NOV 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Now that I think about it, Tonto is Spanish for Fool.

 

11/3/15

Gillette NEW LC
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
La Toja shave stick
Aqua Velva Ice Blue

Shave #3 with the Astra SP in my New LC.
Face lather and 2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Good reduction. Pass 2: ATG. Afterwards, did a moderate amount of touch where I could easily feel stubble. There was more than usual. A cold water rinse followed by a lot of touch up. I could feel stubble but it seemed that I just couldn't get rid of it. I tried blade buffing and skin stretching several times in those areas, but it kept showing up. My neck was burning, but I thought - just one more time, it's already irritated, I might as well get a BBS out of it... I finally gave it up hoping I hadn't gone too far. The Aqua Velva stung a lot and revealed a nice weeper on my neck.

A near BBS with a weeper and a tender neck from Astra SP in my New LC. I should have stopped much earlier than I did. While rubbing the La Toja shave stick against my face, it felt like I just wasn't getting enough. Perhaps if I had skipped a day it would have had more stubble to grab on to. But once I brought the brush into play it generated a lot of nice creamy lather. It protected well, and rinsed off much faster than the Proraso.

Have a teriffic Tuesday!

 

Aristocrat Focus Day 3:

Homemade PS Oil
Simpsons Commodore X3 Best Badger
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Gillette Aristocrat
Stirling Unscented PSB -- Mentholated
TOBS Sandalwood AS

I had my first bad shave with this razor, but it was me who caused it. Everything started well this morning, and then as I rinsed, I noticed a couple of spots on my neck that could use a little touch up. So a little more lather here, a few strokes there, oh this spot needs a bit more, so on and so forth. Next thing you know, I have gone over my neck what must have been three more times. I am happy to report my neck is probably the smoothest I have ever achieved, but man did the alum and AS burn. My neck is still on fire. And my plan for this month was to keep myself to two passes with no clean up. Boy did that go out the window quickly.

 

11/03/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Triad Helix SS
Blade – Feather Pro (3)
Brush – Rubberset #3 with WSP HMW
Lather – Catie’s Bubbles Santal Sensuelle
Post - Witch Hazel and Captain’s Choice Sandalwood



Another near BBS shave this morning. I really enjoy the Mongoose with a Feather Pro blade since it is so smooth. However, with this blade in the Mongoose, I am having to work harder than I did with the Wolfman/Feather combo. I will finish this blade off and change to a Feather Super Pro blade. Finished off with a splash of CC Sandalwood and I'm off to fight Atlanta traffic. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

 

It is hard not to chase the baby at times. I know I am guilty of it at times. Hope tomorrow's shave goes better for you.

 

Thanks Jim!

 

Not to take away Birthday wishes from any members but I do create a special thread for members who were born on any particular same day. The thread can always be found in the Chatterbox. Unless the members hasn't added their birthday when registering or doesn't have an Avi.

 

SOTD
November 3, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette British Rocket
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Stirling Bay Rum
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Layrite No. 9 Bay Rum
Great shave! I really enjoy using the British Rocket! Stirling Bay Rum is fantastic!! Layrite No. 9 is ok, not heavy on cloves, doesn't stay around very long.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

 

I'll try to address. Honestly, if you can shave with one of these you will very few issues going to a tradtional straight razor. Stropping is actually pretty easy, and for honing its better to get your first few razors professionally honed so the only skill you are focusing on is shaving. I of course ignored that so I could learn to hone, and a lot of people do that. Provided I get my loaner kit back, I am happy to loan a strop and razor to someone who wants to try SR shaving, so they can see if they like it before they purchase all the stuff.

As far as the replaceable blade shavettes, the Feather AC style is as close as you can get to SR shaving, without going all out. These razors are less forgiving, and seem sharper to me. A straight has a certain amount of flex in the blade that the AC and the like don't have. I can get a fantastic shave from one, but it takes a lot of focus. I like to make jokes about how bad they are, but they are actually pretty straight forward to use.

 

You just want to see blood, don't you?

 

Thanks for the info. I might take you up on the loaner offer. I have a straight that I don't use because it doesn't appear to be shave ready. If I master this Feather, I might have to get I honed.

 

Today was much better than yesterday with the Feather AC. I took my time and did a one pass shave today without any blood. While I don't have a BBS, much less DFS, I have an acceptable shave without any irritation. I think the, "what happened to you" comments will start to taper off today. I will concentrate on getting the WTG down before attempting more ATG. Have fun!

 

Sorry you had a fire on board. When we chase the baby, we pay the price. We all do it! I use Unrefined Shea Butter to put out the fire. Excellent skin care too.

 

Yesterday's shave was slightly different. I decided to play with the pre and post shave some. I rubbed coconut oil in to my stubble as a preshave and let it soak in while I got everything ready. I lathered up the Proraso white over top of the oil and it made my first pass smoother on the rough spots around my mouth that usually grab a bit. I did a 3 pass NW, Ears to nose and, nose to Ears. It was not quite as close as when I do an ATG pass last but it was way more comfortable. To finish I used plain witchhazel from the drug store. I disliked the smell of 86% witchhazel and 14%alcohol so I sprayed some lavender teatree TSD cologne into my handful of witchhazel before I rubbed it into my face. This morning I still catch a whiff of the teatree but the lavender is sadly gone.

The only blood I have is from shaving g off a bump and reopening the nick I made the day before. The GSB liked the SS and the 2nd day was very smooth. DFS all around.

 

NOVember - No Variation

November 3

Razor - Blade - Brush - Soap - Post - Cold compress, Alum, Nivea Original Post Shave Balm

Day three here we come. I debated long and hard last night about changing to a milder blade but no, I'm still using the Feather. I did apply aloe last night just to help moisturize. With me running around outside all day I'm not doing my face any favors, especially not after a couple of days of working with this thing. Let's see if I can smooth out two things.....my face for starters (starting to look like I've been beat up a bit) and the shave.

BoSFat for the win on lather. I keep shaking the brush out a bit more each day and I think I'm almost in the butter zone with this soap. It will work with a wet brush but better with a dryer one. I'm seeing and feeling the difference. Picked up the stick of pain and went to work. Same routine, start right, get the cheek then the neck, then the left, check then neck. Second pass is XTG or DTG (diagonally) and a better work around the jaw line. Third pass is clean up and an attempt to get everything evenly smooth without blood. So, how did it go?

Well, through the first pass fine. No issues, didn't reopen anything, seemed like it was working well. Second pass...yeah here we go. I reopened the cut just under my chin but not too bad. Set up for a WTG pass near my right ear and set the blade down a split second too early. I hadn't fully rotated it into position and felt the blade come in vertically. Just a twinge and I pulled back in a flash. Didn't see anything so I continued. As I worked the jaw on that side I noticed just a hint of blood. Faded away quickly but there is a slight cut I can feel now. Fortunately superficial. Other than the chin and that slight cut I had no problems. The finish is still in the CCS category but I'll live with that until I get the technique fully down and start getting solid results across all the passes.

Alum was hot but not nearly as hot as yesterday and my face wasn't that glowing red color. Clearly yesterday I tried too hard and pushed too far. Lesson learned, hopefully. I finished with the Nivea and I'll go back with alum again tonight as that seemed to help.

Shaving with this setup is a bit like landing a plane. Any shave you can walk away from (without heavy bandaging) is a good shave. Happy Tuesday!

 

So you fell into the bushes while cleaning out the gutters
Take drygulch's offer for loaner. Great thing to do on his part. I use straights only and have no experience with a feather however my guess is the shorter blade would be far more prone to raising the heal or toe. What it looks like to me. Straight should be easier to keep the edge flush to the skin.learn proper movements
And alot is skin pulling and face contortion.slow down and short strokes as you learn but do not give it up. The more you do it the more feel you get as to presure and angles. Welcome to the dark side of shaving.

 

Thank you. This has piqued my interest in straights. Frankly, I'm a little afraid to go down yet another AD rabbit hole right now I'm going to stick out the month with the Feather first.

 

Thanks for the tip on unrefined Shea. I'll pick some up. It is not 5 hours post shave, and still some burn going on. Sad part is, I knew better the whole time I was doing it.

 

I definitely find it is those added couple of touch-ups that really set the AS on fire! I do my best to limit it to one touch-up and then stop, but I agree it is really hard not to want to get as smooth as possible! I use the Nivea sensitive skin shave balm to quiet things down. Works well for me.

 

Sounds like you decided to listen to the Neal (@NCoxSTL) in your head . . . "Come on you can do it, just a little more, what's the worst that can happen?"