January 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thanks very much Charlie. I like Floid Blue very much. The brush is in my work shop drying. I'll pull the knot tomorrow and see what knot I want to put in it. I'm thinking the TGN Finest. What do you think?

 

Doug, I'm sure the TGN Finest would be a great choice, but I haven't used one myself. I have a Shavemac 2-band Silvertip knot (set in a Rudy Vey handle) that's a dandy, though.

https://www.shavemac.com/products/Configurator/Shaving-Knot-Configurator.html

 

Thanks Charlie, I hadn't thought of Shavemac. I have a few 2 Bands which I like very much also.

 

Evening,

So what do people do after the 30 days? Do you just change up one item (like a different soap keeping everything the same), do you go hog wild and change it all?

Thanks,

Jacob

 

Welcome Jacob. The beauty of the 30 day deal is you can do whatever you want. I usually pick something I'd like to work on, or use products I haven't used for sometime.

 

Sometimes there is a theme, but only you can enforce the Rule/Focus of your choice. The Basics are covered in the first post each month by Neal. A Rule is good for new shavers: same brush, soap, razor, blade, aftershave all month. With no changes of gear you can develop technique, find your weaknesses, make improvements. A Focus is less restricted, allowing changes of gear depending on your personal goal. None of these are enforced except by you. If you have problems, and everyone here is open and honest about wanting to improve, you can share, ask for advice, get cheerleaders to keep you going. Then there are the Shenanigans.

Tapatalk Via Kyocera

 

Day 4 and wrap up for Whipped Dog 30mm silver tip

Decided to brink the heat, tea kettle, scuttle and QCS, my favourite hot set up. To celebrate the first day of holiday I selected my PRC Damascus, a big 7/8 blade with a 1/4 grind. Ahhhhh, hot lather on a cold day, very decadent. The brush splayed just enough in the scuttle to stay very warm. The edge on the PRC was excellent, smooooth and very sharp.

Four passes and no blood and no irritation. The BBS did not last long enough to qualify for an A+, just an A. All in all an excellent shave to start the 4 day weekend.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A+

 

Friday, January 27, 2017


Paladin Strawberry Amber Sherlock
Aqua Di Parma
RazoRock Black Mamba
Polsilver Super Iridium
Fine Italian Citrus
Aqua Di Parma Colonia Essenza


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Mark, that is an outstanding picture! BB8 is a great addition!

 

Razor: Magic Shavette
Blade: Polsilver
Soap: Stirling Baker Street
Aftercare: Stirling Unscented Menthol Balm

My Stirling Baker Street arrived a day early. I am on a roll with the postal service this week. I have never used the Strop Shoppe Baker Street, so I can't make an A/B comparison. I picked it up because Stirling soaps are consistently good performers and the scent profile interested me on paper. I'm not so sure in person. The performance is fantastic as always. It's not what I imagined scent wise. Of course scent is subjective, and I imagine it will have its fans, but there are many Stirling scents I like better. It's not bad, and isn't overly strong. It's just not in my usual wheelhouse. I can't quite put my finger on what it is about it. It isn't offensive. I will give it a couple more tries to give it a fair shake to grow on me.

Scent preferences aside, it gets an A for performance. The Magic/Polsilver combination continues to be a winner.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

Last weekend I eliminated the pre-shave for the SR and found the Blue Steel blade didn't have any problems. I wasn't able to tell the difference. The Formula T soap worked great with the SR.

I adjusted my technique with the SR by cutting down on the number of strokes over an area from 3-5 to 1-3 and increasing the length of each one. I also tried pushing with a little more confidence in the stroke and maybe even a bit more pressure. I didn't end up with any nicks and after I finished it was as smooth as before, but with less razor burn. I didn't feel the need for the alum.

This weeks focus has started out good. I'm really enjoying the scent from the QC Rose Otto. My wife isn't dissapointed either...

This week, sorta:
40s SS
Treet Classic, second week on the same blade
Blue Steel SR
WW Envy
QC Rose Otto



Shakeup in the focus due to travel. The WW Envy handle is too big to fit into the travel tube, so I brought my WW LE brush and my Delta Echo flare-tip razor. Same soap, blades and SR. Pic of that setup later - too tired from driving, must sleep...

 

Happy Anniversary January!!

January 26

Mostly Shavettes

Razor - 1947 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (1)
Soap - Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Brush - Semogue 620
Post - Alum

It's that time of year in the business of selling beds that things slow down (until President's Day) and we start switching out some of the beds we're no longer going to sell and bring in some new ones. Three of the new ones will be arriving tomorrow and in order to get them on the floor in the right spots I had to move a couple of beds today. Well, okay, so 11 total. AND......we have a new adjustable base that needs to go under one of them and that bugger weighs about 350 pounds. So, that was my day. And yes, by myself. To say that I got a workout is a pretty severe understatement, so tonight I decided I had earned a gloriously luxurious shave to end the day. Voskhod was a given, and I debated on the razor and soap choice. The first vintage I ever bought was a 1947 Super Speed that I had replated. That will work. And I reached for the Fat and grabbed the Route 66 Sweeney Todd instead. Just wanted that wonderful blood orange scent.

I used the Semogue brush just to make things super easy and got another super lather out of it. I love using this razor as it is the original in the Super Speed line, which I consider to be Gillette's flagship razor. Ok, ok, so maybe the Tech deserves that title but humor me. When you consider how many Super Speeds there were and that they outlived the Tech by 9 years in the end, I'm giving them the honor. Tonight at least.

Three passes to a very nice BBS with only one issue. I managed to nick myself on the right side of my neck. It was on the XTG pass and I'm still not sure what I did but I think pressure was involved. I felt it and it didn't produce as big a cut as I thought it would, which was nice. Other than that, great shave and I even finished off with a quick splash of the Mighty Veg after the alum. Added a little burn but it's all good. Gotta love the Super Speed!

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That's my favorite vintage Gillette commercial. Naturally, Pee Wee Reese, my hometown hero, would shave with the Red Tip.

 

Happy Birthday @Norcalnewb! Jim, I hope you have a fantastic day!

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January 27 (Friday) - on focus
Gillette Black Beauty on 3
PAL Gold Thin Hollow Ground carbon (23)
Kent woodhandled "badger effect" boar brush - unknown model number
The Eternal Tub of TOBS Avocado Cream ( croap )
Alum and Clubman VI Bay Rum

Today, I repeated with the Kent boar brush to confirm yesterday's good result. I did. The brush is now nicely bloomed out and not at all prickly. It has shed less than a dozen hairs during the break-in process.

Today I worked on my skin stretching technique. As per an earlier tip from @Bama Samurai, instead of leaning into the mirror to peer nearsightedly at my face while trying to tauten my skin just with my hand, today I focussed on standing very straight while angling my head to give tauter and shallower shaving lines along my neck and cheeks (as well as using my offhand to stretch things a bit).

In the end, I came closer to a full-on BBS shave than I have ever done while still just doing my usual quick crisscross diagonal passes. I will obviously have to add this technique to my regular routine. It seems counterintuitive to get a closer shave without having a close look at what I am doing, but it clearly works.

The carbon blade on shave 23 gave a smooth close shave with no irritation. It doesn't seem rough or tuggy yet, but I will touch it up tomorrow before my shave anyway to follow my planned schedule of 5 shaves between bladesaver honings.

Mr. Alum had virtually nothing to say to me during my postshave rubdown, so I had no real need for any after care and didn't bother with my usual witch hazel. However, I have a bit of a sniffle and was feeling a bit chilled, so I rounded out an epic shave by treating myself to a warming splash of the tropics courtesy of Clubman VIBR.

 

Outstanding photograph of fine products amigo. Have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend.

 

Thank you, Charlie! I get to see my family again today, so what better day could a guy have!

 

Good setup Troy. Looks like an early Old Spice mug.

 

@Norcalnewb Happy Birthday Jim