This is my first run with Arko as well. I also find that it takes a lot of water to make a good lather. I start out with a dripping wet face, add plenty of soap from the stick, and then continue to add more water as I build the lather. Adding a few drops of glycerin makes the lather even slicker and more protective. It also requires even more water. Happy Easter!

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.

Focus- Injector Razors
Pre- Hot water wash
Razor- Schick J1
Blade- Chinese Schick
Cream- Razorock Essential Oil of Lime
Brush- Semogue 1305
Post- Cold water rinse, alum as needed
Aftershave- Razorock Lime Problem Solver

No gear pics or big happenings today. Having a busy Easter Sunday with my family.

I would note that today is the fourth shave with a single injector blade. There has been zero degradation in the shave, which is great as I am really counting on getting at least 7 shaves per blade with these

I will check in after shave 7 on Wednesday. I have a few other injectors I want to try this month, but top priority is sticking with this blade until it craps out in me. Wish me luck getting at least three more out of it!

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday!!!

I had heard such a rumor.......

I understand what you are saying. I have used both the Kai and Feather Guard blades and even though the blade does not contact your palm the guard does. From my experience even that makes the shave smoother. One of those YMMV things I guess.