Shaving notes of the MaineYooper

Just figured out that I don't need hardware, but just a strong cord for looping or cinching the strop to a hook Duh! I need to keep it simple!

New Year's Day shave was very nice! The Fluffy Industries 86S handle made its debut, as did the knot in it, an AP Shave Co. APLuxury bulb, 70/30 badger/boar mix. This combo, when loaded with soap, becomes a toe crusher! As I built the lather, I could feel the brush gaining weight. And when I looked more closely as I lathered my face, I could see that the knot bloomed a bit to hold all the soapy goodness! The individual components worked synergistically to create a wonderful brush! This is going to be the brush for the week!



And speaking of the week, I am putting here my (as of this moment!) plans for shaves this month. I greatly enjoyed the DecemBoar thread and seeing all the pictures and stories. Loads of fun! However, I am not going to keep that daily picture going, so I will be dropping back to weekly (most likely) photos. I also work best with keeping a lot of my set up fixed, so daily photos get repetitive. But who knows, maybe all that extra time I'll have from NOT shave shopping will allow me to take more photos. 

Eric, I’m sorry that your wife’s recent medical appointment wasn’t entirely satisfactory.  We have access to the best medical treatments in the world but one area that can be variable is what I think used to be called bedside manner. How information is conveyed to a patient is so important and despite the fact that our medical people are all diligent and dedicated, they don’t all have similar gifts in that regard. I’m pulling for you guys. Stay strong.

Eric, I’m sorry that your wife’s recent medical appointment wasn’t entirely satisfactory.  We have access to the best medical treatments in the world but one area that can be variable is what I think used to be called bedside manner. How information is conveyed to a patient is so important and despite the fact that our medical people are all diligent and dedicated, they don’t all have similar gifts in that regard. I’m pulling for you guys. Stay strong.

Thanks, Marko, that is exactly it. And all past appointments have been great with this provider, so we are hoping this is just an outlier, given what we've experienced before. I appreciated your perspective, and it has helped!

Shave of the Week set up



The Feathers here have been in the blade stash for years now. These were the bogey man blades that others warned newbs not to use until you had your technique down pat. I used one a couple of years ago or less, in the Karve, with the A plate. Today was my preferred plate, B safety bar. 

"But where are the brushes?" I hear you say. Eight or nine months ago, I had 4 brushes that I used, and 2 that were in the bst/pif box. Now I have over 20!! Five times as many, and 5 in the bst/pif box with an additional 2 pif'd. Twenty-freakin'-seven?! Are you kidding me?! What have I done?! Well, I had fun! It was an enjoyable diversion to buy handles and knots and "create" my own brushes. So I split my working brushes into two sets. I am planning to use one set for January, and the other for February. I plan to use a different brush every day, both for variety and to compare and contrast the great from the good. 

Sunday
Today was the day. I felt relaxed, and I had the time, so I did one pass on each side with the Gold Dollar straight! Wow, that is different! Very audible, and I felt very clumsy trying to figure out how to position my hand, arm, razor, mirror, etc.! But I did it. And oddly, doing my left check with my right hand felt more normal! As for the strop, I know I have some hiking boot laces somewhere to make a loop for it. I also ordered some carbineers and will see what I like and where the best place will be to do the stropping. No blood, no nicks, no irritation. But only WTG and only on my cheeks. The Karve/Feather did the rest.

The brush today was the G5C set in Messier. It sure looks like it wants to be a 2BED, but it has more backbone (?) than the 2BED. Overall, a nice knot. I prefer less backbone, but after a month of boars I now know backbone isn't the full picture. The G5C has a springy backbone. Not springy like the old Omega S knots (which were known for flinging lather all over!), but not as giving as the boar. I don't know. I love the look, especially in the dark red and black of Messier, but I don't love the feel the way I did with the AP mixed knot used yesterday.

Good work on starting you new journey with straights. It is super awkward at first. But every shave the “routine” builds. And after a while it goes much quicker and easier.

Good work on starting you new journey with straights. It is super awkward at first. But every shave the “routine” builds. And after a while it goes much quicker and easier.

That really does help hearing about the awkwardness. I felt all knees and elbows!

Whew! The return to the life of a working stiff was almost as much fun as the spring Leap Ahead time change! I knew was enjoying many mornings with no alarm or set Rise and Shine time, but I should have started practicing earlier to be ready for Monday! And I should have spent some time on Saturday and Sunday standing for hours, so as to recondition my legs and back for the joys of working the bench! Sort of reminded me of when used to teach, and that first day back after summer break wreaked havoc on legs and voice after months of not standing and talking all day! But today is...

and I got to sleep in a bit, sit a bit, and sip coffee leisurely instead of having to keep removing my mask to take a sip! Wah wah, right?!

And I am happy to report a very good shave was had this morning! The Quasar with the MR mixed badger/boar was on deck for a repeat, as it was a joy to use yesterday, but the long-awaited Omega Jade boar had arrived. And it had amazingly soft tips right out of the package, like the SOC boar did that Benjamin gifted me. So I let it soak in my new soaking mug (thanks again, Paul mrdoug!) over night and used it this morning.


It performed admirably! Not sure on my brush plan for the rest of the week, as now I want to use the Quasar mixed hair and the Jade. I may just alternate! 

Also, as I am off today, I took the time to do the first pass on the cheeks with the straight again. It seemed less awkward and I was pleased with the result of one pass. One day I may snap a pic, but I forgot today, even with my phone having been sitting nearby!

And after Monday and now wearing the surgical style mask rather than my old 2-ply cloth masks that had a copper wire sewn into the hem or seam to help it form a tighter "seal," I needed to get the mustache area as smooth as possible. Those disposable surgical style masks just love to snag my stubble! I think I mentioned that the adjustable injectors let me dial down enough that I can get a very comfortable ATG under my nose. That made a world of difference for the day yesterday. Bottom line: today I used three (count them, 3!!) razors to complete the shave! I must have manly man whiskers, lol!

The only problem, right corner of my mouth just was all kinds of irritated and weeper city. What the heck?!! Oh well, Thayers and Stirling Aftershave Balm finished it up and left me feeling refreshed!

You should encourage Benjamin to join up on DFS! (He's a Club Oscuro Member too). Sure is a nice guy.

You should encourage Benjamin to join up on DFS! (He's a Club Oscuro Member too). Sure is a nice guy.

He is on DFS! Benjamin's username is qwerty! If I knew he had an Oscuro handle, it slipped out of my little gray cells! His username reminds me of the supposed reason we have the qwerty keyboard. Legend has it that the early typewriter salesmen needed to show potential customers how "easy" the machine was, so the letters to spell out typewriter are on the first row! Actual key placement was determined by placing letter used more under the pointer and middle fingers, and lesser used letters farther out. Also, keeping the letters from jamming determined where they were located to prevent jamming as much as possible. Keyboards now have the ability to be reassigned, but I lack the will to learn a new system!