Great photo of the head geometry!

Arko is great for that because it's inexpensive, too.

Razor: Gillette Aristocrat
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (2)
Brush: Simpsons CH1 Best Badger
Soap: Route 66 Bourbon Jungle
A/S: Myrsol After Shave "Formula C"

Another great picture. I think all the shave gear in the snow adds to the photos.

Thanks Clint. Hard not to have shaving gear in the snow today. We are getting hit hard today. Finally winter has arrived.

My Dec 29 shave with the Fatboy/Feather combination on a cushion of Fitjar Fellheim shave cream.
I find that for near-daily shaves a setting of 5 works well for me, even on the neck. And a higher setting such as 7th day, for shaving after a couple of carefree days..

Beautiful picture. Great gear.

Straights to the Finish Line!!!!

December 29 - It's Soviet Day - Day 2!

Razor - Soyuz 1 Straight
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold Water, Alum, Nivea

Spent some time with the razor this morning on the strop. Not sure what good it will do as It's nearly impossible to know if the angle is right. Laying it down flat with no spine has no effect on the edge that I could tell, and trying to hold any kind of angle was just an exercise in stupidity futility. Still, it got its laps on both poly and leather so it's time to see what difference if any it makes.

I chose to try the Tabac today and grabbed the WW brush. Might as well have a pillowy feeling to start because I know it isn't going to last long. Got up a good lather and went right half first again. At first I thought I might be onto something, but that optimism quickly faded as I made more than the first short stroke. Yep, still as rough and tuggy as yesterday. I'm not sure if it's worse because at a certain point it's just rough and that's all you can say about it. The first pass on that side was about as effective as yesterday, meaning NOT! Went ahead and lathered the left side and went WTG there. Again, pulls, tugs, rough, and very little actual cutting that I could tell.

So, lathered the whole face and did an XTG along with ATG on the neck. Talk about dragging and just generally being enough to make you mad. Was there some reduction? Yes, but not enough to even think about a third pass at this point. From what I can tell the stropping did nothing to improve it. It also seems to have done nothing to make it worse, or else it's just at that bad point that you can't tell a difference.

After debating with myself over a swig of coffee (N mug was safely away from me by that point) I relathered and........grabbed the W.B. Speed Rabbit to make another pass. Now THAT is how it should feel. Nice, smooth, you could hear the cutting instead of the grinding and I finished a pass with a CCS and decided it was good enough for a day off shave.

Could I have continued with the Soyuz and gotten to CCS? Yes, I'm sure I could have. How many passes would it have taken? More than I want to know at this point. Again, I could have gotten a good enough shave to count given time and persistence, but there's no point if I have something better to go to. In a shavepocalypse I'm covered. Until then, this razor will be a trophy in my collection.

Oh, yes, the Alum was a nice burn, by the way. Even at two rough passes my face has had enough. Nivea to the rescue! Have a great Tuesday!

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Thank you Doug.

Today's shave was a two pass + clean up BBS. A slight tugging was noticeable but the Pro Super still delivered a tingling close shave, perfect for a night out with the family. Shannon Soap is one of those extra thirsty soaps, that like a few drops of water added slowly and... BOOM, you get a fragrant, slick and creamy lather with excellent skin care. Bay Patchouli Grapefruit is an excellent light bay scent that went well with the generous splash of the Shave Tonic and later on a good spritz of Bayberry. Hope you're Tuesday is rockin'.

The soap sounds great. How many shaves do you usually get out of a Super?

Planned Day 29 - DEcember 2015



Weishi 9306
Trig Silver Edge
L'Occitane Plisson Synthetic
Blind Test Soap "A"
Alum
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal

Never have used Trig before, and this soap is for the quarterly review group. So we'll see how it goes! A quick planned shave and then down to Denver for the evening with Mrs. Samurai. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a wonderful evening!





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7 and out most of the time.

+1

nICE!

@Bill_F really like your new avatar!

I don't think the soap makes a difference, but I've been told you can hasten the break-in by using a suribachi bowl like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UEYXL8/?tag=thshde-20

I use a hard soap to soften the bristles. Argo is pretty hard but check your soaps and look for a hard tripled killed soap. I use DR Harris to break in my boar brushes.

Dec 30 Shave 2.21

Round 2 with the AdP, not scuttle and just warm water. The lather kept drying out and it was hard to keep it at the yogurt wet consistency I like for SR shaving. I did 4 passes with no blood and reasonable comfort. As a warm up for next month's focus the razor, Hart 6/8, was fresh off my 12k stone and I did not use a pasted strop, just leather. The felt was not rough but not super smooth either. The alum test gave only a faint reply. Closeness was a little disappointing as it was just DFS and I thought I would get the BBS.

Irritation A Closeness B

Acqua Di Parma
Rooney silver tip
Hart Steel 6/8 round point
Lucky Tiger AS
L'Occitane Cade ASB
Dior Cuir Cannage

Hi Keith. Do you see much difference in the shave if you skip the pasted strop and go straight from the 12K stone to leather? In other words, I'm wondering if a pasted strop is really even needed for touch ups.