April 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 24, 2015 - Week 4 Day 6
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Arko
Razor - CJB
Blade - (6)
Post - Alum, Clubman

Late night post due to early morning but I did get two passes with the CJB and went to work looking good. DFS on face and CCS on the neck but I decided it was good enough. One minor nick on my neck but nothing to worry about. I could have finished a third pass with either the CJB or my SS but decided two was enough for the day. Early morning again tomorrow as usual on Saturday so I'll do my usual Saturday DE shave and be ready to push some quality automobiles out the door!

​

 

Another great evening Arko, Schick injector shave.... and off to work...

 

FB focus day 25:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
Stirling Barber Shop (sample)
FB w/Gillette Platinum set on 7
Stirling Unscented PSB
Clubman AS

Back to normal today. I did try out the Gillette Platinum for the first time today. Shave felt good, but a little more sting than normal when I put the Clubman on.

 

04/25/2015
Razor – Mongoose B2
Blade –Feather Pro (9)
Brush –Rudy Vey with TGN Finest
Lather – B&M Lavanille
Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol F/Extra sample



Fantastic 3 pass BBS shave this morning. I think this blade will be done with the next shave. Seems that 10 shaves are about the limit for me and Feather Pro blades with the Mongoose. I will say that there is no tugging etc but just more work to get the same results. The B&M Lavanille whipped up a great slick lather. Finest up with witch hazel followed by a Mrysol F/Extra AS.

 

Prep- Hot shower, Lush Ocean Salt facial scrub
Razor- Genco Henry XX
Brush- Omega 48
Soap- Arko
Post- A lot of Old Spice

Another acceptable shave! For the most part my cheeks are BBS with little patches of stubble where it was hard for me to maneuver the razor. I stropped the razor as I got the shower nice and hot and right when I was done I of course had to take a whiff of the strop.....mmm....leather. When I started to whip up the Arko my nose didn't know which one smelt better. Either way two great scents to start off my day. I'm still trying to figure out different grips to make shaving as comfortable as possible but I'm in no rush, things seem to be going steady as of now so I'll enjoy the ride.

 

April 25

Stirling Sheep facial soap
Merkur 37C slant bar razor
Feather blade (day 2)
Omega 10098 Professional boar brush
Arko & glycerin
Three passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Pinaud Clubman

The first pic shows my brush loaded and ready to go, and the second one shows what's left on the brush after I face-lathered the Arko. I easily had enough lather (lemony goodness?) for four passes, although I stopped at three. What a fine way to start a Saturday. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

April 2015 ... 30 day blade focus ...

pre: dr.bronner's, PSO(diy)
brush: EJ best badger medium
lather: proraso green soap
razor: EJ89lbl
blade: crystal
post: alum block, thayer's witch hazel (various flavors)

04/20/15 ... Crystal (1) ... 3 days growth
04/22/15 ... Crystal (2) ... 2 days growth

ahhhh, after the TreetDuraSharp shaves (not!), it's feels good to be back to a blade that works well with my razor and face!! both shaves went without incident. the blade cut right through the beard on the first pass on both days ... without any of the pulling and tugging i recently felt with the treet blade.

wilkinson, 7am, voskhod, astraSP, treetdurasharp, crystal, ... next up is SuperMax Platinum

 

It's ok. The alcohol burn goodness of Clubman is a classic for a reason.

 

"Don't bring a DE to a gunfight!"

 

I use a couple of Lush products. Mrs Samurai introduced me to their products. We are lucky to have two boutiques in Denver.

 

Arko April!!

Late post for Friday and Obituary for Platinum Plus
​

Started out with Blade 4, Day one....then bailed on it. It appears that my package of blades has corroded over time and I can't justify continuing the blade life experiment. I got seven shaves each from the first three blades. 7 days was close the result @GDCarrington got in his blade life focus.

However, Arko is undeterred.

Friday's setup went like this. I will probably repeat it later today.

Arko!!
53 Ball End Tech
Rapira Platinum Lux (1)
Plisson
Alum
The Veg

Super busy week. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Thoughts on Rapira Platinum Lux

I received a tuck of Lux as part of a larger deal with @youngunn , as he really digs them and wanted me to try. The blade seemed to be pretty smooth and was an acceptable performer. I really didn't notice much about it at all, so I see why it's a fave of some here. Good blade. Will see how many shaves I can get from it, but Day one went pretty good. It's made by the same Russian conglomerate that makes Voskhod, so not really surprised that it's a winner.

 

Too bad about the blades. Those are the chances you take when you go vintage.

 

I am a little disappointed by it, but I did get to experience the true "vintage shave" blade and razor combo...no regrets!

 

Arko April!!

SOTD 25 April 2015

Rapira Platinum Lux (2)
Arko!!
Plisson
53 Ball End Tech
Alum
The Veg
​

Day 2 on Rapira PL was not as good as day one. The blade seemed more tuggy and less sharp today. I still got the automatic 2 pass smoothness...but at a cost of a little irritation. Does the blade survive to day three? Stay tuned!

Have a great Saturday Evening!​

 

I like the Rapira PL, one of my top Russians. Voskhod, Rapira PL, Ladas, and Sharp Star are top four, not necessarily in that order. Voskhod is my favorite, Sharp Star a close second and challenging for number one.

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 25, 2015 - Week 4 Day 7
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Razor - '59 Superspeed
Blade - (1)
Post - Alum & The Veg

Saturday again. Early start, busiest day of the week so it's grab the SS and give it two passes today. With the Super Max Platinum two is all it took to get DFS all over with no nicks, cuts or other problems. Alum was quiet, especially compared to my days with the CJB and The Veg had me all fresh and feeling great to hit the road. Must be my lucky scent too as the first customer of the day was a perfect lay down on the car. Drove it, paid asking price for it and got off the lot fast, easy and satisfied. The power of the Mighty Veg!

​

 

April 26 Plans

Stirling Sheep facial soap
Merkur 37C slant bar razor
Feather blade (day 1)
Omega 98 Professional boar brush
Arko & glycerin
Two passes
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, unrefined shea butter, and Pinaud Clubman

Have a good Sunday, all!

 

Today's shave (Saturday) happened at about noon, and given the great shave the previous evening at about 9 pm, I did not really have a lot to shave. I used the SuperSpeed, with the same Lord blade(6), and ended up with a very acceptable DFS two pass shave. Did I mention I really like Arko? Now I need to purchase a "few" so I won't run out during the Zombie, world ending, economic collapse natural disaster (pick one) that will happen. Maybe a case of 12 to last the equivalent time as the number of blades I have..... 3 years!

 

FB focus day 26:

Homemade PS Oil
Vie-long Horsehair Brush
TSD Wheat Shaving Cream Lavender & Rose
FB w/Gillette Platinum set on 7
Stirling Unscented PSB
Florida Water

Today was the day I looked through my soaps and creams and AS and found some I hadn't used in a while. I like the TSD cream and love the scent. Provided a great shave this morning. I usually like to use the Florida Water on days when I am home, and since I am working a shutdown, this hasn't been the case, so I went for it today. A good start to a Sunday, even if I am heading to work.

I continue to like the FB set more aggressively than I had ever thought I would. The Gillette Platinum is a decent blade, but I do notice a but of irritation that I don't seem to get from some of my other blades.