July 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Never surrender. NBJ!

 

Doggone it. I forgot that. It's the Monty Python Grail shave that takes 2 passes....and a European swallow.

 

Hopefully any mishaps result in mere flesh wounds.

 

NEE!!

 

Love Clubman! Which Fine label do you use?

 

You will be hard pressed to top GSB. Maybe Voskhod. I tried GSB early on, and it became an instant fave.

 

Great thread!
The jury awards to both @NCoxSTL for his knowledge of the Rail

and to @Bama Samurai for his knowledge of the Grail!

I am but a mere mortal in the presence of legends!

 

@GDCarrington totally breaks it down.

 

Agreed.

@GDCarrington = TTT

 

Thursday focus shave 7.
Back to the Rasurpur Kamisori today, 3 passes pretty smooth but 1 weeper and some irritation. I did a 4th pass with a DE for BBS. A little more irritation today than the past two days so either I am using to much pressure or I need to hit the pastes or both. I am not sure if I can get another shave in before I leave for vacation, this might be the last SR shave for 11 days.

Proraso Pre Shave
Razorock Mudder Focker soap
Thater 2 band silver tip brush
Rasurpur western grind kamisori
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Spieck AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Creed MI

 

I have both the Fine L'Orange and Platinum.

 

Phoenix Dbl OC Focus Day 8:

Homemade PS Oil
Simpsons Commodore X3 Best Badger
Stirling Glacial Spearmint
Phoenix Dbl OC
Stirling Unscented PSB
TOBS Sandalwood AS

Another good shave with this razor. It really is effortless for me. Smooth and easy.

 

Great shave today. 3 passes and very smooth.

30 day rule
MDC Lavender Face Lathered
Ladas blade
Slim Adjustable set to 7

 

07/09/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather Pro (2)
Brush – Rudy Vey with TGN Finest
Lather – MdC Fougere
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine Platinum



Another great near BBS shave this morning. It seems that the summer heat wave has started much earlier this year. The Fine AS helped cool things down.

 

July 9, 2015

30-Day Focus - Blade Trials for Gillette Tech

One week trial for each brand:
Personna Red, Derby Green, Gillette Silver Blue, Voskhod

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: Catie's Bubbles Mile High Menthol
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Derby Green (1)
RazoRock Alum
After Shave: Myrsol Agua Di Limon



Well there’s other fish in the sea….

I dropped any further testing of the Reds and I’m off to a different color - Derby Green.

2-pass (WTG,ATG) decent shave. Really tried to minimize repeat strokes.

When I shave, I’m looking for a comfortable, clean shave. I’m not chasing BBS, at least not in these months of focusing on technique and blades. I need to remind myself of that, because my idea of a clean shave is to not feel any remnants of stubble after the shave. So after the last pass, I’ll feel the skin and use touch ups wherever I feel a rough spot, and on my usual trouble spot (jawline). I’m going through the blade trials looking for brands that provide the cleanest, smoothest shave prior to the touch ups.

Thanks gents for any insight along this idea.

Cheers!
- RT

 

Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptangya Zoooooooom Boing Ni!

 

Out in Denver tonight... Will post late. Used Rapira SS today... It was great!

 

Thanks! I'm going to try the Silver Blue again after the Astra. So far, I like 3 of the 4 blades I've used: the Shark Super Stainless, the Astra Superior Platinum, and the Gillette Silver Blue. At this point I'm not sure how valid my blade evaluations are. I'm still pretty new at this and my technique is still changing (hopefully for the better). I've been blessed with a lot of good advice and a good bit of beginners luck. I'm thinking it will take me a while to really settle on my favorite blades. But I have some new ones on the way to try (including the Voskhod) so I'm planning on enjoying the journey.

 

1956 Gillette Super Speed Flair
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Proraso Sandalwood cream
Aqua Velva
Current Blade under review: Astra Superior Platinum

Shave #2 with 2nd Astra Superior Platinum blade. Excellent BBS results, a great shave. Extremely close, smooth, no nicks, weepers, irritation or razor burn.
2 Full passes: Pass 1: WTG on my face (N/S), and XTG on my neck (N/S). Pass 2: ATG using my grain map. At this point, I could have ended the shave with a near BBS.
Lathered up again for touch up. I used some stretching and blade buffing in an attempt to get the last few hairs from just below my jawline. It seemed to take a little more effort and a few more passes over my tough spots to deal with them this time. At one point I thought if I'd had a sharper blade I would have irritated my skin, but there wasn't much of a sting when I used the Aqua Velva, so I may have been mistaken.

Another fine shave from the Astra Superior Platinum!