April 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

I don't get the controversy either. It smells pretty much like Ivory bath soap to me. But then again, I wear the Veg too.

 

Since I just acquired my first slant, the 39c, my 30 day focus will be perfecting the technique with it and trying out different blades to see which ones perform the best for me.

 

Welcome to the thirty day thread! Glad you joined us!

 

I started my focus this morning. It had been a few weeks since I had shaved with the FB, and now I know why I struggle. I have a hard time getting the angle right with this head for some reason. I have a slim and a couple of SS which I don't have the same problem. But, this why I wanted to work on this razor, so I am sure I will get it figured out.

 

This month's focus will be on the RazoRock Bamboozled RAKE OC razor for me, with a secondary focus on reestablishing confidence in my ATG passes. Blades, soaps/creams, and aftershaves will vary as I figure out which work best with that razor and my face.

 

04/01/2015
Prep – MR GLO
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather Pro (2)
Brush – Rubberset 400-3 with WSP HMW
Lather – Soap Commander Confidence
Post - Witch Hazel and CC Bay Rum AS



Fantastic 2 pass shave this morning. Decided to mix things up this morning. The first pass was ATG and the second pass was XTG with one small touch up on my chin. This resulted in a near BBS shave. Not prefect but as close as I'll ever get on a work morning. Happy Wednesday.

 

It is now about 12 hours post shave, and it still really feels good! I checked with mamma, and she says Arko smells "fresh" so that is a go for the Arko April!

 

What attack angle do you suppose your shooting for? Are you too high or too low?

welcome back! Are OC razors generally good to you?

The Mongoose razor is one of the coolest looking models ever built. If anything was gonna reignite my RAD!

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 1, 2015 - Week 1 Day 4
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Arko
Razor - CJB & '59 Gillette Superspeed
Blade - (4) (4)
Post - Alum & Proraso

Well for those betting on seeing some blood you got your wish. Barely. Decided to try the second pass today with the CJB. Face wasn't too tough to figure out and get done, but the neck requires an entirely different grip. Very awkward feeling but I went for it and got a minor nick on my neck just above my adam's apple. Other than that no problems other than just having difficulty getting the same level of shave on my neck as my face. Finished the two passes then went back over my neck with the Superspeed to even it up. Day four on both blades. With no more work than the Voskhod is getting it may last the same number as the Kai. Happy April everyone!

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It's like a giant Schick injector in a lot of ways. The biggest difference I have found apart from the size is the quality of the blades compared to the Chinese Schick blades. Really not a bad choice at all in blades and they are just stupid sharp. So sharp they allowed me to be stupid and go ATG for the 1st pass

 

That's an understament. There are a few areas on my neck where the handle gets in the way, or I just can't see what I am doing with mine. If you figure out a way to hold it to hit these spots, I would be happy to hear about it.

 

I'm thinking a third hand might work.

 

Will be joining you gentlemen tomorrow. I inadvertently stumbled onto a blade that may give me my first ever 4th shave. I have to find out tonight or my curiosity will kill me. See here:

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/sputnik-blades-how-are-these-not-a-thing.44263/

I will still be watching to see how you all do today

 

Prep – Hot shower, homemade sugar scrub
Razor – Gillette Slim
Blade – Voskhod
Brush – Omega 48
Soap – Arko
Post - Clubman Bayrum

Being April 1st I thought I'd play a joke on myself and dial the slim to 9 to start with. In a way I guess the jokes on me as the shave was great. Went with two passes for both my head and face and I'm really surprised at the end result. Very little if any irritation on my neck which is a rare occasion and pretty smooth which is also rare. Maybe all it took was for me to expect bad things which lead me to take my time who knows. What I do know is I would like to replicate this the rest of the month.

 

Here we go, my inaugural 30day focus with Der Vorschlagshammer

brush: Vie-Long 12705B
soap: Vitos Red Extra Coco
razor: Merkur 39c
blade: SuperMax Super Stainless (1)
AS: Bello Bay Rum (decanted)

WTG+XTG+XTG=DFS

Since I'm an experienced wet shaver the technique isn't that bad but I need to correct the angle on the right side of my neck. I was having difficulties completely removing all the hair for a DFS+.
SuperMax SS are surprisingly nice blades. Tomorrow will tell if the blade can take 2 shaves on my coarse beard

 

I've never used a DE that wasn't an OC razor; I gravitated toward them from the start, for aesthetic reasons. Before I got this one, the Merkur 41C was my default go-to razor, with the FaTip Piccolo (now mysteriously missing a base plate) as my other, considerably more aggressive, option. The RazoRock is firmly between the 'mild' 41C and the 'aggressive' FaTip.

 

Yes....that we should all aspire to be him

 

I have no pictures of the gear used for my morning shave, but I did want to provide an update on my 30 day focus with free gear. I've shared some of the challenges I found with the J1 Schick injector and honestly, I was ready to PIF it away, but thought I would give it another blade change yesterday morning and see what would happen. Yesterday's shave was good. This morning's shave was even better. I was up early to get ready to take my FFA students to a judging contest, so I didn't have a lot of time to luxuriate or obsess. I had time to shave. So I did. I made up a nice slick lather with the St. James of London cream after I washed my face and rubbed in the cornhusker's lotion. I painted the lather on and grabbed the SE and got after it. One pass might have been good enough, but I made another pass and cleaned up. It was a near BBS shave everywhere. I'm actually looking forward to giving it another go tomorrow.

 

I almost felt that I didn't need to shave today, but did, and the results were Discussing, and still feels good, ten hours later!

 

Arko April!!



Spring has arrived on the range in Colorado!
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April Means Arko!!! The purpose of my Focus this month is to evaluate blade life of some vintage Gillette Platinum Plus in various DE razors.

1 April 2015 - Blade one, day one, the Mighty Mighty MTO (Weishi 9306)





This was my first ever trial on a Vintage blade. For this month I have chosen the L'Occitane Plisson synthetic to face lather the divinely inspired, lemon scented goodness.

The MTO is patterned after a Fifties Flare Tip SS, mild and smooth. After a stroke or two to find the angle, I got down to biz. The blade was quite sharp, but not as smooth as some Russian PTFE blades I have tried. Still a fine blade, and the automatic two pass smoothness arrived on schedule. I was afraid the Alum was gonna light me up, but alas, no real strong sensation...a good shave. How many more shaves will this blade provide?

Threw on the Veg and came down to write this, I will reevaluate the shave after sleeping. Tip for newer guys - I feel like the way my skin/face feels 8-12 hours after the shave is the real test. I also recommend Alum, well because pain can motivate learning.

Have a great Thursday!



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