April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

That looks like a fantastic handle. Can't wait to see the finished brush!!

 

Four steps:

1 Stop
2 Drop
3 Shut them down
4 Open up shop

Oh no! Silly me...That's how Rough Riders roll.

You were right about honor suicide.

My bad.

What are we talking about?

 

Nice brush. Would match my jars perfectly. Where did you get the cobalt brush?

 

April 15 (Saturday ) - creams focus

Gillette Canadian pre - War Fathandled Tech / Topaz Platinum ( 3 )
Supply Provision synthetic brush
Proraso Blue shave cream
Alum and cold water

Yesterday was Proraso White; tonight it's Blue. This one seems to be geared especially towards irritated skin with Aloe Vera and Vitamin E. After yesterday's less than stellar attempt at straight facelathering, I went back to using a lather bowl first. The result from an inch-long dab from the toothpaste tube of cream was a bowl of thick, slick, creamy lather plentiful enough to shave both me and a passing yeti and his two attendant yaks.

I am not too stuck on the scent of this cream, which is fairly strong and which I can best describe as "bitter herbs". I suupose it may be the scent of the aloe vera. It wouldn't be enough to put me off using the cream, but I'm not going to go around sniffing the tube for enjoyment either. On the other hand, everything else is topnotch - the lather, the protection, glide, cushion, slickness, and postshave skin feel. Really an excellent cream.

I used a Topaz Platinum blade on its third day even though I normally pitch them after two uses, did my normal crisscross diagonal passes, an ATG pass and then a certain amount of blade buffing on my neck and chin (something I normally never do.). The result was very very close to BBS with only a mild bit of grumbling from Mr. Alum on my neck.

An exceptionally good shave, which is attributable mostly to the superior shave cream.

 

I will give that a try, thanks.

 

I can offer up some suggestions, as I wouldn't want this to be a negative experience that delays your transition to the Darkside.
I would suggest only shaving your cheeks on the day we do this. It takes time to get comfortable enough with a straight to do the curvy parts of your face and neck.
I would consider the correct angle and pressure to be the most important aspects. I have not used one of these particular blades either, but will use it just like a regular straight. Lay the blade against your face and tip the spine away 20-30 degrees. Gently shave the lather off using very little pressure. Do not press the blade into your skin, just gently scrape the lather off, the whiskers will come off with it. Another important tool when shaving with a straight is skin stretching. The blade cuts better when the skin is tight. When shaving my cheeks, I reach over my head and pull the skin upwards above where I am shaving.
I would suggest finishing the first shave with a safety razor and call it good. I did many partial straight shaves before working up to full straight shaves. My first shaves where WTG, followed by XTG. I had about sixty straight shaves in before I attempted ATG.
The most important thing is that this should be fun. Relax and don't try to do too much in the beginning.
Thanks for having the courage to jump in and try this

 

+1 - I would have written basically this, but DMX was stuck in my head.

@BaylorGator

See above

 

Wow! Nice handles.

 

It came from a brush and razor handle set that was in my great uncle's house. My dad got it from there and brought it to me as a gift because he knows about my shaving obsession hobby. The razor is a Trac II handle. The brush was a badger knot (I think) that Jim (@Jayaruh) restored for me with a new badger knot.

Thread about the brush reknot

Original thread about the razor and brush set

 

It would have been more fun to let him guess at all that. Great post though.

 

Sunday shave

Today's razor is Revisor 6/8 with a thumb notch. The factor edge was less than satisfactory so I re-honed it, finished on the Shapton 16k and this it's second shave. I was taking a few razors to the pasted strops so before the shave this razor got the CrOx, then diamond 50k, 100k treatment.

The edge was smooth and while it did not feel sharp it was sharp. Four passes no blood, no irritation and a smooth face.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A Sharpness A-

 

That's a nicely done 6/8. Sounds like you nailed the edge dressing, actually.

 

Arko Adjustable April!!!!!

April 15

Razor - Soviet Consul
Blade - (2)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Jayaruh #46
Post - Alum

In the words of that wise philosopher, Charlie Brown, GOOD GRIEF! I chose the JR46 for the brush tonight, used the Arko stick on my face, dunked the brush for about 10 seconds then shook it a couple of times and started to lather. Instantly had lather sticking to the mirror, the wall around the mirror, you name it. Guess I should have done an extra shake to get the brush a bit dryer. This thing just turns the Arko into mountains of lather.

Second shave with the Consul and Sputnik on 6 and two passes got me to near-BBS. Not quite the baby from last night but I didn't try for perfection. Can't complain at all about the result and - no blood or other problems. Still felt incredibly smooth and did a great job. I think for the third shave on it tomorrow night I'll open it up to 9. That's like 11 on the Slim/Fatboy. Yeah, I know.....beyond their capacity.

I trust you're all busy with hiding eggs, having family around and all that good stuff. Hope you have a great holiday! I think I'll throw some ribs on the grill tomorrow afternoon and me and my better half will just enjoy some good old homemade bbq and a couple of Schlafly's. Mmmm, mmmmm, good!

 

The edge is not quite where I want it to be, but close. This only my second successful hone from bevel set to finish.

The geometry is similar to my Dovos and those edges tend to be a toucher smoother and sharper than this one... but today was a very good shave. I will give it up a couple more shaves then touch it up and see if I can improve.

The never ending search for the perfect shave.

 

Thank you. I do like the way you think

 

Great minds and all that muck.

 

April 15th

I didn't go for bbs today( my goal), but I did get a fine shave with less irritation on my neck with my progress. I have to admit I haven't been very well " focused" I went back to astra sp's and I changed my brush from a midget to a semogue 620.

 

That soap has a funny name!

1) Lather bowl FTW!!! Dog bowl trumps all, if i may add! The brush just slides like on butter on the metal while you lather!
2) Funny, i find the Proraso Blue having a very bland scent. Now i REALLY start having suspicion that the specimen i got was sitting on the dusty shelf for years.
3) I agree on plentiful. At first it doesn't seem much, but as you start whipping, you end up with cream everywhere.
4) Agree on post-shave skin feel. The only reason i may not buy it again, is because for me the scent is too bland and neutral. But i will have to compare with others, since this is my 1st cream.

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Easter morning shave report (6th shave with DE):
Weishi FL + Shark SS + Proraso Blue cream + Omega 48. Lather wasn't as good as last time. I could discern my skin. But, oh well... Did WTG/ATG/WTG (but with multiple passes in each pass).
Result: BBS above jaw line, DFS below jaw line, 0 irritation, 0 nicks, felt extremely smooth and safe blade WTG, not so much ATG, but overall, i am glad i bought 100 of them. It felt much safer nick-wise than Astra SP. This is a good newbie blade. I could even repass areas with no lather WTG with extreme speed ear to end of throat in 1 stroke. Phenomenal. This is what Derby dreams to be at night. I should have bought 400 Sharks insteads of 400 Derbys. It isn't as sharp as Astra, it costs 1 euro more per 100, but it's better than Derby for "quick, careless shave". I will have to shave again with Astra before ordering new blades, but i see high probability that i may order something like 400 Astra, 200 Shark. And i must start shaving with Derby again, in order to burn through the 400 blade supply. I have a bad feeling that the older you get, the more troublesome will be to shave with Derby, with the skin getting looser. I wonder at this point, is there ANY blade that is less sharp than Derby???

Also, i noticed that the Weishi, likes a very shallow angle of attack. I noticed that with all blades. Somewhere around 20-30 degrees maybe.

Happy Easter again and may the Lord deliver us from Derby!

P.S: Still have to try Dorco ST-301 and Personna Red, but the Shark should have been my "Derby" blade since the start. It might not worth the extra euro compared to Astra for closeness of shave, but it does for easyness-safety of shave and beats Derby easily in smoothness and performance. I am afraid that i will end up with Derby being my worst blade... Luckily i can shave with them, but...i don't think i will buying them ever again, unless Sharks fail miserably in the DE89. Shark has a good mix of sharpness and a feeling that you can't cut yourself easily. While Astra cuts well, but also gives a feeling of being much more dangerous blade.

The only good thing about Derby? (well, aside the newbie-friendliness). The plastic blade dispenser! I am going to keep some empty ones, to put the "good blades" in.

 

1. I used to use a small stainless steel bowl about 3 - 4" in diameter as my lather bowl but it was a bit too small. I never thought of using one of the slightly larger steel pet drinking bowls instead. Come to think of it, I imagine one would be almost the perfect size and depth.

2. To be fair to Proraso Blue, the scent I commented on is noticeable but isn't extremely strong. I can smell it as I whip the lather and then put it on my face, but it doesn't fill the bathroom the way the scent from a warm lather of Castle Forbes Lavender does, for example. And it isn't really pungent, it just smells like plants but some sort of crushed green herbal plant leaf or stem rather than any type of flower. In short, it's there and it's more like an ointment or salve than a perfume.

3. As I said, scent aside, the performance of the Proraso Blue is some of the best I've had from the creams and soaps I've used so far. Very good stuff.

4. Once again, you are proving to us all that when it comes to blades, the absolute rule is Your Mileage May Vary. It's always fun to read how people rate the different brands because the reactions are so mixed and so completely unpredictable. There are some people out there who absolutely swear by Derby, and others who completely hate Sharks...