OCT 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

SOTD
October 10, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Aristocrat
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Catie's Bubbles Le Marche Du Rasage (LMR)
Brush: Stirling Synthetic
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Fine American Blend
The Aristocrat is a great razor, IMO the best Gillette ever made. Catie's LMR is superb. This shave is one for the books!
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE

 

First ever bowl lather. Pretty happy with the results. That's proraso red in the tub.

 

Looks like some good lather there! Proraso Red is one of my favorites. It was one of the earliest ones I used and thankfully was pretty forgiving. Love the bowl from the garage sales too!

 

Good looking lather.

 

I like the proraso, I wish it was a little slicker though. the bowl worked perfect too.

 

I've came a long way in a couple weeks!

 

Yes you have. It really is just a matter of practice as much as anything else. You will be pleasantly surprised how much you improve in another couple weeks.

 

Nice job! Looks great, Seth!

 

Like Clint said you have definitely made good progress! Keep practicing. I use the proraso red cream and find it slick enough most of the time. However i have found that I can mix it with a few drops of glycerin from the drug store and it becomes plenty slick.

 

OCtober - Trick or TREET
October 10

Razor - RazoRock TTO
Blade - (3)
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea Original

Day three of the Treet New Steel. Saturdays are so much better now since it's a later start and a shorter day. So plenty of time to get the shave right. I was concerned how the blade would perform today since it seemed to lose a bit between days one and two but, you live and learn, and I found out yesterday's results may not have been blade related. More on that in a second.

Used the Pro 48 and TSD Lanolin soap. Great matchup that easily produced a tremendous amount of wonderfully slick lather while face lathering. I also noticed that the Bay Rum scent absolutely fills the room when it's open while waiting for me to shave. Really a great scent and strong enough to enhance the experience before you even lather with it. So, here we go. Set the razor and went for the first stroke and it was very smooth. Seemed better than yesterday, more like the day before. Went ahead with the WTG pass and finished a very smooth pass with great effect. Relathered and went XTG. Still felt smooth and no weepers or other problems. And the final third pass ATG with G-slides on the neck was great, smooth, and injury free. Not sure I've ever had a blade go from great day one to very good day two then back to great day three.

I began to rethink yesterday's shave to find reason for the phenomenon and I think I may have to retract my statements that the blade was not performing. I suspect that my focus on the bowl lathered Fat and the whole process of the lather caused a bit of lapse in my technique with the razor. Today with my normal face lather and not trying to set up a scuttle and all that stuff my technique stayed consistent and I got a great shave. Better than yesterday. I think the proof of the fact that it was technique and not the blade that created yesterday's issues is that the blade shows no undue signs of wear, no rust (it apparently is stainless steel...good to know) or other problematic issues. There is some unusual staining on the blade but the pattern suggests that was created from whatever coating they apply to the blade. It clearly didn't have any effect on the blade's performance.

So, my final word on the Treet New Steel.....it's a winner in my book. Even yesterday's shave wasn't horrible by a long shot, and now that I recognize the technique issue I have to say the blade seems very consistent. This is one Treet that I will probably keep around for those days when I need some variety. I think this blade outperforms the Treet King and Trig so for now it's on the top of the list for the month. Still a month of TREETS with no tricks. Can it continue? In my den? Seems unlikely but we'll see! For now, though, it's time to celebrate the New Steel by going out to eat!

​

 

I like where your head is.

 

Do you think it was razor technique that suffered because of being distracted and changing routine or do you think it was poor lather and face prep because of trying the bowl lather instead of your usual face lather?

I am a bowl latherer and find when I have face lathered I have not been able to get as good a shave. I thought my lather was OK but the shaves never worked out well. So your comment about it being razor technique was intriguing to me. Basically just enough of a change in routine to throw things off?

Any way, glad it was a good shave and another TREET blade did well and received the stamp of approval.

 

Well it is possible that without face lathering I didn't do quite as much prep. Might have to try a hot towel ahead of the lather if I bowl lather again. It's an interesting thought. My thought is I was distracted enough by the lather to get sloppy on angles. Now I have an alternate theory to test at some point. Nice!

 

I was just going to recommend glycerin.

 

If I have a major variance in my routine, the shaves are not as good. My guess is that is what happened to you.

 

Always glad to give you options for further testing!

 

great new photo, Clint

 

Thank you. Just fully embracing the CT.

 

Perhaps Gillette still IS....."the best a man can geeettt"(don't ask me to sing that jingle, lol).

 

It's the best IMO.