April 2017 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thanks Jason!

 

Eventually my time management skills will catch up with my big mouth and I'll chip away at a few '30 Day Crew' LE handles. I'll put this design forward as an option for folks, if you'd like.

 

That is a great idea. The design is such a classic.

 

I would be in for one of those. It's a beauty!

 

Anything you do will be spectacular, I'm Sure!

 

April 7 - I feel Frozen!!!!

Merkur 34C
Vidyut SuperMax stainless blade
French Vanilla brush(JR#72)
Barrister & Mann Arctique soap
DIY PSO
Alum/Thayers/Nivea SPSB

Today was my first time with the SuperMax blade and B&M Arctique soap. I have heard good things about both. I just had enough for barely one shave in the soap sample that was sent me. Looked to be about 1 gram of soap. Pressed it into my bowl and added about a teaspoon of water. As usual, I made lots of watery bubbles but in the end, it did thicken and with a few tuning droplets got a light lather with some shine. I was hoping for thicker but I felt this was more similar to how Jared would prefer it. Scent reminded me of peppermint Tic Tacs. It was nice and strong. Upon application, I determined whether any menthol was left. It took maybe 20-30 seconds when I suddenly felt my face quickly freeze over. This was nice!!!! If this is what strong menthol is like, I was able to handle it easily and did not have any negative reaction to it.

B&M Arctique reminded me of my experience with Wheat State Soaps. Both created lighter weight, fluffy lather, almost cloud like. Both were very slick but less dense than Stirling. Very pleasurable soap.

Now to see if the razor fairs as well. Right from the start of the WTG pass, this razor was louder than the worn out Feather. It was smooth but only so far as it felt like I wasn't cutting much. XTG and ATG indicated this blade was less sharp than a 3 shave old Feather. I had to resort to short strokes to get my usual 3 passes done. Feeling the results was disappointing. I ended up doing another ATG and then additional touch up on my neck and jawline to get a reasonable DFS. These blades are just too dull for my beard. I kept the pressure very light and accepted the final result.

Immediately upon stepping out of the shower, I applied alum. To my surprise, my face was still freezing cold and sort of felt like I have spread nova-cane all over it. the alum was quiet. For a lousy blade that needed extra steps, my face did not bare the brunt of it. It seems the menthol quieted any razor burn.

With my experience with Arctique, I definitely will be buying it when it becomes available. Unfortunately, there was only enough for the single shave. Having been successful with menthol, I will be looking at other vendors menthol soaps as well. I would suggest anyone looking for a good soap to try B&M and check out Arctique if you like menthol.

Wishing everyone a great Friday and weekend ahead!!

 

Frank, Do you have any Supermax Platinum's in your stash ?

 

I'm simply using my merkur progress. I can get bbs but many times at the cost of irritation. I'm trying to see if there is a replicatable way to gets bbs and no irritation. (I have multi-directional coarse grow.) I will be using Tabac, MWF Cella, Trumpers, and Arko/Derby if the spirit moves me. My brush is the mighty midget and Polsilver blades.

 

Need to check. I thought these might have been but they were not.

 

I had a very good experience with Wheat State Soaps and Barrister & Mann. They are the slickest I have yet tried and might help. The menthol soap I just tried seemed to help prevent razor burn for me, might help you. Either that or join the cold shavers club and shave with cold water on your face.

 

Have you had similar results with your R41, or is it only the Progress your get irritation with?

 

I have had similar results with my R41. About half the time I get irritation on my neck when I go for bbs. The growth pattern is a spiral in a couple of places. I'd like to see if there is a routine or formula for bbs and no irritation every time with my progress and then my R41. I'm starting with my progress because I let my son borrow my r41 to see if he likes it.

 

Welcome! This thread helped me a ton in getting to be able to replicate results, and figuring out what details I wasn't focusing on. Pictures help us a bunch, along with a detail description on what you are doing. (Pass directions, number of passes, quality of lather, how many shaves on the blade, ect.) Then as you make changes to what you do and get little changes in results, it becomes easier to fix the problem. Glad to have you on board.

 

Just remember whose idea it was. I want #02.

 

Ya, thanks for that Jared...

 

Well I did leave #01 for you, I thought that was generous of me.

 

I'll b generous as well. I want number 4

 

I have the same spiral pattern a few spots on my neck as well. It took me a bit to get them figured out, but this group was helpful. Even now I don't usually chase the baby around (I get enough of that with a 14 mo old running around). As @Drygulch mentioned, details and pics help the guys on here see and make suggestions.

One little piece of advice that helped me was riding the cap. It may be old news to you, but keeping on that cap, especially on the neck, really helped smooth things out and calm the irritation.

Glad to have you aboard.

 

Are we slotting for numbers already? I can follow suit and take 6!