April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I am not sure of the difference either. Looks like you'll have fun experimenting. I am planning on using the Personna 74 in another endurance test this summer. I enjoyed consistently good shaves the last time.

 

Gorgeous amigo!

 

Thanks very much Mark.

 

April 13, 2017...

So last night I went to the Biloxi Shuckers home opener. The Shuckers are the AA affiliate of the Brewers. Good fun game, but the Shuckers lost. So I was able to shower last night, but I didn't work a shave in. Which means today I shaved twice. In the morning I broke out the electric razor which gave the appearance of a clean shave, but was anything but. But as always, it allowed me to have just a bit more stubble for the evening shave.

The equipment:
- Shick E3 Injector Razor w/ Shick Injector Blade (5th use, I think).
- Simpson Case Best Badger Brush
- Maggard's Sweet Orange PSO
- Mariana Cottage Hometown Hero Soap
- Alum + Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic for the post shave experience

For tonight's shave, I decided to try a WTG/ATG two pass with touch up shave. Last time it was a XTG/ATG. I'm trying to see what gives me the most efficent two pass shave, and so far no winners. First pass went well, stubble reduction, no irritation, no nicks or weepers. Second pass was equally as well, again no nicks or weepers so I was especially pleased. After rinsing with some hot water, i started feeling around my face to see where the touch ups were needed. The neck, under the chin, and jawline were to be expected, so I took the brush and began applying a thin coat of lather. Then razor in hand got to work. Most areas I was able to get clean, and learned some new directions to use to get that smooth shave (or did I?). Directly under the chin, or rather the point of the chin always takes me a bit to get, and it was here that I got my first weeper. I have only myself to blame though as I didn't apply lather.

So I was getting ready to rate this maybe a DFS- shave, but during the post shave experience after drying off some of the spots that I thought I had gotten nice and smooth weren't so smooth after all. So I think maybe a B- is acceptable, since I did fairly good on the jawline and only had one weeper.

The Mariana Cottage soap did good again, and I'm starting to learn a few things. Initially it doesn't take a lot of water to get two passes worth of lather out of it. But the longer it sits, the more airy it gets. If you lather directly on the puck you shouldn't have a problem with running low on product. But if you bowl or face, you might need to reload. Never the less I had enough to finish. Tonight will be the last night for this soap, as it will be time to move on to something else.

Since tomorrow is Friday I probably won't shave, but Saturday could bring new adventures.

 

Friday shave

Today's razor was finished on the Shapton 16k and already has a shave on it. This Drew Dick 5/8 always seems to take wickedly sharp edge and today was no exception. It is a very hollow grind and shaving with razor sounds like pulling velcro apart, very cool. The edge feels allot like a Feather Pro, very very sharp. I do like the smile this razor has.

Four passes and no blood except for one pimple that was removed and just tickle from the alum. Longs lasting dolphin smooth face today.

Irritation A Closeness A+ Smoothness A Sharpness A+

 

April 13 (Thursday ) - creaming along on focus
Schick Krona / Topaz Platinum ( 2 )
Alluminati Envy White brush
Vi-John shaving cream
Alum and cold water and Vi-John

Tonight's cream was another Indian offering, Vi-John. It bills itself as "Asia's largest selling shaving cream" and touts the benefits of having Vitamin E as well as lanolin in it for that healthy skincare. I would say it is another solid middle-of-the-pack performer. The smell of this basic cream is just an unidentifiable pleasant clean, soapy scent -- there are lime and menthol versions that are no doubt somewhat different. So no points for a great scent but no negatives either. It face lathers easily and provides good basic protection. I found the lather dissipated more quickly than others, so my chin and upper lip looked nearly bare by the time I got to them, but the protective slip and glide were still there. Face feel was good though not as "silky" as with some other lanolin soaps or creams. I put the leftover lather on my face as a balm at the end to test the postshave feeling. My face feels good - soft and smooth although a little bit dry.

My shave tonight gave me a good close shave with no irritation and no stinging from the alum after diagonal passes and an ATG pass.

Hope everyone has a good Easter weekend.

 

Today I decided to clean and hone a couple of new razors. One of which was a razor given to me by @Screwtape.
I'm excited to say that this one honed up beautifully. I'm still new enough to honing to be very excited by that. I am very smooth after three passes
Route 66 Bay Lime Twist Soap
B-400 Brush by Tom
Thomas Mfg Co Razor
Thayers Witch Hazel
Ogallala Bay Rum Sage and Cedar
Have fun!

 

Been SUPER busy the last couple of days, so here are the last couple:



-Henckels 13/16" RP
-Rudy Vey Shavemac



-Brian Brown 6/8" Spike
-Jayaruh 400

Guys, I haven't had a chance to mail out any of the brush SPIFF stuff yet. I will get to the post office tomorrow, unless things go completely to Hell, but I am only planning to work the morning.

Night all.

 

Really neat pictures, Jared!

 

Arko Adjustable April!!!!!

April 13

Razor - 1959 (E4) Gillette Fatboy (9)
Blade - (3)
Soap - Arko
Brush - WCS Synthetic
Post - Alum

Well there is a limit to the Platinum. And the wide open 195 seems to have found it. Definitely a little less smooth at 9 and the nice little nick it put on my right jaw was proof that this blade doesn't like the aggression as much as some. Still a great shave overall with a near-BBS finish. But, it could have been BBS if it wasn't right on the edge of disaster and I could have done another full pass. Still, a good blade and one that would work great in a lot of razors. I can see why it's popular.

Bounced back to the West Coast synthetic and loaded from the Arko puck for 20 seconds. Enough lather for all of us to shave with. Lovin' it!

Had a day filled with conference calls and resets for the new beds on the way - all the non-fun part of store management. I'm chilling out with some fun music. I'll leave you with a taste of what I'm listening to tonight.

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Good Report! Injector blades are noted for longevity, and the razor seems to be helping you work on more precise control. Pretty soon, it will become normal and automatic Dfs. Bbs if you want it. Bad news though, nowhere to go but Straights from here!

 

Awesome April
13 April 2017
Day Thirteen - The Arko Challenge



Two passes, No clock needed today...Hero Finish. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a fantastic Friday!
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Some random mid April musing...

Parker is worth every penny. It's a well done shavette. Ostensibly it's Arko April, but the goal is also to give the Parker a true test for a while and see what it's all about. Thirteen days in, and I could stop now and declare it a winner. On another thread, I called the Magic my favorite razor. It just seems "cooler" to me and kinda fun. However, I can't say a single bad thing about the Parker, and if it were the only razor I had, I'd be cool with that!

 

Still not back to Adjustable Arko Focus April!

Route 66 Barbershop Hop, B-400 Tuxedo
The Bunny V3.1 Injector and a Chick blade
Skipped the alum, straight to the Clubman


The Arko has been staring at me with those puppy dog eyes, but I had a different idea. Tuxedo and Route 66 for that great lather, The Bunny for an unbeatable smooth error free reduction, and straight to the Pinaud AS. Dare I claim a BBS, this must be what they feel like. Schick made some fine SE razors with the help of an R&D department, a bunch of engineers, and a factory. Tom @twhite must be related to Tony Stark.

 

Thank you tried to hide my obsession and I have collected far more perfume than shaving gear. My favorites change with the seasons and moods.

In no particular order and subject to daily change.

YSL Kouros, Mr. Blass, YSL Rive Gauche, Guerlain Vetiver, Roja Dove Vetiver
Chanel: Antaeus, Cuir de Russie, Dior Cuir de Canage, Knize Ten
Creed Green Irish Tweed, SMN Acqua Di Cuba, Guerlain Mouchier de Monsieur, MDCI Invasion Barbarie
Serge Lutens Musk Koblai Khan, Montale Auod Cuir d' Arabia, Frederic Malle Musc Ravaguer

Today TdH was in my favorites, good juice.

 

Congrats Charlie. The brush looks fantastic.

 

April 14, 2017
Colonial Razors “The General”
Feather Pro (7)
WDC-8 with Druida Manchurian
Reef Point Test Depth
Witch Hazel with Menthol
Cool Water EDT

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It's Friday and another week will soon be gone. The lineup this week has really delivered consistently enjoyable shaves. The WDC-8 easily whipped up the Test Depth into a rich slick lather. The crisp clean scent with hints of citrus add to my enjoyment. No reason to mess with success so I went with a traditional 3 pass shave with minimal clean ups which ended in a near perfect shave. The small area on my neck continues to be my nemesis. Overall the shave is a solid "A". I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday.

 

April 14 (Friday ) - off focus

Gillette Canadian pre-War Fathandled Tech / Topaz Platinum ( 1 )
Canadian Rubberset 100V reknotted with Maggards 22mm plissoft knot
TSD Lanolin soap - Sandalwood

For my early morning Good Friday shave, I abandoned both my testing of shave creams and my "anything but Gillette DE" monthly focuses. I paired a pre-War triangle-slotted Tech with my Topaz Platinum blade for a simply superb BBS shave.

And for the shave product, I left off the creams to pull out a soap instead - TSD's own lanolin-infused version of Sandalwood. The scent is mild but woody - as far as I can tell a straight sandalwood without other scents mixed in. The soap base is excellent. Half a dozen swirls loaded the synthetic brush and the addition of a palmful of water in the lathering bowl produced several passes worth of rich, creamy lather. The protection, glide and face feel were what one would expect from a lanolin soap. After my shave, I didn't use any postshave products as none were needed. In short, I can fully understand the excellent reputation these soaps have on the forum, and it definitely isn't just because the operator of the forum makes them.

The shave was a good start to the day.

I expect tomorrow I will return to where I left off in my alphabetical creams (I am up to Proraso I believe). However, I think I will change the other part of my setup and continue to use the Tech with the Topaz Platinum blades from now on as my test platform in place of the Schick Krona.

 

I have my first synthetic brush the Jayaruh 137. I used it for the first time yesterday and it was ok. I think I will just use it for awhile until I get the hand of it. Anyone have tips on a synthetic brush, It has an Ace synthetic in it,