May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

Those will be forth coming!

 

May Blade Focus Day 1:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Latha SS
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Gillette Nacet
Stirling Unscented PSB
Latha Post Shave

I let my daughter choose my first blade, which meant I knew which one I would be using first. The picture on the wrapper was all she needed. The blade worked out well. Two weepers, one was really me slipping and the other was a known trouble spot. The blade was smooth for me. All in all a good shave. I also tried the Latha for the first time, and it liked the performance. @Drygulch PIFed it to me, and I am glad he did.

 

Chris,
From what I understand, Dusy is the replacement for the late Klar Kabinett. I've used it once and it seems to be the same, albeit with slightly different ingredients. It smells the same and performs the same, so I guess it is basically the same. Dead easy to lather and the lather is always slick and shiny.

 

I really like the synthetic knot. Soft tips, yet enough backbone to really make a good face lather. The finest, at least on first use, is much floppier. I've not used it enough to really get an opinion just yet.

 

This is how Mayhem is supposed to start right? Note to self: Don’t set an incredibly sharp blade on your face pointy bit first…

May 1st , SOTD (Shave 1 of this focus)
Two days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Wade and Butcher 5/8 Square point (post 1890)
Strop: Chromexcel Horsehide- 30 laps on linen, 40 on leather
DE Razor: 1969 Gillette Black Handle SuperSpeed (O1) Anodized Aluminum handle
DE Blade: Shark- Stropped 30 times per edge (2nd shave on blade)
Soap: Barrister & Mann's Lime Lavender & Cedarwood
Brush: Omega 1066 Boar
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Thayer’s Witch Hazel
Aftershave: The Shave Den Iced Barbershoppe

Did two passes with the straight today on my cheeks and neck. The straight tugged enough today that I had to focus on stretching my skin to get the whiskers cut. Cut my chin pretty good on the first pass, then managed to catch the cut trying to do a second pass. Did a clean-up with the Black SS, and called it good. The Black Handled SS is much milder than the Red Tip I used last month, which means more pressure is needed on my chin, which didn’t work so well for me today. I like this scent for the soap, but don’t have an aftershave that complements it. Used a different strop today, and the draw was very different than the latigo one I used last month. I wonder if that impacted the razor being less smooth than it has been. I have missed my 1066 boar brush. It is my favorite, and the bench mark for how I judge a brush. My cheeks and jaw are great today, but with my neck and chin being a mess, I am going to call this one a CCS, and work on better shaves for the rest of the month.

 

MAYhem & Mercy
May 1, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Tweezerman Badger
Soap - Williams (I can almost get a lather) Mug Shaving Soap
Razor - Vintage Soviet - the "Soyuz 1"
Blade - (1 & only)
Post - Alum, Nivea Replenishing Post Shave Balm

Glorious International Worker's Day Comrades! In honor of May Day let's start with breakfast!


Followed by most glorious parade!


I have changed my avatar to honor the facial hair of glorious leader Vladimir Lenin (rather than risk my own as @Darkbulb suggested.

And I have completed the first shave with Soviet razor and Gillette Rubie imitation blade. Actually it wasn't horrible, just bad. I'm putting a couple of pictures below to give you an idea of the solid engineering this razor possesses. The Rubie was nice and rough as before so all in all I felt like I was in the motherland! Alum was appropriately hot, one nick to add some blood, Nivea to cool it down and off to enjoy worker's holiday at work! Welcome to May everyone!

 

05/1/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade –Feather Super Pro (6)
Brush –Rubberset 400-3 with WSP HMW
Lather – AOS Sandalwood Cream
Post - Witch Hazel and CC Sandalwood AS



Fantastic 3 pass shave this morning. Chased the baby and got it caught it. I'm not normally a cream guy but received the AOS Sandalwood cream as a gift from the family. It's super easy to lather and very slick. Finished up with witch hazel and a splash of Captain's Choice Sandalwood. The motorcycle is packed and I'm ready to pull out after lunch today. Looking forward to a weekend sanity break. Hope everyone has a great Friday and an even better weekend.

 

Getting the mayhem going early!! I feel your pain.

 

I got one of those under my nose this morning!!!

 

Quality control can be a bit of a problem when drinking vodka

 

May 1 - Shave 1
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor: Whipped Dog sight unseen 5/8 Round point (pictured)
Strop: gemstar customs bench strop - 30 laps
DE Razor: Merkur Progress
DE Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Preshave: Stirling Mentha Preshave oil
Soap: Stirling Barbershop
Brush: WSP Silvertip Badger
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block, Stirling Barbershop AS

Had so much more confidence with the straight this morning. I wasn't pussy footing around in fear of cutting. If a nick happened, it happened. I'm learning . OK - WTG - ok. Nicked myself twice under the nose - never done that before. XTG - a little tricky but found that I was able to stretch better if I rubbed my fingers on the alum block - didn't slide off the soapy slick lather that Stirling soaps produce! I was happy with the results of the closeness that the two passes produced, a little tender - I guess there's quite a bit of burn on my neck. Cleaned up nice with the Merkur Progress on level 2 with one ATG pass. The alum stung as did the AS. I can definately improve, but I feel like such a pimp shaving with a straight today! Play on playa'!

 

Not having participated in the '30-day' series of thread prior to this one, I hope to take this month's opportunity to hone in on a particular type of straight razor and limit it to using only FOUR for the entire month.
This equates to using a single razor a week‚ which is unusual for me as I tend to use a different one every day.

That said, the defining factor for the MAY straights is the razor (in particular, the BLADE) must originate in Germany.
So here's my Teutonic choices for May—although honestly I'm off to a bad start having used a Sheffield-made razor this morning....

 

So glad to see a straight razor guru as part of the focus. There seems to be more intrest in straights each month.

 

It is funny how certain areas of wet shaving seem to gain traction at times. We had a recent bout of SE interest for a short while, another time it was DE adjustables. With straights, the learning curve is considerably longer than most razors so whether this current interest has ' legs' rests upon the level of commitment of the participants.

 

+10

I really see myself switching almost exclusively to SE razors and straights. I am studying all of this with great interest!

 

Man- One is more beautiful than the last...

 

Welcome to the 30 Day Thread! Thanks for joining in! We have a few SR learners this month and are glad to have you along this month!

 

What's going to cause the major burn more on straight shave; angle or pressure? I am curious on where my focus needs to be.

 

1 May 2015

30 Day Rule with a new (to me) Schick!





About to embark on a strict 30 Day rule for May! Will use this kit later today...my plan is to spend a month with this injector to evaluate whether it can be my daily razor. My last rule with an injector was great and I anticipate a great month of automatic 2 pass smoothness. My mayhem may come in the AS department.



The elements:

Schick Injector
Proraso Eucalyptus
Chinese Schick Blades
L'Occitane Plisson


Happy Friday!
​

 

@HolyRollah ?