December Focus

The Twelve Blades of December!

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 10 - ArkoVeg Thursday!!!

Razor - EJ DE89L
Blade - (2)
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water, Witch Hazel, Nivea, The Veg

Well, day two of the Cloud, but the bright side is it's Arko Thursday followed by the Veg - so ArkoVeg Thursday it is! Or maybe Vegko is better. Anyway, at least that gives me something to look forward to. I haven't used Arko in a couple of months, and after @mrchick mentioned it yesterday it jogged my memory. So, I grabbed a stick and worked it over my face then used the Wolf Whiskers to get an absolutely remarkable lather. POW! That was the sound it made popping into existence.

The shave was another three pass exercise in mediocrity and discomfort. Nothing horribly bad, just not pleasant. Managed a DFS after three but not by much. The blade still dragged and pulled and just felt like cheap Chinese steel. But, they at least got it sharp enough to avoid being too horrible to shave with.

Finished with the WH to get a nice burn going then finished with the Veg! Between the lather and the Veg it was a good shave. Everything in the middle, not so much. The good news.......I leave China behind to go to Turkey tomorrow. The bad news? After two days in Turkey it's back to China.

DECEMBER FOCUS - IKON 102 SLANT

Today was day 10 with the Ikon Slant. The first 5 days were with the long OSS handle and a Gillette 7 O'clock Blue blade. The second 5 days were with an Astra SP blade. I have to say this is an amazing razor regardless of the blade. However, the Gillette blade was smoother IMO. This razor is quickly becoming my favorite. Every shave has been a 2-pass BBS, shaves like I've never experienced.

Tomorrow, just for fun, I'm going back to the Gillette blade and switch to the shorter, but just as heavy, Phoenix Accoutrements "Name Taker" handle.

If you notice in the picture it looks like there is only a tiny amount of blade exposure. That may be so, but the razor does this so that blade that is exposed in such a way that it is amazingly smooth and efficient at the same time.

Dec 11 Shave 2.4

Next up is one of my favourite software products, Castle Forbes and the scent for today Cedarwood and Sandalwood. For those of you put off by the expense of CF you need to understand a little goes a long way. I put a little too much in the scuttle and had enough lather for 6 or 7 passes.

Because I started with too much product I had to keep adding water to get the consistency I like. 4 passes with an ATT R2 loaded with Voshkod Swedish blade. A great shave BBS with just a little tingling.

Irritation A- Closeness A-

Castle Forbes Cedarwood and Sandalwood
Gemstar elk antler silver tip
Whitehead scuttle
ATT R2 with Voshkod Swedish Steel
Speick AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Le Labo Santal 33

TTT

10 DEcember 2015

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Got with the plan and used Arko and Veg. Day five and I am ready to declare this razor a keeper! Arko is a treat to shave with (scent is divisive) and leaves my skin feeling great. Veg was the Veg! Moving on to a vintage Tech for tomorrow, will try the Super Iridium blade from Secret Santa. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado!
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Have a fabulous Friday!


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day 2 on the chroma blade this time in an old type. I started out with arko and JR#8 for a wonderful face lather. When blade hit skin it was not as wonderful. It felt smooth but I just wasn't getting good reduction just like yesterday in the fat boy. It did better giving me a 2.5 pass good enough shave. It was DFS on the face and CCS on the neck. I sent the veg on to the next guy to try so I used Nivea sensitive balm after Thayer's lilac WH.

Sad news while I was getting out the Arko. I bumped my favorite TSD cologne sample and it fell onto the edge of the sink to shatter. My bathroom smells great but I will have to miss out on Yin Yang until I can find a new job.

Day four on the road with my SuperSpeed and Arko. It blows me away how easy this stuff is to face lather. The lather just explodes when the brush hits it. I have tried several other soap sticks and haven't found another that I like as much. And I don't have a problem with the smell. I've heard many colorful descriptions of the smell and all I smell is a clean soapy smell that goes away when rinsed. Tomorrow is my last day with this combination. The second part of my trip was cancelled and I will be home tomorrow night and will switch to my birth quarter Slim on Saturday.
SOTD
Arko
AoS Travel Brush
1961 Gillette SuperSpeed (G4)
Feather blade (4)
MK Sport Cologne
Come on Friday!

I think it smells similar to Ivory bar soap. Lemons. That's about it.

Arko is one of my favorites as well, especially for travel. I just like to have a little fun with everyone about it. It may actually be a fine engine degreaser. If so, I take full credit for the idea.

Have safe travels back home.

How would you say this blade stacks up against the Gillette Platinum?

Pain Stick Focus December 11:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Bain Armour Southern Gentleman SS
CJB Pain Stick
Stirling Unscented PSB
Fine Fresh Vetiver

New blade in the Pain Stick this morning, and it was definitely smoother. Unfortunately, I was half asleep, and I almost went with a DE. I kept it to a bare minimum of two passes and tried to keep and of the red stuff from escaping. I did manage the second goal, but didn't get a great shave. It wasn't too bad, just not as good as the past few. Tomorrow, being Saturday, should provide for better chances. Have a great Friday!

12/11/15
Gillette New LC
Rapira Super Stainless (1)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
WSO (Wet Shave Obsession) Signature
Pinaud Clubman Original

Third day with WSO Signature and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC.
I put about a tablespoon of warm water on the top of the soap to soften it a bit while I soaked my brush. Afterwards, I poured the little that was left into my scuttle. I squeezed out my brush, then went to the soap container to load up. I swirled the brush until I had picked up a lot of product. I had a timer going and decided to stop after 45 seconds.


I began to build the lather in the scuttle, adding water from time to time. In just a few minutes, the lather began to look pretty good. When I stopped, I had a huge amount of very slick lather.


The lather went on smooth, thick and creamy. 2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Good reduction. I noticed in the scuttle what looked like some dissipation. I did not add any more water, but I whipped up the lather for a few moments before applying it to my wet face. Pass 2: ATG. I did small amount of touch up where I could feel stubble and this left my face near BBS. Did a cool water rinse and some touch up in my trouble spots. The Pinaud Clubman had a slight sting to it, but that ended quickly. I took the lather that was remaining in the scuttle and got it on the brush. There was plenty remaining after everything was finished. Perhaps enough for three more passes. Still pretty slick too.


A nice comfortable BBS from the WSO Signature and the Rapira Super Stainless in the New LC. The WSO lather was very nice today. It was good and slick, but I suspect it would have been just a bit slicker if I had added a little more water. I think I was in the nice lather range, but a shade toward the dry side.

I hope everyone has a great Friday.

Congrats your are turning into the lather master.

12/11/2015
Razor – Gillette New Long Comb
Blade – Feather (1)
Brush – Brothers Bristles with WD HM
Lather – B&M Seville
Post - Witch Hazel and Fine L’Orange



The New LC is a solid razor that delivers consistently good results and this morning was no exception. A great 3 pass near BBS shave this morning. I'm nearing the end of the B&M Seville. It's been a very good soap and I would buy it again. Finished off with a splash of Fine L'Orange. I hope everyone has a great Friday.

SOTD 12/11/15 (Shave 6 of this focus)
Razor: Henkels Friodur Inox 6/8th
Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Chromexcel Horse/ Linen
Soap: Jabonman Lima-Incienso (Menthol)
Brush: Omega 1066
Post Shave: Cold Water rinse, Alum, Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Mandom

Got a new natural hone yesterday, that is quarried in the USA. Played with it for a while last night to touch up this razor. With natural hones, there really isn’t anyway other than using the stone to see if it’s a finisher or a mid-grade stone. I took a razor I have shaved with, and did a hundred laps on each side, then stropped the razor on linen and did 100 laps on the strop.

This is a full hollow ground razor, and a little larger than most of mine, at least 6/8th of an inch. The round tip makes it very easy to use, but lining up your facial hair can be a little more difficult. The razor was smooth and easy to use. I did a three pass shave, N/S, XTG, S/N. No cuts, but did end up with a few weepers on my neck and chin. Cold water rinse closed them up. Soap made a great lather, and the Mandom has a great skin feel, in addition to being awesome. Overall, DFS with an A- for closeness and a B+ for irritation.

SOTD
December 11, 2015
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Super Speed 1953 Y2
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: PannaCrema Vetiver
Brush: Semogue 830
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Royall Vetiver
Fantastic shave. The shaves I'm getting with the SS are amazing. Simple, trouble free, drama free. Nice Vetiver scent all around. The Semogue 830 is as soft as a synthetic, possibly one of my favorite non-synthetic brushes. Later this week I'll be using my first Gillette I bought, 1951 Gillette Flare Tip, when I first had it I could get a bad shave from it, I'm sure I'll be have epic shaves.
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

December 30 Day Focus--Gillette Executive and Stirling Kong

December 10

Razor - 1958 Gillette Executive Adjustable (WTG 5, ATG 6)
Blade - Gillette Silver Blue (3)
Brush - Stirling Kong
Soap - Stirling MITA
Post - Cold water, witch hazel, TSD ISZ


My finance surprised me by coming in yesterday instead of today. Definitely a nice surprise but I didn't get to post yesterday's shave. So here it is.

Thursday was the day for Chris's settings on the adjustable to try and compete with the excellent shave I received from Vince's settings on Tuesday. I threw in the added challenge that Chris settings had to deal with an extra day off growth since I didn't shave Wednesday.

First pass on 5 WTG/XTG. A good pass with no irritation and good reduction. Of course with more growth the reduction was not equal to that of seeing the first pass more aggressive.

Second pass on 6 ATG. Definitely a close shave. No problem getting through the remaining growth. A little touch up and bingo! BBS smooth. But I could not comply with Jar-Jar and give Bama the win. The second pass definitely had a little irritation. And even a little is a little more than the last shave. Of course I made it more difficult for Chris's settings but that is just life. Things aren't always fair.

I plan to do the same settings again. Going to skip my shave today (purely in the name of science) and use Vince's settings tomorrow so he (well not him exactly but his settings) will have to deal with the extra day's growth. Then will shave with Chris's without the extra growth so I get a good comparison, and maybe give Chris a chance at a win.

Right now Vince up one over Chris. Stacked deck against Chris? We shall see.

a follow-up.. I saw the picture of it from one of his posts, but I don't have it......yet.

Thank you. The airport shuttle leaves in 40 minutes

Im sitting in an airport boarding area trying not to rub my face
I got a great BBS today with my birth quarter SuperSpeed and Arko. I really like this combination. Two passes with just a little touch up and no irritation.
I can't wait to get home!
SOTD
Arko
AoS Travel Brush
Gillette SuperSpeed (G4)
Feather (5)
MK Sport Cologne
Happy Friday!