Careful. Contemplating the Wisdom of Peaches has been known to damage essential neuro-pathways necessary for normal human speech and motor function. The only known cure is to read some Stephen Hawking to counter the effects of the black hole of intelligence that is Peaches.

You've already decided on the style of brush handle you'll ask Jason to make and selected the knot I'll buy for it, haven’t you? Well I have already lasted twice as long as I did last year...

I’m good on this for awhile. Seriously. Still see lots of things I’d add, but have really been enjoying what I’ve got. Not yet in ‘visiting small town Antique stores’ season though...

Some great looking shaves, gentlemen!

Arko Adjustable April!!

April 19

Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (6)
Blade - (1)
Pre-Shave - Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Soap - Arko
Brush - Jayaruh #54
Post - Alum

Well I've gone through all of my adjustables this month so I just randomly picked one to continue on with. The Slim was the chosen razor so I set it wide open and chose the Perma-Sharp blade, one of my favorites from St. Petersburg. Gillette razor, Russian Gillette blade. The Jayaruh #54 for a fantastic lather and off we go.

The Perma-Sharp is a very sharp blade, living up to its name, and also a very smooth blade. Paired in the Slim it was a smooth shave and the alum stayed quiet after three full passes. The shave itself was excellent in every way. Smooth, no blood, and the baby showed up. I probably didn't need three full passes but was just enjoying the Zen of the moment so kept going. Had enough lather left over for another three passes.

So far this month I've used only adjustable razors and 17 out of 19 shaves featured Arko. The two that didn't I used D.R. Harris Marlbourough stick to try it out. With 11 days left I'll work back through a couple more adjustables and stick with Arko to the end.

MAYhem is coming up fast - which means my use of "alternative soaps" is around the corner. I also have a few less known creams to try out. And, of course, I'll be breaking out some of my less reliable gear to give it a go. Should be a fun month! Until then - let the Arko continue to rule!

​

Thank you, Jim!

APRIL Didn't I say I was Focusing on soap samples and Adjustables?

AoS Pre-Shave Oil Lemon
AoS Shaving Cream Lemon
Caswell-Massey Pure badger brush
Suribachi bowl and cool water
'59 Fat Boy & Astra SP blade 2nd use
Alum, AoS After-Shave Balm Lemon
I was debating taking a new-to-me H-2 Slim for a test shave, but saw Dan @sdguero and his sample of the same soap. Herd instinct kicked in. Decision made. I was surprised at the regular retail price for these samples. Not that they reflect the high $/sqft prices of the AoS store locations, but that their website is asking that much. Took me a couple minutes to figure out the mechanism to release the pump top on the preshave product. Got enough of the barely scented oil on my hands to apply twice and started thinking about lather. Gave the very small handled travel style brush a quick cleaning and confirmed my thoughts that it was unused from the 2nd hand shop. No funk, no soap residue, no shedding. The faux ivory resin handle isn't long enough to grip in my pro barber brush style so I held it between thumb and a couple fingers and got a decent lather out of the proverbial almond sized dose of cream. Scent? There's two kinds of fried pies at the grocery store. If Arko is a Hostess Pie bursting with flavor, AoS is the generic store brand that's the right color filling, but lacking in umph. Maybe the grape seed oil or lemon EO added to the slick, could be the shave cream itself - decent qualities for making a razor do it's thing. During my 2nd pass I caught a high point on my chin and there was blood on steel, and the brush when I lathered up for 3rd pass. Rinsing slowed the flow, but an alum application didn't stop it. Applied the barely lemony balm followed by a spot treatment with a styptic. Now a few minutes later the balm has dried leaving me feeling like I used hand lotion on my face. A little gummy, with a ghost of Arko scent. AoS? Naw, I'll pass. It's not bad, but I've had better.
Good Shaves Y'all!

Thanks to Chris @SharptoothC , i am now on the Arko train for April. Did another head and face shave tonight and am really pleased with the results .
Was a little bit anxious with rubbing the stick on creating an abundance of lather which the Rockwell 6c took care of with ease as it mowed the lawn nicely as always . Sadly the blade met its demise tonight and will be replaced with a shiny new Silver Blue . #29 is broke in now to where i want it and the Clubman sent me back to that old Barber shop my Dad used to drag me into so as i wouldnt look like a hippy. And that gentleman ...is my report . Good evening .

It is a Brut knock off. A veddy good one I think.

If you want to shim something go install a window.

Cheap rocks!!!!

Annnnddddd we're back on track. I have had to tell myself to get back to basics many times in life.

I am solid upper lower class type. You explained it well. You never offend by the way.

Ain't she purrdyyyy! New handle for a 1910 Gem Jr. Bar. In the style of the Elite but bigger. I likey. Jayaruh turned it!!



It was a Boots kinda day today. The little Barbury's brush did a super job with it!!!

Good looking custom upgrade. Jim @Jayaruh does quality work that looks like it supposed to, and does it's job in high fashion.

Wow! Jim nailed that one down solid. Very impressed once again.

Like eight miles of bad road, my brother. Eight miles.

You down with ODD?
Yeah, you know me...

I might question the third D. Isn't disorder the chronologically number next step?
Something might be classed a Dis-order until it became doubleplusgood Median.

Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right.

Friday April 20 - experiment without preshave glycerin

Supply Co V.2 SE injector on two - dot plate / Personna ( 7)
JR #267 birdseye maple and boar brush
Vitos Eucalyptus shaving cream
Alum and Osage Rub

I may have to think a little more about the preshave glycerin. Today's two pass shave felt less slick than yesterday's and my face doesn't feel as softly moisturized as it did the same length of time after the shave yesterday either. That may partly be due to differences in lather - I face lathered with a boar today which didn’t give the absolute control over lather moisture and density I had when bowl lathering with a synthetic yesterday. Too many variables between the shaves to be positive the difference was the glycerin. But I suspect it was.

I will face lather with a boar again tomorrow but will use the glycerin first again and see how that feels.

Is there an enormous difference anyway? No. Today's shave was two passes to a high grade finish with no squawk from the alum -- an excellent result in other words. But the one using the glycerin might possibly have been just that tiny bit better. And it was more noticeable to me today when removing the glycerin than yesterday when adding it to the routine.

Of course, if I do ultimately decide that a preshave does improve my shave, I will naturally finesse the whole issue of the NB'18 by getting the TSD Shop's own well-rated concoction...

Very cool razor. I don't recall seeing it posted very often.

Thank you Dan. I am going with my daughter to Tempe. We are trying to find and rent an apartment for her during grad school.

Great photo and report on the AOS products. My wife gave me the balm, preshave and cream for Christmas several years ago. I found the cream works very well but didn't; care for the other two products at all.