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

Great picture.

 

Thanks! It's kind of neat to have two shaving Craftsman pieces.
Your outdoor shots are awesome. You are making me want to break out my red tip again.

 

All that blue fits perfectly with the snow!

 

Thanks very much @Norcalnewb .

 

Thank you all for your kind words.

 

Focus: NF Brush #11 - Feb 22
New Forest in Tigris Perla (2)​

NF brush #11 up to bat this morning. It's the second Tigris Perla handle one that I have - in better condition than the other one.

Also another brush that I'm using for the first time.
Love the look and the handle but the knot for some odd reason felt 'too bulbesque' for facelathering.

I'd rate this a good 7.5/10.

I also used an old, no-name ornate cartridge razor that provided a rather rough shave but in the end I was clean shaven w/ no blood lost.

​

 

2/22/16

Gillette Old Type
Gillette Platinum Plus (1)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
C.O. Bigelow cream
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original



Menthol Monday. Shaved this morning, but no chance to post before now. In addition to the C.O. Bigelow cream, I'm trying a new blade. I was at the local Walgreens last night to pick up some Gem SE blades and saw that they also had a 9 blade package of Gillette Platinum Plus blades. I bought them in part to encourage the store to stock more name brand DE blades and also to see how they were. These blades are from Proctor and Gamble and manufactured in Brazil.

I have to say I was very pleased with the smoothness and sharpness of the Gillette Platinum Plus. 2 passes and an average amount of touch up brought home the baby. And as an added bonus, the Clubman was mild.

A nice comfortable BBS from the Gillette Platinum Plus in the Old Type. I’m going to stick with it over the next couple of days and see if it continues to please.

Hope everyone had a nice Monday.

 

Feb 23 Focus Shave 16

Today's razor is my Dovo Master's, it was refreshed with a J Nat followed by Dovo Red/Black paste, second shave.

The edge felt smooth, but no different from the Dovo finished with the Shaptons. The only difference I could detect was that it does not feel as sharp as the edge from the Shapton finished Dovo. Four passes and no blood. I thought I nailed the BBS but no cigar, just missed it.

Irritation A Closeness A- Smoothness A Keenness B+

QCS Vetiver
Gemstars Custom Elk Antler silver tip
Dove Master's
Harold Russian leather strop
Lucky Tiger AS
Speick ASB
Chanel Egoïste

Sorry it's no pic Tuesday.

 

February Focus - German blades DONE! Best of the Best to the Finish!

February 22

Razor - RazoRock TTO
Blade - (1)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold rinse, Alum, Styptic, lots of cussing

Well THAT didn't work like I'd planned. After three weeks of trying out German blades and having pretty good luck even with the worst of the bunch I decided to finish the last 8 days with four of my favorites. The best of the best! Starting with the Bic Chrome Platinum. @Jasman introduced me to this fine blade last year and it is one of my favorites. Smooth, sharp, comfortable. All around great blade. So what could possibly go wrong?

Well, my choice of razors, that's what. My RazoRock TTO doesn't get much love from me and, the last time I used it, I discovered a defect in one side on the lather scupper. It's not major but did call into question the quality control efforts of RazoRock. And, it's always seemed a bit aggressive but that's ok. I don't mind aggressive DE's. However, I think after today's shave I'm relegating it to the "collection" part of my drawer. At first it felt like an aggressive shave with the Bic, but the result was going well and the blade itself was excellent as always. The first pass, in fact, had me happily shaving along. Second pass, XTG, right side was ok if a bit aggressive. Left side produced a nice bloody nick on my upper cheek. It felt like the blade jumped just a bit. But, I know how the Bic is normally and I can't blame the blade nor my technique. This thing just was rough on the pass. I flipped it to the other edge and went back to the right side to try again and nailed myself again. Both sides seemed off. Now, with blood running down both cheeks I rinsed the razor well and checked blade alignment. No problem at all.

It was at that point that I noticed how red my neck was as well. Wow. Two passes to a bloody burning mess. Enough for me. I rinsed, used a cold cloth for pressure then hit the alum. Burn baby burn! Styptic to finally stop the bleeding on the left cheek and a lot of choice words along the way. I didn't even bother with the Nivea for fear it would just make it burn longer.

To prove the blade blameless I'm switching to my 1959 Ball End Tech tomorrow with the same blade. If it goes off as well as I expect (and expected today), we'll have the proof of the fault of the RazoRock. Shaver beware!

​

 

I am the cartel dissident member that believes GSB is the best! Having used the exact combo as you did today, I feel like it's a case study in matching a blade to a head type. You found the benefit of OC... It handles growth. OC has nothing to do with aggressiveness. The geometry of Maggard seems favorable to GSB, as well as the Moscow usual suspects. As you gain more shave experience, a funny thing will happen! Blades will matter less and mean more than when you started. Sounds like this wet shaving thing is gonna work out for you!

 

Kerry,

Did the longer handle, and additional mass, drastically change the pressure required or the basic feel?

 

Did I hear Icy smooth?

 

Score another for GSB!

 

Yup. You know your blades!

 

Charlie speaks truth!

 

Wow! You just won "Regal Setup Photo 2016"!

Next person to organically write the word "bulbesque" has to buy Vodka for Igor and the boys in March. Just saying...

 

"No Pic Tuesday"

Love it...

 

Chris,
I only have the 101mm handle so I can't compare the smaller handle.
K

 

9.1/10. Good show.