April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Buon viaggio!

 

Well I guess that answers once and for all the question of whether or not mattresses are overpriced.

Nice car, Neal. I really like that color.

 

Yes. But we'll need a bigger spoiler.

On custom import culture:

I've pondered the absurdity of an inverted airfoil on a front wheel drive car, but it's like the Veg, you either molest Japanese auto design fully or not at all. Now excuse me, I have to go put some glass pack mufflers and nitrous injection on my Prius. BRB...

 

Nice! I've only seen Puerto Rico, but the Caribbean is a place I'd love to explore. Glad to hear you're back in good health and had fun! Hawaii is great, don't worry about where, just go. Each Island has its own unique little culture and climate/topography, the sky at night from the hills is amazing. And it's domestic travel, five hours from LAX

 

(giggling)

This is why we do Arko April!

Soap is something I am agnostic about. Water varies, skin varies and razor styles behave differently in practice. You raise your voice here for good reason, and I will admit that I personally go overboard on things like Veg, Arko and Barbasol. But fanboy? No. Troll? Yes. Fun? Always.

 

Well, I've managed to read over 400 posts on my layovers today. As usual, I've learned a lot from this thread. I've learned that Arko is polarizing, Adam has sensitive skin on various parts of his body (Arko and Osage issues), Jared is the Lather Whisperer, and Neal is the repository of failed shaving supplies.
I guess I should pick a focus in the sprit of the April theme. I will pick A fully Adjustable strAight rAzor as my focus this month. I will concentrate on Angles and Accessorizing.
Delayed flight is boarding earlier than initially estimated. Yay!
See you later✈️

 

Grazie!

 

Safe journeys!

 

That's the spirit!

 

Very nice! Road trip!

I'll be out next to help you install a spoiler and ground effects, maybe even some whistle tips...

 

Thank you. This one has bothered me for decades.
It should be over the drive wheels.

 

I either make it work or do fantastically entertaining and death defying shaves with it anyway.

 

Actually I'll need everyone here to call me by the end of the week to order a new mattress. I promised the bank I could raise that kind of cash to get this deal done. Kind of fun being on the "other side" of a car deal, by the way. And, one of the salesmen at the dealership is a guy I sold cars with. I didn't know he had moved dealers. I didn't buy from him, but he saw me and came running while I was out test driving a couple of them.

 

Adjusted Arko April Focus!

Arko & Williams, Omega Pro 98
Weck & Annie Platinum SS blade
Alum & Pinaud Special Reserve


Some folks dislike Arko, others Williams. I can and do use both. Sometimes during the same shave. Granted the Williams is Vintage, not current formula. So I wet my face, rubbed the stick of W from ear, across chin, to other ear twice. Loaded a little A on the well broken in boar and proceeded to make more lather than one man needs for a shave session. Wielding a fairly fresh piece of Japanese steel got my WTG & ATG passes done with plenty of glide. Between the two soaps I had plenty of juicy lather and chose to skip the safety razor clean up. XTG from ear to nose is an easy pass. I can get a modified sloping cross pass on my right side neck using left hand. Still feels awkward going left to right with my off hand (I'm a lefty) on the left side of neck. Training wheels off - SAS to CCS finish with no blood. Alum sparkled a little, but no real hot spots. Feeling like I completed a difficult task well, finished with Indiana Jones AS/cologne.
Good Shaves Y'all!

 

I wish I could, but I spent all my money on razors. Actually in a blatant attempt to suck up to leadership, I bought my first Russian steel last night.







For whatever reason this one was almost chilling looking like when I was a little kid and afraid we were going to get nuked by the commies. Plus it was in really nice shape. So I bid too much money for it, and it is coming my way as we speak.

 

Awesome April
4 April 2017
Day Five - The Arko Challenge


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Standard two for the DFS. Five edges gone, 25 great shaves remaining in April. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a wonderful Wednesday morning!

 

Arko Adjustable April!!!!!

April 4

Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (3)
Blade - (13)
Soap - Arko
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Post - Alum

Since it's Arko Adjustable April it's a good time to get some blade trials in. I've been remiss in working through those with all of the new goodies I've had the good fortune to acquire. Time to put the new toys away and get down to business. After all, shaving isn't supposed to be fun, right?

Actually I enjoy the trials and finding out what's what and all that stuff. Besides, it doesn't get boring that way. So, back to the Slim on 3 for the mild shave with the Lord Super Stainless blade. Lord is, as many of you know, based in Egypt after moving there from its earlier days in England. The Lord blades have a nice history to them and lots of fans. There are a number to choose from and the Super Stainless should be an interesting three shaves.

Head shave night first so it was a double Arko night for me. I've discontinued using VDH soap since I have a lifetime supply of Arko and others. I will say I think using Arko on my head shave has improved the result. Either that or I've just been perfectly in the groove the past two weeks. Moving to the regular shave I found the Lord SS to be a smooth blade and not overly sharp. Not dull, mind you, but there are sharper blades. Still, quite smooth, comfortable and easy to knock out a high level DFS in two passes plus touch up. Very nice feel at the mild setting on the Slim and I'm looking forward to seeing what it does at 6 tomorrow night.

I have used a Lord Platinum before and wasn't overly impressed, but I wasn't really focusing on the result at the time. And, of course, platinum coatings can change the performance over the Super Stainless version. How this blade does over three shaves will be a nice baseline to compare the others to.

Car dealing today was less of a pain than I thought it might be. We test drove three different vehicles but didn't see the model below at the dealer we went to. Apparently it's not a subsidiary of an Egyptian company.

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That's a pretty nice looking hunk of Russian steel there. Hopefully it can be honed and made into a great razor for you. I'm a bit jealous. But, since you did buy a Russian razor, I'll waive the mattress requirement this time. Somebody else will just have to buy two.

 

You, sir, should have a place in the honor roll roster of minimalists. Shavette, Arko, Plisson, Alum that lasts for three years. I like it.

 

You just needed to go a little farther down the road.