JUNE 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Cold water shave focus day 8:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Stirling Glacial Spearmint
Gillette Slim
Stirling Unscented PSB
Osage Rub

What a cold shave this morning. The cold water and Stirling Glacial nearly froze my face off, but I am near BBS and no irritation. Ready for my Monday morning.

 

06/08/2015
Razor – Gillette Red & Black New Deluxe
Blade – Feather (1)
Brush – Rubberset 400-3 with WSP HMW
Lather – Catie’s Bubbles Santal Sensuelle
Post - Witch Hazel & Captain’s Choice Sandalwood



Fantastic 3 pass BBS shave this morning. I really enjoyed using my New LC last week. However, I feel like I like using this one even more. Catie's Bubbles as always was super easy to lather. Finished off with CC Sandalwood and I'm ready for the day. My appointment with the Orthopedic about my back got moved up to today. Let's see what he has to say.

 

6/08/15 - A Month of Proraso!!!

In 1921 Gillette started making a Single Ring and Old Type with a thicker head and cap. I've seen it called a Model 102A.
This is one of those. A great shaver. Light and nimble and it didn't seem so inclined to bite like my 1918 Old Type. Provided a clean BBS Shave.

Proraso Red is a bit different from the green. My favorite Sandalwood though. A good deep scent. But missed the menthol after a week using the green.

Proraso Red Soap
Semogue Italian Barber LE
1921 Gillette Single-Ring
Pol-Silver Blade (1)
Fine American Blend

 

I typically just start at my ears and shave downward for both passes.

 

Long before I was doing wetshaving, I figured out that the cartridges didn't pull so bad if I went down my face first (N/S, mostly WTG) then up my face (S/N, mostly ATG). This also worked great for DEs. I have only recently started doing XTG on my chin and neck. I also have a couple of patches of hair on my neck that go all kinds of directions. Those are the spots that I usually do touch ups on. BTW, the touch ups I do are typically ATG. I always get the closest shaves with ATG.

 

Day 2 of 5; 30-Day JUNE Rule
I tried something slightly different this morning—using two razors to split the shave. Along with the big Joseph Rodgers (bottom razor pictured below), I test-drove a newly-honed Genco (top razor pictured below) that'll be shipping out tomorrow to its owner @txskimo .
Big difference in the feel of using this two razor—the Genco was quick and nimble (round-tipped meant reduced risk of puncture or slice), very noisy with good tactile feedback. The heavily-bladed Rodgers required greater care and diligent attention to the blade edge and point. The Genco a far easier razor to use so for a SR beginner, it's a good choice. Very smooth results with minimal effort.
The Rodgers weight and unusual blade shape make it considerably more challenging and the use of this razor requires some skill and dexterity to achieve über-smooth results.
The IK shave cream provided good slick lather throughout the shave. Overall a DFS achieved with two different razors.

 

Late post Day 6 - 7 May 2015

30 Day Rule with a Cadet OC!


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Sorry guys for being so absent this weekend bu life was kinda busy. I finished out blade 2 day 3, and was able to get to DFS territory. For the record, I find Williams soap tricky. @NCoxSTL was right, it is inconsistent day-to-day. The temps here in CO are finally rising after basically five weeks of rain and snow, ironic that I picked Williams for the heart of the mosquito season! I hope to be back on track with my TSD readings later today. I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for another great week!

Happy Monday!


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You should try 2 pass. I also have a light beard and have settled into that method. I go WTG, then XTG, maybe touch up.

 

June 8, 2015

30 Day RULE - “Monday Musings - Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse....”

Prep: Lucky Tiger Lemon Facial Cleansing Cream
Morning Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: The Art of Shaving
Soap: Arko
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Gold Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword Stainless (India) (2)
Mustache/Beard Trim: Schick Golden 500
Aftershave: Proraso Aftershave Splash Green



Performed a 3-pass shave to continue consistency of the focus. Todays' shave was just as spectacular as the shaves I've been experiencing for the last week. After a lifetime of carts, not only am I getting better shaves, my face feels so much better.

As some have observed, I'm considering revising my plan and do some alternating between a 3 and 2-pass shave for the following reasons: I have a light beard and fairly soft whiskers. Until taking up with a DE the past month, I never shaved 7 days a week. Shaved daily for work, but frequently skipped one or both days on a weekend. Never had any skin problems - like major irritation, razor bumps, etc.

The weather has been unusually high in Seattle for this time of year (mid-high 80s; historically high 60s, low 70s). So I've noticed an ever so slight irritation on my lower neck towards the end of the day. This morning I actually found a couple of razor bumps. (again, very rare for me)

So I'll lay blame on the weather, acknowledge that my skin doesn't need 3 passes every day plus weekends and revise my 30-day focus ever so slightly.

I appreciate all the advice people in this thread provided since I posted the question of a 2-pass system last night. It helped me make the decision.

I'll start tomorrow with a 2-pass and make the call each day beyond that as necessary (2 vs. 3 pass). Will probably do WTG, XTG and touch up of ATG as needed. Will also take a day or two off on the weekends as well and see how it goes.

Thanks again for reading and your advice.
Cheers!
- RT

 

June 8 - Shave 5
Prep: Hot shower, Nivia Face wash
Brush: Omega 48
Preshave: Stirling Mentha Preshave oil
Soap: TSD Lanolin 2x ice signature scent
Razor: Heljestrand No 24, French point, 5/8"
Growth: 1 day
Post: Cold water splash, alum, TSD Milk sub-zero AS, poraso post shave balm.
Passes: WTG, XTG, WTG

After a long swim, i figured if give it another go - especially since my hands weren't shaking like yesterday. Swede performed very well, I think I'm really going to like it. Probably finish out this week with it.
Cheers,
Eric

 

I had a very lazy few days off, as far as shaving was concerned. After getting off Friday Night, I did not shave again until Sunday afternoon. With almost 30 hours between shaves, and my usual days off razor switch, I went back to the GEM MMBT. I just got my shipment of TSD subzero soap, new Witch Hazel in Russian Leather, and a few aftershaves. I ended up with a very nice DFS after two passes!

 

Today, being menthol Monday, I again used the subzero, with my WD silvertip. It was day six on the Derby Extra, and I got another wonderful DFS shave. I followed up with the Iced Eucalyptus witch hazel, and the sub zero aftershave. All in all a very refreshing shave!

 

You can't hijack this thread. Read the first post

The razor bump issue you are experiencing will lessen over time as your face smooths out and all of the damage issues from cartridge shaving has abated. Try judging your shave three different ways:

1. Was it a comfortable shave process?
2. Do you APPEAR TO BE clean shaven?
3. How does your face feel 8-16 hours afterward?

The ability to really get after and chase the baby will just happen. Just keep your focus on precise shaving with good angles, and don't worry over BBS. Learn solid and replicable techniques and routines and master your beard growth pattern for now. You have already gotten the hang of this, it won't be long until it's nearly perfect every time.

And skipping a day now and then may actually be beneficial to comfort as you learn, when I was brand new, a 48 hour interval was all my face could handle until I got some skills down.

 

Finish your coffee completely, there are sleepy kids in Africa....

 

Razor: Gillette Redtip, (A-3) 1955
Blade: Gillette, Platinum (5)
Brush: Fendrihen Silvertip Faux Ebony Handle, 22/49
Soap: Stirling-Cool
Mug: Soak my brush in the Old Spice coffee mug for about a minute.
A/S: Lucky Tiger
So here I go again. I thought for sure that using this soap, which I believe to be as hard as any shave soap I have would prove that a stiffer brush would work better with this particular soap. Darn, wrong again. This soap worked perfectly with the Silvertip brush. A great 3 pass shave with a cool soap. Perhaps it is the preparation of the soap that is more important than the brush. Stay tuned.

 

Stirling is known to be a tricky soap.

 

I can't remember where I saw the video of the person showing different ways to create lather, however, the adding of 2 teaspoons of warmish water to the soap, and ring out the brush before starting to work the lather has been a game changer for me. The Stirling soap whipped into a great lather in no time at all.

 

Part 1 - Dry Method:
Part 2 - The Wet Method:
My preferred - Part 3 - The Marco Method:

 

How are you liking the cold water so far?growing on you?

 

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!!
June 8, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Proraso
Razor - Razo Rock TTL
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

I'm late but I'm here. Not a bad shave today as the tournament enters its 7th day. Up today is the Ladas...a stainless blade. I have used this blade before and like it so let's see how it performs in the tourney. Lathered Proraso Green and got down to business. First pass very smooth and the blade seems sharp enough. No issues and I lathered for the second pass. XTG as always and a very nice result though not as nice a finish as some blades. Still DFS after two but needed some touch up under the neck to finish. Ended with a nice DFS. Now, one thing I did notice today was the return of the 5 o'clock shadow. Seems a bit rougher than usual as the day wore on so I'm going to take back a bit on the sharpness. May not have been quite as close as I first judged.

So, sharpness is a 2....some issues though not major. Smoothness is a 1. No issues there at all. Irritation is a 1. Stainless normally agrees with me and this one is no different. Just a minor burn from the alum on my neck. Result is a 2...DFS.

Total - 6. Not a bad performance at all. I don't use too many stainless blades, but when I do, Ladas is a top choice. Tomorrow we go with the St. Petersburg stainless...the Nacet!