30 Day Rule/Focus; April 2023. All Are Welcome!

Friday April 21 (evening) - Anything Goes April



Prep: hot shower
Razor: Supply 2.0 matte black injector with SE comb plate / Supply Black Label (5)
Brush: Simpson's Chubby 2 Synthetic (ivory coloured handle)
Soap: "Red Green Duct Tape Special" frankensoap
Post: Rinse, alum, and Lucky Tiger Face Tonic

My last shave was April 12 in the early morning, so 9.5 days of beard growth to mow down.

I couldn't do Fat Friday, because I finished off my cake of MWF and won't replace it until I have finished off a few other soaps too.

A word about the soap that I did use: it's a soap I "custom made" for myself in about April 2017. My explanation in the 30DC at the time:

***
"I" "discovered" another soft Italian almond soap in my inventory tonight. Named after Red Green, a noted Canadian handyman and TV personality, it is a unique custom formulation. Red Green is obtained when "someone" pries cakes of Vitos Supercrema (Green label) and Extra Super Coco (Red label) soaps out of their overfilled containers, squishes them together, folds and re-folds them like a giant lump of PlayDough, and then kneads the resulting mixture into a handy large empty TOBS tub. I didn't even have to use any duct tape...

What is the performance like? Well, it's a lot easier to load the brush, because there's enough empty space in the new container to do so without spilling everywhere. Beyond that, the performance is much like using either Vitos Red or Green label soaps, which I couldn't tell apart anyway. At least now they'll be easy to use, and the emptied 100ml sample tubs are in turn a good fit for my Haslinger refill pucks. "
***

A week or two later, I further "improved" the formula by adding in two other classic Italian soft almond soaps -- Cella red tub and a sample of 3P -- and moving the result from the TOBS shaving cream tub to a much larger container.



I haven't seen the Vitos soaps for sale for several years. They may no longer be available -- or they may have gone back to selling primarily to barbershops in Italy. I originally bought mine from Connaught Shaving in the UK.

Over the last six years, my mixture has hardened from a soft sticky croap to a medium-hard soap. Didn't change the performance any -- it's still very easy to lather and provides lots of cushion and glide.

I did one pass with the injector and was back to cleanshaven. The alum was silent. A splash of Lucky Tiger finished things off and I am ready for my weekend overnight shift on the phone lines.

 

Awesome Tabac shave Danny.

 

Very nice shave with the Ming Shi razor Barry.

 

Excellent Fst Friday shave Danny.

 

Great shave. Except you can *never* have too much soap...

 

Thanks Joe. It's a typo. I meant cleavers. I fixed the original post.

 

Very nice shave and setup Joe. Hope you will feel better real soon.

 

Thank you Joe.

 

Excellent shave and a nice little explanation of your frankensoap John. Shaving a 9.5 day growth with one pass is impressive. My 9.5 day unshaven mug would need at least 3 passes with my über sized straights.

 

Nice setup and write up John.
9 days + one pass + silent alum. Super cool
Like the idea of a bigger container. Still haven't made a dent in my Arko and even with "dry loading" it's a bit messy.

 

@Paul Turner. Opposite to me then. Swap necks maybe ? Good to have a challenge though, otherwise it would be too boring! I'll get the hang of it eventually or just live with it. I do prefer my lower neck smooth, with winter approaching here down under any remaining stubble catches on my turtle neck sweaters or scarves, not nice.

 

@brit
Mr Gillette, you mean you only have one fatboy?

(btw you have a super collection of Gillette razors Gary)

 

Date: 22 April 2023
Saturday morning shave.
Almost the same set up as yesterday, but like I said we have some good days and some not so good days.

Growth: 24 hours
Lather Bowl: White
Brush: Ever-Ready 200. Although I dry loaded the brush the same way as with my Old Vulfix from yesterday I still could not get the lather as thick and yoghurt-y.
Razor: Gillette Slim 1962 #6 #6 then #3
Blade: Astra SP (3) taking this too far
Face Prep: Usual with ProRaso Green pre-shave
Cream/Soap: Arko
Post Shave: HWR, CWR, Alum, Thayers
Aftershave: Brut

Passes:
1st pass: Slim set to #6, Astra SP stills seems smooth enough on Day 3
2nd pass: Slim set to #6, Astra SP dragging a bit now on 2nd Pass.
Touch ups: Slim set back down to #3 for closer buffing.

Results:
Nicks: left top lip minor bleeding (trying too hard for BBS ATG). I felt a slice left side of cheek, no bleeding.

Red spots: Left lower neck.
Alum burn: Minor. Letting me know I got close.


Success: Finally got the right lower neck smooth, almost BBS both ways. Won’t exactly call it J-hooking, more like CW and CCW scoops following the leading left hand filled with lather. Still figuring out a strategy for that area and my lumpy Adams apple on my skinny neck. Short light buffing in multiple directions is the only way I can get close here. Time consuming.

Plan: Growth of between 36 and 48 hours allows for more skin recovery. Tomorrow I might take an evening shave.

Even an hour later my skin is feeling heavily exfoliated. The cost of an occasional very close shave I suppose.

Great weekend and great shaves to you all.

 

Nice setup and post Chris. I mentioned in the past that you can flatten your Adam's apple by holding your swallowing while you shave that area. I'm fortunate that I don't have a prominent neck protuberance. I saw this tip from a shaving youtuber, but I don't recall who it was. Enjoy your Saturday.

 

Thanks, Chris. It will probably take at least a month of regular use for you to make any kind of noticeable dent in your Arko tub. Several years ago, Chris @Bama Samurai shaved using only an Arko shaving stick to see how long it would last. The answer was "well over six months"... IIRC, after 190 shaves, he still had a tiny stub of the stick left but decided to call it.

 

thank you Joe

awesome shave Joe,get well soon.

 

Thanks, Joe.

To be honest, my single pass really just gets me to a Socially Acceptable Shave edging into a DFS. Completely smooth would take another pass or two. In other words, it's fine for general public appearances, but for a crucial business meeting, I would do a second pass, and for what I hoped would be a "successful" hot date, likely a third.

 

thank you Chris..this one is my 3rd fatboy and the oldest.not that big on adjustables but have them due to historical importance,,

 

We're on the same page. Lol!

 

fabulous shaves and reports gentlemen.