April 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix&Discussion Thread

Thanks, Doug!

 

April, 2016 30 Day Focus

 

4/8/16
Feather MR3 Neo
TGN Synthetic
Mystic Water Orange Vanilla
Fine L'Orange



My wife and I are visiting my daughter today at the University of Alabama. She is being inducted into a honor society and receiving an additional scholarship. So I decided to break with this month's focus.

Late last year I added this Feather cart razor to my Amazon order to get free shipping. My goal was to have a comfortable efficient and cheap razor for my motorcycle trips. Since it uses 3 blades I whipped the MW a little thinner and went with 1 ATG pass. With a minor touch up I ended the shave with a near BBS. It did seem to clog up more than I expected. I'll get some of the twin blades and give them a try. The razor is very solid and has a nice weight. Overall I'm very pleased with the razor. Finished off with a splash of Fine L'Orange.


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SOTD April 8, 2016

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Gillette Platinum
Razor: 1964 Travel Tech
Brush: Trader Joes synthetic
Lather: Tabac shave stick
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine Platinum, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

No picture due to travel. Pretty nice shave with the little travel Tech. One little chin weeper but all else was fine. I'm decently smooth for one pass and touch-up.

Hope you have a great Friday!

 

I agree!

 

@ob1page

 

SOTD
April 8, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: iKon ShaveCraft Short Comb
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Fine American Blend
Brush: Shave Revolution "Evolution" Synthetic 24mm
Post: Thayers Rose Petal WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Fine American Blend
Great shave. The iKon SC is really a nice razor, I'm very happy with this one. Fine American Blend soap is wonderful! A fantastic barbershop scent, very easy to lather, slick and plenty of cushion. Win! Shave Revolution hit a home run with the "Evolution" very comfortable handle, great knot, excellent price point.
Be a blessing to someone else

 

Soap Focus
Another Arko day on the road. This was my first DE razor and it still gives me BBS shaves. Dolphin smooth today
SOTD
Arko
AoS Pure Badger brush
EJ DE89
Feather blade (3)
John Michael AS balm
Pitrulon Swiss AS
Have fun!

 

Thank you Kerry!

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Arko April in Russia!

April 8

Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (2)
Brush - Vie-Long 12705 The Horse
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, The Veg

Morning already? Wow. Seemed like a short night for some reason but I noticed my beard is a bit light this morning. Apparently yesterday's BBS was a good one! So, should be an easy shave today, not that they're usually that difficult (unless I make them difficult of course).

Grabbed the bigger horse brush today for the lather. Last time I used this I made a huge mess from starting it too wet on the Arko, and holding the base of the knot between my thumb and two fingers. Made sure I gave it one extra shake today then kept my fingers on the handle to lather. Great lather without the mess, that's what I was looking for. This brush holds so much water it's amazing.

Went two full passes with some touch up and the baby was right back in place. Well that was easy. Alum was quiet except for one spot on my neck where I did the slide, and even that was minor. The Veg was quiet and added the perfect finishing touch. If it was this easy every morning I might think I'd died and gone to the motherland. But, I don't smell vodka, caviar or borscht so I guess I'm still in the Lou.

The idiots boys made some progress yesterday after they got a good night's sleep and got their car fished back to the surface. Apparently they realized they were close to Boris's home so they stopped for a meal and a bath. You all just wish you had it this good!

​

 

Back to the CJB this morning to finish out this blade focus.

CJB
Feather Pro(1)
WD Synthetic
Route 66 Sweeny Todd
Pinaud Lime Sec

After all the talk about this blade filleting and slicing I was almost hesitant this morning. I lathered up with the usual amazing lather, picked up the razor and started my first pass.

N/S went very well. It didn't feel scary as long as I kept the angle shallow and didn't try any slides or scything. Really amazing reduction too.

Relather and S/N pass. Also really good. A clean comfortable DFS without the extra neck pass or any slides. The Lime Sec went on with hardly a whimper.

This blade was nice. I'm excited to keep going for the super pro.

 

Hello TSD - my Friday shave with the brand new brush made by our very own @Jayaruh ... and shave 4 of my straight razor focus.



- Jeeves of Hudson Street "Conservatory"
- Jayaruh #58
- T.W. Lang "The Gaelic"
- Tüff herb Aftershave

This brush is a winner I love the handle shape and weight - nice work Jim. And the Maggard synthetic knot is fantastic. I bought a Plisson Synthetic about a year ago and sold it just a few weeks later because it was way too floppy for my taste. But this Plisson-type knot is quite a different beast: much more backbone but still very soft - it feels much more substantial. And it's a lather monster. It whipped up the Jeeves soap with ease ... I think it is a even better performer than the Mühle STF - and that thing is pretty good

The "Gaelic" is one of the two straights that have been honed - and it performs much better now. No more tugging, very smooth. The shave itself was nice and accident-free: two passes, WTG and XTG, with a result pretty close to DFS. I think the most difficult area for me is the jawline - that's where I still feel some rough spots. I guess I'll have to work on my skin-stretching technique here.

For the next few days I think I'll change my usual routine. I will shave daily but only perform one XTG pass - will be interesting to see how that turns out.

 

Razor: Gillette Tech 1939-45
Blade: Dorco ST 301 Platinum SK (6)
Brush: Jayaruh JR #45 Walnut Honey Comb
Soap: Jeeves Soap Turkish Bath
A/S: Fine American Blend
Bowl: Once a Marine Always a Marine Scuttle
Yes that is snow.

 

Intro to Straight Razor Shaving (Day 8 of 120 days)


Gold Dollar 208
Glacial Eskimo Tuxedo
Stirling 22mm Synthetic Brush
Maggard Alum Block
Fine Snakebite Aftershave Splash

Risky shave today with this bombardment of face freezing menthol but I emerged unharmed and smooth. 3 passes today. On the cheeks I went (1 WTG, 1 XTG, and 1 ATG) and on the neck I did my usual (2 WTG, 1 ATG) BBS on the cheeks and a DFS on the neck. Zero irritation today. Alum was silent and the Snakebite's bite was mild burn wise but the freeze was in full effect. Getting very comfortable with the Straight now and am no longer getting the shakes or nerves anymore. Wonderful edge on the 208 that I got from Anthony and it just cuts throw my stubble like a hot knife through butter. Hope everyone is enjoying the day.

 

Glad to hear you're advancing well buddy.

 

Thanks bud! I am happy about it as well.

 

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 (2)
TSD Witch Hazel
AS: Florida Water



Two-pass shave. (XTG, ATG)
Best shave so far with the F and one of the smoothest I’ve had on my chin with any razor. It was so smooth that I even tempted fate with a bit of ATG on the chin and corners of my mouth. Excellent!

Cheers!
RT

 

I shaved my head just now. Thank you @Robyflexx for the lead on Schick Xtreme3! I've never used a cartridge like this before so the first pass was a waste of time, once I figured out how to hold the handle I was able to have one of the best head shaves ever!! Same soap and aftershave from this morning.

My cat wanted to check out what I bought.

 

I'm so happy to hear that Kerry! I thought the flex thing might be a gimmick but after reading reviews i took a chance and it works great! Also i'm no longer getting irritation on the back of my head.

 

That's where my issue is the back of my head, the blade sure does flex once I noticed the pressure points on the handle my shave went excellent!!