MAYhem 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Likewise fella !

 

Thank you!

 

In celebration of May 1 and the start of MAYhem...

 

Tuesday morning May Day shave - Mayday! I'm stuck in a rut!

Supply Co V.2 SE injector on plate #2 / Personna ( 17)
JR #276 white ash and boar brush
Little Horn Quaich shave bowl
Vitos Eucalyptus shaving cream
Alum and Osage Rub

My first MAYhem shave looked much like my last two weeks of April shaves. I am sticking with the program to use the Vitos Eucalyptus shaving cream tub exclusively until the tub is empty and to use my injector non-stop for as long as the blade lasts.

Mind you, the program might not take much longer. I pushed the cream from around the edges back into the middle of the tub, and it has definitely diminished. I would guess maybe two more weeks tops.

As for the blade, instead of my normal two passes to a good DFS or two and a half to a BBS after an extra XTG pass under my jawline, today I ended up doing two and a half and a half passes to a so-so DFS. The blade felt a little rough and just did not mow whiskers as cleanly as usual. Even with four lathered passes in that area - and the alum feeling a bit warm there - I still feel rough stubble patches under my jawline. the shave isn't bad but it's not up to my expected standard with this rig.

I played a bit in the Excalibur Club on B+B, where the guys try to push blades to their physical limits. The experienced ones say that after a blade has done its usual first "usable life", it shaves a bit rough for half a dozen shaves or so, then smooths out to buttery smoothness for anywhere from 20 to another 100 shaves. That's with DE blades. I don’t know if the same holds true for the thicker and stiffer SE and injector blades. More to the point, I don’t know if I am willing to put up with the several miles of potholed gravel before the next stretch of good pavement.

I suppose maybe, since this is MAYhem, I should push on with this blade for another few shaves "For Science"... Therefore I am tentatively declaring this Personna injector blade dead at 17 shaves but will see how long I can keep the zombie active.

When it finally dies, I will switch to my Fatip Grande to see if my technique has improved enough over the last year to let me use this aggressive razor as a daily driver.

 

Great shave and photo.

 

Stunning Razor Jim.

 

Wow. Fantastic photo and shave. The brush and razor is stunning.

 

Great shave and photo John.

 

Thanks, Clint. Waiting to see yours blow us all out of the water as usual...

 

May 1, 2018
OneBlade Genesis V2
Feather FHS
30 DC LE with Tuxedo
C&S Oxford and Cambridge
Fine Lavender

​

No MAYhem for me this month. I will stick with my year long focus of using up some of my soap inventory. After a month of creams, I went with Cambridge & Oxford which is a hard soap. The soap has a subtle scent of peppermint over lavender which served as inspiration for the Fine Lavender aftershave. The soap is easy to lather and adding water slowly yields a wonderfully slick lather. Two passes and touch ups ended in a near perfect shave. A splash of Fine Lavender and I am off to work. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

Moving a little slow here this morning. I do cheat and take most all of my photos ahead of time.

 

"Captain, that dastard Clint has holed us below the waterline. We're sinking fast!"
"All hands, abandon ship!"
Glub. Glub.

And now we find out the sneak admits he cheats...

 

Thanks Clint!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

Hey, you forgot to ask me to hold your beer.

 

SOTD May 1, 2018

Prep: Cold water and Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap
Blade: Personna
Razor: Schick B1 injector
Brush: Artisan badger
Soap: Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum
Post: Witch hazel, RazoRock Zi'Peppino aftershave

I will be focusing on the Jeeves Bay Rum and using it exclusively this month, other than Fat Fridays. Perhaps I can finish it off, but at least it will be much reduced after a month's use. I am also planning to rotate through all my razors starting with an alphabetical run through my injectors. So I started with the B1 and had a nice shave. Some Zi'Peppino for the tobacco Tuesday theme. Quite nice overall.

No MAYhem for me. I'll enjoy watching the craziness and wish everyone good luck!

 

Thank you John. Yes I do cheat. Generally I take 20 or more photos on Saturday or Sunday and then discard all but 7. I keep the calendar of SOTD photos to remind me which photo is to be used for which day. The exception often occurs when I get a new addition to the shave den and want to try it out right away.

 

Y'know, I need to decide which "winter" scent to go to in these warmer months, just in case a cold snap sneaks at us. Jeeves Bay Rum is a nominee thus far.

 

I'm obviously in this month. Not planning any outlandish MAYhem shaves (at this point), but I will work on the straight, and try a shave with a few single edge contraptions that were gifted to me by generous (or devious - the jury is still out) members of the 30DC. Also I would be remiss in not pointing out that the cookie vote finished close to the bottom in April. Viva La Revolution Galletas! The only things that got less votes were joining the darkside (pretty sure they are hoarding the cookies over there anyway), and complaining to the Cartel (never a good idea).

Anyway, my start to MAYhem was not that MAYhemmy, since I was tired from staying up a bit late working on the Shavey Awards Thread. I did however try out B&M Roam, which is a potential entrant if they ever held a MAYhem for scents. This one is supposed to be akin to a cowboy out on the range, I guess. You know, open grassy plains, tobacco, campfire, etc. I kinda liked it at first sniff, but somebody on a thread somewhere stated it brought them back to the childhood smell of the bottom of the ashtray in their mother's station wagon that couldn't hold another cigarette butt. It's kinda like when my Dad said "I bet if I told you that Dr. Pepper tastes like prune juice, that's all you'll taste." Took me a couple of months and a lot of mental toughness to enjoy Dr. Pepper again. That's where I am right now with Roam.

 

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I don't classify scents by seasons. The Jeeves Bay Rum is light enough to be paired with whatever aftershave scent you'd like. I find it to be a really unique bay rum, and upon smelling it without knowing the title I wouldn't say it's a bay rum scent. Regardless, it's a sophisticated scent and the soap performance is tremendous.

 

Continuing the Micromatic fun for May....

Day 160

Gem Clog Pruf
Gem Stainless (2)
Semogue BC Mistura
Stirling Electric Sheep
Superior 70

Enjoy your day...