April 2021 Gentlemanly Restraint Until Month End (GRUME)

[Trollky]

I'm out

I noticed that fewer and fewer UK vendors have the Merkur 34G in stock so thought I'd pick one up while I can. Bagged a couple of Merkur plastic travel cases as well

 

[Burundian Hawk]

I'm out ☹

I noticed that fewer and fewer UK vendors have the Merkur 34G in stock so thought I'd pick one up while I can. Bagged a couple of Merkur plastic travel cases as well

You put up a good fight, sir! See you in May's GRUMEs perhaps?

 

[Contact_vs_Feedback]

Still in.

I finally let go of this more than a decade long streak of not shaving in April (due to situations and laziness), and it is great to have a clean shaved face again.

Kamisori shave #9
2 pass DFS

Even when the blade is showing signs of dullness, it mowed the 10 day growth easily.

DFS and no cuts/ weepers/ nick.

There was some blood drops, but it may be just the uneven skin bumps, that had the pleasure of knowing the cutting edge of Kamisori.

No burn or irritation after the shave at all.

After observing my dedication to the shaving, and confirming that it is not a phase, I'm finally allowed to take a new Soft towel from the Almirah.

 

[Kyle89]

In like Flynn.

Simpson M7 Best, 70’s Gillette Tech with a Razorock handle, KAI blade and Oceana soap/balm.

I have a few fairly expensive razors (Karve, 6S, Game Changer...) but this ’70’s Tech shaves just as good. Not pretty, but a great $5 antique store find.

View attachment 1248537

70s Techs are great!

 

[Kyle89]

*Scent trigger warning*

still in!

 

[henrickd]

Still in but taking the day off.

 

[hopper_64]

Still in.
No shave today.

 

[Abz88]

Still in and continuing the break in process with my SOC. Its getting better and eating less lather with every shave, either that or I'm just over compensating with the amount of cream I'm using

Pre-shave (in order of use)
- Clinique for Men Charcoal Face Wash
- Jack Black Face Buff Energizing Scrub
- Truefitt and Hill Pre-shave Oil
- Body Shop Maca Root & Aloe Softening Shaving Cream

Post-shave (in order of use)
- Omega Alum Block
- Simple Kind to Skin Alcohol Free Soothing Facial Toner
- Hylamide Low-Molecular Hyaluronic acid
- The Ordinary Buffet Serum
- Body Shop Maca Root & Aloe Cooling Post-Shave Water Gel
- Jack Black Double Duty Face Moisturiser

Tools
- 50's Gillette aluminium ball end tech
- Israeli Red (3)
- Semogue SOC Taj Boar

 

[Burundian Hawk]

Don't mind me. I do not have the patience to write stories, i am just entertaining myself trying a couple of things my son taught me. The soap is Lea, take my word for it. It's just that the container is the right size, so i stole it from the wife.

 

[FoolishMortal]

I'm out ☹

I noticed that fewer and fewer UK vendors have the Merkur 34G in stock so thought I'd pick one up while I can. Bagged a couple of Merkur plastic travel cases as well

Bummer. Were you filling a hole in your rotation, obtaining a Grail item, or was it a matter of FOMO?

In any case, when a brother falls, it's time for...

Roll Call!

1) @FoolishMortal
2) @‘Bout Time
3) @B_R_A_D
4) @henrickd - GRUYERE
5) @SharpieB
6) @Doti B
7) @Stuart Ganis
8) @Chef455
9) @Roedeer
10) @Cino
11) @Herrenberg
12) @CzechCzar
13) @Timeclo
14) @La Malice
15) @Contact_vs_Feedback - GRUYERE
16) @pdieten - GRUYERE
17) @hopper_64
18) @Schnitzel52
19) Trollky - out (4/9: Merkur 34G)
20) @Bravoure
21) @Owen Bawn
22) @Abz88
23) @cryhavoc - GRUYERE
24) @Tomo
25) @Kyle89
26) @wmadoty - GRUYERE - AFFCC
27) @Heavy_Metal_Hound
28) @Jmp63 - GRUYERE
29) @Mike M
30) @sarir97
31) @nelsonic21
32) @bluesman 7
33) @4and20blackbirds
34) @FL shaver
35) @Burundian Hawk

 

[Trollky]

Bummer. Were you filling a hole in your rotation, obtaining a Grail item, or was it a matter of FOMO?

In any case, when a brother falls, it's time for...

Roll Call!

1) @FoolishMortal
2) @‘Bout Time
3) @B_R_A_D
4) @henrickd - GRUYERE
5) @SharpieB
6) @Doti B
7) @Stuart Ganis
8) @Chef455
9) @Roedeer
10) @Cino
11) @Herrenberg
12) @CzechCzar
13) @Timeclo
14) @La Malice
15) @Contact_vs_Feedback - GRUYERE
16) @pdieten - GRUYERE
17) @hopper_64
18) @Schnitzel52
19) Trollky - out (4/9: Merkur 34G)
20) @Bravoure
21) @Owen Bawn
22) @Abz88
23) @cryhavoc - GRUYERE
24) @Tomo
25) @Kyle89
26) @wmadoty - GRUYERE - AFFCC
27) @Heavy_Metal_Hound
28) @Jmp63 - GRUYERE
29) @Mike M
30) @sarir97
31) @nelsonic21
32) @bluesman 7
33) @4and20blackbirds
34) @FL shaver
35) @Burundian Hawk

Alas it was pure, unadulterated FOMO...

 

[Burundian Hawk]

Alas it was pure, unadulterated FOMO...

Well sir, you did last 9 days, which more than i can still claim. And who is without sin, cast the first stone...

 

[Herrenberg]

Least But Not Last

Still in. I had the idea of shaving with the worst stuff I have. Turned out that wasn't a very good theme, because bad shave stuff tends to go straight to the trash around here. I wish I still had that tube of Sandalwood Cremo (no I don't).

I did manage to come up with a risky razor, a mysterious shave soap, my first shave brush, and my first shave bowl, made of marble, which I like a lot for lather production, but it's so small that I spill a lot of lather when I use it, so now I just soak my brush in it, and leave some water in there to wet the lather on the brush during the shave.

The shave soap is not least, but a mystery. A long time ago, I bought this soap, which came in a blue concrete bowl, put it away, and every time I looked at it since, thought "oh, I remember that bowl, I'll have to get a puck to try it out with." Turned out there was one in there already. The wrapper made it clear that it was British. That's all I know. I could look it up in my email, but that's no fun. Better to treat it as a mystery, and try it out. I don't even know if I bought it because I thought I might like it, or just for the bowl.

The razor has a story. Some time ago, seeking a chance to practice honing, I bought an auction lot of 7 cheap Kamisoris in highly used condition. It didn't hurt that they came in a pretty nice box. Boxes for holding multiple kamisoris almost don't exist, or at least I've had no luck finding any I liked. I had gotten pretty good at honing my razors to my satisfaction, thanks in part to the balsa strops of The Method, so naturally I took one of them through my honing sequence and shaved with it.

It was just awful. It did shave, but that's the nicest thing I can say about it. My face was raw for two days. It was my second most uncomfortable shave ever (first was an unstropped Feather blade in a Shavette). I resolved to never shave with one of those razors again.

Until today, when I decided to give it another go. Part of that is that my honing skills have improved. Part is that I have been playing with a very interesting JNat, an Aoto variant that is super-hard, seemingly as hard as my Jasper stone. I didn't want to put my good razors on it until I really have it down. I usually prefer hard stones, and don't find them hard to use, but not when they get this hard. The final clincher was: I have a microscope now. I could look at the edge and diagnose and adjust, and decide, based on what I saw, whether to risk my face on a shave.

It turned out that my leading-edge strokes on the finishing stone, which produce a beautifully flat and even edge on my good razors, produced a ragged ugly edge on this razor. So I went with a bunch of edge-trailing strokes, until things looked good, then hit the strops.

And I got a good shave! It'll never displace my Iwasakis, and there was a noticeable drop-off in keenness between the beginning of the shave and the end, but it shaved comfortably, passed the alum test, and the resulting shave was respectable. Not bad at all.

The soap performed very well, producing a lather that performed well at the thinnish consistency I like for straight razor shaving, with a pleasant, unobtrusive scent. Scent aside, it reminded me of Mitchell's Wool Fat in its lathering characteristics. I like it.

 

[FoolishMortal]

I somehow missed the previous "out" on this list:

1) @FoolishMortal
2) @‘Bout Time
3) @B_R_A_D
4) @henrickd - GRUYERE
5) @SharpieB
6) @Doti B
7) @Stuart Ganis
8) @Chef455
9) @Roedeer
10) @Cino
11) @Herrenberg
12) @CzechCzar
13) @Timeclo
14) @La Malice
15) @Contact_vs_Feedback - GRUYERE
16) @pdieten - GRUYERE
17) @hopper_64
18) Schnitzel52 - out (4/5: Zenith/IB brush)
19) Trollky - out (4/9: Merkur 34G)
20) @Bravoure
21) @Owen Bawn
22) @Abz88
23) @cryhavoc - GRUYERE
24) @Tomo
25) @Kyle89
26) @wmadoty - GRUYERE - AFFCC
27) @Heavy_Metal_Hound
28) @Jmp63 - GRUYERE
29) @Mike M
30) @sarir97
31) @nelsonic21
32) @bluesman 7
33) @4and20blackbirds
34) @FL shaver
35) @Burundian Hawk

 

[FoolishMortal]

SOTD

• Rockwell 6S (4)
• Nacet (20)
• Omega Eucalyptus
• Yaqi 24mm Synthetic
• WH w/menthol, LTFT
• Vintage OS AS

The cream keeps getting better; well, okay, I'm starting to understand it better. I did a one-quick-pass shave with pretty good results and just a little feedback from the Old Spice. I guess I'll keep the tube, as it will work well for travel.

Onward!

 

[Burundian Hawk]

SOTD

• Rockwell 6S (4)
• Nacet (20)
• Omega Eucalyptus
• Yaqi 24mm Synthetic
• WH w/menthol, LTFT
• Vintage OS AS

The cream keeps getting better. I did a one-quick-pass shave with pretty good results and just a little feedback from the Old Spice. I guess I'll keep the tube, as it will work well for travel.

Onward!

I am a simple man. I see Yaqi? I press

 

[Timeclo]

Still in. SOTD - 09 APR 2021

Decent shave today. RR Old Type wasn't as efficient as I'd like, even with the open comb.

 

[Stuart Ganis]

Still in.

8/19/1942

 

[Bravoure]

Well, I'm out too. I had been eagerly anticipating the re-release of Declaration Grooming unscented Liniment and couldn't help but grab a couple of. Next month!

 

[sarir97]

I’m still in, I think? Was suffering from some irritation despite my usual prep, so purchased a Proraso pre-shave cream to see if it would remedy?