JUNE 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Catching up for two shaves:
I like the weekend because not only do I have plenty of time for my shave I can shave later in the day when I have even more growth which tends to give me better shave. Sunday is a big day socially so I did 3 passes with the straight and then the 4th with my Lather Catcher. A good smooth shave with just a little irritation. I think I am getting closer with the straight but I will have to skip the 4th pass with a different razor to find out. I do prefer the Kamisori to having scales. I feel I have better control of the razor and the scales are not getting in my way. Just one weeper.

Proraso Pre Shave
QCS Iced Key Lime cream
Simpson Polo 8 in Super
Rasurpur Kamisori western grind
Herold Russian leather strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Razo Rock Tight Buns AS
Muhle ASB
Dior Eau Sauvage

Tuesday morning shave. It is workday but I woke up early enough to do a couple of passes with a straight. I touched up my Dovo Bismark with some past so I wanted to give it s spin. I enjoy this razor because it looks cool with the gold and it is heavy. Good news, I think I did the touch up OK, the shave was smooth and just one nick due to operator error. Using a straight requires even more focus than a 2011 R41 DE. Despite the nick irritation was low. I have some meetings today so I finished with the Lather Catcher again for almost a DFS.

I am still not to the level of shave I can get with my favourite DE's, not as close and not as irritation free. Thinking back it took my 3 months of DE shaving before I got a BBS so I need to stay patient.

Proraso Pre Shave
AoS tallow and Cyril Slater Rose
Whipped Dog 30mm silvertip
Dovo Bismark
Dry Gulch strop
Alum block to keep my fingers dry
Speick AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
The Different Company Sel de Vetiver

 

That seals it, I won't be trying Russians if that's what happens - my heart couldn't handle it and I'd bust most leg joints and hamstrings!

 

I am doing Maggard OC blade trial (4 Gillette labels) with MITA and Plisson. Maggard is new to me, from a @Bobcat PIF drawing. The blades I will use are the 4 tucks bottom row right.

 

06/23/2015
Razor – ATT R2 with Triad Helix SS
Blade – Feather (1)
Brush – Olive Wood with TGN Finest Fan
Lather – Tiki Cabernet Neroli
Post - Witch Hazel & Fine L’Orange Noir



Another great work morning shave of 2 passes plus touch ups produced a near BBS. The girls gave me the soap and aftershave for Fathers Day. The scent and performance of this soap is fantastic. Finished off with witch hazel followed by a splash of Fine L'Orange Noir. All in all a great morning.

 

Day #3 of 5; 30-Days of June
Third day cruisin' with the C-Mon Cadillac. I've been spoiled this whole month by getting so many smooth, quality SR shaves I can recall having for so many days!
One of the real fringe benefits of these 30-day test periods is it allows the opportunity for those 'standout' razors to really shine. I can now more clearly distinguish those which I favor and those I'll probably thin from the herd. This particular C-MON looks to be one of those keepers. Certain straight razors have a particular smoothness about them that make them a joy to use. When you get to experience a truly smooth, ultra-close straight razor shave, it becomes immediately apparent WHY you went to all the trouble to learn straight razor shaving in the first place. Nothing in wet-shaving compares to it.

 

June 23rd, SOTD (Shave 14 of this focus)
One days’ growth
Prep: Face Scrub
Razor: Sears Craftsman 5/8 round point
Strop: Drygulch Chromexcel Horsehide/ Linen (20 on linen, 50 on leather)
Soap: The Shave Den Lime
Brush: Eveready 100T re-knotted with 22mm TGN Synthetic
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: The Shave Den Aftershave Milk- Iced Lime

Let me start by saying yesterday was an awesome shave related day. I picked up two NOS SE razors that haven’t been made since the teens, got pictures of three amazing straights Kevin (@HolyRollah) has restored for me, and I got a shave and leather related printing press piece as a gift from someone in my home town.


This is my third day for shaving daily. It was one of the things I wanted to try on this focus. Depending on how my neck feels tomorrow, it might be my last day of trying to shave daily as well. I did a single pass with no touch up today. It was a mix of XTG and ATG. I would rate this one as a SAS. Cheeks are smooth, but the chin and neck are rough. I also have shave bumps for the first time since I started wet shaving, under my chin. The skin there is very tender, so I went XTG, but the alum still lit me up there. The whiskers on my chin are easier to cut with two day’s growth. The razor caught on some and skipped, and managed to cut me pretty good where it landed, where the chin hits the flat part under my lip.

 

World Tournament of Blades - Russia vs. the World!!
June 23, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Tabac
Razor - '46/47 Superspeed
Blade - (2)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

From India to Greece we go. The Bic Chrome Platinum is on the field and ready to go. Once again the Omega Pro48 and Tabac prep the field and off we go.

First observation - I do believe the Pro 48 is not the right brush for Tabac. The high loft is not as effective as a short loft brush. It gets the soap going, loads ok, but the water seems off. Now, the Vie-Long works great with Tabac probably due to its shorter loft AND the fact that horse stays wetter than boar, at least that's what I've noticed. So, in the future I plan to pair horse and Tabac more than boar and Tabac.

First pass very nice. The Bic remains sharp and is very smooth. The dragging I noticed yesterday with the Super-Max is barely there if at all. So, that tells me it was more the blade than anything else. I also noticed, though, that after the first pass my face isn't slick like it is with MWF or Arko. Tabac doesn't leave as much behind, at least on this first pass.

Second pass - XTG and I worked more water into the lather. That produced a better slickness but still not MWF worthy. Brush or soap? I'm thinking the two just don't work together well as I mentioned above. The XTG did feel good though, smooth, and produced a good result on the pass. I picked up a very small nick on my right cheek while going nose to ear, which is not my usual direction. Probably more of a technique nick but I'm counting it.

Third pass - XTG and G-slide on the neck. One minor nick under the chin. Hmmmmmmm. That's not technique. Soap perhaps but it's a nick. Finished with DFS.

Scoring - The Bic is sharp and earns the 1 for that. Smoothness? Honestly, I have to go a 2 because of a few issues but better than yesterday. I do think the playing field is more the problem here but both blades played on the same field and the Bic performed better in the conditions. Irritation - the two small nicks factor in here. Overall just a bit of a quick burn, the nicks a bit longer so a 2. Result - DFS so a 2.

Total - 7 First round was a 5 so not as good a result but......still good enough to say.........

The Winner is BIC!!!!!!

A lot of variables on these two blades it seems and I have to wonder if a different brush/soap combo might have made a difference....however the Bic pretty much outperformed the Super-Max Platinum in every way. So a great win.

Tommorow - The American blade has its day again - The Personna Lab Blue sets the bar against the Turkish Derby. Final two of the Elite Eight begins tomorrow!

 

June 23, 2015

30 Day RULE - “Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Lather, Rinse….”

Hot Shower
Pre-Shave Oil: Gingers Garden
Soap: Arko
Brush: Omega Pro 48
Razor: Gillette Tech “Fat Handle”
Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword Stainless (India) (3)
After Shave: Myrsol Agua Limon
After Shave Balm: Gingers Garden



Went a little overboard on loading the brush with Arko this morning so I decided on a 3-pass shave to use all that soap...suppose I could've done the rest of my body as well with all the lather I had.



Nice shave. Really focusing on the stroke these past days with a grip closer to the head. I'm sensing a bit more tug or drag from this blade and begin to wonder if 3 shaves are a max for me with it. Will pay more attention to it in the final week of the month and probably get through two more blades to assess with.

Cheers!
RT

 

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!


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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!
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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!!!