Final days of March - Just marking time

March 31

Razor - '46-'47 Gillette Aristocrat
Blade - (3)
Brush - Vie-Long 12601
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, Nivea

For the final day of March I decided to end on an easy note. Do the third day on the Ladas, the totally awesome and dependable cousin to the mighty Voskhod, stay with the Aristocrat and use the TSD Lanolin Bay Rum soap that is down to the ring of death and just have a great shave. Boy, does that sound good. Oh, and the pony brush to feel that great scritch.

Well, the brush was good, lather was really good and I used more water to begin with on my face to avoid a dry lather problem. No issues, looks good........so why did this end up feeling like I had a Flying Eagle in the razor?!?!?!?! Seriously.....the first stroke made me check the razor. Yep, it's still the Ladas, no signs of damage, nothing clogged, silo doors battened down and ready for action. Give it another stroke. Still Gassy Goose rough. What the.......well come to think of it I had a rough one yesterday, not this rough, but not the usual Ladas feel either, and blamed it on dry lather, which was a contributing factor. Dipped the brush in my mug and added water as I reworked the lather on my face. Plenty of moisture. Managed to finish the first pass without actually swearing (much) and no tears. But man oh man was it terrible.

Lathered up again and went XTG for the second pass. Are you kidding me? Still a rough ride and not really cutting that well. I'm not stopping now, mostly because I don't have a good enough result to stop. Went ATG for the third pass and touch ups all along the neck and called it good at a CCS. Alum was incredibly hot. Tons of irritation and the Nivea barely cooled it off but finally did the trick. Totally non-typical Ladas shave.

Came home tonight and pulled the blade and looked at it under a bright light and at an angle and, even without high magnification, it appears the grind is a bit off. A couple of spots that don't look quite right. You know that one in a thousand dud you hear about? I think I found it. Apparently it was good enough for day one, yesterday it started to show its true colors, disguised with a bad lather, but today it really proved it should never have been put in a razor.

The one good thing? I don't remember hitting a Ladas dud before so it's probably safe to shave with them for a few years now. Since it is one of the blades I have on the list for April it won't be long before it gets another shot. Not judging it just yet. The dud theory makes more sense.

Hope March was good for all of you. Tomorrow is a whole new month. This year is FLYING by!

Thank you Robert! Proraso products are top notch! Especially green and white series.

I'd like to congratulate @waffen and all of our March Newbies!
Thank you @Boojum1 @PickledNorthern @LuvWetShavin and @Linuxguile for your generous donations, it's your support that makes TSD the best shaving forum on the web and beyond.
Sincerely
Kerry

And Kudos to @RaZorBurn123 for running a great monthly drawing, and for all the time he spends building our community!

Thank you, Chris! Means a lot.

Planned Birthday SOTD



Razor: Gillette Rhodium Fatboy (S5)
Blade: Gillette Spoiler (D1)
Brush: VP Leonhardy 700040
Bowl: Symmetrical Pottery
Pre Shave Scrub: MRGLO
Pre Shave Oil: Homemade Rosemary Mint
Shave Cream: AOS Peppermint
Post: MdC Huile Végétale Camomille
Cologne: Cerruti 1881
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Happy early Birthday!

As I usually do at the beginning of April, I begin my observation of "Artisan April" by creating my own artisanal soap. Last year's soap was very successful. I sold the formula to Lâncome, which they now market as a depilatory crème for women who wish to remove unwanted facial hair and have a chemical peel at the same time.
This year, I decided to make a "super tallow" soap using only what I could find at my local merchants.
From my abattoir, I purchased some fat back, ovine mesentary, bovine marrow, and something they had on the counter that looked "fatty." I rendered all of this down into delightful compote and set it outside to cure.
From my local hardware store I purchased my saponifying agent. I wanted something that would not only break the ester between the glycerine and fatty acids of my compote, but also promote good bone health and prevent osteoporosis. So, I decided to use slaked lime which was in the aisle with products used for making concrete.
As I was preparing to make my soap, I began to receive complaints from my neighbors about the scent coming from my garage. We searched for the cause of the odor and discovered it was my compote. Even though this had surprisingly solved my rat infestation, I knew I would need to find a nice scent to cover the putrid odor. . .er. . .strong aroma of the fatty ingredients. For this I had to look no further than my utility cupboard and my bottle of Febreeze room deodorizer.
Being that this is a cold process soap, I needed to let it cure for about six weeks--in which time I also noticed that my carpenter ants problem had resolved and my kitchen was now blessedly free of fruit flies. I continued to test the soap's readiness using the "zap test", and when the soap stopped burning the papillae off my tongue, I knew it was ready.
I will try my first shave with my new soap in the morning and will let everyone know how it went. I also have extra soap cakes if anyone would like to be a tester for me.
HAPPY APRIL 1st!

https://imgur.com/a/WaKVG

I don't mind being a guinea pig.

SOTD Fri. 4/1/16
Pre Shave Cleanser: Noxzema Classic
Pre Shave Oil: RR Essential Oil of Lime
Shave Soap: Palmolive Cool Menthol
Shave Brush: Semogue 620 Boar
Razor: Schick N1
Blade: Schick Twin

After Shave Balm: Stirling Mita
Soap: Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap
Cologne: Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene

Good morning friends. Yesterday I received a generous blade PIF from Mike aka @Redfisher for some injector and SE blades and this morning I put some Schick Twin injector blades to work. Wow! These are a complete game changer, the twin blades made the N1 more aggressive and efficient. I finished my shave in no time with no irritation and not one whisker left. Sublime shave experience! The Palmolive Cool Menthol cream is a cold yogurty, slick dream. Have a great shave and a great day guys.

Guy!

Happy Birthday.

04/01/2016
Cobra Classic
Kai Mild
WDC-8 with Druida Manchurian
Mystic Water Orange Vanilla
Witch Hazel
Folsom & Co Shambala
Whipped Shea Butter

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GOOD MORNING EVERYONE- TGIF!!! 04/01/16 SOTD

'59 Gillette 195 AKA Fatboy(set on 7)
Personna (5)
VDH Boar
Williams Mug Soap
Cold Water Rinse
Witch Hazel,Pinaud Clubman A/S

A truly Fabulous shave this Friday the First Day of April with My Fatboy, everything worked together for yet another BBS finish!!

HAVE A GREAT FRIDAY EVERYONE!!

01.iv.2016

John that's a very injector. Does it shave close?

I hate dud blades! The year is flying by!

TD Friday
Reef Point Test Depth has one of my favorite soap scents - classy cologne with a note of jasmine. The performance is top notch, too. The second shave on this Rapira SS proved as smooth and comfortable as the first. I'm impressed with these blades. Lavanille splash is another favorite scent that lasts long enough to be a cologne. Overall an excellent shave!
Prep: Van Yulay PSO
Soap: Reef Point Test Depth
Brush: HIS
Razor: der Futur
Blade: Rapira SS
AS: B&M Lavanille