30 Day Rule/Focus; April 2024. All Are Welcome!

Monday April 15 (just after midnight started the new day) - Menthol Monday; Arko Adjustable Artisan April

Prep: Hot shower with Aleppo olive oil soap with 20% bay laurel oil

Razor: Supply 2.0 matte black stainless steel injector with "SE" open comb plate; vintage US-made Schick Plus Platinum (1) - The "Adjustable"

Soap: Arko stick - The "Arko"

Brush: Jason's @jtspartan 30DC LE maple brush with 24mm APShaveCo cashmere synthetic knot - The "Artisan"

Lather Bowl: None

Post: rinse, alum, rinse, Clubman Osage Rub (the "Menthol"), Clubman VIBR

Last shave: Saturday April 6 - almost 9 days ago

The stuff (mostly - wrong razor):



Since my last shave was almost nine days ago, I was dealing with a full-on beard. I was going to use the Rockwell T2 adjustable shown in the photo, but at the last minute switched to my Supply 2.0 injector instead. I also loaded with a fresh vintage American-made Schick blade to get that true "cuts like a razor" feeling.

The Supply 2.0 is a big lump of stainless steel (the newer Supply injectors are all thickly chromed zinc alloy instead - but still big lumps of metal.) When dealing with many days' growth of whiskers, I find it easier to use than either the light-weight vintage Schick injectors or most DE razors. That solid mass combined with the rigid injector blade (compared to a DE blade) lets the Supply 2.0 simply plow through heavy stubble in a single pass instead of needing multiple passes to reduce the growth gradually.

As usuaI the Arko just plain worked. With a heavy beard stubble, a good coating of soap easily rubbed off the damp shave stick. The synthetic brush quickly whipped that into a good lather all over my face. And unlike the animal hair brushes, the synthetic brush retained enough lather available for release to relather for several passes if desired.

Two passes sufficed. Actually, I was visibly cleanshaven after the first pass - WTG on my face and ATG on my neck. However, I relathered and went XTG everywhere to get to a very near BBS. No nicks, blood spots or burns anywhere, although the alum was mildly warm in places.

The Osage Rub provides a strong menthol chill and the Clubman VIBR produces a noticeable alcohol burn; the combination is quite bracing. Together they left me wide awake and ready to start my night shift.

Incidentally, I did notice one odd thing again tonight: after applying the Osage Rub and Clubman VIBR, I had just rinsed off and dried my hands. Shortly after, Ramses, my Siamese cat, came and sat on me, sniffed my nearest hand closely, then grabbed it and started obsessively washing it. I usually only see him act like that when I have been handling catnip. I couldn't get him to stop until I went back and washed my hands thoroughly with a scented bar soap. Is it maybe the scent of the bay leaf that was acting on him like catnip?

Hope everyone had a good weekend and has an excellent week!

 

Nice shave and hope you enjoyed the game.

Uhmmm... Any idea what a stainless "amorphous diamond" blade is, other than fancy marketing talk?

 

Thanks Joe, based on the soaps I have it's hard to beat Sterling

Thanks Gary

Elegant super Sunday shave Gary

Lovely setup and shave Joe, that bowl is doing the Lather Meister justice!

Great post John
2 passes for 9 day old beard, impressive

 

15 APRIL 2024

Repeat hardware and software

Sticking with the Slim for a bit: on setting 5 for the full shave worked better today

2 passes and some touch ups for an acceptable work shave

Not game for ATG upper and lower lip on setting 5 but to be honest it was not needed

No Damage which is a good thing

Hope you are all having a super Monday

 

April 15 SOTM Headshave

1955 Gillette RedTip
Gillette Wilkinson Sword DE Blade (6)
Heritage Collection C-Mon Replica Super HD Badger Brush
Van der Hagen Select SS and other bits
Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS
Stirling Alum Block
Personal Care Witch Hazel
Dome Turf: 3 days



I haven't used my RedTip in over a month so it got the call today. The RedTip is the most aggressive of the colored tips, but I consider it a mild razor. However, it is efficient that it was able to take down my dome turf in 3 passes. I achieved a cueball smooth result without any blood loss.
The Van der Hagen Select Soap produces a slick and creamy lather which is important for any shave; especially a headshave.
Here's my lather:



I had very little alum feedback. Finished with the witch hazel and the AV Ice Blue aftershave. Take care.

 

Awesome shave and post John. It just may be the cat picked up on the bay leaf.

 

Thanks for the kind words Chris.

 

Super Slim shave Chris. Yes, no damage is definitely a good thing.

 

Thanks, Joe.

Yes, I am wondering if bay leaf is in any way related to or somehow similar to catnip and other members of the mint family.

 

That's a really nice brush!

I find the Red Tips rather odd -- Gillette marketed them as the most aggressive of the colour-coded TTO razors. But compared to early Gillettes like the pre-WW1 open combs, they were quite mild.

Maybe the early Gillettes were being sold to men switching from straight razors and used to their level of aggressiveness, while the post-WW2 TTOs were marketed mainly to men who had only ever used safety razors? So the meaning of "aggressive" had changed quite a bit?

 

I find my Gillette adjustables both efficient and comfortable on setting "4" . The higher settings require more care in shaving without improving the closeness of the result at all. So I don't bother cranking them any higher normally.

And thinking about my shaving, I haven't gone Against The Grain on my upper lip with any razor for years and rarely on the rest of my face either. It's feels uncomfortable doing it, especially on my upper lip, and doesn't achieve any results I don't already get with a With The Grain pass followed by one Across The Grain, so again, I just don't bother. Why invite nicks and razorburn when there's no need?

 

Thanks John. I agree it is a nice looking brush. I hardly use it because it is a lather hog. I don't swirl wet brushes on soaps in a tub because they lose their scents. I use this brush mainly when I use my soap in a mug. I make sure that I have more than enough soap on this brush so that I just paint the lather on my dome, otherwise the lather will go into the brush if I splay it.

 

thank you Chris.

 

fine way to start the week gents.

 

-Mogno-Monday-
brit new/tech hybrid
semogue 820
mogno
floid black



good morning gents
fine mogno monday shave.
sticking with the aristocrat april i brought out the tech hybrid,not a 'crat you say?
but it is a rhodium plated masterpiece ,and the last hurrah for the new rfb series.
fine mogno lather,smooth 2 passer with minor pick ups
liberal splash of floid black to finish.
awesome
have a fine day everyone
​

 

Thanks Gary.

 

Awesome shave Gary.

 

Nice set up Joe. I'll be doing my second combined face & head shave of the week tomorrow morning. I actually look forward to my headshaves. I've started to experimenting with each of my DE razors for my combined head shaves to build up my head shaving technique.

 

Thanks Barry. You will eventually find that you get great headshaves with a DE razor. As you know, the most difficult part is the curves of the dome and the nape. You will do fine.

 

It's not the razor giving you a headache, Joe. It's the Clubman.