September 30 Day Focus--Blade Search/SE Sept 22 Razor -- Schick G Injector Blade -- Schick (China) Brush -- VDH Boar Soap -- Stirling Gin and Tonic Post -- Cold water splash, WH, and TSD Bourbon Vanilla Another good shave with the G. It definitely takes effort not to put too much pressure on the razor. I keep telling myself that it does an excellent job all on its own, but it is still not easy. As a result, I had a good first shave WTG on face and XTG on chin and neck. Small amount of irritation on the neck but not bad. Second pass ATG everywhere was good and I managed to not put too much pressure. I still have to start the process with the razor by laying it flat and then moving it out slowly to find the right angle, but it definitely works effectively. Finished with a DFS shave and minimal irritation on my 2 pass shave. I think tomorrow, or Thursday depending on tomorrow morning's schedule, I am going to try a three pass shave using WTG XTG and ATG everywhere to see how it performs. I think beginning with the WTG everywhere on the first pass will reduce some irritation and will enable me to do the three pass shave without irritation and maybe end up with an even better shave. Have a great day and Happy Shaving!
September 22, 2015 Single-Edge September So far this month I've shaved with a variety of Schick injectors for the first time (Type C1, C3, E, G, I and J), a PAL Adjustable injector and a few Gems (1912, Featherweight and Pushbutton). Today is my second shave using a 1941 Gem (Micromatic) "Clog Pruf” but put in a new Gem PTFE blade after about 4 uses. Two-pass shave. 1st pass - Definitely the most aggressive Gem I've used so far. I got good blade feedback and good reduction on the XTG pass. However, I was not working it well around my goatee. 2nd pass - ATG gave a large amount of feedback, similar to what I’ve gotten from the other Gems in the ATG pass. Resulted in a very nice shave, mostly clean and smooth with no irritation, except... I finally had one of those shaves that eventually each of us experience at least once, where the little voice in your head whispers - "Walk away." It started on the first pass, working around the goatee, I knew I wasn't getting it right. Angle, approach, direction, everything seemed, well, awkward. A couple of weepers on first pass. Then came the second pass, clean and smooth around the rest of the face, yet the whisper continued as I struggled again to get it right around the chin, mouth and goatee - nick - "Walk away"...weeper - "Walk away"...cut - "WALK AWAY"...nick - "NOW, YOU OBSTINATE FOOL!" No witch hazel or alum could stem the damage. "What happened to you!" gasped SWMBO as she saw dangles of TP pasted to my face like billets on a telephone pole. Lesson learned - ditch the ego, - Walk away! Better shaves ahead! Cheers! RT
You had the same conversation with yourself I had this morning. I didn't get the nicks, but got a lot of irritation. Kept telling myself to put the razor down the whole time it was happening too.
And here I thought I was the only one that hears the voices. Mine only talk to me when I have the straight razor in my hand, but they don't talk about the shave very often.
Razor A: Valet Auto Strop Model "C" Razor B: Bluebeards Revenge Blade A: Valet New Process Blade B: Feather (1) Brush: Fendrihen Silver Tip Badger Horn Faux Handle 22/49 Soap: RazoRock Don Donato A/S: Fine American Blend Day 22 Excellent shave this evening. Going to finish SEptember with the Valet model "C". Cleaned up with the Bluebeards Revenge. In a bit of a hurry tonight.
September 21 and 22nd - week four - focus Henry Sears and Sons Full hollow 5/8" Razor: Henry Sears and Sons Full hollow 5/8" Strop: drygulch horse hide strop Brush: Omega 58 Bowl: KO shave mug Preshave oil: Homemade Lemon lavender preshave oil Soap: AoS Lemon Lavender soap Post shave: cold water, alum, Proaso green Growth: 1 day Shave 11 and 12 Monday's shave was a great one - took my time, enjoy the experience and focused on great technique as was rewarded with a bbs. No burn or nicks. I say it's all because of the new presahave oil my daugther and I created based on sara's recipe! But some minor modifications made it epic! It's a bit thicker than aos oil but that's ok as long as it smells great and protects my face! Secret ingredient: Today's shave was completely rushed and if it wasn't for the preshave, I'm sure I would have burned my face worse than standing next to a campfire that had a bunch of gasoline poured in by surprise! Tomorrow is a new day - same face. 1st - WTG: N/S on face and neck 2nd - XTG: E/W face w/Merkur Clean up - ATG/XTG: w/ Merkur Progress DE with Derby (3 and 4 shaves) Cheers, Eric
Definitely hate to hear about the blood. Hopefully they will heal quickly! Always listen to the voices. Just think if Luke had ignored the voices in his head. He would have never blown up the death star and the sequels to Star Wars would have been very different. I need to add a footnote that this advice does not apply if the voices manifest themselves as aa dog controlled by a demon, a la Son of Sam, or anything similar.
33 out of my last 35 shave I have been using my Mongoose! I love and have mastered the Goose. It's now time I take a break and try some of my razors that I've used seldom or never. I will continue with my focus and this brotherly group. I just need a break from the same old same old. 3 and out.
Clint, I'm not complaining at all. I have 2 razors that I've never used, and 1 I'm just getting started with.
Yet another day and another shave with the Jack Black cream. Looks like it will be all gone before the month is up. It has been very helpful so far, focusing on one cream only this month. I found that it needs a fair amount of water, added in small doses, until it gets the consistency I like.
I understand I'm the same way. I'm really looking forward to OC October for the same reason. I enjoy using my other razors and knowing that I can come back to a great drama free shave with the Mongoose anytime I want.
Day 22 - SEptember 2015 30 Days with a Schick G Embarked on a three day test run of a new scent from @TheSoapExchange , and had good results. I believe it's time to change this blade, but otherwise it was the automatic two-pass capped off with TSD 2x Iced Barber Shoppe to match the soap. Average beautiful seasonal weather today on the prairie. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado. Have a wonderful Wednesday!