April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Discussion in 'Shave School' started by NCoxSTL, Mar 31, 2017.

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Are you using a theme for April? And - which adjustable if you're going there?

  1. Arko baby!!!!

    3 vote(s)
    8.6%
  2. Arko and an adjustable - even better!!

    3 vote(s)
    8.6%
  3. Fatboy

    5 vote(s)
    14.3%
  4. Slim

    5 vote(s)
    14.3%
  5. Black Beauty

    3 vote(s)
    8.6%
  6. Futur

    2 vote(s)
    5.7%
  7. Soviet Ideal

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. Soviet Consul

    1 vote(s)
    2.9%
  9. Schick Adjustable

    2 vote(s)
    5.7%
  10. No theme - just me, my razor and some COOKIES!

    27 vote(s)
    77.1%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. COMPNOR

    COMPNOR Well-Known Member

    Today was definitely a good shave with the Schick E3. In Nashville for the weekend and after two days I needed a shave.

    I brought with me Dr. Jon's Anne Bonny soap which didn't really pour evening in the tin. But the soaked badger brush made quick work and I went to face lathering.

    Picking up the razor I set to work. Two passes going in whatever direction I wanted and some touch ups and we have a solid B shave. Maybe even B+.

    I forgot the alum so I couldn't test, but no nicks or weepers. So I'm happy.

    Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
     
  2. cmorris357

    cmorris357 catching flies.........

    No good story ever began with, "After checking that everything was safe....."
     
  3. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Doug, the great pictures keep coming, and I really enjoy them. I don't know where you take those wilderness shots, but it sure looks like a neat place to hang out. Keep 'em coming!

    Wow, I didn't realize in my last post you had already gone and done it! Hats off, brother! I don't think I've laughed so hard since I was in college doing some things that I thought were stupid at the time, but have now been put into a new light. Laughed so hard that my abs hurt. When it was over, Charlie's response started the whole process all over again!
    Yeah, after reading Adam's post I can see how you could come to a decision like that rather quickly. "Guys, I think my mom is calling me for dinner, I can't jump off the roof into those cardboard boxes until next time we play stunt man." - Good call.
     
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2017
  4. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    I'd encourage your friends to check out the blog on Facebook called "the way of joy" written by very close friends of mine who lost their two-year-old boy in a tragic accident about a year ago. It is one of the most well-written, inspiring, and hopeful things I have ever read, and every time they put an entry in, I am amazed, encouraged, and inspired. I talked to them just two days ago about their most recent entry, and these guys are the real deal. I am amazed at how joyful they have been able to be even in their pain, after a tragic incident that really should have wrecked their lives. I already passed along this info to Chris in a PM, but it seems relevant to a number of folks who have friends in similar difficult life situations here. It's a great read for anyone who wants to be encouraged, and really worth the time spent checking it out.
     
  5. Screwtape

    Screwtape A Shaving Butterfly

    April 29 (Saturday night ) - end of Italian almond croap mini-focus

    Rockwell 6s on plate #3 / Topaz Platinum ( 1 )
    Alluminati Envy White brush
    Vitos Extra Super Coco soap ("Red label")
    Alum and cold water

    I shaved again tonight to get me back onto my evening shave schedule and also to help wake me up before my night shift. This also let me try the second Vitos croap the same day I had used the Vitos Supercrema (aka "Green label").

    A good two pass shave with the Rockwell and fresh Topaz Platinum blade brought me back to near BBS, still with no irritation.

    The Vitos soap I used tonight differs from the other in having extra coconut fragrance and some glycerin in it. How do the Vitos Supercrema and Extra Super Coco differ in scent, appearance and performance? Well ... the names are slightly different, and one comes with a green oval background on its label and the other with red. That's about it. In fact, if I lose or mix up the lids from my two sample jars, I will never be able to tell them apart again.

    For that matter, that pretty much sums up the Italian croaps I tested this week: I would rate the 3P as slightly less good than the others. The other four -- the Valobra Almond vegan coconut oil and almond oil soap and the Cella tallow, coconut oil and sweet almond oil soap and the two Vitos tallow and coconut oil soaps are all so close in appearance, scent and performance they are almost indistinguishable. And even the 3P is not far off. Smear a sample of one in a lather bowl and hand it to me to use, and I very much doubt I could tell you which soap I was shaving with.

    It's been interesting directly comparing these soaps. Basically, if you have and like one, there's no reason to try the others (unless your favourite is out of stock). And if you tried one and hated it, don't bother with the others, because they will be no different.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2017
  6. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    Arko Adjustable April!!!!!

    April 29

    Razor - Soviet Consul (6)
    Blade - rapira-super-stainless.jpg (1)
    Soap - Arko
    Brush - WCS Synthetic
    Post - Alum

    Two shaves left in Arko Adjustable April and I'm ending with the Soviet Consul and Rapira SS blade. Just a classic Russki combo. I set the Consul on 6, which is about 8 on a Gillette, lathered up the Arko from the stick and did two full passes and some touch up. DFS finish. Not quite as good as I normally get but I was hurrying a bit and not that picky tonight. Just fun to use the total Russian combo alongside the Turkish goodness that is Arko.

    Same setup to finish the month tomorrow night and then on to MAYhem!! I'll have the new month posted within the hour for you early birds out there.

    Soviet adjustable.jpg
     
  7. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    MAYhem has commenced! HERE YOU GO! One more day in April and it's been a record month thanks to all of YOU!
     
  8. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    I used an E today before work myself. Awesome shaving razors.
     
  9. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    I snuck a peak. Alright, I looked, read, and viewed Neal's Opening address for MAYhem.
    Still one more shave for April and I plan to dance with the one who brung me.
     
  10. mrchick

    mrchick Odd, Terrible Avatar

    I just read some of the posts and subscribed. Powerful stuff! Thanks for sharing.
     
  11. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    Sunday shave

    I tried to finish this PRC Chimera twice on a Zulu Grey but never good results. I decided to go back to the Shapton glass 16 for this razor and two shaves in it is better than the Zulu.

    The first two passes felt better than when I finished it with the Zulu but still felt a little rough and no where near as nice as the edges on my other PRC razors. Then on the 3rd pass I adjusted my angle making shallower and the edge felt much better. Finished with a little feedback from the alum and just short of dolphin smooth.

    Irritation A- Closeness A- Smoothness A- Sharpness A

    ID - 1.jpg
     
  12. Shave Fu

    Shave Fu Shavette Sensei

    Show Spoiler
    Nice photo! But my Weishi clone is clearly shinier and thus prettier! :eatdrink013:


    Very nice! Folks, last photography lesson! How Douglas did it right! When shooting a subject on a landscape, a basic rule is the 1/3 rule. You mentally divide the photo in 3 parts with 2 lines. Douglas here made an exemplary division, in the vertical sense. His subjects are on the lower 1/3rd line, the sky on the upper 1/3rd line. In this way, you have a very balanced photo with the subject in the foreground, while allowing to view the landscape behind. Textbook photo! :happy096:

    Why would you attempt to shave like that? :eek:

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOTIFICATION: You will all be glad to know that i stop individual photo quoting. This way, my posts will be shorter too, so you will not protest, plus, i really lose track when i quote of which photo was what. Except for few, like @clint64 that show even when i quote them. Besides, my work here is done. Your photos have improved. I am satisfied. :yoda

    Pseudofocus report: Weishi + Dorco Prime STP301 + Proraso Blue + Omega 49
    - Lather: Not too good, i could discern my face.
    - Dorco Prime STP301: This is a tough one, because i changed shaving passes. Instead of doing 3 passes with instictively enough buffing, i went for WTG, WTG, ATG, ATG, WTG, with very little buffing. Now, i had read that this was way sharper than ST301. Now, i really can't recall exactly the ST301, since many days have passed, but my impression is that... i didn't see this sharpness difference.

    I have the opposite impression actually. But this might have something to do with the change in passes, i don't know. They sure have clear similarities as blades and this one gave me 2 weepers, vs 1 weeper of the ST301. So, even the weeper behaviour remains common. The shave was BBS above jawline, BBS below jawline on the half left, DFS on half right and a few patches, where it's a bit worse. Proabably these areas right below the jawline needed more buffing. cause the hair is very tough and hard to cut right in a curve. The blade was gliding well, but i have this gut feeling that the simple ST301 was both cutting and gliding better. Not a bad blade, but it's certainly a blade where i must be VERY careful, because i don't have weepers easily and with the 2 Dorcos i 've had 100% "weeper success". :sad024:

    In comparison, the Shark SS and the SuperMax Super Stainless, are super safe. Maybe i also need to be more careful in building better lather for the Dorcos. Yet, like i said, my impression remains that the shave with the ST301 was more enjoyable (easier cutting and smoother), than with the Prime SPT301. Strange, since Prime is supposed to be better and i read people saying it's like Astra SP or better, but, for now, that's my sensation... But again, we 're talking about heaps and bounds above Derby level blade.
     
  13. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    After doing some checking it appears I have a E2.
     
    SharptoothC, wristwatchb, RyX and 6 others like this.
  14. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    Congrats on the new job. Hope your life returns to normal soon.
     
  15. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    :smiley respect: We're not worthy.
     
  16. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    I agreee. :signs011:

    :hooray:
     
  17. Douglas Carey

    Douglas Carey Wildman

    :thanks: Clint.
     
  18. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    I've been meaning to mention this, for several pictures now. That razor with the wrap to handle just looks like one bad boy. Very, very cool!

    Why do you Italians always gravitate to shiny things, and tend to think they are prettier than things with more "character"? Ironically, this makes you much more like Trump as a nation, then your population would like to believe. Unfortunately, you guys have very different looking hair then Trump does, so it would really be hard to pull the whole thing off. (This segment was meant as a tongue in cheek nonpartisan joke, not the beginning of a political discussion. If it goes the other direction I will regret having made it.)
    Also, I have mixed feelings about your stopping the photo criticism. Certainly we are all thrilled at the personal growth you have provided us in your own humble way, but I hope you will replace this segment of your show with something equally annoying and entertaining. What am I saying? That's pretty much a given isn't it!:):bounce017:
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2017
  19. Shave Fu

    Shave Fu Shavette Sensei

    But, they are shiny! Shiny is pretty! Silver is shiny! Gold is shiny! All pretty things are shiny! If you look at shiny objects under a strong sun, they become even shinier and prettier! :bounce015: Rust isn't character, it's just rust! As in "someone burried it in the ground for 50 years, but somehow it came into my hands and i like it". :rofl: You like non shiny razors? It's OK. I have a stamp collection too and they are not shiny, just old. It's why i call them a collection, but not a "pretty collection". It might be an "interesting collection", but certainly not "pretty". An opaque razor might be interesting, but not shiny = not pretty.

    Prettiest razor i 've ever seen:

    [​IMG]

    So shiny, my eyes hurt!
    Shame it's Parker, hence aggressive. But so shiny, so pretty! Second close is Muhle R41 with chrome, rosegold and a pinkish shiny handle. So pretty! Shame it's aggressive too. But i am happy with Weishi and EJ DE89. Shineys too! :cool: I didn't understand the part about Trump nation, but we definitely don't have Trump's hair! :happy097:

    Like i said, it's a bit difficult to remember everytime what i wanted to say when i quoted a photo, it becomes overcomplicated and it's even hard to keep up with all the posts without missing some good photo. I will just limit myself to a simple "like", unless i see some super-amazing photo! But thanks, i know that deeply inside, you all know how much i 've helped you in so little time. You 're welcome! :)
     
  20. Douglas Carey

    Douglas Carey Wildman

    Thank very much Randy. :happy088:
     

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