April 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix&Discussion Thread

I also subscribed to the load it like you owes you money and is two months late.... but.... when shaving with straights I find a wet lather is critical to a good shave.

 

April 21 Fool's Pass

Wade and Butcher today and the edge felt amazingly smooth. 4 passes and the Fool's Pass but surprisingly I had several weepers between my chin and lower lip. I think the lather was not wet enough. Got some sting from the alum but a serious BBS.

Irritation B+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Keenness A

 

Nice..The Feather Pro is a Smooth Blade in the Right Razor..

Billy..

 

You're most welcome! Enjoy!

 

I've put my Fine Superlite Slant back into its box and into storage. I have limited room for razors and I have much better ones that deserve a spot in my rotation.

 

Wednesday Shower/Shave

Shower- Noxzema facial cleaner, Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Peppermint bar soap
Pso- Homemade grapefruit PSO
Brush- RazoRock Plissoft
Razor- Muhle R41 head on a Maggard MR5 handle
Blade- Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Soap- Catie's Bubbles Mile High Menthol with extra M-Bomb
Thayers Witch Hazel with grapefruit EO
AS- Aqua Velva

Just 2 passes tonight, XTG and ATG but I ended with a DFS. I tried 6 drops of M-Bomb tonight, the difference in cold from last night's 4 drops to tonight was definitely noticeable, loved it! I can't say enough good things about this razor, efficient and easily maneuverable. My new bottles are working great, I need to get some more and try some new scent combos.

My lather tonight wasn't the best, a little watery but more than sufficient protection. Barely anything from the Aqua Velva. Also a big thanks to @navy mac for the Snapseed app suggestion. I had fun playing around with the camera filters. Have a great day folks!

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Kerry,

That was quick...but when you know, I guess you just know!

 

Arko April!!!

SOTD - 20 April 2016


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Day six, no complaints!! It's Arko, it's an aggressive razor, I had time...so...BBS. Alum verified, the ISZ anaesthetized, the Veg revitalized! Lazy night of NBA...other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Fatip Grande
Derby Extra (6)
Arko!!
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Alum
TSD ISZ AS Splash
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal

Have a groovy Thursday!
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SOTD
April 20, 2016

Blackland Blackbird
Feather HS #1
Nuavia Blu
Oscar 11 Amber Envy White
Folsom & Co. Shambala

The Blackbird had little difficulty mowing down my whiskers today. Two passes, first XGT then AGT, on the way to a near BBS shave. One small nick, due to operator error. I've got to remember, it's not The One Blade. Nuavia is a top shelf soap, thick , slick and creamy. Outstanding scent, performance, lubrication, and skin care. Did I mention scent? Wow, this stuff smells great, absolutely fantastic! Leaves my brush smelling sweet! Finished my 4/20 Day shave with a generous splash of Folsom Shambala. Hope you all are having a Wonderful and Wacky 4/20 Wednesday.

 

Very classy set up!

 

Thank you Doug!

 

I'm a 6 to 2'er. I like shaving in the evenings but have been morning shaving more lately. I also skip days if its a really good shave the day before. My face can't handle BBS everyday so a normal workday shave is a DFS. I do 2 passes and go with it. If its not as good its still good enough. If the baby walks in and slaps me then I feel good and skip the next day or only do a 1 pass shave.

 

ArkoApril in Russia!

April 20


Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (3)
Brush - Vie Long 12601 The Pony
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, The Veg

Final day of the Voskhod and I was eager to get started. Back to the Vie Long 12601, or the Pony as it is known here. And, another lather problem. For some reason this brush is giving me inconsistent results on the face lather with Arko. I end up with more of an Arko glue than a lather, especially on the left side. Now, I know my left hand is pretty much the useless red-headed step child of my hands, but it surely can't just be that. Something about this brush is keeping me from consistently getting the right amount of water or something. So, for the remainder of the month, the Pony is in the stable. The 12705 will stay in rotation but I'll avoid any more failures from whatever error I'm making with its smaller brother.

As for the shave I'm not going to lie. I have had better. But, given the lather problem and the fact the razor was clogging from that again, it's hard to blame just the blade. Was it as smooth as it has been the first two days? No, which is strange. Voskhod's can go for a week without showing much sign of tiring out. Still, two passes and I was done. I did have a nice DFS but the alum was a bit harsh and it was, all in all, not my best day. So how much of that is blade and how much is lather or just me being an idiot today? I'm going to go 98% on the lather and technique and assign 2% to the blade just to be fair. Where does that leave the Voskhod in the week's rankings? Still on top by the slightest of margins over the Rapira Super Stainless. And I'm talking slightest of margins. The king nearly got dethroned. And, there are still three blades left. Tomorrow is the Ladas, another stainless entry that I normally have great luck with. Though recently I did hit a dud.....or else we'll discover a problem tomorrow if things have changed.

Good news! The boys are finally on their way across the Pacific. I'm impressed with their ability to obtain transportation on the cheap.....and with a familiar looking pilot of the vessel. I think he figures it's the only way to get rid of them and dump them back on me.

​

 

I woke up to a call from my mom asking me if I could pick up my step dad from the hospital. He had some swelling in his throat and had a bit of turkey lodged down low. They put him under and endoscopied him, pulled out the turkey and took samples to test for other problems. As a result I had a very fast 2 pass using the first soap that my hand hit when I reached into the cabinet.

CJB
Feather super pro (4)
Sterling MiTA
VdH boar
Pinaud Citrus Musk

Fast lather was slightly dry for the first pass. I very quickly shaved N/S then relathered with extra water for what this lather should have looked like then S/N pass with some bloodloss as I cut too close with my scything and lost a few layers of skin on the left side of my jaw. No real bleeding but it seeped out of my pores in an area about an inch square. The Pinaud was lava like but I must have come out of it alright because most of the nurses around my age flirted with me. I didn't notice but my Fiancee let me know.

The menthol was too much for this razor. I wouldn't have hurt myself if I had more feeling in my face. MiTA is nearly cold enough to bring tears to my eyes. Not good for straights.

I noticed someone talking about wet lather for straights. My lathering technique is like this for all razors. I face lather slowly adding water to the brush by dipping. I add water till it looks right then I do it one more time. The wetter lather helps make it slick and saves you from some of the minor nicks and scrapes. If you have problems with the lather drying then just lather your face one part at a time. If I take my time to shave I get a much worse shave then if I just let muscle memory kick in and speed through it. Every cut or scrape I've had lately has been because I was thinking about what I was doing. I've been straight shaving on and off since I was 15 or 16, I wouldn't recommend zen mind shaving until you are a master shaver Jedi and/or Sith. The @Norcalnewb Baseball pattern lather solves the dry lather for those shavers that need more time. I'll let the experts chime in on that one.

 

This is post 10,001. I am so far behind... It's embarrassing. You guys are the best!

 

So I'm about to embark on my first shave with my PAL on H. Full shave. And I will be taking the advice of NOT going ATG. It's going to bug me to no end to not be dolphin smooth, I have to learn before I become proficient. Don't try to be an expert until your an expert is something my oldest brother has beaten in my head. I will follow his advice once again.

Sent from my ASUS ZenFone 2E using Tapatalk

 

Thank you Mark.

 

Straights Focus April 21:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
PAA Deja Fougere
Wm Elliot
Stirling Unscented PSB
Brut Classic AS

This was my first shave with this razor, and it didn't disappoint. It was very smooth and comfortable. I did one pass with some touch up and ended with a DFS. I was very impressed with the PAA as well this morning. I can't honestly remember if I have used this soap with a straight before, but I got the lather to a perfect consistency. It was a great start to my day. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

SOTD April 21, 2016
Russian blades focus

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Voshkod (1)
Razor: Maggard MR1 handle with V2 open comb
Brush: Satin Tip 'The Purest' synthetic
Lather: Soap Commander Endurance
Post: Witch hazel splash enhanced with Fine American Blend, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG



Ended up with a pretty good shave. The Voshkod blade felt like it was tugging at the beginning. I kept going and it felt better once I had made a few strokes. But the right side of my face was more stubbly than normal, I guess due to the blade feeling that way, so I went back and did a full XTG pass. Normally I just do one full pass with touch-up but I made an exception for today.

My lather was a little runny but was better when I reapplied for pass two. Regardless, no irritation and I'm feeling nice with the Fine American scent.

Have a great day!