March '16 - 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion Thread

I shaved twice since my last shave report.

CJB
Kai regular(2)
Tabac shave stick
WD 20mm Synthetic
Tabac AS

I did a 1 1/2 pass shave WTG with XTG both directions on my neck. I ended with a DFS and only 2 bumps that got sliced off with no pain and plenty of blood. No burn from the AS except on those sliced off bumps.

Shave 2
CJB
Kai regular (3)
VdH deluxe
Semogue 1438
Nivea Sensitive cooling AS balm

I did a quick 1 1/2 pass like I did last time. No blood or irritation. I'm off in a few minutes to orientation for my new job. I wanted a low scent AS and I ended with a DFS and a light scent. The Kai regular blade is very sharp and I almost can't imagine how a sharper more aggressive blade will feel.

 

Congrats Charlie. You will have it mastered in short order.

 

This is how it's done! Congrats, Charlie! Just take your time, and let it happen! In reality, it took about 50 shaves to get settled in. I am so glad you finally tried!

 

Welcome to the Dark Side! Sound like a good first shave. The grip on a straight is different, so the muscle memory process has to start over. Keep at it, and you will get it down.

 

Used the Kinfolks The Ace again today. Two pas DFS, minor irritation and one weeper. Overall, uneventful nice shave.

 

March 26 - Straight Shave 25
J.R. Torrey French Point
PSO, hot shower
Jayaruh #40 Synthetic
Route 66 Retro Spice soap
Alum, Nivea balm. Pinuad Clubmas AS

New, to me, razor. Beautiful, great shape. Set a bevel this morning on my new Naniwa Pro stone. Progession through Norton 4k/8k, finished on Naniwa 12k. 10 passes on CrOx felt SRP Paddle. 60 on Vintage Blades web and 100 on red latigo strop. pinged hair on my arm very nicely.

Being the weekend, did a couple hot towels. Made a bit too wet of a lather, but it wasn't too bad. Lathered full face for first pass and started the shave. Blade was very smooth and doesn't make as much noise as my others do. I was thinking I hadn't done a very good job honing, but it was taking off the beard, so I kept going. NSBP on the second XTG pass, and a two side lather for the ATG third pass. A little clean up and I'm calling it BBS!

I think that even though I may need to re-lather on the first pass, going ahead and full face helps soften the rest of the beard a bit. I still do NSBP second pass. Third pass, I do one whole side, so my south-north pass can just continue over my jawline and up the cheek.

Alum only had some minor complaints, and the clubman didn't burn at all. Very nice shave, really feeling comfortable with a straight. Hope everyone has a great day!

 

Saturday Shower/Shave



In Shower Prep- Noxzema for face, Old Spice Classic shower gel
Pso-Homemade mint oil
Brush- RazoRock Plissoft
Razor-Gillette Slim on 6
Blade- Astra SP (4)
Soap- VDH Luxury
Thayers Witch Hazel
AS- Old Spice Classic

I turned the Slim up to 6 today, an even better shave than yesterday. I really like this VDH soap, great scent and performance yet it costs almost nothing. The Astra is still going strong, the RazoRock Plissoft is fantastic, the Noxzema is great prep, very refreshing. The Thayers cooled everything off and I finished with the Old Spice, very little sting and no irritation today. Three passes, right to left, left to right then up and I'm BBS again. A great shave and the wife approves of the AS so all is good.

Since I turned up the Slim tonight and I was unsure of how it would behave I skipped trying my left hand. Since I got a great result I will try it next shave. Have a great day folks and a Happy Easter!

 

What a way to join the Dark Side. I'm a PRC fan, that's a nice looking razor. An awesome shave for the first time. All the training with the pain stick paid off.

 

From bevel to BBS, well done.

 

Thank you @wristwatchb. This is were I store my Old Spice collection. The actual Shave Den is in a cabinet in the bathroom. I'll try and get a picture of that and post it soon. I do appreciate your kind words.

 

Happy Easter

03/27/2016
Wolfman OC with Triad Ti
Feather (2)
WDC-8 with Sunrise Synthetic
TSD Yin Yang
Witch Hazel
Fine L’Orange
Whipped Shea Butter

​

A wonderful relaxing shave this morning. The TSD Yin Yang soap effortlessly whipped into a very slick protective lather. The lavender is the predominant scent for me in this mixture of lime and lavender. The Wolfman OC continues to deliver drama free close smooth shaves. This is my only DE that provides me a shave that rivals my SE razors. Two passes with touch ups ended in a BBS shave. A great start to a glorious day. Finished with a splash of Fine L'Orange. I hope everyone has a Blessed Easter Sunday.

 

Razor: Gillette Aristocrat 1947
Blade: Feather Hi Stainless Platinum (7)
Brush: Fendrihen Silver Tip Badger Faux Horn Handle 22/49
Soap: TSD 2x Iced Barber Shoppe
A/S: TSD Iced Barber Shoppe
HAPPY EASTER!

 

SOTD
March 27, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Merkur Futur
Blade: Ladas
Lather: Gingers Garden Rose Petals
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Rose Petal WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Gingers Garden Osmanthus
Beautiful shave. @soapbuddy soaps and aftershaves are heavenly. The Merkur Futur set on 3 is perfect for my face, nice and smooth.
Every accomplishment starts with the decision

 

Injector Focus
Had to try this one just for fun. It gives a surprisingly good shave for such a lightweight handle.
SOTD
Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Vie-Long horsehair brush
Schick Stick
Chick blade (1)
Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Chrome Azzaro Legend cologne
Happy Easter!

 

March 27 - Straight Shave 26
Friedr Schlemper Focus Spezial
PSO, hot shower, hot towels
Jayaruh #40 Synthetic
Alum, Reef Point Dragon's Blood Soap & AS

Nice shave today, didn't catch the baby again, but still DFS. Alum complained a bit, as I am trying some different techniques. But not really razor burn or anything.

Happy Easter to all, hope you have a great day!

 

SOTD March 27, 2016
March focus shave 25

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Personna med prep
Razor: Maggard MR1 with V2 open comb
Brush: Trader Joe's synthetic
Lather: TSD unscented shave stick
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine Platinum, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG, touch-up



Happy Easter to everyone! Interesting shave this morning. I actually ended up with a really nice, close shave. No nicks, weepers, or irritation. The interesting part was in the lather. My soap stick from TSD doesn't seem to raise any longer. The soap is down in the stick and won't lift up with the screw knob. I am traveling and don't have an extra container or I probably would have just scooped it out and pressed it into a new vessel. I'm going to post a picture of it in the Shave Soap forum.

In any event I was able to run the brush around and over it fast enough to get some decent lather, albeit a hair thinner than normal. But then I went ahead and shaved and got a nice shave, so go figure.

I hope everyone has a great day today!

 

Nice Old Spice collection Doug!

 

Thanks very much Mark.

 

The end of the Kai.

CJB
Kai protouch captain original
Route 66 Black Pearl
Semogue 1438
Nivia sensitive cooling ASB

My sample of Black Pearl is effectively gone. My lather today after a near minute load was thin and hardly lasted 2 passes. Its hardly a ring around the outside of my container so I was impressed I got that much out of the dregs. I started the WTG pass and noticed that the Kai didn't feel as smooth as normal. Still decent reduction and even thin the Route 66 felt like it was doing the job. I think this is shave 5 or 6 for the blade.

with a relather I could see through I attempted a S/N pass on my neck and even though it is mostly XTG there I still ended up with blade chatter and blood. I called it quits on a visually nice shave that felt like it had a ways to go before a DFS. Styptic to stop the bleeding and the nivia to cool it off.

I changed out the blade for the Feather Guard blade so I wouldn't forget to change it before my next shave. I'll need to shave for work and since my work day starts at 6am I'll be shaving at night daily again so it will be easier to keep track of my shaves then it has been. I'll work through the feather progression then try the Canadian Kamisori blade before trying the dorco Barber Blade and the Sam Seong razor. I'm hoping to use the same progression in that razor to find the best blade for each.

 

Shave Den Sunday!

Shave 87 - 90 Day Intro to SR​

Ralf Aust 5/8
L'Occitane Plisson
Alum
TSD Barber Shoppe Shave Stick
TSD 2x Iced FW type AS

www.theshavedenshop.com


Hope you had a Great Easter Sunday!
​