May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread

May 22

MdC facial soap
Weber PH
Feather blade (day 2)
Kent BK4 silvertip
Le Père Lucien shave soap
Two passes plus touch ups
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Nivea Sensitive Post-Shave Balm

I had a very nice early morning shave before hitting the road with my Bride for our trip home. We were blessed with a restful week, good friends, and safe travels. I hope everyone has a great weekend

 

as far as addiction level, or cost????

 

Today is day three with the Astra SP. I used the same Body Shop Maca Root cream, fat handle tech, and Wilinson Sword Boar Brush, bowl lathering. The result is another amazing BBS shave. It is no wonder that these blades I have gotten in the Try A Blade top ten pack are so good. It will be hard to pick the best for a bulk buy...... okay..... who a I kidding a few bulk buys....

 

Yes.

 

May 23

MdC facial soap
Weber PH
Feather blade (day 1)
Kent BK4 silvertip
Le Père Lucien shave soap
Two passes plus touch ups
Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Nivea Sensitive Post-Shave Balm

May we all take time to gratefully remember those who bravely served and protected our freedoms.

 

MAYhem & Mercy
May 23, 2015
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Razor - EJ DE89L
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum, Nivea Balm

The final blade. The blade that failed so miserably in MAYhem that it didn't even get a full shave. From either razor. Not even sure you could call it a blade then. So, let's load it in the EJ and see if it improves like all its brethren in Mercy phase. I lathered up with the Arko so we know I had a great, slick, cushiony base to work on. Lined it up, made a stroke..........and...........wait for it..........a little more..........oh who am I kidding. This thing wouldn't cut butter if it was heated and the butter was warm. The feel of the blade skipping over my face was just obnoxious. Pull, tug, drag, pull, is it cutting? Can't tell, pull, tug, drag. Sheesh. That was one stroke. Felt the path. Still as rough as when I started. Flipped it around and tried another stroke. Yeah, same thing. Put it in the RazoRock and found that only made it seem worse from the extra blade exposure. Nope, done. Finito. I know it's a carbon blade and I know they can feel rougher than stainless but every other carbon blade I've used was pretty good at cutting. This one is just a hopless dull piece of metal. Put the Sharp Star in the RazoRock and finished with a great near BBS.

The Flying Eagle. It takes skill and effort to make a blade that bad!

Thus concludes MAYhem and Mercy! I'm a week early since I changed the terms for Mercy. Four out of five blades passed Mercy, three of five MAYhem. I'll put together some final thoughts and post them later tonight. Work calls! Enjoy your Saturday.

 

05/23/2015
Razor – GEM FeatherWeight
Blade – GEM Stainless PTFE (6)
Brush – Shavemac Silvertip D01
Lather – Mystic Water Lavender
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol Agua Balsamica Sample

May we all take time this weekend to contemplate and honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you to all that have served and those that are now serving.



Decided to take the holiday weekend off from the May Focus to use some of my vintage SE razors. Fantastic, 3 pass shave this morning. I really like the GEM FW. The Mystic Water Soap is a little finicky but with a little work I was rewarded with a great slick lather. The lavender scent was exceptional and paired well with the Myrsol Balsamica.

 

Blade Focus Day 23:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Cella
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Derby Super Stainless
Stirling Unscented PSB
Proraso AS

Since I used a straight for my first pass yesterday, I pushed the Derby to four days. All in all, this wasn't a bad blade for me, but not my favorite. It just never seemed to feel fully comfortable for me, but never too bad either. This has been the first blade I have had that felt good but didn't at the same time.

 

Late post Day 22 and Day 23

30 Day Rule with a Schick!



Forgot to change the blade again, but Day 22 was a nice, but a bit tuggy. Super busy weekend, will try and get caught up on the reading later!

Have a Great weekend!

​

 

Day#22 of the 30-Day Focus
..and Day#2 of 7 with the J. A. Henckels Zwillingswerk #472 'Friodur' Straight Razor.

Late afternoon shower and shave after a busy morning working outside. I didn't feel the need for a shave this morn as yesterday's left me incredibly smooth for the longest time.
Stropped the Friodur with laps of 35 on linen/60 on horsehide. Same soap as Friday's exceptional shave. Three standard passes with minor touch-up on the jawline. Silky-smooth shave again.
This razor could spoil me for any other… Post-shave, rinse and dried the razor and gave it a dozen or so laps on horsehide to ensure a dry edge. Although the Friodur has on it's tang stamped, "No Stain"— I don't take any chances with water and carbon steel blades—no matter the process used by the manufacturer.

 

Brush Focus: Day 23/30
Brush: Semogue Boar 1305, 22/55
Gillette - K-4 (1965) Slim Adjustable. (5).
Gillette Platinum Blade (2)
Soap: Sterling, Cool
A/S: The Shave Den, Coconut.
Old Spice Coffee Mug.(soak brush)

Excellent brush. I find it work no matter what the soap is hard or soft. Doesn't hold water like Badger, but by adding a little water along the way does the trick. haven't had any problems with this brush what some ever. Highly recommended! Gillette adjustable is also a great razor. Work perfectly, just remember to loosen the TTO when adjusting the numbers. First time using Sterling Soap, Cool and I was very happy with it. Not much for smell, but provided a good lather. TSD A/S is a quality product. I'll have to order more.

God Bless all who have served who helped keep America safe and great.

 

You take Outstanding pictures. You should open a tutorial on how to do it.

 

Final Results for MAYhem and Mercy!


Well gents and lasses here’s what we’ve all been waiting for. The final results of my MAYhem and Mercy month. Well, ok so maybe you haven’t been waiting so feel free to ignore this now and gain back a few minutes of your life. I won’t be offended, just a bit lonelier.

For those who want the short version…..here it is. Four of the five blades actually passed, meaning I got at least a CCS on either or both setups. The only one to totally fail was the Flying Eagle. The Baili failed MAYhem but barely survived Mercy. Final rankings:

1. Zaza
2. Sharp
3. 7 a.m.
4. Baili
5. Flying Eagle

For those who want the full summary, read on. The rest…thanks for your time and interest.



I know some of you felt I had lost my mind on this one. After all we don’t normally design shaves using the worst products and seeing how bad the results can be. I am glad that I did have the good sense to listen to the advice of @Darkbulb and a couple of others and hold the MAYhem to two weeks. The blades generally sucked but the gear was just awful. As in dreadful. As in yeah, my mind snapped a few times. I may yet seek therapy. Let’s examine the gear for a moment of reflection.


The Soyuz 1 (as I call it) is a very common Russian find so I suspect they were made in bulk back in the day. The four piece design indicates a travel razor, most likely, though it could just be designed that way for saving space in storage. The metal is a mystery but it is heavy and the gap. Oh the gap. The #&*(%&%&*& gap. Totally inconsistent, and if you don’t pay close attention the blade loads at a slight angle creating a slicing machine with an inconsistent gap that may have inspired the SAW franchise in Hollywood. I used a Voskhod in it one time prior to May and even that felt wildly dangerous and foolish. I can’t imagine the Soviets using that on a regular basis but I’m sure many did. Brave, brave souls and I understand their love of Vodka, if only to deaden the result of this razor.

The Rapira is a modern razor, cheap and actually labeled for sale with the Gillette 7 o’clock as well. You can find these on the bay pretty cheap in a lot of the Russian blade cartel’s pages. It’s one way to get a razor into people’s hands cheaply but a better choice would be the Lord L6. Cheaper in most cases and better at what it does from the reviews I’ve read here and other places. The Rapira could be used if you have no other options but I don’t see it as an everyday razor given its aggressive nature and cheap construction.

The Tweezerman brush. Entry level badger brush, sheds like a Husky in Brazil and is too soft for my liking. Having said that it does work and has gotten a lot of people started. I’d hate to tackle something as hard as Tabac or MWF with it. Williams was almost too much for it. But I started wetshavnig with it using Proraso green in the tub and never had an issue with lather. It’s just the shedding that gets old.

Williams Mug Shaving Soap. Need I comment? Hate it. Hard to lather and even when you get it figured out it’s way too thin for my liking and dissipates way too fast. More than that…..the smell. Anyone who hates Arko for its smell and says they like Williams better……go to the Doctor…you have nose issues. Disclaimer – I used modern Williams, not vintage. Two different soaps. Same box, but wow did they ruin a good thing. Also a bad thing.

Disclaimer – As with all shaving gear everything I used is subject to YMMV. I see some people in SOTD using Williams and loving it…yes, modern Williams. If it works for them (or you) you will receive no argument from me about that. These results are my experience and preferences.

The Mercy gear. Good stuff all around. The DE89L is my go-to razor for trialing blades as it is not as mild as a superspeed but not as aggressive as some either. The RazoRock TTO is an impressive performer, especially given its price. It’s also nice to have a solid brass razor from a modern manufacturer. I found it useful as a more aggressive platform to get a better feel of the blades to compare to. I find it useful to shave with a LOT anymore. Just another shameless plug. That’s the RazoRock TTO. Available, well you know.

My soaps of choice were Arko, Proraso Green tub and a day with Tabac. All three produced great lather for me and I love all three scents. Proraso was my first “real” soap so I will always have a tub handy. Never an issue with any of these soaps during this phase.

The brushes – Omega Pro 48, VDH Boar and Vie Long 12750 Horse. Different characteristics from these three. The Pro 48 is, as most know, an outstanding performer. Really attacks harder soaps and lathers easily. It’s a big brush and the splay covers half of my face when I use it that way. Nice stiffness too yet soft as it’s well broken in. The VDH Boar is from the smaller starter kit with the green bowl and soap. For a cheap boar this is one of my favorite brushes. Rarely sheds, very short loft and is great with harder soaps as well. Very quick to rinse after use and I find the feel to be perfect…that mix of soft and scratch. The Vie Long I’m still learning but love it so far. It also works well in the harder soaps even though it requires a bit different approach. Produces great lather though and is definitely a nice scratchy soft brush with 35% mane and 65% tail.

And now, without further ado, the blades. My final ranking is as follows:

1. Zaza
2. Sharp
3. 7 a.m.
4. Baili
5. Flying Eagle

The only blade to fail the entire trial is the Drowned Duck……I mean Flying Eagle. Horrible, horrible. Did I say horrible? Dull, rough, absolutely a waste of good carbon steel. Again, I recognize that carbon blades perform differently than stainless. I’ve used Treet carbon blades and love the black beauty. This blade looks similar but performs totally differently. Treet Black Beautys provide a nice feedback and result. The Crawling Eagle just drags and reminds you that unsharpened steel is useless to cut with. By the way I have a list of 10 alternate names for the Flying Eagle. My favorite…the Limping Hummingbird. Another shameless plug for my thoughts. @Keithmax was kind enough to donate two of these things for my enjoyment and he bet the farm they would be the worst blades I would find. Congratulations, you kept the farm!

The Zaza – a bit surprising that it performed well. Not Voskhod level but good enough that I would keep a few around just for variety. Turkish blades should be good and I think the Zaza passes muster. Just don’t expect perfection.

The Sharp – voted by many in reviews as a horrible dull piece of steel. I found it to be good enough to barely pass muster with bad gear but its performance with good gear improved greatly. Not good enough to make me want to order more but if that’s the only blade I could find I could live with it.

The 7 a.m. – Bangladesh is a clothing center, not a steel making center, and this blade and the Sharp prove why. This blade showed great inconsistency in the two blades I used as well as in the results. It passed both but barely in MAYhem. If it’s the only blade available you may want to consider skipping the day just to avoid a bad blade in the bunch. Otherwise it might be ok for a short time.

The Baili – Absolute disaster in bad gear, better in good but I just can’t see myself using it. My assumption is that if I was in a position that I could only get that blade I’d probably also be using a bad razor. Nope, not gonna happen. Say hello to the new beard.

The Flying Eagle – Two words – RUN AWAY. Definitely no use to try and get a decent shave with this one. Won’t work. Guaranteed beard if I was out of other options.

So, what was the point again? Testing @GDCarrington on his three T’s….”technique trumps tools.” Can you become solid and consistent enough with your technique to overcome even bad tools (not defective)? Yes. I think the results prove that much. While the good gear produced better results overall, I was able to take some incredibly bad gear and produce a passable shave. The only exceptions – the Baili and Flying Eagle. Neither of the Chinese blades worked with bad gear and the Eagle didn’t work with either. Given the quality, or lack of quality, though, I would have to say that the Baili borders on defective and the Dancing Owl is just flat out defective. You can’t have a blade that dull and rough considered anything but defective.

Thanks for following along. I hope it was informative to a point as well as entertaining, if only to try and figure out what is wrong with me. (If you discover the answer to that please forward it to my wife. She’s been trying to figure it out as well.)

Coming up in June – still thinking about it. Due to the need to conserve finances a bit I am delaying the purchase of a strop and getting my kamisori honed so no focus on that for now. I’m considering a mixed bag – a “blade tournament” to determine my true favorite out of my top 12 along with continued work with the CJB to help perfect my holds and moves for a true kamisori style shave. More on that later.

​

 

Thanks! Here's a brief overview of the sequence I use. Fast n' not a lot of time involved.

 

Arko is also a joy bowl lathered! Just put a thin slice or two on the bottom of a bowl and go nuts if the face lathering is too frustrating.

With the silver tip Omega, are you loading a damp brush and face lathering per usual?
Also, that blade looks great. Did you buy it new? And thanks for the glimpse into your photo editing process.

 

Yes. The omega is softer than any boar brush, so it requires more effort to load. Silvertip badger is MUCH, much softer on the face as well. One of my favorite brushes.

You're welcome! That razor was a used (it was made circa late 1950-mid 60s). Bought it from a seller in japan. Blade was in great shape, but the scales need some cleaning & polishing…

looks near-new in the cellophane sleeve...


Ewww. Gunk at the pivot point. A sure sign the previous user wasn't a stickler for thorough post-shave cleaning & drying

 

Day four with the Astra SP was a hurried shave (darn hockey game going into overtime, when I need to get ready for work).. The result was still a DFS+ shave, although there was some "dragginess" which could very well be technique, not blade. We will try again tomorrow, when I will be less pressured to get out the door. May all of you good folk below the 49th have a great Memorial Day Weekend, and thank you all for your service.

John

 

Outstanding post. Thank you!

 

Blade Focus Day 24:

Homemade PS Oil
WD High Mountain Badger 30 mm
Stirling Port-au-Prince SS
EJ Chatsworth Barley
Astra Superior Stainless
Stirling Unscented PSB
Tabac AS

Swtched to the Astra SS today. I had used Astra SP previously but this was a new blade for me. The initial shave was pretty nice; this blade has some promise for me. Looking forward to shave number 2 tomorrow.