Introducing a N00bie to SR Shaving

[rbscebu]

Last week the owner, Michael (Spanish), of the farm cottage that I am currently staying in was helping me make my travel diamond pasted balsa strop. He cut the tile substrate for me.

Of course we got talking about what I was doing and why. Michael shaves twice a week with canned goo and a cart, Wednesday and Sunday morning before church. He was surprised to hear that I shaved every morning with a SR for the simple reason that I enjoy the experience. His first question was "Aren't you afraid of cutting yourself?". That's always a good starter into a SR shaving conversation.

I am looking to introduce Michael to SR shaving. I already have a suitable shave-ready SR to lend him and more brushes and a quality Chinese strop on order. I will give him a brush, strop and one of my precious sticks of ARCO. Then I will help him assemble a set of diamond pasted balsa strops. That should set him up initially.

Michaelis is a good hard-working man, still young at a little over 70yo. I am looking forward to guiding him in this adventure, if he chooses to go with it.

 

[Herrenberg]

Wait. You want someone to get started in straight razor shaving, and you're starting him on ARKO? Does he no longer have a sense of smell?

 

[rbscebu]

Wait. You want someone to get started in straight razor shaving, and you're starting him on ARKO? Does he no longer have a sense of smell?

Michael is Spanish, so he has a refined classic sense of smell. He will appreciate the citrus highlights with the floral undertones of ARKO.

 

[Herrenberg]

Michael is Spanish, so he has a refined classic sense of smell. He will appreciate the citrus highlights with the floral undertones of ARKO.

"Refined" and "classic" do not seem to mean what I thought they meant.

 

[Mastropiero]

I can vouch for many Spaniards as having a highly refined sense of smell, they do indeed appreciate the subtleties of certain fragrances.

And then some other Spaniards shave with Arko.

 

[Baz4262]

Can't beat arko. Helping him avoid pitfalls allows him to concentrate on using the SR. Well done. Very gentlemanly

 

[camoloc]

Iberian ham makers and Arko just don't seem to mix to me........

but then again I'm not a world traveler so what do I know?

hope he does well with this eye opener.

you're a good man Charlie Brown.

camo

 

[Leverspro]

@rbscebu. Watching!

 

[steveclarkus]

Michael is Spanish, so he has a refined classic sense of smell. He will appreciate the citrus highlights with the floral undertones of ARKO.

I started a friend on Arko first, then a straight razor.

 

[rbscebu]

I started a friend on Arko first, then a straight razor.

Might not be a bad idea. I have a spare Ming Shi 2000S that he can use. That will give him something to play with. It will also take less of my time to guide him.

I suppose I was being influenced by my history where I went from carts straight into straight razors.

 

[steveclarkus]

Might not be a bad idea. I have a spare Ming Shi 2000S that he can use. That will give him something to play with. It will also take less of my time to guide him.

I suppose I was being influenced by my history where I went from carts straight into straight razors.

I went from DE/SE to carts to straights. I gave LH a 9/16 Bismarck and an excellent unbranded 4/8 with Method edges. He had bought a SRO and I knew that would go nowhere. I need to check back with him because those blades are in need of a touch up. The thing that got him interested in shaving though was the Arko. There is magic in that stuff you know.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Hey Arko might smell like urinal cakes, but it lathers pretty good and it is cheap cheap cheap. The odor goes away in minutes. I get my soap for the lather. I get my aftershave for she smell. But right now I am using some stuff given to me by the proprietor of Central Texas Soaps - https://centraltexassoaps.com/ who I met while returning from Grand Canyon and stopping in TX to see my uncle. That stuff is insane, lathers and lathers some more.

 

[Mastropiero]

I do agree Arko is a great, inexpensive soap. I disagree, however, with the @Slash McCoy's fragrance description. To me it smells like a cleaning floor solution used in a rather unkempt hospital in comunist, rural Romania. Trust me, I grew up in comunist Romania, I should know.


But he can't go wrong, performance wise, with it.

 

[Herrenberg]

New advertising slogan!

Arko: The Odor Goes Away In Minutes

 

[rbscebu]

New advertising slogan!

Arko: The Odor Goes Away In Minutes

I'm still trying to find an EdC that matches the scent of a freshly opened stick of ARKO.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I'm still trying to find an EdC that matches the scent of a freshly opened stick of ARKO.

AdP Fico d'Amalfi won't match it, but it's got a lot of citron and unripe lemon on the opening. I bet it would pair very well.

 

[Kyle89]

I'm still trying to find an EdC that matches the scent of a freshly opened stick of ARKO.

I'd rock it.

Will be keeping tabs on this thread. Sounds like a super fun opportunity. You're always making a point to spread the word on the forums regarding straight razor shaving so it's not at all a surprise that you're doing that IRL. Cheers.

 

[Tomo]

The first time someone gave me Vegemite, I thought they were playing a practical joke on me.

I expect I would feel much the same way if someone offered me what smelled like a urinal puck and told me to rub it on my face before shaving. The same guy that’s trying to convince me to shave with an old time razor sharpened on a piece of wood. Your latest protègè must be very trusting or gullible…

 

[Alum Ladd]

We got some Vegemite in for the first time last month. Never had it before.

Much more complex and interesting than Marmite. Like a sensory rapier compared to a brick, taste-wise.

I find Arko! has the same exciting complexity.

 

[steveclarkus]

I'm still trying to find an EdC that matches the scent of a freshly opened stick of ARKO.

Whatever you do, don’t get the Turkish stuff that is so popular there. You wouldn’t want to smell like that. I have a large bottle and it will remain full.