July 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

My girls are 11, 8 (going on 16), and 18 mo. They have a way a capturing my heart. My son (6) can charm his mother like you wouldn't believe.

 

Jim.

 

I ordered some Proraso red soap. I like it. Yeah, I was planning to stick with the VDH. I really dig sandalwood scent.

 

Well, for goodness sake if you figure it out let me know. We've always had the same problems.

 

Sunday shave:

This is longest I have taken a razor with touching it up on a stone and it still has a wonderful edge, smooth and very sharp. Four passes no blood and just a tickle of alum short of an epic shave.

Irritation A Closeness A+ Smoothness A Sharpness A+

Razor: Takeyhana Feon 172
Strop: Drygulch black latigo
Brush: Thäter 3 band
Pre: Proraso
Soap: DR Harris cream & AoS tallow
AS: Alcolado Glacial
Scent: Dior Eau Sauvage

 

Just got a package of Stirling goodness in the mail yesterday. Lots of soap, new boar brush, etc. Rod @ezlovan, in lieu of a soap sample, included some stickers at my request. My shave cabinet cannot accommodate the big green tubs, and I have to transfer everything into slightly smaller tubs, so the stickers keep everything nice and orderly for me. Too early to make a call on the boar but I can tell you that early indications are it's a real winner. In my first lather it shed a lot, but it feels more broken in than I would expect, and it doesn't smell as funky as I would expect either. I anticipate that after a few uses I may be dropping a Semogue out of my collection.

 

Will do

 

That looks amazing. I was browsing their aftershaves earlier. Sounds like good stuff.

 

Time to straighten up!

July 29

Razor - Feather SS
Blade - (1)
Soap - Soap Commander Courage
Brush - Jayaruh #46
Post - Alum

Tonight's blade for the AC Trial - the Feather Pro Guard. You'll notice by the picture below that this blade does have good exposure, and, the guards are spaced further apart than the Kai Guarded blade. And, quite a bit farther apart than on the Soft Guard Feather blade. The expectation would be a safer shave than a regular Pro blade, but with the same sharpness involved as the Pro.

Two passes with this blade in the Feather SS and I can honestly say I can feel a difference between this blade and the Kai Guard. It also shows up in the alum. More burn out of this blade, though not overbearingly so. It's just obvious that it's a bit sharper....it's the Pro blade with a guard. It does provide enough protection from technique errors to make it a safer and less stressful shave than with a Pro or Super Pro, but you can still cut yourself. I did see blood in the lather on the razor at the end but never found where it came from. Clearly a minor nick that closed right up.

If I had to choose a guarded blade based on the trials this week I would have to say it's a bit of a toss up. First of all, ignore the Soft Guard unless you have very sensitive skin or just an overwhelming aversion to cutting yourself. And if the aversion is that overwhelming maybe the pain stick was a wrong choice to begin with. The Kai and Feather Guards are both very fine blades, both do an excellent job (DFS in two passes and touch up) and the Feather adds just a bit of irritation, but not enough to be a deal breaker. Would I choose to use a guarded blade as my primary blade in either razor? No. I still prefer the feel and finish of the bare blades. I suppose I prefer that extra feeling of risk they can bring too.

I realized today that I've skipped over one type of straight shaving this month, and with only two days to go I need to make amends. Tomorrow will be the Magic Shavette! Have a great Sunday!

 

Saturday July 29

Rockwell 6s on plate #3 / Topaz Platinum ( 1 )
30DC LE Maple Cashmere brush
Kent / MWF in wooden tub
Alum and PGS Black Willow toner

Back on focus for the end of the month - Mitchell's Wool Fat soap and the 30DC LE brush. No trouble lathering the soap. Enjoyed the handle design of the brush as usual. A good two pass shave yielding a smoothly shaven face. The PGS black willow toner is non-alcoholic but still astringent and leaves the face feeling clean, dry and slightly tight.

Hope everybody is having a good weekend.

 

Congrats on quite a haul.

 

Great looking bunch of kids, Doug. You are a lucky man.

 

I did the same thing to buy my Brian Brown. Some sorry dudes we are.

 

I love Nacets. Any blade that can cut an Alligator in half, deserves to shave my face.

 

The scent of the Red is pretty great.

 

I think I'm going to jump back into a focus for August. I'm going to do a soap focus for August using only a couple of soaps to compare and contrast to find my personal favorites.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

 

With nice razors