Thanks Clint, and you are correct. I am two uses in and think I'm hooked already. I am going to start off May with a review thread, than jump right into Mayhem with you all!
Do I seek the Grail from the OC? No idea yet, but in the meantime... !!NEW!! May 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic-Discussion Thread is up and ready for a new month. Spread the good word!
Razor: Bluebeards Revenge Blade: Wilkinson Black (Day 5) Brush: 1305 Boar Soap-Arko A/S: The Shave Den-Coconut Day-26 Hot shower with a cold finish and Tea Tree soap for body and hair. I have really enjoyed this focus and I have learned much about my technic and some soaps. I really like the Arko stick. I gives a great lather and leaves the face in good condition after I shave and prepare to apply my AS. The Bluebeard razor is a good razor, however, I don't care much for the smooth handle or it's length. I am a big friend to Gillette Super Speeds. The Shave Den AS is an excellent product, and if you don't have some you should place an order. I think I'll look for a container for the Arko as it is a bit sloppy in it's package for my liking. Overall opinion is great shave tonight.
I've enjoyed reading and following each person's progress this month. @NCoxSTL and @Drygulch , your journey with shavettes and SR might even inspire me to give it a try at some point. I've enjoyed another month of primarily focusing on the Mongoose. I now know that I can consistently get 10 shaves out of Feather blades. At the end of this month, I decided to revisit the Feather Super blades. During an earlier focus, this blade provided a close shave but was too much for me to use on a daily basis. However, with my extended focus on the Mongoose this time proved to be the charm. At long last, I've found my go to blade with this razor. The Super blade does make the razor more aggressive so I will need to continue to work on my technique. My long term goal is to have this razor and blade combo as my go to work day morning set up. One that I can give little to no thought to its use but get fantastic results. So I'll continue this into the Focus for May.
I have enjoyed hearing about both the software and the hardware everyone is using. Its been fun to see folks learning new things, or getting better at things they already have. I am not gonna lie, these focus threads are feeding my various ADs. As of now, my want list, based on the focus threads include: 1) CJB Kamasori (Have one on the way.) 2) Mongoose or Cobra SE 3) Birth Year Gillette or Shick (or both) 4) More Straights 5) Soap Commander Soaps 6) Katie's Bubbles Soaps 7) The Veg 8) Florida Water 9) Floyd Aftershave 9) Big Honking knot in a brush Now I just need to figure out which organ to sell to get all that stuff.
My last two shaves, last night, and tonight, were with the Feather Hi Stainless, and Arko soap. The shave last night was very good, with no weepers, a light hand, and a irritation free great shave. As good as it was, tonight's shave, with the fat handled Canadian Tech was simply superb. For the fourth shave on this blade, and a new to me razor, the shave was so smooth, I questioned if the blade was in the razor. The result, after two passes, and a bit of neck touch-up, left me with a DFS to BBS shave, again. Two pictures of the new razors are here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/two-packages-in-the-mail-today.44809/
If you can get the Super down in the Mongoose I'd say you can handle the Artist Club or traditional straight! We'll get you over to the dark side yet!
I'll bid on your pancreas. Kind of need one of those again, or at least the parts I'm missing! The CJB is a great razor, especially at the price. I have my eye on a Henkotsu kamisori but may get a Sam Seong artist club kamisori. Like the looks and several have said it's totally on par with the Feather, though the CJB isn't far off if at all! Like you, though, my RAD especially is alive and well. Going back to DE for a month has my watch list filling up with a few DE's as well!
April 2015 ... 30 day blade focus ... pre: dr.bronner's, PSO(diy) brush: EJ best badger medium lather: proraso green soap razor: EJ89lbl blade: post: alum block, thayer's witch hazel (various flavors) 04/25/15 ... Super-Max Platinum (1) ... 3 days growth 04/26/15 ... Super-Max Platinum (2) ... Super-Max Platinum, meet Treet DuraSharp. Treet DuraSharp, meet Super-Max Platinum. Now, you guys go over there in the other room and tug and drag and pull with each other whilst I move on to another blade ... ;-( the good news with supermax is similar good news as the treet ... consistent over both shaves, no blood flow, no irritation. however, it seemed only slightly more sharp than the treet blade. i felt pretty consistent pulling and tugging throughout both shaves. almost all of my shaves during this April blade focus have been 2-pass shaves. the first one with the supermax was actually a 3-pass. on one hand, i felt like i needed the third pass just to get to the level of two passes by some of the other blades. on the other hand, since i didn't notice any irritation after the second pass, i didn't even think twice about going for a third. the end result wasn't actually so bad. i would certainly rate it as socially acceptable and probably even close comfortable. it's just that it wasn't as pleasurable an experience during the shave as with some other blades. wilkinson, 7am, voskhod, astraSP, treetdurasharp, crystal, supermax platinum ... next up is Dorco st-301
Such an awesome scent on the Tommy Bahama. I'm beginning to run out of mine, so I just bought another one because it's so damn good!
Good focus for April. Somewhere along the way I missed a few days, must have been the advent of Spring. Thank you for the Arko tip. Appreciate it!
Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori April 30, 2015 - Week 5 Day 5 Prep - Hot shower and towel Brush - Omega Pro 48 Soap - St. Charles Shave Sandalwood Razor - '46 Gillette Aristocrat Blade - (2) Post - Alum, Nivea Replenishing Post Shave Balm Final day of April and I finished on the setup I used yesterday with the exception that I changed to my Omega Pro 48 to try and improve the St. Charles Shave lather. The first pass seemed like the lather was better. I used more water than yesterday and loaded more soap before face lathering. Second and third passes were ok but the amount of lather was significantly less by the time I finished. Very thin on the third lather. I will have to revisit this soap and try bowl lathering at some point. I really want it to work. Just have to dial it in. On to MAYhem. Hope everyone is ready for International Worker's Day tomorrow! Boil the potatoes and onions and stock up on caviar and vodka!
04/30/2015 Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti Blade –Feather Super Pro (5) Brush –Shavemac Silvertip D01 Lather – B&M Seville Post - Witch Hazel and Myrsol Limon Sample Fantastic near BBS 2 pass shave this morning. Did manage to end up with one weeper but it was my fault. I really like the B&M Seville Soap. The scent has a very nice citrus note that is not over powering but does linger after the shave. Furthermore this soap is seriously slick. For any touch ups just a splash of water has enough residual slickness to prevent razor burn. Finished up with witch hazel and a splash of Myrsol Limon from my sampler pack. Between the soap and the aftershave, the post shave feel is great.
Aggressive April - Day 21 (4/30/15) Prep: Hot shower Soap: Arko Brush: Omega 13522 Razor: Cadet OC Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Balm Scent: Tommy Bahama Very Cool Quick 1 pass shave this morning. XTG, decent shave. Exhausted today, way too much going on this week.
