April 2018 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

SOTD 4.2.2018
Brush: RazoRock synthetic
Soap: Arko stick
Razor: Gillette NEW SC
Blade: Generic "Best Choice" DE (Made in Vietnam) (1)
Post-shave: Nivea Men Sensitive PS Balm, Jeris Musk for Men AS / Cologne

Before I posted my shave today, I wanted to catch up on this Thread. Oh man... I'm ready for a nap. I feel like I've been studying all night for a test tomorrow.

I've been pondering my April Focus and considered a focus on a certain variety of razors, or a certain variety of software and I've come to the conclusion that I just want to focus on the pleasure of shaving my way, any way, depending upon the whims of the day. I have several new (vintage) razors, DEs and SEs, I haven't tried yet and I need to get that done.

Nevertheless, today I selected Arko as my soap, inspired by the April focus and I selected the Gillette NEW SC. This is one of several vintage razors my wife gave me for Valentine's Day and I had not used it yet. I was inspired to use this specific razor by Jason @jtspartan who used his NEW in March.

I loaded a new generic blade in the NEW and used it to shave both my face and my head. I don't know if it was the razor or the blade or maybe the combination but it was a magnificent shave! I had three days growth on the face, and four days on the scalp and both razor and blade cut through it without missing a beat. 2 passes on my face, with a clean up pass on the neck... and I got a DFS. My neck remains the tough spot to get a close shave, but it was close enough. 2 passes on my scalp with some clean up spots and I was done.

I should also mention, I like the Arko stick. I didn't used to like face lathering, but I will admit the Arko has made me face lather more and more with other soaps and I'm learning to like it.

Have a great week, and a terrific April, everyone!

 

That’s a nice scene

 

Arko Adjustable April!!

April 2

Razor - Soviet Consul (6)
Blade - (2)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Jayaruh #54
Post - Alum

I dialed the Consul back to 6 tonight, which puts it about on the same level as a Gillette on 9. With no more extra growth I decided to take it easy and not tempt fate. The JR54 brush is such a pleasure to work with. The 400 style handle is awesome in the hand and the synthetic knot makes lather fast and easy. Of course the Arko helped with that as well.

Two passes and touch ups and I'm going to call it a near-BBS. It may be the full monty but I'm not quite that generous tonight. No blood and the alum was relatively quiet so a great second shave in HQ2.

Hope your April is off to a great start in every way! I have two more days of work then two days off that my legs tell me I need. My calves are so tight that I think I look like a penguin waddling around. No, I'm not going to share video of that. Have a great night and a better tomorrow!

​

 

Not when you're tired of snow!

But the dogs like it.

 

That razor is interesting. I've not heard of it until your post last night. It was manufactured during the Soviet era? Sounds like it's fairly aggressive?

Nice pic and set-up!

 

It was the Motherland's answer to the decadent Western capitalist imperialist Gillette Fatboy.

 

@jluc, @LevelupShaves and @sdguero -- great setups and photos of same today! You three gentlemen have really made huge progress with your chosen instruments of doom since you joined the Crew. Most inspiring!

 

Basically, the 1 on the Consul matches 3 on the Fatboy/Slim. 6 is close to 9 on the Gillettes, and 7, 8 and 9 just take it further. The Futur is still, from what I can validate, the most aggressive adjustable but the Consul enters its territory. Surprisingly, for a Russian razor, it's solid, seems to be consistent in construction, gap, operation, etc., which makes it one of the best Russians I've ever used. You just can't forget how much it likes to bite when you open it up.

 

You have to wonder if they didn't make it more aggressive just as a show of how much more manly they were.....you know that whole cold war thing?

 

Hmmmmm. Adding a daily test to the 30DC could prove interesting. I could hand out grades, and we could have graduations and valedictorians and salutatorians and speeches and.......oh who am I kidding. That would probably just start up some new rebellion over who is cheating and all of that stuff.

The NEW is a great razor and I'm assuming your generic is a Personna. Which means it's a generic version of the Personna Red. Very nice blade and a great razor to pair it with!

 

I've never tried Derby stick so I'll be watching to see how it goes!

 

You couldn't have said that any better. I consider him to be one of the best, if not THE best friend I have. We have had some extremely deep and sometimes disturbing conversations over in PM land over the years as well. Birds of a feather. Plus....we both eat steak as rare as you can make it. Anyone who eats moving beef and calls it a steak is a friend of mine.

 

Oh yes... I remember those days. No idea what the poster says.... seemed appropriate for a shave forum.

Perhaps the instructions for the razor recommend (in Russian) that the consumer drink copious amounts of Vodka before and after the shave.

 

Any Russian worth his salt drinks copious amounts of Vodka while brushing his teeth, much less shaving.

 

I think this generic is probably a Dorco (Made in Vietnam). At least it appears to be the same blade and dispenser as those packaged for Dollar General and Family Dollar... each containing 5 blades.

Other generics I have, mostly from some grocery stores have a more rounded dispenser, contain 10 blades and are Made in Israel. I'm assuming those are likely Personnas.

I've always had good luck and I've liked the Israeli made generics. I've been less fond of the Vietnamese made generics but after opening up this "Best Choice" package I'm changing my opinion.

 

Yeah, well.... I'm Norwegian. We prefer to remain sober until after the plundering and pillaging is finished. Then we drink.

 

Thanks, John!

 

Rockwell 6c (3)
Vokshod (2)
Yaqi Slivertip
Stirling Dunshire
Speick AS Splash
Nivea post shave balm

A BBS shave in 31/2 passes. Can't really get a terrible shave with a Vokshod. The Rockwell feels very harsh on the face, and feels really inefficient, it's a strange dichotomy. I tired riding the cap tonight, but the razor was just removing hair, it feels like like unless I'm scrapping, I can't remove hair. Luckily for me, it's about impossible to over with a Vokshod, however, I did manage to over shave a small portion of my chin, which is particularly hard to remove hair from. I'm going to try, a Rapira Swedish Supersteel blade tomorrow, and see how it goes. If not better, I'm going to drop down to the 2 plate. Have a nice evening and morning Gents.


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I eat my black and blue and still mooing.

 

Thanks Dan!

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