but takes more work. Overall, DFS but two cuts. Irritation was minimal.

February 3, 2016 (Shave 2 of this focus)
Razor: Cattaraugus Chief’s Head
Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Chromexcel Horse/ Linen
Soap: Jabonman Lima-Incienso
Brush: 24mm Badger in quilted maple handle
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Alum Bar, Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Fine L’Orange Noir

I love this razor. I love this soap. I love this brush. I love this aftershave. I kind of enjoyed my shave today. This razor still isn’t quite keen enough, but I still got an amazing shave from it. I can’t wait until I manage to get it dialed in. 2 and a half pass shave, DFS, approaching BBS. Two weepers and a cut I reopened, along with one trouble spot are preventing me from calling this a BBS. Alum was mild, but the Fine aftershave burned. Took about 20 minutes for the irritation to die down. I am blaming that on my honing. I would settle for a "not quite there" shave like this every day.

 

Clint that brush is amazing. Glad the Goose came through for you.

 

Kerry, I got some Noxema at Walmart. Good to hear it is a nice pre-shave. Will try it today.

 

Thank you Mark. Now that I am getting the hang of the brush, I am really enjoying using the brush. Thank you again for your help in getting the knot.

 

4th SE shave was my best yet. It was the first shave that the Ever Ready razor felt natural in my hand. Due to its handle being much shorter than my DE razor and I have very clumsy hands. Lather today was Stirling Spice with VDH Boar Hair. Post: Alum, and Proraso green aftershave. Alum bit a little on the jawline and Adams apple but wasn't too bad
DFS

 

I usually carry Arko in my travel kit. I grabbed the Palmolive this time. I think I like it better as it lathers as well and has a nicer scent.

Travel kit SOTD Day Two
Palmolive shave stick
AoS travel brush
EJ DE 89
MK Sport cologne
Have fun!

 

I failed to post at the beginning of the month, but I'm kinda, sorta in this month.

I will be using my Fatboy (wide open) all month for Fatboy February.
I will be using MWF all month, or until it runs out for Fat February.
I will be varying my brushes and my blades to suit my fancy though.

 

So seeing as I am no longer struggling with the Fat is frowned upon if I where to say....switch to another soap? I will still stick with my tech for the month as I want to start testing how it is on more then 24 hours growth and other as this week I have just used it on less then 24 hours growth...

 

Thanks Charlie. I can use the ATG , XTG 2 pass shave with my SE razors since the blades are more rigid but have a hard time with most all my DE razors. Maybe I will give it a try again with the DE razors.

 

Day 3 - Schick Repeater focus

I was running late this morning and only had time for a quick shave. I decided on a one pass WTG and was pleasantly surprised with a very passable DFS. The Schick type loaded with a Chinese Schick blade is one very efficient razor, capable of producing close shaves without much effort.

 

That is one cool looking razor.

 

February 3, 2016

February Focus with my Schick Type D - The first Schick Injector Razor circa 1935

On the road since Monday, so shaving with my travel kit including my Schick C1. Back home to focus on the Type D tomorrow.

Razor: Schick Type C1
Blade: NOS Personna 74* (USA) (1&2)
Soap: Arko (homemade stick)
Brush: Rubberset Travel (Vintage) Stainless with replacement synthetic knot installed by TSD Brushmeister @clint64




Using a new NOS Personna 74 blade to assess its reputation for being a loooooong lasting blade. With 6-7 travel shaves per month with this razor / blade combo, it'll take a few months to test its reputation for providing over 20 shaves per blade.

Also eager to try out the new brush knot since Clint replaced it for me.

My report for these last two shaves are similar one-pass ATG shaves due to each of the previous close shaves I get each day. Either my whiskers aren't regenerating as quickly anymore or perhaps I'm actually learning technique?

As reviewed last month, this blade is very sharp, there's no rushing the shave with this one. It also seems to demand a well hydrated and lubricated face. All this led to a rash of weepers / nicks around my chin on my first shave, but I remembered on the second shave and had a disaster-free smooth shave.

I'm also concerned with the brush / soap combination. Arko needs copious amounts of water to keep from drying, this knot does not hold water as well as other synthetics, but I love the brush size so much - when collapsed it takes up almost no room in my kit. I adjusted the application of Arko (I only need enough for one pass right) and the combination worked much better.

Cheers!
RT

 

Focus #3 - Feb 3
"New Forest Brush Focus"
NF 2001​

"Rating": 7.5/10 - Great knot - has that combination of soft tips yet strong backbone that you I really look for. It's just a little bit too small to get to an 8-10 rating. Great travel brush.

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