February 14th SOTD (Shave 7 of the challenge)
Two Day's growth
Prep: Hot shower
Razor: '52 Gillette Super Speed Black Tip (X2)- Steel Handle and Baseplate
Blade: Feather Platinum Coated, first shave on this blade, stropped 30 times per edge
Soap: Dirty Deeds Beer Soap- I can't remember the scent.
Brush: Vie Long Horsehair
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block
Aftershave: Thayer’s Witch Hazel, Cucumber scent

My focus this month is the razor, with a lighter focus on the brush. First time I have gotten a great shave with this razor. I hadn't posted my last two shaves, but they were mediocre, and I was still letting my neck heal from two days of cold water shaving while traveling. Blades I have tried with this razor this month include the Rapira Platinum Lux (two blades, four shaves,) Astra Superior Platinum (one blade, two shaves,) and the Feather Platinum coated blade (one blade, first shave on it.) Because this razor is so mild, it seems to do well with sharper blades. The Feather today was the first time I have gotten a really good shave, but I have gotten close with the Rapira blade. I normally do a N/S pass, followed by a S/N pass. That is WTG and ATG on the face, and XTG x 2 on the neck. I follow this up with buffing and a third pass that goes in multiple directions. Today I focused on no pressure, and angle, since I was afraid the blade was going to bite. No cuts, and very little alum sting. Whoo Hoo. If I can get two more great shaves out of this blade, I am going to move on to another one.

I didn't use the horse brush when I traveled, but I did leave dried lather on it for a week. That finally got rid of the smell. I had already shampooed it and left soap on it for a day or two. It seems to have more backbone than my boar brushes, and quite a bit more scritch. I think I am leaning more towards liking my Omega 1066 brush out of the five I have. (How the heck did I end up with five brushes?) In the process of restoring two vintage brushes. Am going to get a synthetic knot and a mid to high end badger knot. I have a badger brush now, but it has very little back bone, since the loft is set at 56mm.

February Focus - Blades
2/14/15 - Day 15
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Razor - 1959 Ball End Tech (Birth Year)
Blade - (1)
Post - The Veg

BREAK TIME!!!!!
It's been a LONG week and I had one more day to go with an extra early start. Decided after two days of the Gillette Green it wasn't going to win me over with a third shave so I'm calling it an A- / 2.5 and moving on. However, before moving to the Gillette Nacet, another Russian stainless blade, I wanted to take a one day break. So, got out the '59 Tech I just got a week or so ago and cleaned up, threw in a Treet Platinum that I've never tried and broke out the Arko for the first time. Why not, right?

First of all, what I've heard about Arko's scent is all true. Wow! Powerful stuff but I don't mind it. It reminds me of the smell of some of my Grandma's soap. It lathered great and performed great and the Treet felt really good. After three passes I had a very nice DFS and reached for the alum. Nope, not gonna worry about it. Rinsed and threw on the Veg. Had a little burn but nothing over the top. A thoroughly enjoyable shave with some new items and off to work I went.

Came home tonight and checked out my brush. The scent of Arko and Proraso mixed together is pretty awesome. I think I'll call it Proarkoso. Hope you all had a great Saturday and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Back to the trials tomorrow.

Realized I had forgotten the COST figure on the Gillette 7 o'clock Green. Best online price is $14.99 per 100. So, 15 cents per blade. Again, more than I want to pay for what I got.

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I would have to agree. That fact is becoming more and more clear each shave without it. My top three blades are still Voskhod, Sputnik and GSB, all three Teflon blades.

02/15/15
Prep – MR GLO
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade – Feather Pro Guard (1)
Brush – Brother’s Bristles with WD HM
Lather – AOS Sandalwood Cream
Post - Witch Hazel and AOS Sandalwood AS Balm



Great 3 pass BBS shave this morning. First time using the Feather Pro Guard blade. It proved to be very smooth yielding a great shave with no irritation or weepers. The AOS cream was a gift from the family. Normally, I am a soap guy but this cream lathers up so easy and is super slick. Also, the scent is fantastic. I need to use it more often.

That Mongoose is an interesting razor!

Day 14 Feb Focus Slim Adj
A great shave was had, but I come to expect that using the Personna 74*'s For me the absolute best blade ever. Paired with the slim, outstanding. Classic razor with a classic blade. Seven shaves in with the blade and it is not showing any signs of slowing down, zero tugging, no irritation at all.

Another good shave and being patient with my lather has paid off again. Also I'm starting to really like these Voskhods they seem to be shaving time off my routine *ba dum tss*

Really though it only took one pass with a couple touch up areas for a nice smooth head shave. As for my face I whipped out the Schick disposable for my testing purposes. Two passes and it was an acceptable shave but most importantly again no irritation on my neck/throat area. It's been a good weekend and hopefully the good shaves will continue throughout next week.

February Focus - Blades
2/15/15 - Day 16
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - C.O. Begelow
Razor - EJ89l
Blade - (1)
Post - RazoRock Alum & Proraso

Yes, it's Sunday. Slept in, got up, relaxed, and got ready to spend some time shaving. Started with my usual Sunday head shave, Astra SP in a Merkur 23c, VDH Deluxe soap and VDH boar brush. Nice. No touch ups required with the disposable. Got this down and enjoying it. So, on to the main event.

New blade today and it has to be the most unique packaging out there. The Gillette Nacet Stainless from St. Petersburg. This blade is obviously incredibly sharp and tough because, as you can see, it can be used to cut crocodiles in half! I have no idea what marketing genius thought that up but I'll give them points for thinking outside the box or simply taking enough illegal substances to hallucinate that. It is a stainless blade, which I have not been the top fan of but here we go.

First pass very smooth. Very nice. Good result. Lathered up for the second pass, finished it and stood there looking and feeling my face as my chin dropped. BBS on the face. Very good DFS on the neck. Only a couple of touch ups really needed. Protocol demands a third pass. However, with BBS on the face I skipped that. Did an ATG third pass on my neck concentrating on the clean up areas. Finished with a BBS. Amazing result. The blade is definitely very sharp, great audio feedback and really very smooth.

Went for the alum and noticed one very small weeper along the right jaw line near my chin. Barely noticeable but there. Alum produced some minor burn on the areas I went over the third time, especially the touch ups and was totally silent on the face. The Proraso was quiet. The irritation wasn't that bad.

First day grade for the Crocodile Hunter blade. Have to stay at an A despite the very minor weeper. It really was something I may not have noticed if I was not picking these things apart. As for the second part, the comfort and irritation level, based on the face result mixed with the neck I'm staying with a 1. I could have easily stopped at the 2nd pass and been far ahead of the Yellow or Green with no irritation. So...A1. I believe this is the first stainless blade to be graded there. Off to find a crocodile and see if the blade lives up to its billing!

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February 16 Plans

MR GLO
Feather Artist Club razor
Feather Professional blade (day 2)
RV Shaving handle with a 24/46 mm Shavemac Two-band Silvertip knot
Art of Shaving Sandalwood cream
Two passes plus touch-ups
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, & unrefined shea butter

My February goal is a close and comfortable two- or three-pass shave with this set up. Recent shaves been been pretty good overall. My focus for the remainder of the month is to work on closeness without sacrificing comfort.

Have a wonderful week!

february 2015 focus ... blades ... still in pre-"30 day rule" mode

every-other-day shaves, two shaves per blade, two pass, ...

pre: n/a
brush: EJ best badger medium
lather: proraso green soap
razor: EJ89lbl
post: n/a

02/13/15
blade: (2)

i don't seem to see the gillette yellow get a lot of play. i'm learning that YMMV, though. this blade's certainly done fine by me for two shaves. this makes two shaves with no real nicks - not even the moles. the chin felt a bit rough today ... less than stubble, just rough ... if that makes any sense.

02/15/15
blade: (1)

i had the two tiniest of nicks on the neck. they didn't even sting with water. both passes were WTG today (experimenting a bit) ... and i can tell - especially the sides of the cheeks, jawline, and neck. i'll definitely go WTG/XTG on my second shave with the voskhod. in terms of the levels of shave, SAS, CCS, DFS, BBS, this 'might' be a SAS. at least i knocked down a couple days of growth and hopefully learned a little.

speaking of learning ... is it possible to get lather TOO thick? i'm almost thinking it might have been that today. i rarely get it too watery or foamy. maybe if it's too thick, it fills up the razor quicker and the blade can't do what it's suppose to do ... ?

two week summary ... of both blade focus and DE wet shaving in general
i'm having fun, learning, and my wife says i smell good! it doesn't get much better than that!! i'm also relearning to maneuver around my moles. m1 gets WTG/ATG and not XTG, m2 gets WTG/WTG, m3 hasn't posed a prob yet with any combo, and m4 gets WTG/WTG.

i have a few more days of initial blade testing. no one blade has been a real standout yet. so, it seems i'll have several from which to choose for my 30 day rule.

I, and this is my opinion, do believe lather can get too thick which will interfere with the razor. It's kind of like using a pre-shave oil to me. The oil just tends to hold more lather and clog the blade that much worse. Some would argue with me I'm sure. But, it's about finding what works for you. I'd try the Voskhod with a thinner lather and see if you have the same problem. Then you know for sure.

It's been a busy few days, and I have been remiss. On Saturday evening, I "cheated" and used my brand new WD silvertip 24mm, set deeper. This is my first Badger brush, and I tried to to a bit of face lathering. I also got a sample soap from Larry, and I tried it. I must admit that I did not get much thick lather, but the soap was very slick, and the shave was very good. I would say a DFS.

On Sunday night, I was back to the boar brush, bowl lathering, and Proraso green. "The shave was as good as ever....DFS+ on two passes only. I am still using the same blade in the I1 ( I think somewhere around 17 or 18 shaves).

2/16/15 - Blade Focus/Face Lather February

The Gillette Silver Blue came through again. Today is shave 4 on this blade and for the first time since I put the fresh blade in I actually noticed that I had a blade. Not necessarily tuggy, but not as smooth as it was. It still seems plenty sharp and I have a near BBS. I would call it more like DFS all around. The Omega boar is a fantastic face lathering brush and created enough lather for at least 1 more pass if I had been so inclined, but didn't need. I received no feedback from the aftershave and that, to me anyways, is a sign of a smooth shave.

Prep: warm wash and cornhusker's lotion
Lather: Ogallala Bay Rum cedarwood
Brush: Omega 10066
Razor: Weber PH
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (4)
Post: Ogallala Bay Rum

02/16/15
Prep – MR GLO
Razor - Mongoose Satin B2
Blade – Feather Pro Guard (2)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega Boar
Lather – Soap Commander Confidence
Post - Witch Hazel and Dove AS Balm



Excellent 3 pass shave this morning. The shaves have been very consistent over the last week to 10 days.

Day 15 Feb Focus Slim Adj
Very good shave was had. GSB preformed well, no irritation and a close shave. Getting much better on my trouble spots with the adjustable.

Buy some is my rating!

For general information : due to life, I am driving a truck across the continent. I have not missed shaving yet... Will try to get caught up tonight.

Happy Monday

February 17 Plans

MR GLO
Feather Artist Club razor
Feather Professional blade (day 3)
RV Shaving handle with a 24/46 mm Shavemac Two-band Silvertip knot
D.R. Harris Almond cream
Two passes plus touch-ups
Alum, Thayer's Lavender witch hazel, & unrefined shea butter

My February goal is a close and comfortable two- or three-pass shave with this set up. Recent shaves been been pretty good overall, and today's shave was great! My focus for the remainder of the month is to work on closeness without sacrificing comfort. I finished up my AOS Sandalwood cream, so next up is a partial container of D.R. Harris Almond!

Have a good Tuesday! We'll be digging out of the biggest snowstorm in more than a decade in my neck of the woods.

I am headed to Murray. In KS now...

Travel safely, Chris. The snow is finally letting up here.

Stop...just stop. Now I want these. I will hold off until the 3rd shave but they are in my cart. dang it.

@clint64 they sell the proraso sandalwood at Atlanta Barber Supply downtown. I have a tube and haven't tried it yet. I am waiting to pick up one more sandalwood and do a whole week of it (2xProraso, 2x TOBS, and 2x 3rd option). I just have to pick that 3rd option.