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

Classic shave right there Gary.

 

Thank you Gary.

 

Cool Water Mint stealing the show.

 

yes sir.there is a difference between them.the thinner head helps.

 

thank you Joe.

 

Perfect Proraso shave Joe. Btw, it was 66 degrees on Long Island.

 

Thanks Joe. Excellent wordplay. Lol!

 

Great intro to the month, Joe!

I will probably do Adjustable and Arko April. I haven't used my Arko in far too long - and I have a carton of the sticks! (What can I say? A vendor had a killer deal on Amazon a few years ago - a carton of 12 for nearly the normal price of one stick with free Prime shipping to boot...)

For a start, though, it will probably be Anything Goes April.

 

Thank you Joe. Just about a perfect temperature. 88 at the Southern Den.

 

Wednesday April 5 - Adjustable / Anything Goes April

Prep: hot water and soap face wash
Razor: Supply 2.0 matte black injector with SE comb plate / Supply Black Label (4)
Brush: Jayaruh JR #267 burled maple with tall Omega Pro 49 boar knot
Soap: TOBS Lavender cream (croap)
Post: Rinse, alum, styptic pencil and Portland General Store Black Willow Bark toner

My last shave was March 27, so nearly nine days of beard growth to mow down.

Calling this an "adjustable" shave is pushing it. The Supply injector has three (now four) baseplates to vary the aggressiveness of the razor, but you can't really change things in mid-shave as you can with a Fatboy or similar dial-adjustable razor. You pick your "adjustment" before you start and can't change after that without a lot of fiddling -- including removing and replacing the blade. Maybe we should call razors like this "interchangeable" instead?

Anyway, ever since I got the new "open comb" SE plate, that's the only one I have used, so I don't really adjust my Supply at all anymore. (Their other new model, the Supply Pro, genuinely is adjustable, with a roller control on the handle allowing over 30 micro adjustments to the blade gap.)

I haven't used this brush in awhile. The maple handle is gorgeous and the knot is one of those 3" tall boar knots that do great painting strokes with the lather. I just have to remember to let the knot soak for awhile before starting; quite different from using a synthetic. I let hot tap water run over the knot for about half a minute first and the brush behaved nicely. I loaded heavy onthe croap, wet the brush tip a couple times while face lathering, and ended up with a coat of thick, slick lather.

One pass took me from hobo to respectably cleanshaven.

I did need to use the styptic pencil on a couple spots on my neck again. My skin has been a bit oily and outbroken this week, and I think the blood was from a couple small pimples hidden under the whiskers. I finished with a toner containing willow bark (salicylic acid) to help dry out and clear up my skin.

I will try to shave more often this month. Probably not every day but I will aim for every other day.

My next shave will use Arko and probably my refurbished Gillette SuperAdjustable.

Hope the week is going well for everyone!

 

Thanks Joe

 

She is purdy!

Thanks Joe.

 

Ikon Shave Craft 103 open comb razor head.
Weber bulldog handle.
Astra SP blade (3).
Yaqi 24mm synthetic brush.
Pheonix Accoutrements Dixie shave soap.
Timeless Razor shave bowl.
Irish Chestnut by Andy Hilfiger cologne.

Awesome shave in the Heart of Dixie this morning. Three very nice passes and the 103 is a very efficient head.

Happy humpday everyone!

 

Well Ok Joe, being senior too, I will keep my eye out for some Aqua Velva around here.

@Screwtape John, I am impressed from hobo to clean in one pass, I have a ways to go still. Thanks for the insight about the Supply injectors, I am starting to cast a furtive look in the directions of SE shaves at some time in the future, that helps.

 

05 Apr 2023

A rescue shave. Aargh. depressing start to the day.

Growth: 24 hours.
Razor: Gillette Slim Adjustable (I4)
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (1)
Soap: Modified Arko. I had grated down the Arko stick I received a few months ago, let it air for a month, then melted it down and added some Imperial Leather Aftershave. Smells better…. But: performance?
Brush: Old Vulfix Pure Badger 24 mm knot. I prefer the shape of this handle.

Face lathered: I loaded the brush like I normally do for the MWF, for around a minute from the puck, straight to the face. Seems nice and thick…………but did not perform well at all.

Passes: my usual three with clean ups.

Today was a struggle. Face lathering/painting seemed to go well, but the Razor head felt draggy and the blade felt tuggy in Pass 1.
Abandoned that ¾ way through, as suggested above, I added more water to the brush and lathered up again.
Pass 2 was a bit better, but blade still tugging.
For Pass 3 I added still more water to the brush and a few drops of glycerine, finally achieving some shiny slipperiness. Better for buffing.

This morning’s shave was hard work. I left the tricky areas for another day and decided to take some stubble to work with me.
Alum was silent, no damage sustained. Thayers applied liberally.
Aftershave = Brut, not too bad, again not the best but I do want to finish this.

Scent for the day = Jo Malone London Orange bitter Cologne. Lovely, nice way to end an otherwise average start to the day.

So, either (a) I don’t know how to lather the Arko, or (b) adding the Imperial Leather to the grated Arko has damaged it, or (c) the Gillette Silver blue is rubbish, so just to be safe I have relegated this to the blade bin. Or all three of course.

Looking forward to see what tomorrow brings.

Hoping you all had better shaves this Wednesday

 

Thanks John for the kind words. I can't blame you for pulling the trigger on such a great deal for 12 sticks of Arko.

 

Excellent shave and post John. Enjoy you day.

 

Definitely an Alabama Awesome shave Danny! Have an Alabama Awesome Day!

 

This is a very informative post Chris. We learn from our failures. I think it was the blade that was the problem because you felt tugginess. Regardless of the soap, it will not make a blade tuggy. I find Arko to be very slick and always get great results whether it be a face or head shave. It could be a ymmv thing, it doesn't take to much water to make an Arko lather. It's possible you had too much water for the amount of soap. Anyway, I know that you will figure it out. Enjoy your day.

 

Thanks Joe and I hope your day is great!