Thanks Brian. Overall it has been interesting. A shout out to @Bama Samurai for initiating these challenges with the Derby Challenge and @Linuxguile for his generosity by providing the Voskhod blades for this challenge.
Week 6 (final week), day 1 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Costa Rican Tarrazu, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: H4 Blue Star Lady Gillette Blade: Voskhod, day 1, 3 passes Brush: Vulfix 404 Grosvenor badger/boar mix Soap: VDH Luxury (still think VDH soaps are the best bang for your buck. Hard to find the Deluxe, but I do have 8 or 9 pucks in backup) Post: Cold water rince, ice water splash, L'Oreal Comfort Max ASB, Curve 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue wax Not quite BBS, but a really super comfortable shave.
They stock the deluxe at a walgreens just down the street from my house! I think it is a great soap and well worth the $3 Sent from my Galaxy S6 using Tapatalk
Week 6 (final week), day 2 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Grafco OC Blade: Voskhod, day 2, 3 passes Brush: 22mm Best Badger set in custom @gssixgun elk antler Soap: AoS Lavender Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Dickenson's WH, B&BW Noir 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue wax Not bad. If this was the best I could ever get, I'd take it.
Week 6 (final week), day 3 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Merkur 34C set in red mallee burl handle Blade: Voskhod, day 3, 3 passes Brush: Vulfix Burlington Soap: C&E Nomad Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Dickenson's WH, C&E West Indian Lime 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue wax Always a great shave with the HD!
I primarily use my Voskhods because I, like most others, bought in the group buy a few years back. However, I've used the Personna labs, Rapira, Sputniks, Ladas, and Feathers. I'll say that the Voskhods are the best all around. Smooth and sharp enough to tackle anything.
Week 6 (final week), day 4 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Jacobs Kronung, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Stahly* Blade: Voskhod, day 4, 3 passes Brush: 24mm fan set in Oscar11 handle Soap: AoS Sandalwood Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Dickenson's WH, B&BW Oak 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue wax *I do have a working handle for the Stahly, but I find it not only bulky to use, but I don't think the vibrating feature adds enough to the shave to make up for the over-sized handle. I put the Stahly head on a Fat Handle Tech. Wonderful shave! First had this when I was stationed at Rhein Main AB, Germany. Found it at a German meat market, Reikers Meats, in north Philly.
Week 6 (final week), day 5 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle - added Fleetwood Mac and Steve Winwood Razor: M3 English Gillette Knack Blade: Voskhod, day 5, 3 passes Brush: H.I.S. Synthetic Soap: Colgate Barber's soap + 2 drops Em's Place Woodstock EO Post: Cold water rinse, ice water splash, Osage Rub, Brut Attitude 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue wax And so ends the Voskhod Challenge. And a darn fine shave it was. Again, I want to thank @Linuxguile for PIFing me the blades for this challenge. Would I buy these blades? No, but I will use what I have left every now and again, if for nothing else than to remind me how much better Astra SPs are!!! While I did get some very good, even excellent, shaves, it was not with every razor. With Astra SPs I get DFS to BBS every time, no matter what razor I drop one into. I'll stand by the statement, "Technique trumps tools," with this one observation - when you have perfected your technique, it is easier to identify imperfect tools. I leave the definition of "imperfect" to you all!
Here's to your Astras next week! (That can be lemonade if you like). And thank you for obliging my request for the challenge! I found it very entertaining and insightful. Looking forward to seeing if you can pull any rationale out of the data!
