July 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

July 15, 2016

July Focus on two non-Schick razors:

• PAL InjectoMatic (3-Chick, 1-Dutch)
• Personna Floating Head (3-Personna*74, 1-Dutch )

Razor: Personna Floating Head
Blade: Schick Dutch (1)

Hot shower, cold-water shave.
One-day growth, one-pass shave - ATG

I awoke this morning with as little 24-hour stubble as I can ever remember having, another indication of a great shave with the PAL/Dutch combo yesterday.

First three shaves with the Personna FH last week were with the Schick China blade.

I felt the blade more today. Not as smooth as yesterday with the PAL/Dutch, had a couple weepers on the chin. But every bit as close. I expect that this shave may also have a very minimal 24-hour growth.

I will spend next week continuing to get familiar with both razors and then alternate razors each day of the last week of the month for side-by-side comparisons.

Cheers!
RT

 

Good post nice brush.

 

Rockwell 6S/R5 Base Plate/Voskhod (3)
Stirling 24mm Finest 2 Band
LPL-Cologne Fougere
Thayers
Brut


Overall great shave today. The Voskhod on its 3rd shave still plowed through stubble with no signs of slowing down (while Voskhods are my favorite blade I normally cant use one for more then it's 3rd shave and the 3rd shave is normally pretty rough.. not sure if it has something to do with the razor or what but as I said this thing still feels brand new and I am happy) and yielded a BBS in 2.5 passes (XTG,ATG, Touch Up). Not much to really add to the shave besides that but this will be my last shave till Monday as I want to start trying out how this razor handles heavy growth.


New soap today and I love it. LPL Cologne Fougure has a great scent and it pairs almost perfectly with Brut. Whilst in the middle of my shave I was really enjoying the scent and the "me time"...SWMBO strolls in looks at me... makes a face similar to this:

lovely right?


And goes

"Your taking a shower once your done right?"

"Already took a shower....why?"

"Can you go to the store or for a walk once your done....that stuff smells like ________ and I don't want it stinking up the bathroom"

"Once I wash up after and throw on my aftershave you wont be able to smell it..."

"Take a shower or go for a walk or I am going to douse you in air freshener"



Well now wait a minute.... this is my house as well... I am a man and I am going to smell however I want. I aint going to bend to her every request! If she doesn't like it tough luck!!!




So after my second shower, I ran to the store for her to get her some ice cream and finished off with Brut....

 

Usually it is the veg that causes that reaction. Hopefully you will not be in the doghouse for too long! Next time you may want to try the ice cream first, more as a bribe and less as a means of trying to reduce the punishment. Though honestly I can tell you from experience that doesn't always work either and it is usually just easier to say yes ma'am.

 

She actually loves the Veg lol. Seems like since I said I do its damned if I do damned if I don't. Oh well. She's the only one who will put up with my shenanigan's and she makes me feel pretty. In my years of being with her and being married I have learned one thing however...

 

Blade Palooza day 3. Sharp Star in Slim set on 9. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to agree with Neal again. The blade proved to be excellent, but at this setting, was starting to feel rough. I did manage a 3 pass shave with no nicks, cuts, or weepers, but there was a good bit of feedback from the alum on my neck. I would classify today's shave as DFS. I might have been able to catch the baby, but at the expense of major irritation. My conclusion for Sharp Stars is that they are wonderful blades in a medium aggressive razor, but can get a little rough at higher blade gaps. The Slim on 6 or 7 is the ideal setting for me with this blade. I'll enjoy a few free shaves now and join up again when you hit the Swedish Rapira.

 

Yesterday I was to busy to post my shave so here is Fridays and Saturdays:

First shave with my new Dorko 472. I should have researched the size of the blade more as it looks like a 5/8 and I prefer 6/8 or 7/8 blades. I checked the edge under a loupe, looking good so I tree topped some arm hairs, passed that test too. It said shave ready and appears to be. The edge felt reasonable smooth and sharp and the shave went without a hitch. Zero feedback from the alum but when I faceturbated I was disappointed, just in the bottom range of DFS. I was surprised given the way the shave felt I thought it would be a solid BBS.

I am not sure if it the razor, or technique or software. This shave I decided to try a shallower angle than normal and suspect that is the reason for the so-so closeness.

Irritation A+ Closeness B Smoothness A Sharpness A

Saturday I decided to use the same brush and soap and my Rasurpur western grind razor. It is the first shave after a touch up on the 12 and 16k stones. Remarkable the edges felt very similar. Today I have a rendezvous so I used my normal angles. The shave went without issue and now blood. The alum test gave just a tickle and my face was nice and smooth.

Irritation A Closeness A Smoothness A Sharpness A

 

If you had to pick just one, would it be the Rasurpur or the PRC Chimera?

 

That is a very tough choice but my choice would be the Chimera. I actually like my custom PRC kami a little bit more because of the round point. That said the Rasurpur is a very nice razor and will not be leaving the den.

 

In the Good Old Shavertime!

July 15

Grand Blade Trial

Razor - H1 Gillette Slim(6)
Blade - (2)
Soap - Arko
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Post - Alum, Nivea, The Veg

Day two of the Dorco 300 and I'm still making fun of the name. But, that will never stop I'm sure. What's more important, though, is how it performs at 6 on the Slim. Clearly it's not sharp enough to shine at the mild 2, so hopefully the higher aggression will help. My Omega 10066 boar is a year old now. I got it last July during No Buy July, and that's also how it got its name. I gave up a chance to win a big PIF by staying in No Buy July for a $9 dollar brush....and so it became the Brush of Shame.....or BoS. However, it's been a fantastic brush. Really handles hard soaps with ease and can produce a face lather in record time. Was it worth giving up a shot at the PIF last year? Yep, I'd say so.

First pass felt different from yesterday. A bit more of the blade feel to the pass but still not rough or any problems. I think the lack of sharpness makes it more noticeable as it works through the pass. Now, I'm not saying it's dull as in too dull, but it's not one of the sharpest blades out there. Got a decent amount of reduction on the first pass. Better than yesterday but not as good as I like from a blade. Second pass XTG was better and did achieve a CCS, near DFS, and the third pass ATG with Gillette Slides brought a near BBS. Not bad. And, the alum was quiet even with the extra work. That's fairly impressive to me. Usually when I go full third pass with the Slide to finish I pay for it with some Alum burn. I have to say I was fairly impressed.

Now, for tomorrow at 9.....well I'm hopeful that adding even more aggression might make it perform that much better. I will be watching angle closely and ready to adjust angle if necessary. Checking the results around 5pm today and now at 10pm I can tell you it wasn't the closest shave in the books. Stubble is thicker than with sharper blades although it's a nice improvement over yesterday. This blade likes the Slim at 6. That much we know.

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

​

 

I'm beginning to wonder how much blade manufacturers take into account their designated markets. Consider the average Russian beard, and the sharpness of a Voskhod or a GSB, versus the average Korean beard and the sharpness of a Dorco. Maybe at some point the manufacturer says, that's good enough for the market.

 

Interesting idea. So what does that say about the Czechs who make the Tiger for the Nigerian market? "Good enough" may have a more sinister connotation.

 

Payback for not getting those millions from a Nigerian Prince.

 

Or all of the bad money orders they got conned into cashing.

 

Also @cmorris357

Derby is from Turkey. Discuss.

 

I don't think Dorco intends their DE blades for sale in Korea, I have never seen them for sale in any retailer here. There are no wet shaving forums either.... Well that I know of. The only DE shavers I know here are ones I got started. When they need blades or soap they ask me.

I do see the Dorco cartridges and disposable blades in all the stores.

 

Oh well, just a working theory. I haven't sunk a lot of money into the research yet. You would think that for blades intended for the English speaking market, they would call them something other than Dorco. Then again, maybe the same guy made this sign, although it's definitely not Korean.

 

That pic looks like it's from China, I always enjoy seeing the funny Englsih translations.

Dorco is just the name of the company and I agree they should have done some research before using their name in English speaking countries. There are also Dorko straight razors from Germany, maybe that is where they got the idea for their name.

 

I actually considered Chris' idea a while back with regards to the Tiger. The only way it works, though, is if the target market is a colony of space aliens deep in Africa who have beards with the consistency of slime.

That... or a target market which is using Nair as shaving cream.