Interesting is the right word. Thanks for avoiding terms like "crazy", "insane", "incredibly stupid" and the like. I'm working on a Mayhem like no other so it should be fun if nothing else. It's fun to have someone else join me, because if nothing else I can turn it around and use "interesting"!

Arko April in Russia!

April 10

Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (1)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water rinse, Alum, The Veg

Sunday, Sunday. Late and short day for me so I slept in. A bit later than expected but that's ok. Had time to have some coffee and get my shave on before heading off to sales land. Moving on to the next in our Russian blade parade. The Rapira Swedish Supersteel. This is a popular blade with many and I have always had good luck with it. It's never made the top of my list but hey, not all can. It's still far better than most other choices, at least from past use.

This is one of the four blades listed on the Mostochlegmash website, and the description is Лезвия изготавливаются из высококачественной суперстали фирмы «САНДВИК», Швеция и имеют покрытую хромом и тефлоном режущую кромку. Это делает бритьё приятным и лёгким. Got it? Good. Oh, ok, here's the English -

The blades are made of high-quality superstali company " Sandvik " , Sweden, and have a coated chromium and Teflon cutting edge . This makes shaving easy and pleasant .

That is the direct translation from Google, bad grammar and all. So, the steel is from Sweden, and chromium and Teflon, which was news to me when I started this month. I love Teflon, so let's give it a go.

BoS and Arko for the monster lather, and the first pass was good. Notice I didn't say great. Better than average, but not a smooth as the other blades I've used this month. Second pass, XTG, still not as smooth and the end result was a barely DFS, not the BBS I've had from the others at least once with two passes. Third pass, ATG and slides and I finished with a high level DFS. But not the baby. If it wasn't a trial month I'd call it a fantastic finish. But, the competition with its litter mates is high! Two more days to see if it will smooth out and produce the baby. But I'm not going to complain. The Alum was equally quiet with the others so no worries there.

I keep having difficulty staying in touch with my crew, such as they are, and finally got in touch with Anatoly today. He's in charge of IT and communications for the cartel. He sent me a picture of the repairs he made in the equipment in Russia. Looks like he's improved his skillset! Maybe now I can get them home on time. Hope you all had a great Sunday!

​

Sunday Shower/Shave

Shower- Noxzema facial cleaner, Dr. Bronner's All-One Hemp Peppermint bar soap
Pso- Homemade grapefruit PSO
Brush- RazoRock Plissoft
Razor-Gillette Slim on 9
Blade- Gillette Silver Blue (1)
Soap- Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Gondolier
Thayers Witch Hazel
ASB- Nivea Sensitive scented with grapefruit EO

Ice cold shave tonight thanks to @Joef and @Robyflexx. I used ice water for everything tonight; soaking the brush, making the lather, rinsing my face, everything. It was wonderful! First, it felt great, very refreshing, second there was zero irritation. Three passes again tonight and I'm BBS.

Thanks to the 30 day rule, and the great folks of this forum, my technique has greatly improved. I'm getting face stretching down and it really helps get a closer shave. Have a great day folks!


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I'm getting Dave stretching down and it really helps get a closer shave. Have a great day folks!


@ob1page


Not sure who Dave is but be careful stretching him.. Glad to hear your shaves are going great!

Hahaha...stupid autocorrect

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

You are chosen.

Tomorrow is Arko with the Veg. That is quite a true test!

Arko will have no effect, strangely, for as strong as Arko is, the scent of lemons does not persist.

This is the kind of report we love to see from new guys! Nice work.

I'd still be suffering through cartridges if it wasn't for you folks, thank you so much!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I'll go through my blades tomorrow after work and see what I have thats on your list. I'm thinking 2 and out for each half of the blade so 4 days per blade. I'm not able to use a tiger in the shavette and I don't have a flying eagle so at most I have 32 days if I have one of everything else on your list. That covers me if I have a few blades that I jut can't stand to use again. I might use the Rolls if I have extra days left over.

I'm still thinking that it should be budget soaps with these terrible blades. I'm also going to break in a VdH boar brush. If Arko and Williams can't break in a brush then nothing else will.

Arko is great for breaking in brushes. Williams for dissolving them.

Oh, and four days on some of these blades - there's no dishonor in a backup plan to escape early on a few of them. Wisdom over valor!

Yeah I'll bail early if I need to. I'm hoping it will be like the Derby. Great in an ultra aggressive razor. What could be more aggressive then a razor that has no guards?

30 Day Focus -- April 11, 2016

Today I finished my tub of TOBS Natural. An awesome product. I will post a product review in the Soap forum later today. I will try to write a review of every soap I use as part of my one-soap-at-a-time initiative. I must admit...it was quite exciting to finally see the bottom of a tub. When I used my soaps in a rotation I never saw the end of a soap. And I realized that I really learned the qualities of the product when you use it every day. Tomorrow, I start on Cella!

SOTD April 11, 2016
Menthol Monday!

Prep: Warm shower
Blade: Vintage Wilkinson Sword, England
Razor: Maggard MR1 handle with V2 open comb
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: Arko M-bombed
Post: Witch hazel splash, Pinaud Lilac Vegetal, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up



Pretty nice shave this morning with M-bombed Arko and The Veg! I bowl lathered the Arko with about four drops of TSD M-bomb. That created a pretty decent menthol effect that was invigorating on this Monday morning. The Arko worked just fine. I really like Arko. The scent doesn't bother me and it provides tons and tons of lather.

I was using a vintage Wilkinson Sword blade, made in England, courtesy of @DaltonGang. I really liked this blade. It was sharp but quite smooth. No tugging or pulling of any kind. That was my first use with a vintage blade and I enjoyed it!

After a cold rinse I applied a witch hazel splash followed by a healthy splash of THE VEG. It does not offend my wife or me and I'll gladly say that I'm chosen. It did not burn or sting near as much as yesterday's application. I finished off with Nivea sensitive balm.

One big pass with generous touch-ups and I'm CCS and ready for the day. Have a great Monday!

04/11/2016
AlumiGoose with Triad SS
Feather Pro (1)
BSB-2 with Vie-Long Two Band
Mystic Water Orange Vanilla
Witch Hazel
Fine L’Orange
Whipped Shea Butter

​

Still with the the SE Focus, I added the AlumiGoose to the mix. I will use it a couple of times a week to get a better comparison to the Cobra Classic. I went with with my normal 2 pass shave followed my minimal touch ups and ended with a near BBS shave. The V1 AlumiGoose is more aggressive than my Mongoose and shaves very close to the Cobra Classic. The MW Orange Vanilla was super slick as usual. This soap should be done in a couple more shaves. Finished up with a splash of Fine L'Orange and I think I am ready for today. I hope everyone has a great Monday.

SOTD
April 11, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Noxzema
Razor: Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip E1
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Arko M-Bomb
Brush: RazoRock Boar 26x64mm
Post: Thayers Rose Petal WH.
Aftershave: Pitralon Pure. Aqua Velva Ice Balm
I had a fantastic shave using my Gillette SS Flare Tip and Arko! The RazoRock boar is a great brush, soft with tons of backbone. I've been sticking to a 3 pass shave and it's been really paying off. Although I get a DFS I do notice that my beard seems to be heavier 24 hours later. I've had this Aqua Velva Ice Balm for a long time I haven't used it much, it's pretty good stuff.
What defines us is how well we rise after falling.

So what did you end up ordering?

I have recently found the Dorco ST-301 Platinum to be an excellent blade. Cost effective also. YMMV