Thank you, Gentlemen. I am at the airport, getting ready to fly home.

Perhaps try it with a heavier handle and see if that makes a difference.

NOVember MMXVII A.D.
No Variation - Day Fifteen


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Now standing at 124 on the Arko Challenge! Knocked out another easy two pass today on a second-day blade. I've been changing daily, but it appears two days is good too. Maybe I should push one of these Sharks until it really dies out. No idea how many days tha would be. In keeping with the rule, the only change was back to AV. Things finally slowing down for me for a bit, looking forward to a bit more rest. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a terrific Thursday!
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It'll be ok....blue pill, blue pill!

I feel like they better approximate the efficiency of an open blade than any DE.

Team work makes the dream work!

NOVember!!!

November 15 - Qshave Focus


Razor - Qshave Futur Clone
Blade - (1)
Soap - Stirling Barbershop
Brush - Jayaruh #54
Post - Alum

Time to put a fresh Qshave blade into the razor it came with and open it up. Qshave is set on 4.5, Stirling Barbershop and the JR54 for a volume of lather that could shave a muskox and away we go.

The blade, even at 4.5, seems a bit rough, just like it did during the trial. But, not enough to deter me or slow me down much. Perhaps this is one of those blades that takes a shave to smooth out a bit. Whatever the cause, it wasn't really unpleasant, just kind of annoying that it showed up again. The first pass, though, was quite effective. Second pass was XTG and I followed that up with a third pass that was ATG and Q-slides on the neck. The baby is easily in the house and the roughness wasn't present on the second pass or after. Alum was mostly quiet with just a few hot spots around my goatee where I worked it a little hard. No harm, no foul.

Can't complain much about that. Tomorrow I'll crank it to 5 and give it another run. I expect it to be better as I go up so we'll see if that proves out. Thanks to @John Ruschmeyer for finding the options to buy this blade without the razor. What are faux brothers for, right? As I mentioned in direct response to his post, at $15.99 I wouldn't buy a hundred of these even though that price isn't outrageous for some blades. But knowing I can buy Voskhod or any Rapira for that amount or usually less makes them a much more attractive option. And, for a more even comparison, you can get Personna Lab Blues for $11.75 per 100. Since the Qshave is just a modified Personna, why not go for the original for less money? Still, a fun blade to get to play with and if it works great at setting "me" maybe I'll keep a tuck or two around just to throw into this razor occasionally.

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I'd say you've earned the rest! Enjoy! My wife used a Shark last week just to try something different. She's been a dedicated Derby fan. She rather liked it. I've used them rarely so finding out how durable they are would be interesting. Nothing, however, including the Energizer Bunny, will ever outlast a stick of Arko!

World Endurance Challenge: Round One (that's Le Defi Mondial L'Endurance to our Francophone Canadian Brothers)

Fruit cake versus Arko, and Cockroaches take on @Drygulch 's CT

Thursday shave:

Big meeting today so I skipped the cream sample. We are having our first cold snap so I broke out the kettle and scuttle, loaded up some QCS and made some HOT lather. This Dovo razor is a joy, it is easy to maintain and takes a great edge no matter what stone is used. It is several shaves in on Zulu Grey and keeps it smooooth edge. Four passes and just short of epic.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A+ Sharpness A

Razor: Dovo Master’s
Stop: Mastro Livi
Brush: Simpson Polo 8
Pre: Nivea
Soap: QCS in the hot scuttle
AS: Enhanced Florida Water, Speick ASB
Scent: YSL Rive Gauche

Queen Charlotte? Big day....that's 'vintage' now right?

It is vintage unobtanium now. I just have this tub and one other that is half full.

Even put on the monkey suit and tie today.

And, I must assume you win the day?

a successful day.

Congrats! But I didn't need to ask. Of course you did. That's what you do.

I don't win them all, just need to win the war, not all the battles.

It only works when you shave "another place" not your face

November 16

Weber SS
Polsilver Super Iridium (3)
Simpson Chubby 2 Super
C.O. Bigelow shave cream
Thayers Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Floid Vigoroso aftershave

November 16, 2017
OneBlade Genesis
Modified Gem PTFE (6)
30 DC LE with Omega 20107 Boar Knot
Nuàvia Blu

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Another great shave this morning. Couple more days with the boar brushes before rotating back to some badgers. I hope everyone has a great Thursday.

Thursday morning November 16 - I don’t remember what my Focus was...

Supply Single Edge injector V 2.0 / Personna ( 5)
Semogue Owners Club cherrywood boar brush
TOBS Rose Cream
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Original Rose Petal

I used up the last of my TOBS Rose Cream sample today. I got three uses out of the little Maggards sample tub. It could probably have been stretched to twice that, but I saw no point in being stingy when trying to test the cream while digging it out of a jar rather than loading from a tub. The scoops were big enough that the Semogue SOC boar whipped up plentiful excellent lather in my bowl and that was the important thing.

I again did a full three pass shave like yesterday and the baby again showed up, although this time he didn't bring his toybox along (or his booties - he heard you, Charlie). However, what did show up was a fair amount of heat from the alum. It would appear that I can now do a three-pass and buffing shave to chase a BBS without undue irritation, but not on a daily basis. A one or two pass DFS-maintenance shave is better as my regular daily attempt with the full-course attempt saved for special occasions.

Great photo Charlie. The CO Bigelow is some good stuff. I ordered some of the new Proraso Single Blade Cypress Vetiver cream and balm to try. The scent is nice and I am looking forward to giving it a try next month.

You've really got the SOC brush working for you now. I try not to chase the baby on a daily basis. I really don't get razor burn but my lower right neck does get uncomfortable if I chase the baby every day.