February 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

YOU, of all people have never tried the Veg? Mr. Old School Classic Aftershave man? It's a Pinaud for God's sake!

You always say you like old school, manly aftershave. What, you callin Bama Samurai a girl?

 

Imogene Tibideau from Bald Knob Arkansas says the same thing.

 

Razor: Timeless .95 OC w/ Hempel Titanium Handle
Blade: Personna 74 Tungsten Steel (4)
Brush: El Druida Red Heart Chakte Kok/African Blackwood 2 Band Badger.
Soap: Reef Point Soap Dragon's Blood
Aftershave: Floid Blue
Fendrihan Shave Towel
Really enjoying this combination of shave products. I had a very comfort close 3 pass shave with a cleanup.

 

Sounds like my wife with all four of our children! Come to think of it, it sounds about like any expectant lady I have met.

 

I have to admit: that has become my favorite tag line of a post on this forum.

 

Unique picture, Doug. I definitely like it!

 

Sunday, February 5, 2017

The Varlet Mega
Panna Crema Nuavia Verde
The General with TRIAD Helix Hex Ti
Feather Pro
Fine Fresh Vetiver



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Beautiful picture, Mark!

 

Febuary Fat Boy Lather Explosion

Col Conk Lime & JR #130
Gillette 195 E4 & 7 O'clock
Alum, Forgotten Name AS


I lathered up for @COMPNOR this evening. Previously melted glycerin soap is still securely melded to the dish but unused for more than a month. Dribbled enough cool tap water to wet the top of the soap and let it moisten for at least 15 minutes.

• Top Left photo shows a moistened Maggard's synthetic knot installed in cypress handle by @Jayaruh after 20 seconds of vigorous loading. Note the amount of soap - Plenty.
• Top Center photo is the loaded brush in a Japanese Suribachi bowl. The rough textured unglazed bowl was wet but not holding water. After 20 seconds of swirling the lather was building, but too thick, a little dry.
• Top Right photo shows the lather after swiping the brush under a trickle of cool tap water three times and going back to the bowl. Each addition of water was a very small amount to avoid breaking the lather. It's glossy, just short of runny.
• Lower Right photo illustrates the peaked meringue like consistency achievable with Col Conk soap. Wet enough that is didn't break down during the shave.

This was enough lather to shave three passes, touch ups, and left 1/3 still in the bowl. Took me several rinses to remove the soap from the brush as well. As you develop technique using just the right amount of soap comes easier. Considering the cost of soap, I'll waste a little to insure I have enough for the whole shave.
As to the shave it was uneventful; WTG, ATG, followed by XTG G-slides & the usual touch ups around my problem areas (chin & lower neck). I stepped the Fat Boy down from 9 to 6 for all passes after WTG. Less irritation, yet a smooth DFS+ finish. Alum was cooler than usual. The AS, now a year & 1/2 old, was decanted from plastic bottle to this glass before I learned about transferring labels. It's got a touch of menthol and a tangerine scent. Must contain more than alcohol for the soothing feeling it leaves.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

She's not bad, from the collar bones down.
Nice Faux hardwood floor!

Guess I never noticed the emoji before. Custom made just for you Jared?

 

Nice looking lather, Rick!

Sent from my Galaxy S6 using Tapatalk

 

Thank you Andrew!
After making a comment that I think Adam took offense to I was on the hook to pull off a good one. It's really not a bad soap. Like VDH it's easy for new shavers to get hold of, but it can be less than satisfying if you don't load it up. Use More Product may be the key to many lather issues. I wouldn't want to use it for a Rule because I've other soaps I prefer. I might work it during a Focus to see if I could put a serious dent in it. Today's shave reminded me why I hadn't given the nearly whole puck away.

 

I've never tried any Colonel Conk so I found that quite interesting. Very nice lather indeed!

 

Fatboy February!!!!!

February 4
Razor - 1959 (E4) Gillette FAtboy (3)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum

Let's have a few days of fun and do some modified trials using the Fatboy. I'm testing out the razor more than the blades for the next few days. I'll do two shaves per blade, one on 3, one on 9. I'll skip the middle setting to just compare mild vs. aggressive. @Bama Samurai says this is a BBS machine on 9, so we'll test that, along with comparing the two settings.

First up is the Voskhod, since that is my go-to blade. Grabbed the Sweeney Todd and Semogue and made a decadent lather. First pass was very smooth and fairly effective. Second pass was also extremely smooth, no issues, took a few clean up touches and I finished with a very high level DFS. Oh, yes, I'm only doing two passes on these blades. The goal is to see if I end BBS after two at any time. Guess I should have mentioned that earlier.

Very fine shave from the Russian standard and after using Arko for three shaves the after-shave feel of the lanolin rich R66 was more than welcome. Excellent result and I'm looking forward to seeing how it does tomorrow night on 9.

For reference, the other blades I'm planning on using are the Feather, to honor a request by @wristwatchb and the GSB, as requested by @Bama Samurai . If there's a blade you would like to request let me know. Not sure how many I will do before returning to the GBT but I'm up for some fun and a bit of experience in learning this razor better as well.

Who you got tomorrow night in the Super Bowl?

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Day four of rule month with the AOS and 34C HD
Made awesome thick, shiny dense lather. Best so far. You could feel it resisting when placed between the fingertips.

Unfortunately it was day four for the Merkur blade. 3 passes WTG , XTG, ATG and the neck feels like it wasn't even done. I did change angles to see if that was the cause but it did not help. Lots of stinging with the alum and some blood was drawn. Cold water dried it up quickly.

Decided the Merkur blade did not do the best job and swapped in a Wilkinson Classic for the next shave.

 

Sharp Star

 

Added.

 

What blades do you have in your inventory? And more to point, if you don't have Voskhod or GSB, I've been known to send tucks to addresses that show up in my inbox. For real....!

 

Long live the King.