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

...and shakes her head.

 

February Focus - German blades

February 6

Razor - Merkur 23c
Blade - (3)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Arko Stick
Post - Cold rinse, Alum, Nivea, The Veg

Third and final day of the Elios. The wolf and Arko for the lather and as always it whipped right up into a fantastic lather. Should be a great surface to work on for this blade to try and redeem itself a bit. I hasn't been horrible, just not great. Two nicks on day one, none on day two but just not as effective and comfortable as I'd like.

First pass today was WTG as always and again, not too bad but just, ehhhh......average. No real pulling but I could tell it wasn't quite as good as either day before. The XTG on the second pass failed to produce a DFS and it took a third pass to get there again, plus some extra work along the G-slide areas. I was really hoping for a two pass DFS but not even close. Alum was again a bit warmer than I'd expect so there's that.

This blade is simply not impressive. But, it isn't a total bust either. Average would be a good word for it. Now, for the price. Best price I can find at the moment is a 10 pack for $5.78 shipped. That's nearly $0.60 per blade and that's Feather territory. This blade is no Feather so I wouldn't consider adding any to my stash for the price alone. Final rating is three steins. Average, as I said. Tomorrow, the Wilkinson Sword.

​

 

Day 37 - 90 Day Intro to SR

6 February 2016



Ralf Aust 5/8
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Route 66 - Lumberjack
Alum
TSD ISZ AS under Pinaud Clubman​

Kept it real simple today. Blade felt really smooth and two passes yielded a mediocre DFS, alum was pretty calm though. I opted not to chase today, tomorrow will be a test shave with the Aust to see how far I've really come. Long day on the prairie...other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.​

Have a great Sunday!
​

 

I really liked the Wilkinson that @wristwatchb sent to me to evaluate. Tomorrow should be a good one!

 

Why, the Freedonia National Anthem, of course!

 

February 7
Shave Den Sunday

Weber Polished Head DE
Feather (1)
Edwin Jagger XL Synthetic
TSD unscented
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and CC Bay Rum

Have a great Sunday!

 

As per fridays shave, I thought the absent of ATG would yield a longer mileage on a blade. It didn't. Still around four shaves per blade on a common descent lather. The fifth shave today was a bit rough on my upper lip on the third pass. I usually manage 3-5 shaves per blade on the Swedish Supersteel - this was no different.

The Fatboy, which I've used the past two weeks, has been retired and the Weber reinstated for the following weeks shaves. Going back to something more familiar to see how the lather and blade perform.

 

That is an amazing brush.

 

Great looking combination.

 

Thanks Doug. Have a great Sunday.

 

Neal, I've enjoyed following your focus this month. You can get Feather blades on Amazon for $0.275 per blade. I paid about $0.23 a blade for mine in bulk a couple of years ago.

A big thanks for your comparisons between each of your blades and Feather, the true Blade of Excellence and the standard upon which all shaves are judged. Here's my Feather stein rating:

 

SOTD
Super Bowl Sunday
February 7, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: iKon Shavecraft Short Comb w/Bulldog handle
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Route 66-Retro Spice
Brush: Semogue 610
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Chiseled Face Trade Winds
73 and plenty of sunshine at kickoff! I'll be putting a 16 lb turkey in the oven shortly.
Great shave. Retro Spice, easy to lather, slick, protective, beautiful scent and fantastic post shave skincare. I'm digging the iKon Short Comb! The Semogue 610 is really starting to splay nicely. Happy Happy. CF Trade Winds, it's a cucumber, mint old spice scent. Really nice.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

 

02/07/2016
Cobra Classic
Feather Pro (3)
Romera Olivewood Synthetic
TSD Signature Scent
Witch Hazel
Captain’s Choice Bay Rum


​

I will be using the Cobra Classic on weekends in an effort to get more comfortable with the razor. With a Feather Pro blade, it's a more aggressive razor than either the AlumiGoose or Mongoose loaded with a Feather Super Pro blade. In all honesty the stylized handle gives me fits when I go ATG. I always feel I am on the verge of dropping it.

Today I went with a 2 pass shave, ATG & XTG followed by a minor touch ups ending in a near BBS. More importantly the shave was smooth and I didn't get bitten by the snake which was a first. Graded out A for closeness and A+ for irritation. Finished off with a splash of CC Bay Rum and I'm ready to go visit my Mom this morning. I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

 

2/7/16

Gillette Old Type
Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Mystic Waters Lime
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original



At nice comfortable borderline BBS from the Old Type and the Gillette Silver Blues. Mystic Waters Lime was better today, but not that great. The lather was wetter than it should have been but looked fine after some paint brush strokes. Glide was mostly OK, but there were a couple of spots that it felt like the razor was sticking to the lather a bit. Still, a very close shave. An hour after my shave I found one tiny area of stubble on my neck. I checked that area during touch up and just before putting on the Clubman, but I didn't feel it then.

I hope you all have a great Lord's Day, and everyone enjoys the game!

 

Straights Focus February 6:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
TSD Lanolin Iced Sub-zero
Johan Engstrom
Stirling Unscented PSB -- Mentholated
Musco Real Classic AS

Thus was the first Sunday shave I have had in a while, since I rushed yesterday's shave a bit. Today, I got up before everyone else and took my time. I chased the baby a bit, and I was rewarded. I am nice and smooth. I do seem to need to work a but more for the baby than some of the razors I had been using. I will say, though, that if I had chased it this much with a DE, I would have had quite a bit of irritation. As it is, I am irritation free, and the alum provided only a slight tickle. A very relaxing and fun shave before I made a large batch of waffles for the family. Have a great Sunday, and go Broncos!

 

Great photo. What do you think of Musco Real AS? I am trying to come up with a Father's Day wish list.

 

I knew Feathers were a bit more reasonable than in the past. Good to know. And yes, they are certainly a standard of excellence although there is a standard equal to or greater than Feather, such as, oh, I don't know, maybe.........



Trying to rate Voskhod requires more than steins. This is more like it!



Although, if you drank enough beer to fill the Feather steins, or the vodka involved in the Voskhod rating, even a Tiger might seem like a good blade.

 

Nice picture of good gear.

 

Thanks Doug.

 

Razor: Gillette Red Tip C2, 1957
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Brush: Fendrihen Silver Tip
Soap: TSD Irish Spring Type
A/S: Route 66 Sweeney Todd (TEST)

Excellent Super Bowl Sunday. Enjoy the game.