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

Thank you, the badge was made by @Jayaruh for the Fellowship of Cold Water Shavers. I may have to crank up the Slim and give the Derby another go tomorrow.

 

@Jayaruh was one of the teachers I followed in the very beginning, immediately after switching from Harry's carts to ultimately a Utopia 3pc 89 clone. Many of my fundamental ideas about lather and brushes are specifically from Jayaruh and @Holy Rollah.

 

March 28, 2016
March focus on two Schick E type razors: a Canadian E and a US E2, while also trying out different blades with each.

Hot Shower
Razor: Canadian Schick E
Blade: NOS Schick Platinum (Holland) (3)
Soap: Nancy Boy Signature
Brush: Rooney 3/3 "Super" Silvertip
TSD Witch Hazel
Myrsol Blue



Three-day growth. Three-pass shave - WTG, XTG, ATG

Another great shave with the Canadian. Hard for me to discern a great deal of difference with the two E types. I may just have to do a same-shave face off - a different razor on opposite face sides during the same shave!

Cheers!
RT

 

Vince-

Do you perceive a great difference between E and G? BTW...Sleek Rooney!

 

I'm not there yet...in case you hadn't noticed...I chose to organize my 2016 monthly Foci by marching through my injectors via alphabetical order...Gs are coming soon.

I will say that I feel much different about the Type Es today than I did back in September when I had about 1 or 2 shaves with each of them and wondered if I was really an injector guy. Only one conclusion can come from that - technique, technique, technique!

Long live Master @GDCarrington and Master @Bama Samurai ! 2

 

You're too kind...it was all GD back then! I had not considered the fact you don't have much G time yet. All I get from your posts is that you love injectors, and wield them with skill!

 

The Wolfman OC is very efficient and comfortable for me to use. It's not quite as efficient as some of my SE Razors but it is pretty close.

 

03/29/2016
Wolfman OC with Triad Ti
Feather (1)
Ever-Ready 100 with TGN Finest
Route 66 Lumberjack
Witch Hazel
Fine Platinum
Whipped Shea Butter

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This Ever-Ready was my first restoration and reknot I completed. Since that time, I have gravitated to bigger brushes and don't use this one as much as I should. However, the little brush did a wonderful job whipping up the Route 66 Lumberjack. For those that have not used Route 66, I would encourage you to give some a try. I find the soap to be super easy to lather with wonderful post shave feel. Going with a 2 pass shave, XTG &ATG, followed by some touch ups ended with my normal near BBS. Just that one spot on the my lower right neck that gives me trouble. Finished with a splash of Fine Platinum and I am ready for the day. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

SOTD
March 29, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89lbl
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Valobra Almond
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft Disruptor
Post: Thayers Rose Petal WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: CLAUS PORTO ACH BRITO Lavanda
Went with my first DE razor this morning, the EJDE89 is a fantastic razor! Could you imagine if Edwin Jagger produced a Stainless Steel version of this razor...WOW! Valobra Almond is an exceptional soap, slick, fantastic scent and my face feels good.

We rise by lifting others

 

Congrats Adam!!

 

Thanks, Charlie!! I was wondering how Seth was doing. I hope he finds time to stop in, sounds like he's got a lot going on. Not a bad thing.
Again thank you!
Kerry

 

Douglas, the picture in the background is so nice.

 

How did you like your new CLAUS PORTO ACH BRITO Lavanda? The scent profile sounds wonderful

 

The one word I would use is "lovely" in a nice not overbearing way. A fresh citrus and lavender scent.

 

That sounds wonderful. I'm a huge fan of citrus and I don't mind lavender if it's soft. The bottle is beautiful

 

Injector Focus
I think today was the nicest shave yet this month. This razor has risen to the top of my injector pile
SOTD
TOBS Sandalwood cream
Doug Korn brush
Bunny V3 with Notso comb
Chick blade (3)
Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel
Pinaud Musk AS
Have fun!

 

SOTD March 29, 2016
March focus shave 27

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Personna lab blue
Razor: Vintage Gillette Travel Tech
Brush: Trader Joe's synthetic
Lather: Swedish Dream Sea Salt Soap
Lather #2: TSD unscented shave stick
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine Platinum, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up



A perilous shave this morning. I bought some Sea Salt Soap yesterday in a shop, made by Swedish Dream. The scent is great. It says its good for bathing and shaving which should have been a red flag, but I went with it anyway. I posted about it in the Shave Soaps thread yesterday and got some comments and past experiences. I went ahead and shaved with it this morning to at least give it a go.

The lather started off decently. I thought it was going to work out. The first pass above the jaw was pretty good, but the lather began dissipating and drying up. I rehydrated it several times. I went VERY carefully around my neck area and then washed it off and decided to switch soaps.

The cold water in the sink bowl did not work to wash the soap away from the razor so I had to drain and refill the sink with warm water. That was annoying.

I was worried about irritation so I lathered up some TSD unscented from the shave stick and did a quick clean-up pass. My doesn't feel that great and has a few red areas. I think that has calmed down some between shaving and posting this. I ended up with a marginal CCS. That was a victory given the circumstances. No nicks or weepers surprisingly.

So, the Sea Salt soap is good for the shower but not good for the face. Lesson learned. It was worth a shot at least. The GOOD FOR SHAVING slogan on the box should not be taken literally though.

Hope you all have great shaves and a terrific day!

 

Straights Focus March 29:

Jayaruh Shave Brush
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Joseph Rodgers & Son
Stirling Unscented PSB
TOBS Sandalwood AS

After a quick trip to NM, including about a 12 hour drive starting at about 3:00 yesterday afternoon, I am back in my own home able to enjoy a shave with this straigh. I just got it last week, and it seems like a great shaver. I am still recovering from the drive a bit, so I didn't really have full focus this morning. Tomorrow should provide for a better test run. It was nice to be back. I have a fair amount of catch up to do on the thread.

 

Final days of March - Post Move - April is on the Horizon!

March 29

Razor - Feather SS/'46-'47 Gillette Aristocrat
Blade -
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Skip everything that could burn. Nivea Original Balm

Well, after four days of hauling and toting and lifting and cussing I can finally try and enjoy a shave. My last day off so we're putting things away still and getting organized but at least the routine can get back to a bit of normal. Thanks for the positive vibes for the weekend. I hadn't moved in ten years and it brought back so many memories.........of why I hadn't moved in ten years. One item of note....don't tell me SWMBO doesn't have her heart in the right place. The first thing she mentioned we needed to get figured out was where to put my shaving cabinet so I could have easy access to everything. We still don't have it totally figured out, as the bathroom here is smaller, but she's still working on how to hang it so I don't have to run around looking for everything.

@Bama Samurai suggested this should be a Rapira shave and I didn't disagree. However, it's still March and pain stick month, and with four days growth I wanted a big gun on my side. So, I went with both today. I loaded a Feather Super Pro up in the stick and made the first pass with that. Nice to have MWF back after a month of Tabac. Loved that smell and slickness. Tabac is awesome, still my second favorite after the Fat. That first pass was a doozy. The Super Pro is a blade that keeps you on the edge, or at least that's how it feels to me. It's just enough sharper than the Pro that you know one minor mistake and you'll bleed. With the heavier beard it made it easier to hold angle since the results were instantly visible. I'd love to say it was a smooth and really great feeling, but with that much growth nothing would probably deliver that. However, it wasn't bad for a first pass and really went through and smoothed things out. With a DE I probably would have needed two passes to reduce it that far.

Second pass was with the Aristocrat and, since it's Rapira day, a new Ladas blade. I know, I know, you expected Voskhod, but I haven't used a Ladas in quite awhile. Definitely one of my top three blades and did a fantastic job on the second XTG pass as well as the third ATG with Gillette Slide on the neck. Looked like my neck was pretty red after all of those passes and I could tell it would be a hot alum day. No problem. Just skipped that part. Right to Nivea to moisturize and cool things down. Tomorrow we'll be back to normal.

So, the cartel has a new home and a bigger basement for the boys to hang out in until they're needed. My desk is still buried in blades/razors/brushes, all that good stuff trying to get it put away while I do enough in the rest of the house to keep the peace. Have a great Tuesday!

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Thanks Keith. Good advice from a seasoned pro.