April 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix&Discussion Thread

Arko April in Russia!

April 7

Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie-Long 12601 The Pony
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, The Veg, Nivea

The first week of April is already done. Wow. Time never slows down. And, that means it's time for a different Russian in the razor. Up next is the Rapira Super Stainless. This blade is pretty popular with people, though the cheap price may have something to do with that. I've used one that I can vaguely remember, way back in the early days of safety razors. Well, ok, so that's only a year and a half or so. Anyway, off we go.

Vie-Long 12601 did a fantastic job of face lathering the Arko today. I'm getting the feel of the ponies down better. Got a pretty good splay on it today without tying the insides of it in knots. And I got a fantastic scritch from the 65% tail hair. Love it. First impression on the blade was.....it's not quite as smooth as the Sharp Star or Rapira PL, but.....it isn't all that bad either. In fact, after getting through about half a pass it seemed to smooth out. I was working the angle a bit and dialed it in. Still gives lots of good audio feedback. Good reduction on the first pass. Second pass XTG and I started to notice a bit of redness on my neck. Not too bad and I didn't feel anything. Just saw the color change. Third pass ATG with an aggressive slide on the neck. We're talking 45 degree angle on the slide if not a bit more. And there it is boys and girls and all the ships at sea.....the baby is in the room. Pretty impressive since I wasn't sure I'd get there.

Now, the irritation level....just a bit of redness and a bit of bite from the alum and the Veg. I added Nivea to cool it down and all's well. Super Stainless blades and I don't always get along. In fact the Nacet is an example of a SS blade that, while I like it occasionally, really leaves some irritation. The only super stainless that I use with any regularity and actually like and doesn't leave a ton of irritation is the Ladas....a stablemate of this blade. So, I may have another super stainless I can live with. Two more days will tell.

The boys checked in. Still trying to make it out of the glorious motherland in time to be here for MAYhem. I put Ivan in charge of May, by the way. Said they found a great Russian motel alongside the road. Sent me a picture of the digs. Pretty luxurious if you ask me, and even includes a car wash!

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Soap Focus
I'm on the road again and took my travel kit with me. This hotel provides After Shave Balm, which is a first for me. It actually was a nice one. My road kit complies with Arko April
SOTD
Arko
AoS Pure Badger brush
EJ DE89
Feather blade (2)
John Michael AS Balm
Pitrulon Pure AS
Have fun!

 

Now I almost want to try the Dorco 301 and Prime blades to see if they did sharp right in any of their DE lineup. I know you said it was nice but I didn't expect too much out of it. I have read your blade trial posts and after as many bad blades as you have tried sometimes I wonder if you aren't just used to pain and grade things higher then they are. I guess you pull out the good blades often enough to not forget them because the Dorco BB was really good.

 

Happy anniversary!

 

Intro to Straight Razor Shaving (Day 7 of 120 days)


Ontario Cutlery Co 5/8ths
JR #23 Silvertip
Catie's Bubbles LTV
Maggard Alum Block
Nivea Sensitive Balm

Great shave today and also completed my first ATG pass to top of my 1st full week of straight razor shaves. Cheeks/Jawline I did 3 passes (WTG,XTG,ATG) for a BBS shave and for the neck I did 3 passes as well (2 WTG,1 ATG) for a DFS closely approaching BBS.

 

I have tried the Prime. Not good. Still have the 300 and 301 to try. I try to remain totally objective when I review blades. Bur, I use the Voskhod as the comparison if I need one. I know how it works for me so it's a fair comparison to everything else.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

Thank you!

 

April 7, 2016
This month I’m focusing on the Schick Type F.

Morning shave
Hot Shower
Soap: Barrister & Mann Diamond Shave Soap
Brush: Rubberset 400-4
Razor: Schick Type F
Blade: NOS Schick Plus Platinum (1)
TSD Witch Hazel
AS: Florida Water



Two-pass shave. (XTG, ATG)

As good as the shaves were with the ‘Chick’ blade, my first impression of the Plus Plat is that it potentially has a higher ceiling for me. This first shave was noticeable smoother than the Chick in this razor and, at the time of the shave, just as efficient.

I’ll be further assessing it for 2 - 3 more shaves, before I try the Schick Dutch and then possibly a cut-down Fearther AC and then a Schick Twin…all before the end of the month. What fun!

Cheers!
RT

 

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Simpson '58 Manchurian
La Savonniere du Moulin
King Cobra UFO Apollo King Cobrati Ti
Feather Pro#2
Witch Hazel, Whipped Shea Butter, Fine Platinum

Today's shave was an afternoon delight. The Simpson '58 is a perfect bowl lathering brush. Just right for the hand. It made a mountain of sweet smelling asses' milk lather, thick and slick. Cobra today for a super "scary" close shave. The Snake ate a good part of the first layer of my dermis, but alas, no bites. The shorter UFO handle made the KC more maneuverable and comfortable in my hand. I'm clean, comfortable and very smooth today. Have a great Thursday my friends!

 

Arko April!!!
30 Day Rule Edition
Day 7 of 30





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Day seven went off without a hitch. The blade lives to day 8, dfs, Alum good! I am so tired today... Long good day. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Derby(7)
Fatip Grande
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Arko!!!
Alum
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal
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Have a wonderful evening!
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But.....but......but......it's a DERBY!?!?!?! It can't really be used for shaving can it?!?!?!?!

 

I know, huh?

 

Happy Anniversary to @ob1page and the Missus! Congratulations!

 

Thank you very much, it was a wonderful night

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

Thursday Shower/Shave

Shower- Noxzema facial cleaner, Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Peppermint bar soap
Pso- Homemade mint PSO
Brush- RazoRock Plissoft
Razor-Gillette Slim on 9
Blade- Gillette Silver Blue (3)
Soap- Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Gondolier
Thayers Witch Hazel
ASB- Nivea Sensitive scented with grapefruit essential oil

Another great shave tonight. I tried putting the grapefruit essential oil in the Nivea tonight, 2 drops and it worked great. The scent blended well with the Nivea and it's lasted a little longer than when in the Thayers. I really like the Slim on 9 especially when paired with the GSB. The Plissoft brush lathered up a beautiful cloud of Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Gondolier soap, I'm really liking this soap. 3 passes for a BBS shave.

The April rule is progressing well. I think I've figured out where to pull for the best skin stretch. I'm still trying to get down shaving with my left hand, I don't know if I'll ever be proficient with it but I'm not giving up. I hope you have a great day!



Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

I like SE razors but I don't like their small handles. So I bought this razor some time ago but have not used yet. I bought it NOS in the box with instructions. I feel bad because I am not a collector and don't care about the box etc.. Even if I keep this razor I will find the box and instructions a proper home.

Today on the chopping block is GEMJunior, I think. Please correct me if I am wrong. I loaded it with a GEM PTFE blade that all ready had two shaves on it. This razor is mild, almost too mild for me. If it was one level milder it would be out. 4 passes and not even the slightest reaction from the alum. Also BBS.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A Keenness B+

Definitely staying:
Genco Easy Aces SR, hard to let go of cool looking, great shaving piece of vintage American steel just because it is smaller than I like. It is also my only vintage American SR.
GEM Junior

Leaning toward staying:
Wade and Butcher will stay in the SR stable until a much nicer specimen can be sourced.

Leaning toward releasing:
Jerry Stark 5/8 SR. Looks great, shaves great just to small a blade. I would prefer to sell this and trade up for a larger blade
GEM Micromatic Open Comb - or in short MMOC (in gold)


Will be released:
Sight unseen Whipped Dog SR. This shaves great but I want to PIF it to someone who wants to get started with SR.
Merkur Vision - despite major coolness she can't compete with an aggressive Futur.
BBS-1 - Give my move to the dark side it is just not aggressive enough to remain in my DE stable. (sold)
Mongoose
Merkur 37C slant
GEM Micromatic Open Comb - or in short MMOC (silver coloured)

 

Updating my blade inventory with a few new arrivals. Added a few obscure blades as well as some I just haven't tried. Now at 1047 blades total. That includes 111 brands, of which 6 are AC blades, 3 are SE, 1 is the Schick Injector and 1 is the Durham Duplex style. That leaves 100 different brands of DE blades. Now, some are the same label, different type, such as the Lord Platinum, Stainless, Classic Super Stainless etc. The blade vault grows! And, with that many different DE blades around plus the ones I don't have or haven't tried, it gives me a pretty good feeling that we have probably pushed off the shavepocalypse for quite awhile, if it ever comes. That means the cry of "Death to Carts!" should echo louder as we take over the world one face at a time!

 

I saw this on CNN earlier today. Two high school students in New Zealand had their throats cut during a performance of Sweeney Todd. You can check out the story, but apparently from what I can gather they were using a real straight razor they had dulled and wrapped in some things to make it "safe". Wow. They didn't use a real straight razor on Broadway or the movie.....and the school seems surprised anyone got hurt?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/07/asia/new-zealand-sweeney-todd-razor/index.html

 

Straights Focus April 8:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
Arko Cool SC
Henry Sears and Son Queen 3/4
Stirling Unscented PSB
Proraso Green AS

Another nice shave this morning. All the talk about Arko reminded me that I hadn't used this cream in a while. The was a nice, slick lather. The razor did it's normal, great job. I am looking forward to this Friday. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

Looks great this morning!!!