JUNE 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

It's easy to go overboard with Arko. That's one soap that likes to lather!

 

30 DAY RAZOR AND COLD WATER FOCUS



pre shave: musgo real orange amber pre shave soap
razor: maggard 18c
blade: big ben (1st use)
brush: omega s synthetic
lather: musgo real classic
post: reef point admiralty a/s balm
scent: tobs germyn street

3 pass DFS. this was my first try with a pre shave soap and i'm not sure if it makes a difference or not. I am learned not to use too much pressure on this razor. Reef Point makes great aftershave balms and the scent seems to last a long time. they are quite moisturizing and a touch of menthol which is great!

 

June Open Comb Focus
Day 15

Prep: Coconut Oil, Hot shower
Razor: Gillette New SC
Blade: Voskhod
Brush: Omega 10083 Boar Brush
Über Lather: TBS Maca Root Shaving Cream/TOBS Sandalwood Shaving Cream
Post: Cold rinse, Alum, Witch hazel, Aqua Velva Ice Sport

Great experience this morning. A few nicks around the chin since that's one of my tricky areas, but this lather was the highlight of the day.

 

June 23 - Shave 17
Prep: Hot shower, Aveeno 5:1 face wash
Brush: WSP Silvertip
Preshave: None
Soap: TSD Sub zero stick
Razor: Henry Sears and Sons Round tip - both 20 x linen strop 40 x leather strop
Strop: @Drygulch Modern Barber Strop 24"x3"
Growth: 1 day
Post: Cold water splash, Alum, Clubman AS
Passes: WTG

A new first with the straight; ONE PASS SHAVE. Done - Mic drop. Not because I wanted to - mind you. But I was running late on my drive from Sac to Richmond this morning and had to deal with traffic. Thus turning a 90 minute commute to a customer meeting into a 120 minute pain. I thought to myself that I had been getting great 1st pass shaves, with the time crunch, I should at least try it. Was able to merge some xtg techniques around my goatee in with my normal WTG pass to get an acceptable shave for a customer meeting. I wouldn't go out on a date with this shave, but It worked. I now know that I can be out the door with a one pass straight shave if I have to.

Attached pictures of the day those of my Henry Sears blade (not the craftsman I mentioned yesterday). I stand corrected.
Cheers!

 

Razor: Gillette Aristocrat, 1947, Birth Razor
Blade: Gillette, Platinum (5)
Brush: Semogue 1305 Boar Tri Colored Wood Handle.
Soap: Jack's Soap
Mug: KnockOut Shave
A/S: Gillette After Shave
Still not getting the quality of lather with the boar brush and certain soaps. This doesn't happen to me with Silver tip, Finest, Best, or other badger brushes I have. In fairness I have used badger brushes much more than boar. Did end up with a DFS after some messing around with the boar brush.

 

Wednesday morning shave:

I felt the compulsion to take the Williams Purist Kamisori for another spin. Times was tight and the first time I used it the 3rd pass resulted in some cuts from the French point. So I decided to go with 2 passes and then the last 2 passes with my Joris DE. The first two passes went well and I did not poke or cut my self with the French point. It does let me get closer to my ears. The two passes felt good and not blood or irritation. Switched to the Joris with Kai blade and finished up with a BBS on very light irritation.

Proraso Pre Shave
Razo Rock XXX
Rooney butterscotch with Heritage hair
Williams Purist kamisori - Joris loaded with a Kai blade
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Razo Rock XXX AS
Muhle ASB
Acqua Di Parma Colonia

 

What are you looking for in your blade? The tech is fairly mild, the Russians might really make it shine.

30 Day Rules as herd thinning is what I am doing too. Spending some time with each razor is really allowing me to clearly see the attributes of a given model as well.

 

I humbly suggest two shaves and toss. You do not want to end up altering technique to accommodate a dying blade edge.

 

No such thing! Arko and a 48 is good for five passes and then you can degrease your truck engine with the leftovers...amazing lather for the price.

 

Day 22 - 23 May 2015

30 Day Rule Focus with a Cadet OC!


​

What the heck, day 8 on this blade. Shave stick style again, finally hit the 2 Pass automatic smoothness with this kit. Alum was calm, Clubman has me Barber Shop fresh and feeling good! Will go for day nine tomorrow. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a Magnificent Wednesday!
​

 

A much more fitting description of those two together!

 

Huh?

What am I looking for in a blade?

How the heck should I know?
I'm the here!

I thought that's what you are here for!!!

 

Oh, but grasshopper, you must become one with your face, the razor and the blade to determine exactly what it is you want from your shave. For me I want sharp but not harsh, smooth but not without some feedback, and a quiet alum afterward. It is my shaving Zen that I aspire to. Unless using bad blades or some other stupid thing like that, but then I've never tried that now have I.

 

O brother!

Here it comes...

so let me guess...

Zen in Russian is spelled -

V-O-S-K-H-O-D

:wave:

 

Well, technically it's Восход but yes, you have made the Russian blade cartel proud!

 

06/24/2015
Razor – ATT R2 with Triad SS Helix
Blade – Feather (2)
Brush – EJ XL STF
Lather – Strop Shoppe Baker Street
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine Platinum



Another fantastic shave with the R2 this morning. This was the best shave I've had with the R2 with it nearing the results I get with the Mongoose. Going to miss this razor when it goes back to it's owner. But at least I'll get the Mongoose back. This brush is continuing to impress me. It whipped up the SS Baker Street very quickly. Finished off with a splash of Fine Platinum. Happy Wednesday.

 

June 23rd, SOTD (Shave 14 of this focus)
One days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade & Butcher The Celebrated Extra Hollow Ground
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel Horsehide/ Linen (20 on linen, 50 on leather)
Soap: Jabonman Lima-Incienso
Brush: Eveready 100T re-knotted with 22mm TGN Synthetic
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: The Holy Black Whisker Whiskey- Gunpowder Spice

I wasn’t sure if I was going to shave again today, but wondered if my prep might have been off or something yesterday. I did my normal prep this morning, and did a two pass shave, N/S and S/N. Didn’t do any touch up. DFS, with a few rough spots on the neck, but not much in the way of alum sting. I think yesterday my neck was so tender because I had been doing a single pass S/N shave. Going to see if I can keep on it for at least a week with the daily shaves.
This is more of a croap than a soap, but it took me less than five seconds to load the brush for more lather than was needed for two passes. The menthol felt good on the second pass. Aftershave smells great, and it’s one that lasts all day. Made with actual whiskey, and gives a good burn.

 

Day #4 of 5; 30-Days of June
Slight detour this morning as I test drove three razors that belong to @Drygulch that were in for some new scales, cleanup & honing. See HERE for more on their restoration. The shave consisted of three passes plus a little touch-up, incorporating the three razors as I went along.

First Pass/Downward strokes: Left-side of my face using the Cattaraugus 'Green Lizard' the largest of the three blades, this one was also the trickiest to use. Very THIN blade that was very audible; some slight resistance around my tough patches. The thinness of the blade created an almost paper-like effect as if I were dragging an edge of a piece of paper across my whiskers. It required several overlapping passes to achieve smoothness. On the opposite side of my face, I used the W. Case & Sons (-)5/8." This razor took an extremely keen edge. The blade is slightly under 5/8" and very easy to maneuver. No resistance in the shave and very little audible feedback. Very smooth shaver!

Second Pass /horizontal stroke: Switched side using the same two razors with similar effect. I found the somewhat fragile 'feel' of the Green Lizard's blade to be a little disconcerting in use and so wound up implementing a very light stroke. I achieved smooth results with no irritation. The Case, in contrast, seemed compact and sturdy, and I made quick work on the opposite side of my face. As I mentioned in the first pass, this is a smooth shaver.

Final Pass & Touch-Up/Upward strokes: For the final pass, I used the tiny black-scaled Cattaraugus. The textured scales made holding this little guy a bit easier. This is ONE SMALL RAZOR. The blade however took a very keen edge, very similar to the Case (hair-popping sharp!). With a small and easy-to-manuever blade, this little Catt was ideal for the tight-trimming around my mustache, mouth and soul patch. A very cool little razor!
End result: a near-BBS shave!

Overall, this was a very interesting shave using three distinctly different razors. Despite my initial negative impressions on the Green Lizard, once I got accustomed to the feel of the blade and maintained a light touch, it did do the job! My favorite of the three was the W. Case & Sons—sharp, easy to use, smooth feeling on the face with not a trace of harshness. The small Cattaraugus is a uniquely-sized razor that is fun to use, although in my big hands, it is lost toy-like. It is, however, quite comfortable on the face and wickedly-sharp.

These all will be cleaned, sterilized, polished up and sent out to Adam this week.

 

That was the razor in the worst shape of the three, and I was fully expecting Kevin to tell me was in too bad of shape to restore. I am excited to take these out for my own test drive!

 

Shave of the day

Pre- Hot shower, Anna and Claras sandalwood bath soap

Soap/cream- Barrister and Mann Lime/Lavender/Cedarwood

Brush- Semogue 1470 boar

Razor- Merkur 37c

Blade- Wilkinson sword(2)

Post- Cold water rinse, Lucky tiger Bay rum aftershave lotion and Nivea sensitive cooling aftershave balm

Bowl lathering has been fun and I'm seeing a little progress in my brush, it's breaking in better =)

Okey shave today. It felt really good until I was finished, i found a few to many patches that wasn't as close as the rest of my face. It must have to do with me only painting the lather on.

When I lather the soap I need to swirl the brush with the lather a little on my face to lift the hairs.



Im working on breaking in my Semogue 1470 boar brush. It was been VERY Stubborn and I cant get a good lather when facelathering. Im now bowl lathering with it to log more uses with it and kickstart the breaking in =)