April 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Aggressive April - Day One (4/4/15)

Doing a 30 day focus using the Cadet open comb that @Bama Samurai sent me for winning his PIF. Got it after the 1st so I'll be running into next month a little. The setup:



Voskhod blade today, blades will be the only thing changing for the next month. I'm using the Shave Den Barber Shoppe scent soap that Chris included with the PIF and my Omega 13522 boar brush. Post shave will be Witch Hazel and Nivea Sensitive Balm.

First impressions: the Cadet is huge and heavy compared to my Tech.



Decent 2 pass shave today out of it, I'm thinking the Voskhods aren't the blade for me with this one. I can hear and feel every hair being cut with this thing but I think I need something a little sharper than the Voskhods. Will try them a few more days though.

 

Focus- Injector Razors
Pre- Hot water wash
Razor- Schick J1
Blade- Chinese Schick
Cream- MWF and Rose of Bulgaria super lather
Brush- Best Badger Brush
Post- Cold water rinse, alum as needed
Aftershave- TOBS Jermyn Street



Took a break from the cheap travel creams today. Going out to dinner with mother in law, wife and kids for Easter. Enjoyed a lovely super lather and high end aftershave today. Finished it off with some Grey Vetiver cologne....

I am continuing with the great injector shaves. Also still not getting the neck quite as close as I can with a DE razor. So far, the important thing is I am past the irritation and weeper stage. Now it's just honing my technique and trying a few more razors out.

Have a great weekend gentlemen!

 

April 2015 ... 30 day blade focus ...

pre: dr.bronner's, PSO(diy)
brush: EJ best badger medium
lather: proraso green soap
razor: EJ89lbl
blade:
post: alum block, thayer's witch hazel (various flavors)

03/31/15 ... wilkinson sword (1) ... my last time with this blade was a wakeup call ... to get better! so, it was a nice surprise to have a nice shave today.

04/02/15 ... wilkinson sword (2) ... 1 1/2 days growth ... i had another fine shave with the wilkinson today ... no nicks, cuts, or irritation.

boy, what a difference just a few weeks can make! the last time i tried this blade was about two weeks into my wet shaving journey. it was a very styptic-heavy couple of shaves. the correct angle and better overall technique made these two most recent shaves pretty effortless. they were also bloodless and stingless.

i think, from a derby comparison, the only real difference that i noticed: my heaviest/densest/coarsest area - on the underside of the chin - took less effort and/or less touchup to get smooth with the wilkinson than the derby. it's a general consensus that wilkinson is sharper than derby. while i think i'm still too newb to really understand this degree of sharpness (all the blades are 'sharp'), maybe this underside of the chin area will help me to get a feel for that.

 

Back at my 30 day after a day off due to a barber shop shave. I set the FB at 4 after previously going with 3 and 5. It was bigger difference from 5 to 4 than I expected. I used the FB for my ATG pass after starting with a straight. All in all a good shave!

 

Arko April!!


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4 April 2015. Day 4, blade 1 - The mighty mighty MTO (Weishi 9306)

Blade still doing just fine on day 4. Caught a mid afternoon shave, date night downtown with Mrs. Samurai tonight, face feeling smooth and refreshed. The divinely inspired, lemon scented Turkish gift to wet shavers everywhere is such a pleasure to lather! Alum was quiet, the Veg felt like a winner!

Automatic!​

Happy Easter!
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Razor: Bluebeards Revenge
Blade: Wilkinson Black
Brush: WD Marble Handle, Silvertip, 24/67 knot.
Cream: Bluebeards Revenge
A/S: Lucky Tiger

Second day with the Wilkinson Black blade still okay. Had a very good shave tonight after having the family over for dinner.

Happy Easter to everyone.

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 4, 2015 - Week 1 Day 7
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - Pro 48
Soap - Proraso Green Tub
Razor - EJ89l
Blade - (3)
Post - Alum & Clubman

Break from the CJB today due to early morning Saturday meeting as usual. Went back to the EJ89 loaded with the Sharp Star I tried out last week. I really love this blade. Third shave on it, still smooth and sharp. Still haven't figured out a bulk supplier or anything else about it. It's driving me crazy! It's an awesome Russian blade that is proving to be mysterious. Hmmmmm...have a customer named Vlad who keeps calling about a van he wants...I call him the "Mad Russian"....maybe I should ask him??

Any, great two pass DFS and it was a good day. Ready for a day off and a nice leisurely run with the CJB tomorrow to continue working toward perfection! Happy Ostara to everyone....that's Easter to many of you. Hope you have a great weekend.
Just a peek at a few of my collection for today's picture.

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Good progress! Our resident compiler of shaving data @GDCarrington has done some good work on blades. You can look it up on this >link<. You will notice that while a general consensus may exist (ie. Feather is sharper than Derby Green), actual results can be quite individual and unique. As your skills develop, you may find a wider range of blades to be acceptable. Keep on practicing solid angles...and keep having fun!

Yup. That's how I feel about her!

cut a coin or two and bowl lather...the divinely inspired, lemon scented Turkish gift to wet shavers everywhere will lather like a champ after a thirty second bloom. Dooooo it!

 

Sunday:

Prep: Hot shower, Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub, TSD Jasmine Sambac preshave balm
Brush: Simpson 56 Best Badger
Soap: RazoRock Cumba Cheech
Razor: RazoRock Bamboozled RAKE OC
Blade: Baili Super Blue (2)
Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG (4, 5, 6)
Post: Cold water splash, Bloc Osma alum, Dickinson's WH, RazoRock Cumba Cheech AS lotion
Cologne: Burberry Brit by Burberry

I went all in this AM to try to get the Baili Super Blue to give a comfortable shave. I skipped yesterday's shave, so that I'd have more stubble to work with. I used my most moisturizing face wash. I was generous with the preshave balm. I bowl lathered the Cumba Cheech to ensure I had enough cushion (wow, did that work in terms of voluminous lather). . . AND STILL the Baili Super Blue was tuggy and uncomfortable. I got through all 3 passes without any bloodshed, and I will freely admit the results border on BBS, but the blade went right into the bin after I was done. The results were not worth the process, in this case.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

 

Aggressive April - Day 2



Prep: Hot shower w/ Grandpa's Pine Tar
Soap: TSD Barber Shoppe shave stick
Brush: Omega 13522
Razor: Cadet OC
Blade: Voskhod
Post: Witch Hazel, Nivea Sensitive Balm

Happy Easter! Day 2 of my 30 Day Focus with the Cadet OC. Went with a 2 pass XTG and ATG shave this morning. Got a nice, smooth shave bordering on DFS, at the cost of some irritation. Switching blades earlier than I like as I feel like the Voskhods are too tuggy and not sharp enough for the Cadet.

 

04/5/2015
Prep – MR GLO
Razor – Mongoose B2 with Jürgen Hempel Ti
Blade –Feather Pro (4)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega Boar
Lather – Strop Shoppe Baker Street
Post - Witch Hazel and Dove AS Balm



Happy Easter. Fantastic 3 pass shave this morning. The Baker Street is very slick and I love the scent. Nice to have my oldest daughter home from school this weekend. We are off to my mom's for church and family time.

 

Looking good.

 

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

This is for yesterday although the process will be the same today. Yesterday was an improvement from the day before but I'm really having trouble getting the neck area to my liking. Hopefully going back to what I remember working will actually work. I seem to always change the direction I start when shaving my face and I'm not sure why, hard headed I guess. I'll post with an update after todays shave.

Everything was an improvement but the neck still needs some work. I started off with a wetter lather than I've been using the last couple of shaves and it seemed to improve a lot just from that. Tomorrow I'm going to try j hooking on the neck area and see if that will help clean up the rough spots.

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
April 5, 2015 - Week 2 Day 1
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - ARKO
Razor - CJB
Blade -
Post - Cold towel, Alum, Styptic, several bad words and a shake of the head

Week one with the CJB went very well. Only a couple of minor weepers. So, to start week 2, a change of blades. Went from the Kai Captain Titan ProTouch MG to the Feather ProGuard. Yes, there is a difference as you can see:
That's the Feather on top, the Kai below. A significant difference in the guard portion.
As for the performance let's just say that the Kai is a very sharp blade. Very sharp.
The Feather exceeds the Kai in that department. The face went very well with no real issues and the feel was great. However, the neck. WTG on the neck was no problem, but the second pass turned into a nightmare. Picked up a series of nicks along the right jaw line from a combination of still struggling with left hand grip for the ATG and the fact the blade just wouldn't give me any leeway even with the guard. Picked up another good nick right up against my goatee on the left side of my chin again due to my left hand being a useless appendage with an incredibly dangerous instrument in it.

Finished DFS from the jawline up, CCS below. Didn't even use the Superspeed for a third pass. Figured I had created enough irritation and the alum proved me right. Very right. Ouch. Decided the appropriate aftershave was cold water.
Hope you all have a great day today! I'll heal up and try it again tomorrow.

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I left the FB on 4 today and got a good easy afternoon shave in. This seems to be a much better setting. The shaves are definitely getting better.

 

I have found that with the Feather blades if I palm strop the blade just 2 or 3 times on each side, it smooths out the blade and improves the shave for me.

 

Thank you.

 

I tried this with these blades, and the gaurds prevent the actual blade from contacting the strop or your palm. You also can't really cork them.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it out.

 

April 5th , SOTD (Shave 2 of the focus)
Two and a half days’ growth
Prep: Hot Shower
Razor Feather Artist Club SS non-folding with Pro-Guard Blade (4th shave on blade)
Razor Finish: Gillete Red Tip- B2 (1956)
DE Blade: Big Ben- Stropped 30 times per edge (2nd shave on blade)
Soap: Arko stick- Two disks bowl lathered
Brush: Ever-Ready 100T- TGN 20mm Synthetic Knot set at 52mm loft
Post Shave: Cold Water Rinse, Alum Block,
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman

Three pass DFS. Did a N/S and XTG pass with the Feather. Got a little confused with my left hand and J-hooked the blade on my chin. Has anyone mentioned how sharp these freaking blades are? Did a third pass with the Red Tip.

Just finished this refreshing this brush, so wanted to use it today. It worked very well, and required no soaking. Softer than my badger, with a good amount of backbone. Arko makes a great thick lather, and seems to work better with the Feather than some of the thinner lathers I make. Smell wasn’t great, wasn’t bad. Totally covered with Clubman now. Let’s see if SWMBO notices…

Happy Easter! Actual picture of the Easter Bunny from my home town this weekend.