NOV 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

That's strange ... I never experienced feather blades as rough like that. Usually they just punish you with their sharpness if you're becoming over-confident with them And I really don't believe you can mess up a blade in just one shave. Maybe it was faulty from the get-go? Interesting to hear how a new blade works out for you next time.

 

My wife and I love the Southern USA - spent quite a few vacations there. But Colorado is a great place as well

 

This is what I got so far...

1. Is it possible that you are over-prepping? Water logged skin swells, and is softer, making it deform more--both from pulling and from pressure. (Pulling up in to razor.)
2. Reserve judgement on Feather until you try a new one. Just reset the whole experiment next shave.
3. Maybe try SR style skin stretching?
4. On work days, maybe just hold it to two passes and no ATG? Perfection isn't necessary daily, and saves mileage on the skin for the days you need to chase!
5. Teflon coatings might be worth a look here. I am still using GSB as blade of choice because I perceive it as smooth. Voskhod, as you know, is also PTFE.

What's the thing you must fix first?

 

I really do like Colorado, but home will always be Alabama. You list Berlin as home. I am not too far from the airport, just east of Denver.

 

we've never been to Denver actually, but we visited Silverton, Durango, Mesa Verde NP, Black Canyon of the Gunnisson - beautiful places. And we just love being on the road in the US. So far we've seen 30 of the 48 mainland states plus Hawai'i and Puerto Rico over the course of 15 years.

But I guess we're a little off topic here

 

No worries, we all write about shaving sometimes.

That's an impressive number of states. I have spent a couple of months in total in Germany, but it was 20+ years ago. I also was traveling by car and generally stayed in gästhauser in more rural areas. It was most interesting and enjoyable. The German countryside is beautiful in springtime.

 

I usually under prep... So I thought I would go for a little more prep this time. Like how I used to do, before I got all rushed.

I've been trying to incorporate skin stretching and jaw jutting as much as possible while shaving.

I'll give the Feather another go, I'm gonna choose one from another pack. Maybe I have a bad batch, the last blade wasn't great either. I dunno.

It's really really hard to not do ATG... I have thick coarse beard hairs so its almost like half a days growth if I don't do that pass. I wanna be smooth... but I see the wisdom.

I need to get some GSBs... I think I have a couple somewhere. I remember them being a good shave.

 

I am just lucky! I can totally get away with no ATG. But, I understand the lingering shadow issue could be really annoying. These things can be a little baffling!

New win streak starts tomorrow!

 

Okay, back to shaving.

Setup as usual, just changed the Aftershave:

- D.R. Harris Sandalwood
- Semogue 620
- Mühle R89
- Gillette Silver Blue (#4)
- Confianca O Melhor ASB



For me, a really thorough 3-pass-shave will provide a smooth skin for almost 2 days. So my usual routine for daily shaves are 2 passes W and X. Sticking to a certain setup for a while opens the opportunity for some other fields of experimentation, so today I just had one pass XTG plus a little touchup, just to see how far that will get me

To my embarrassment I can't blame the lather problems entirely on the brush. Though I think its performance improves with each shave, there also MIGHT have been some user errors... I always wondered why the lather from the Harris soap would dry on my skin pretty fast - and I guess it's because I used too little water (though I thought I had used too much at one time). Today I tried palm lathering and added much more water than I did while face lathering - until the brush looked like this:



The lather still shows a few bigger bubbles here and there, might have needed some more work, but it was more than sufficient for a nice shave today.

 

I also have a thick beard and crave the BBS that can only be achieved by going ATG. If go ATG on the 3rd pass I usually get lots of irritation. So now to WTG, XTG, XTG in the opposite direction and the ATG. I find I helps if I have more beard reduction before the ATG pass.

 

Aristocrat Focus Day 5:

November 5 SOTD:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Pre de Provence SS
Gillette Aristocrat
Stirling Unscented PSB
Canoe AS

I was able to keep myself to a strict two pass shave again this morning, and again an extremely comfortable shave resulted. There a couple of little spots that could use a little buffing, but they aren't really visible unless you are really looking. I'll note these for tomorrow's shave in an attempt to get myself to a strict two pass routine.

 

11/05/2015
Razor – Schick Type G
Blade – Chinese Schick (1)
Brush – Rudy Very with TGN Finest
Lather – MdC
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine L’Orange



I took a one day break from the November Focus to try out a new G Type Injector this morning. An exceptional 3 pass shave with very little touch ups got me so near a BBS. I was expecting the G to be more aggressive then my I type. While that is true, it was not a huge difference to me. Finished off with a splash of Fine L'Orange.

 

Nice razor - and the brush looks cool. Never seen a handle like that. custom work?

 

Just got an email, our razors shipped from Ukraine today.

 

Do you do any skin stretching with your DEs? This helped me get better shaves.

 

Thank you. Yes it's a custom brush patterned on a Simpson Rover brush. I received the brush from my wife last Christmas.

 

Awesome. Thanks.

 

SOTD
November 5, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette 1941 Ranger Tech
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Gingers Garden Rose Petals
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Gingers Garden Osmanthus
The 1941 Gillette Ranger Tech is everything it's made out to be. Gingers Garden new soap/aftershave. Wow!!
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

 

I got my Schick Injector II replacement blades on E bay.

 

Team Feather AC!