SEPT 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Well done. Excellent organization of your month.

 

I was referring to a lady shaving me with a straight. No matter how good looking she may be. Okay I'll buy a Kent brush, but I'll tell my wife you made me do it...

 

For some reason, I kept hearing that voice "Stay on target, stay on target, stay on target!"

 

Don't you hear that when you do your ATG pass? Just me?

 

I keep hearing "At that speed, will we be able to pull out in time ?" Insert your own 'that's what she said'

 

The shenanigans have been so hot and heavy today I hate to break into the fun with a shave summary. Wow! 5 pages since midnight and 86 posts since I got up this morning.

 

30 Days hath SEptember!

The Wrap

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Today will be my last in a series of thirty days spent exclusively with a Schick G. I did switch to a focus mid-month to test soaps, but the goal of mastering the G in a month was achieved. The focus on skin stretching and angle paid off, albeit after a rough first week, and this razor has moved up the list and will be staying in my collection permanently. La Toja has earned a permanent spot with the TSD ISZ. The G itself is all about the angles. I feel like we had our best month ever, many people found solutions to their shave issues, and the participation level was awesome! Kudos to @TheSoapExchange on a great performing and very pleasantly scented Barber Shoppe shave soap, thanks for supporting our forum! I really enjoyed testing the new soaps. As always it was a blast! See you all for another month of focused fun and learning in October. I love autumn and sense the change in the air. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado!
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Have a wonderful Wednesday night!
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I know, I felt bad writing about razors a minute ago!

 

Mandatory.

The ninja working the door has a basket.

 

Weaponized Veg? Nice....

 

September Summary

September was a really nice month for me. I used the Fat Boy for the first 4 days, The Old Type for the next 3, followed by my Birthday Tech for 13 days, and then my gold Tech for 10. I tried 9 blades.
My stand out blades this month were the Astra Superior Platinum, the Rapira Swedish Supersteel, the Gillette Silver Blue, the Lord Platinum Class, and the big surprise: the Rapira Super Stainless. Misses this month were the Personna Platinum (Israeli Reds) and the Gillette 7 O’clock Super Platinum (Black). They weren’t bad shaves, but I just couldn’t seem to get any BBS shaves with them.

Looking back on my impression of shaves over the last 3 months, I've narrowed down the blades I'll continue to try in other razors to five. Oddly enough, they are the ones that were really good in the Tech! I didn't count anything from the first month because my technique wasn't established.

These gave me a 2 pass (plus touchup) BBS shaves in more than one razor:

Gillette Silver Blue – 25 shaves, in 3 razors – 76% BBS. No irritation
Astra Superior Platinum – 17 shaves in 4 razors – 76% BBS. Only 1 shave had irritation with dry lather.
Lord Platinum Class – 7 shaves in 2 razors – 86% BBS. Only 1 shave had irritation due to poor lather.
Rapira Swedish Supersteel – 7 shaves in 2 razors – 71% BBS. No irritation
Rapira Super Stainless - 6 shaves in 2 razors - 83% BBS. No irritation

Looking forward to OCtober with the gang!

 

I take it they do better with shaving brushes than hairbrushes/combs.

 

September Focus Conclusions:

First, thanks to everyone here for all the great discussion, information, tips, and...above all...the shenanigans, this month. It's been a great time working on technique and friendships. I only regret that I didn't have more time to devote to the thread.


Second, I really enjoyed shaving with my Schick Injector Model J, Schick Injector Model G and my Star SE. What did I learn? I learned that, from my short experience, SE razors are much more forgiving than DE razors. I was able to be a little more aggressive - technique wise - and didn't have a nick or weeper all month. I gained a new appreciation for the injector razors and mostly for the SE of the Star/1912 design. The Star provided me with comfortable, close shaves every time and it's now part of my regular rotation.

So, onward to October and whatever your focus will be!

 

Nothing makes me smile when read a thread like reading a post about The Veg. I even like The Veg, but the comments are always so funny.

 

You seem to have hit the nail on the head Danger. It may be my favorite razor already.

Thanks again, Vince!

 

The Crazy Ivan in SEptember!
September 30

Razor - Van Der Hagen (Weishi)
Blade - (2)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold Water, Alum, The Veg

Final day of SEptember and I'm not going near a Tiger 3H again. Time for a throwaway shave to finish the month. Let's see.......well we'll use the BoS and TSD Lanolin because they work very well together. I get the same basic results with this combo as I do BoSFat. I love the lanolin soaps. Plus the bay rum scent is awesome with the TSD. The razor? Let's look in my razor drawer (it's the locked one by my desk) and hey, there's my VDH...or Weishi if not in a VDH box when you buy it....and it's the first safety razor I used. So, why not. The blade? Well the VDH is super mild so I need something uber sharp. I have a Kai I used once during the tournament of blades. Perfect.

Lathered away and started the shave and knew I had a great setup going. Even though this razor is one of the mildest I have, when paired with a Kai or a Feather it really offers a great shave. The razor takes some of the fierceness out of the blade and the blade provides the extra sharpness to overcome the razor's mild side. Two passes to a very nice DFS and I'm sure I could have gotten BBS with just a bit more work but just not in the mood to chase the baby. Calling it a great shave followed by the greatest of after shaves, the Mighty Veg! Alum first, of course, which was nearly silent. I'll have to remember this setup for those mornings I just want to keep it simple.

It's been an incredible and fun SEptember everyone! Well over 2000 posts in this thread and I see OCtober setting up to be as good or better! Thanks for the great time and I'll see you on the October thread!

 

Hmm, monthly wrap up.
1) Tested a travel set up with a DE razor. I can get a good shave from a DE, and can actually get the SR kryptonite strips with a DE. How ever, I have been using straights so much, my muscle memory needs to be rebuilt with DE. At this point, I will honestly say I prefer a straight.
2) Two razors this month- Case Red Imp 133 and Henckels Friodur Inox. Red Imp gives a good shave, but the spike tip is mean. Friodur is very smooth, but I need to get it sharper. I will work on that before it reenters the rotation.
3) Two pass shave- I can consistently get BBS on face, chin, and jawline in two passes. The strip that runs ATG from my ear to my Adam's Apple is still eluding me. I will work on that next month.
4)

Great thread this month. I only shaved 13 times, so actually didn't do too much of a focus, but I got pretty good with that badger brush. Looking forward to next month.

 

September 30 Day Focus--Blade Search

Sept 30

Razor -- Lord L6
Blade -- Vaunted Voskhod
Brush -- VDH Boar
Soap -- Stirling MITA
Post -- Cold water splash, WH, TSD Bourbon Vanilla

What a great month on the 30 Day thread! Lots of different razors involved in focuses from single edge to straights with a few of us DEs in between. Today was day three with the Voskhod. Last time I used it the blade was not good on day three, especially compared to days 1 and 2. Well, that was all my fault. It was all technique related before I spent a month really learning how to shave and being assisted by all the great people on this thread! This time around, the Voskhod was great for all three shaves. Definitely in the top rung of blades I have tried. Not quite the GSB, but it was darn good!

I took a brief "detour" during the month and ventured into SE territory with my Schick G. It was a great switch and I got some good shaves. Definitely a razor that requires attention to angles and pressure. A great reminder of the importance of technique.

Thank you to everyone for the serious, classroom like environment around here that really makes learning the way it should be. YEAH RIGHT! This is the best thread for a newbie to learn on. Not only are y'all great and helpful, but it is definitely one fun thread! Looking forward to the October thread and all new shenanigans!!

 

All I'll say about your time with the Voskhod this month is.........I TOLD YOU SO!!!