April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I am pretty sure that whoever named your soap that way, had that song in mind. It's a traditional folklore song from the Ciociaria, the southern part of Lazio (Rome's region). It's about an old man, uncle Joe, who was going out to play his musical instrument (that sort of long tamburine with a stick in the middle, that you see being played by the leftmost man in the orchestra), when a young, pretty woman passed by and asked him what kind of instrument was that. Uncle Joe, being polite, volunteered to escort her to the barn to teach her how to play the instrument. She accepted and she liked it so much that the barn almost fell down.

In fact, in the italian google, if you search for the name of your soap, you will get all the first hits about that song. The soap appears way down.
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Shaving report: Who am i kidding? I can't go back to the Derby as long as i have untested blades. Focus will resume next month.

Weishi FL + Astra SP = BBS (1)WTG, (2)XTG above jawline, ATG below jawline, (3)WTG above jawline, ATG below). 0 cuts, 0 irritation, much closer shave than Derby, plus, today i REALLY nailed the lather. Didn't make much, but for the first time, i couldn't discern my skin beaneath and it was compact and skiny amd thick. As soon as i started cutting with Astra, i felt the difference with Derby. Much less work, much more cutting power. I haven't nicked myseld, but i 've no dount i can cut myself with this blade if not careful. But concentrated and had my 1st BBS. The cutting power of this blade, is beyond comparison to the Derby's. I have still to try Shark SS, Dorco ST301 and Personnas, but i really don't think i will be buying more of them, as i don't see what they 'd have to offer that Astra doesn't. Plus, 100 Astras, in my favourite barbers' website, are sold just 10 cents more than 100 Derbys (this is almost sacriledge) and 1-2 EUR less than Dorco and Shark and 4 EUR less than Personnas. I am sorry, but no matter what they can do, i can't see how they can beat Astra's price/performance. No wonder, i read it's the no1 blade in Italy.

My first BBS with DE, almost anniversary shave (5th shave). At this point:
- Derby: OK shaves, the biggest advantage is that you can do pretty much anything without cutting yourself. Definitely a blade for a newbie, definitely for a quick shave without worrying about cutting yourself.
- Astra SP: For real shaves, albeit with more concentration, because this blade cuts much more. Overall, much less work to get a better shave than Derby. And i suspect that you can extract more shaves from an Astra, compared to Derby.
I 've bought 300 Derbys + 100 Bluebirds (which are Derby made), because i thought "not being able to cut is good". At this point, my next purchase (soon), will be 400 Astras SP. It's completely different shave level. When i will start the razor rotation, i will probably use the Derbys in the DE89. It seems to be able to cut a bit more. The Astras in the Weishi, are a match made in heaven.

Yeah, i don't think Dorcos, Sharks or Personnas can beat Astra. And certainly not for the price (they cost more than Astras!). But, maybe between Dorco and Shark, i may find a better option than Derby for the "quick, non dangerous blade". I am going for a high-low mix. Astra will be the high sharpness blade. Maybe one of them can be better than Derby for low part. I don't want sharper than Astra either, it would become too easy to cut myself. Yeah, i 'd better build a stock of Astras ASAP. The only good thing with Derby, is that you can probably shave drunk with it and it still won't cut you. And that they 're cheap. But, not cheap enough compared to Astras... Still, i can use them. But definitely not the blade to have BBS, at least, not as a newbie, neither with Weishi nor with DE89.

 

SOTD April 14, 2017

Blade: Chinese Schick
Razor: Schick Adjustable injector
Brush: Omega 10049 boar
Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post: Witch hazel, Fine American Blend aftershave
WTG, touch-up

Very enjoyable shave this morning. The Fat always works well for me. Tons of rich, slick lather with great post-shave qualities. I really enjoy my Friday combination and it even better today after a long and really busy week. I'm tying in the Adjustable theme with my Schick adjustable injector. Love it - smooth, efficient, and reliable.

Have a great Friday!

 

Thank you now I enjoy the soap more.

 

I thought you might! Just don't look too happy and whistling when using it, in front of your wife.... She might ask an Italian and start making strange thoughts.

 

Good picture with a great looking bowl Brian.

 

Thank you very much Charlie.

 

14 April 2017 Blade/Soap Focus
Shave
Have a day off today. I wasn't gonna shave, but I woke up at my usual work time, so what the heck, might as well shave
On it's last day the GSB loaded into the ball end Tech did it's usual thing.
After getting my lathering back on track, I broke out the Catie's Bubbles again. This time apparently I didn't use enough water. I still got the shave in, but I'm putting this soap away for a while. I now shave cause it's relaxing as well as practical. Using this soap is not relaxing.
Anyway I still was able to get a 2.5 pass WWS out of the deal. Splashed on some Canoe and I'm ready to face a full day of yard work.
Next up as far as blades is the Wilkinson Sword in the black case. This was my first blade when I started wet shaving so I'm looking forward to using it.
Have a great day!

 

The decision has been made for my Birthday Blitz. I'll report it in The Haul when I have 'em.

 

Gonna take quite a while to finish the Wind Drift A.S. Due to the tiny hole in the bottle top, I can't see how much is left. Guess that's the English Leather way!!

 

SOTD Adjustable Arko April 14th


Ming Shi 2000S
Sputnik(2)
Arko
Stirling 24MM Synthetic
RazoRock Amici AS

This will probably by my only Adjustable Arko shave for the month. Every time Arko comes up in the rotation I'm amazed by its slickness. This morning I decided to give a two pass shave a shot and must say that it worked quite well with the Futur Clone. First pass was WTG and the second pass was diagonal ATG. This left me somewhere in the neighborhood of DFS++. Finished with a splash of RR Amici for a little menthol chill and to keep the citrus vibe going. Happy Friday everyone!

 

Day 19 of 30 days of Henckel straights

I went to Walmart yesterday. While I was there, I grabbed a bottle of Shave Secret. I tried it this morning and was quite surprised. This stuff actually works. If there is a trick to using it, the trick is to keep your face wet and immediately add more water after make a pass. There was plenty of slickness and I ended up with a really good shave. A downside is that there is no visible lather to tell you where you have already shaved. a 2 pass DFS today.


Shave Secret
24mm High silvertip set an extra 10mm deep
2 passes, WTG, XTG
Sampsons All Natural Aftershave Balm
Round Toe 6/8 Henckel 17 1/2

 

Is there a crew member who would be willing to send an Arko stick to someone who wants to try it? Let me know and I can get you their info. Let's do some enabling!

 

Razor: Supply Provision Custom 3 dot head
Blade: Chick
Brush Handle: B-400 The Brush by Tom
Knot: APShaveCo Tuxedo
Soap: B&M Roam
Post Care: Thayers Witch Hazel
Alum
Osage Rub
Aftershave: Chatillon Lux La Quatrieme Ville

What a shave I had this morning! It was my first use of this brush, @twhite is a genius. This handle is a piece of art and was a pleasure to use. It feels great in the hand, is well balanced with nice weight. The tuxedo knot is probably the best that I have used and was perfect for face lathering. I decided that it deserved nothing less than Roam for its inaugural shave and of course, the Roam delivered. The La Quatrieme Ville compliments the Roam nicely and is a wonderful product. It was a wonderful shave for this Good Friday. Have a great day folks!

 

If I had an Arko stick sitting around I surely would.

 

I hope you are preparing an alternative!!! I didn't like them, especially once I tried an Astra SP. best of luck

 

April 14 - Mama Bear Christmas Forest

Note: repost with additions

Today was my second soap from Mama Bear, Christmas Forest(MBCF). I wasn't very happy with the performance of Ice Citrus especially since I liked the scent although it was weak and la led any menthol. This soap looks like a piece of amber - yellow brown in color and clear and it was rather hard. Not sure if this too suggests age.

The scent was there but was lighter than Stirling's Scots Pine Sheep and just seemed not as accurate as Stirling. It was ok to good but once you try Stirling's scent, you would skip Mama Bear. The scent could be weak also due to age.

In an effort to get a good lather, I pressed some of the sample in the bowl thinly and added hot water to just barely cover it. I wanted to soften it before lathering. When done with my prep, I went to work. It took a good minute or so and a little more water but I finally got it all dissolved.

Now to work on the lather. I was working for shiny thick lather. With each addition of water I would work the water in well and check a sample with my fingers for slickness, gloss and whether more water was needed. I do not feel it ever went glossy and even though the additions were small I think I over shot and got foamy. I never got a real slick soap. I believe when I got a lather that had lots of resistance( but no shine) , I should have stopped. I do not believe this soap can take as much water as Stirling and will never shine like it either.

I used what I had. I failed to apply hot water and allow my face to steam and I had not taken a shower so the beard was tougher too. I tried a Gillette Super Platinum Black but it sounded like a higher pitch weedwacker while shaving. The drag was greater. Being dissatisfied, I put back the Treet Platinum and it was a little better but not like the day before. I ended up putting the Black aside and put a BIC Chrome Platinum in . In all I performed 5 passes (WTG, XTG, ATG,WTG, ATG) to get a CCS. This was rather disappointing. As I shaved, I did add water thinking more might help but all it did was help it to dissipate once applied. The lather was too light and lacked in glide, gloss,cushion and just about everything. Sorry but I made another lousy lather. Having not heat prepped my beard, the hair was tougher than usual. The soap did not appear to help any either.

Poor prep and lousy lather resulted in a less than close shave that I have come to expect. I believe the Gillette Black will be better with proper prep and a slicker soap.

Alum was remarkably quiet with all the shaving. I guess the soap helped or I just kept the blade light that it didn't irritate. The blades were not cutting close or enough so I think the uncut hair is what really did the protection. I know I had a good shave yesterday so there shouldn't have been tons of growth.

No blood and no weepers but unfortunate a disappointing result. I again will not believe this soap is just ok. The next time I use this soap I will stop when the resistance is at its highest and see from there. I could be spoiled with Stirling and just use to that much water to add. At this point I doubt I will buy and Mama's Bear in the future.

 

My three go to blades, GSB, Voskhod and Shark Super Chrome. Astra's are not for me. I think I've indicated this before in one of your threads. Glad they're workin' for you.

 

Thank you Doug. That bowl makes great lather.

 

Mama Bear is a glycerine soap and something of a different animal to lather. That is the reason for the amber look. Age would have pretty much no effect on it's performance or general appearance.

Lack of slickness is pretty much never a complaint about glycerine soaps. They can be harder to load enough product, especially when they haven't been used for a while.