April 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Razor: Bluebeards Revenge
Blade: Wilkinson Black (Day 5)
Brush: 1305 Boar
Soap-Arko
A/S: The Shave Den-Coconut

Day-26

Hot shower with a cold finish and Tea Tree soap for body and hair. I have really enjoyed this focus and I have learned much about my technic and some soaps. I really like the Arko stick. I gives a great lather and leaves the face in good condition after I shave and prepare to apply my AS. The Bluebeard razor is a good razor, however, I don't care much for the smooth handle or it's length. I am a big friend to Gillette Super Speeds. The Shave Den AS is an excellent product, and if you don't have some you should place an order. I think I'll look for a container for the Arko as it is a bit sloppy in it's package for my liking.
Overall opinion is great shave tonight.

 

ATT stainless steel and Progress adjustable

 

Thanks Chris. That's me...right after the morning tussle with Arko. I expect to regain my composure in May once I start shaving with those girly French soaps again.

 

Congrats on getting a Mongoose! It is a fantastic razor and very intuitive to use. I'm sure you will enjoy it!

 

Adam, that is a great summary of what you learned during April. I enjoyed following your progress this month. You came a long way with your Feather Artist Club and your straight razor in a short amount of time.

 

I'm super stoked, but I think Clint is more exited than me about it

 

Doug, I like how you summarized your April focus! You use several items that I don't use yet, so it has been fun to follow your exploits. Thanks for sharing the journey with us!

I know what you mean regarding the sloppiness of the Arko packaging. I put a full stick in a twist-up plastic tube, and it makes a great shave stick that is easy to handle. Maybe something for you to consider?

 

Scott, drop a Feather Super and a shim in the Mongoose, and we'll all get excited! Now there's a great definition of MAYhem!

 

That will happen by the end of the month!

 

I've enjoyed reading and following each person's progress this month. @NCoxSTL and @Drygulch , your journey with shavettes and SR might even inspire me to give it a try at some point.

I've enjoyed another month of primarily focusing on the Mongoose. I now know that I can consistently get 10 shaves out of Feather blades. At the end of this month, I decided to revisit the Feather Super blades. During an earlier focus, this blade provided a close shave but was too much for me to use on a daily basis. However, with my extended focus on the Mongoose this time proved to be the charm. At long last, I've found my go to blade with this razor. The Super blade does make the razor more aggressive so I will need to continue to work on my technique. My long term goal is to have this razor and blade combo as my go to work day morning set up. One that I can give little to no thought to its use but get fantastic results.

So I'll continue this into the Focus for May.

 

Clint, I learn a lot from your posts, and I look forward to your May adventures. I also enjoy your SOTD photography. I think this photo best describes the incredible progress you've made this month, you Man of (Stainless) Steel!

 

@wristwatchb you're too much.

 

I have enjoyed hearing about both the software and the hardware everyone is using. Its been fun to see folks learning new things, or getting better at things they already have. I am not gonna lie, these focus threads are feeding my various ADs. As of now, my want list, based on the focus threads include:
1) CJB Kamasori (Have one on the way.)
2) Mongoose or Cobra SE
3) Birth Year Gillette or Shick (or both)
4) More Straights
5) Soap Commander Soaps
6) Katie's Bubbles Soaps
7) The Veg
8) Florida Water
9) Floyd Aftershave
9) Big Honking knot in a brush

Now I just need to figure out which organ to sell to get all that stuff.

 

My last two shaves, last night, and tonight, were with the Feather Hi Stainless, and Arko soap. The shave last night was very good, with no weepers, a light hand, and a irritation free great shave. As good as it was, tonight's shave, with the fat handled Canadian Tech was simply superb. For the fourth shave on this blade, and a new to me razor, the shave was so smooth, I questioned if the blade was in the razor. The result, after two passes, and a bit of neck touch-up, left me with a DFS to BBS shave, again. Two pictures of the new razors are here: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/two-packages-in-the-mail-today.44809/

 

If you can get the Super down in the Mongoose I'd say you can handle the Artist Club or traditional straight! We'll get you over to the dark side yet!

 

I'll bid on your pancreas. Kind of need one of those again, or at least the parts I'm missing! The CJB is a great razor, especially at the price. I have my eye on a Henkotsu kamisori but may get a Sam Seong artist club kamisori. Like the looks and several have said it's totally on par with the Feather, though the CJB isn't far off if at all! Like you, though, my RAD especially is alive and well. Going back to DE for a month has my watch list filling up with a few DE's as well!

 

April 2015 ... 30 day blade focus ...

pre: dr.bronner's, PSO(diy)
brush: EJ best badger medium
lather: proraso green soap
razor: EJ89lbl
blade:
post: alum block, thayer's witch hazel (various flavors)

04/25/15 ... Super-Max Platinum (1) ... 3 days growth
04/26/15 ... Super-Max Platinum (2) ...

Super-Max Platinum, meet Treet DuraSharp. Treet DuraSharp, meet Super-Max Platinum. Now, you guys go over there in the other room and tug and drag and pull with each other whilst I move on to another blade ... ;-(

the good news with supermax is similar good news as the treet ... consistent over both shaves, no blood flow, no irritation. however, it seemed only slightly more sharp than the treet blade. i felt pretty consistent pulling and tugging throughout both shaves.

almost all of my shaves during this April blade focus have been 2-pass shaves. the first one with the supermax was actually a 3-pass. on one hand, i felt like i needed the third pass just to get to the level of two passes by some of the other blades. on the other hand, since i didn't notice any irritation after the second pass, i didn't even think twice about going for a third.

the end result wasn't actually so bad. i would certainly rate it as socially acceptable and probably even close comfortable. it's just that it wasn't as pleasurable an experience during the shave as with some other blades.

wilkinson, 7am, voskhod, astraSP, treetdurasharp, crystal, supermax platinum ... next up is Dorco st-301

 

Such an awesome scent on the Tommy Bahama. I'm beginning to run out of mine, so I just bought another one because it's so damn good!

 

Good focus for April. Somewhere along the way I missed a few days, must have been the advent of Spring. Thank you for the Arko tip. Appreciate it!