Shave of the day?

Yesterday:

Preshave: Hot Shower
Lather: TGQ Soap
Brush: Merkur Futur-style
Razor: Merkur Futur (F/3.5)
Blade: Personna Red Label (Israeli), fifth shave on this blade
Aftershave: Splash of rubbing alcohol

Result: Ok. But this blade was clearly worn out. I should have just tossed it, but I muddled through carefully and slowly and eked an acceptable shave... still better than any shave I got from a multiblade cartridge. This is my last Personna blade. I got six nice shaves from the one before this.




Today:

Preshave: Hot Shower
Lather: TGQ Soap
Brush: Merkur Futur-style
Razor: Merkur Futur (F/3.0)
Blade: Merkur Platinum, first shave on this blade
Aftershave: Splash of rubbing alcohol

Result: Very good. In the past, I have not been impressed with Merkur blades. I've found them mediocre at best and that's not good for what is generally nearly or entirely the most expensive blade in the store. But, I think now that my technique has improved (two years at this now) and I am now able to get a much better shave from these Merkur blades.




For the last year or so, I've been using exclusively Feather and Bic blades. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to use up the last bits and remnants left over from my blade exploration phase. So, I started by using up the last two Personna blades. Now, I have two Merkur blades to use up. I'm really happy to be using up these last blades not only to get my drawer cleared out, but also because it's good to now revisit these blades now that I have got my technique down pretty well.
 
Last nights shave started with Williams Mug shaving soap applied with Ever Ready shaving brush
Gillette Super Speed narrow handle
Personna blade

Shaved right after getting out of a hot shower in two passes with a little buffing of the rough spots after.

rinsed face in cold tap water and then hit any weepers with stiptic pencil
liberally applied regular drug store variety witch hazel and finished off with bay rum

The shave left my face nice and smooth and I didn't have to shave this morning with the electric for work.

Dave
 
Last edited:
Preshave:Hot shower
Brush: TGN Badger converted Omega
Soap: Proraso Green soap
Razor: Gillette New
Blade: Shark
Aftershave: Musgo Real Aftershave Balm

No picture today, feeling lazy.

I am out of IP Reds for a couple of weeks now and back to using the other blades I have on hand. Let me say while I was impressed with the Shark the first time around, after a week of being spoiled by the IP Red it was a let down today. It could just have been a bad blade, but I found it tugged and pulled a fair amount, and I was using it in the same razor as the first Shark I used. I will give it another go tomorrow and see if it smooths out on the second shave if not, its back to the Dorco blades for a bit. It may take longer to get a close shave with them but they are always smooth for me.
 
Preshave:Hot shower
Brush: TGN Badger converted Omega
Soap: Proraso Green soap
Razor: Gillette Single Ring
Blade: Dorco ST-301
Aftershave: Musgo Real Aftershave Balm

Being one not to take everything that people say about a product as gospel, I have to try the theory out myself. This time it was the one about an open comb razor was meant to be use in a time when men didn't shave daily and had a couple of days growth. So I went 3 days without shaving, a real feat for me, and loaded up my Single Ring.

While the end result was the same as using it daily, it did an amazing job at slicing through the growth on the first pass. Although I haven't done it yet I am sure that a safety bar razor wouldn't get me that close on a first pass or even a second pass with 3 day growth. I actually feel that the final result may be a little smoother with the extra growth than with only a days growth.

I think I may put the other half of the theory to test with a safety bar razor next Sunday. I will shave Friday morning and then not shave again till Sunday afternoon. If I am lucky, it will be with a new to me Super Speed:thumbup:

BTW my face feels silky smooth right now:D
 
Preshave: Hot Shower
Lather: to be revealed later
Brush: Merkur Futur-style
Razor: Merkur Futur (F/3.5)
Blade: Merkur, fifth shave on this blade
Aftershave: Splash of rubbing alcohol

Result: I would say excellent. As I have explained earlier, I am using up the odds-and-ends of blades left over from my blade exploration phase. This was the last of my Merkur blades. Over the last ten days, I have used up my last two Merkur blades. And I have received mostly excellent shaves from them. These shaves are 90+% as good as what I get from Feathers. But, it does not come without cost. I have to do so much "touch up" that I simply admitted that it was and made it into a full third pass. With a Feather, I need two passes and a few strokes of touch-up if that, usually no touch-up at all. And I have find that doing a full third pass every day, day-after-day, is irritating to my skin. My conclusion is that while it is possible to get an excellent shave from Merkur blades, it takes longer and requires extra effort. And, Merkur blades are, on most websites, nearly if not actually the most expensive DE blades offered. So, you pay a top price for a blade that is just not a top performer.



Oh, and as for lather, well with TGQ still closed, no phone number, and not returning e-mail, I have decided to try another product before my remaining TGQ runs out. I want to use this new product for a few weeks to get -- as I like to say -- "dialed in" with this product before I say anything.
 
I am really sad that TGQ dropped off the face of the earth. I still hold out hope that she comes back though. I don't know what was behind the move, but it could have been a personal or health thing and she is still recovering. I do know that the TGQ web page was down for a couple of weeks then came back up, that is why I am still hoping.
 
Preshave: Hot Shower
Lather: to be revealed later
Brush: Merkur Futur-style
Razor: Merkur Futur (F/3.0)
Blade: Feather
Aftershave: Splash of rubbing alcohol

Result: Perfect. It is so nice to go back to Feather blades for a week or two amidst my champaign to use up the odds-and-ends of blades leftover from my blade exploration phase. Feathers are just the best, hands down the best. The razor glides with no resistance. You wonder if, perhaps, you forgot to put a blade in, but you made no such mistake; it's just that Feather blades do cut so easily. Two passes, one south-to-north (mostly with-the-grain) and then one south-to-north (mostly against-the-grain) horizontally across the upper and lower lips, a few extra strokes at angles over a couple of very specific spots on both sides exactly above where the actual joint of the jaw is (the hair in these two spots seems to grow at odd angles doubtlessly due to the underlying bone structure), then a quick south-to-north pass on the back of my neck, and that's it. It's quick and effortless and the result is just as smooth as a shave could possibly be. So nice to go back to Feathers after time away.
 
Pre-shave: Shower. Soaped face with Dr. Bronner's soap.
Lather: My own cedar shaving soap.
Brush: Dovo Pure Badger (black handle)
Razor: Dovo Special (tortoise)
Aftershave: Cold water

Before getting in the shower I poured a splash of hot water into my soap bowl to soften it up. Instant meringue as soon as the brush hit it. I love the smooth shave I get out of my Dovos, but the Gillette double edge adjustable I got from my great grandfather does a fine job too, when I don't have the time. :)
 
Preshave:Hot shower
Brush: Fendrihan Badger
Soap: Porarso Cream
Razor: EJ89L
Blade: IP Reds
Aftershave: Musgo Real Aftershave Balm

Oh what a beautiful shave the IPs give me, yes they may not be for everyone, but they are the best for my face. I was a little nervous that the IPs would only work in the 2 razors I had tried them in because I had only 2 of them to try, but I got the same experience with the EJ as I did with the Single Ring and New.

End result a DFS with zero irritation.
 
Looking forward to tonight. Just received 50 more IPs and some Tabac in the mail! Not sure what AS is going to go with Tabac as it's pretty unique to say the least.
 
Gollnick said:
This morning...

Preshave: Hot shower
Lather: TGQ
Shave: Supper Iridium in Merkur Futur (f/2.75)
Aftershave: 70% Drug Store rubbing alcohol

Result: Pretty good.

The amazing part: This was shave #12 of this blade. I've been shaving carefully to use one edge and then the other. The first edge delivered eight... count 'em EIGHT!... shaves. The second edge only four. But, still, TWELVE shaves from a single blade! Wow!

I have a colleague at work who drives a Toyota Prius. He's bought special hardware and software for his laptop that allows him to connect the PC to the car and fiddle around with the various internal settings in the engine computer. Sports car enthusiasts have been doing this for many years. But Larry's goal is not increased performance. No. Larry is a hard-core "hyper-miler." His goal is to get the highest fuel efficiency possible, the most miles-per-gallon. He has studied and optimized very foot of his daily route. He has timed every traffic light. He has it all down. And before he comes into the office each day, he snaps a picture of the milage display on his car to post to some website forum he belongs to to show off to his fellow hyper-miler friends.

Can you believe that? They have web forums for people whose whole life revolves around getting the maximum milage on their car? These people just sit around all day and just discuss how to get an extra tenth of a mile out of a gallon of gas. It's absolutely silly! You'd never catch me doing anything like that. Anyway...


Anyway, there's an old saying, "Your actual milage may vary."

Me? I drive a supercharged Mercedes. Getting the maximum MPG is not my top priority. Some time ago, Larry and I took a product we were working on to an outside test laboratory. On the way back to the office, we got on the freeway via one of Portland's many "metered ramps." One car per green light. One at a time. When we came to the head of the line and the light turned green, I decided to show Larry how a Mercedes works. At the end of the ramp, we merged into traffic doing about 65. And, once he started breathing again, Larry's response was, "Wow. I don't think my Prius can do that."

My reply was, "In the last four seconds, Larry, I burned as much gas as you will commuting for the next four days.... but it was worth it!"

And, as I looked in my mirror, I caught a glimpse of the expression on Larry's face which clearly said, "Yes, by golly -- while I would never admit it-- it was!"

Larry drives with a certain goal that not everyone shares. His standard of an acceptable, even a good drive is different than others.

So also with shaving, some have different goals. There is a certain cult within the shaving community which I like to call the "hyper-shavers." Their goal is to extract the maximum number of shaves-per-blade, SPB.

How many shaves a guy can get from one blade depends first on the quality of his prep. I think mine is pretty good. A nice, hot shower with a good face wash is good. The hyper-shaver would probably spend twenty minutes wrapped in a series of hot towels soaked with special oils and beard softeners; I haven't got time for that.

Next, the products you use will factor into your SPB. I think my practice is pretty good in this area. I use TGQ soap. The hyper-shavers tend to layer on pre-shave oils and then mix up elaborate concoctions of soaps and creams to get the exact right slickness.

Perhaps the second biggest determiner of SPB is your beard itself. If you have a sparse, light beard, then you'll get more SPB. Mine is, I suspect, about average. It gets kind of tough and wirey between my lower lip and chin, but that seems common.

Another big determiner of SPB is how much time and how many passes you're willing to put in. For me, two passes is my usual practice. The whole process takes about 12 minutes. The hyper-shavers dedicate upwards of an hour to shaving extravaganzas involving five or six passes.

But, the single greatest factor in SPB is just your own standards. I suspect that some of these hyper-shavers who report SPB in the dozens are quite satisfied to run around looking like they just stepped off the set of Miami Vice. Not me! I have, over the last year of DE shaving, come to expect -- rather demand -- a very smooth, close shave. And I won't compromise that to eke one more shave out of a blade that only cost pennies anyway.

I will admit that the eighth shave from the first edge of this S Ir blade was below my usual standards. For one brief, 12 minutes to be exact, period, I flurted with hyper-shaving and allowed myself to accept a less-than-acceptable shave... though I gave no resemblance to Sonny Crockett even given my distain for unconstructed jackets.

So, why only four shaves on the second edge? Because that was clearly all it had to give. And that shows inconsistency.

I've been reading a lot of great reports about S Ir blades with may users reporting impressive SPB. As the Prius is the hyper-milers, the S Ir is rapidly becoming to hyper-shavers. Eventually, they'll figure out how to jack their laptops into their blades to maximize their SPB. I have been getting six and eight great shaves from S Ir blades so far. This last one was amazing... but inconsistent.

Tomorrow, I have a Feather waiting on deck just for A/B comparison purposes.
Click to expand...
Reading this thread with interest but I almost spit my coffee when I read the part in bold. I'm certain you said it in jest.... made my day.
 
Preshave: hot shower
Shaving Soap: D.R. Harris lavender scented
Brush: Omega Silvertip Badger
Razor: Merkur Futur set on 2
Blade: Feather
Aftershave: Thayer's Witch Hazel with lavender and aloe vera.

even at the number two setting on the razor I got a couple weepers, but the shave was BBS after two passes and two small buff up areas. Still Smooth the morning after as I shaved at night before bed.

Dave
 
Took a shave before retiring to bed.

Pre treat: Washed face with MUSGO Lime glycerin soap. Followed by hot flannels. This soap is a new arrival, Old School cake soap which lathers like mad. You might be able to shave with it! Very refreshing, cleans the face very well, has a pleasant smell too. It's supposed to get the oil out of the skin and soften the bristles. Very good. Odd thing is, here in Europe I can get this from Portugal(its origin) but cannot find the MUSGO after shave balm, only from the US with high shipping costs! Bizarre.

Brush: Vulfix Badger

Blade: Feather, a new one. Previous one managed 6 good shaves, that's about their limit.

Razor. Merkur Traveller

Cream. Taylor of Old Bond St ALMOND. If you like marzipan (I do!) this will send you into orbit..rich sweet smell in tub but it dies down once on the face. Fantastic lather, always put too much in as this gear whips up superbly. Huge volume in 60 secs in the mug(nothing more glorious than an ex tea cup but it's very narrow at base wide at brim, works satisfyingly. Cheap too..) Does not dry out the skin and gives a supreme shave. all Taylor creams I've tried have worked very well, but I don't care for the scent of the Sandlewood or the Shaving Shop. The others, Lavender, Almond, St James's are all firm favourites. Eton College I used to favour but now it's in a blue tub and smells completely different and unpleasant. Individual thing though.

After: L'Occitane Cade shaving balm. Just ordered some Baux(cypress) version, really like the woodland smell.

Result. Next day skin felt smooth and closely shaved all day.I like shaving at night.
 
Trying soap today instead of cream.

Prep. Sauna!

Soap. L'Occitane CADE. Lathers up very easily and has a fine clean cypres/juniper scent. Does not dry out on the face either.

Brush. Men -U synthetic. These work really well, nearly badger level and tough.

Blade. Feather as ever.

Razor. Merkur Barber pole. Bit too long for my taste but effective. Want to get one of their open combs.

After. L'Occitane BAUX after shave balm. A new one and FANTASTIC! Woody and spicy and it calms&moistures, really like the smell of this.

Result. Extremely smug....
 
Gollnick,
What's up with the rubbing alcohol aftershave splash:eek:?! That just seems all kinds of wrong. Keep in mind, I'm still new to all this. Lots to learn.

If anyone else has some insight into this 'practice', please do share.
 
For some, just straight up (70%) rubbing alcohol is wrong. It's contrary to what SOME of the SELF-PROCLAIMED shaving experts (especially those selling expensive aftershave products) declare. But, I have oily skin. A splash of alcohol cools the skin as nothing save the ice-water bath which I have seen some promote can do. And, it closes the pores like nothing else can do.

For me, the aftershave lotions and balms that work so well for others are the wrong thing and often cause MY face to break out.

The other advantage of the alcohol splash is that it's scentless. And, if you do want to apply a scent afterwards, it won't interfere.

In general, an aftershave should: cool the skin, close the pores, disinfect any imperceptible (much less perceptible) cuts (these may be so minor that you can not feel them and they will self-close very quickly but they do represent an opportunity for infectious agents to get under the outer skin layer while they are open), tone the face which has been relaxed by the heat of shaving, and contract the hair follicles. There are all sorts of ingredients which will do some of these things and combinations of them accomplish all of these roles. But, an alcohol splash does them all in one, very inexpensive, product. It's certainly not for everyone. But it works well for me.



Today:

Preshave: Hot shower
Lather: not ready to reveal yet
Brush: Merkur Futur-style
Razor: Merkur Futur (F/3.0)
Blade: Feather
Aftershave: Alcohol splash

Result: Perfect.
 
Gollnick said:
For some, just straight up (70%) rubbing alcohol is wrong. It's contrary to what SOME of the SELF-PROCLAIMED shaving experts (especially those selling expensive aftershave products) declare. But, I have oily skin. A splash of alcohol cools the skin as nothing save the ice-water bath which I have seen some promote can do. And, it closes the pores like nothing else can do.
...
Click to expand...

I thought I was alone...

Today:

Preshave: baby oil
Lather: dove cream soap
Brush: galan
Razor: BUSSARD BUSOLD STRAIGHT RAZOR
Aftershave: Alcohol
 
Waiting eagerly to find out what this secret Gollnick soap is and why...:D

No shave today, letting it grow.
 
Preshave: Hot Shower
Lather: TGQ Soap
Brush: Merkur Futur-style
Razor: Merkur Futur (F/3.0)
Blade: Feather
Aftershave: Cold-water rinse and a Splash of rubbing alcohol

Result: Another virtually perfect shave.

I am back on TGQ soap for a few days. I have been trying out "the mystery lather" for a few weeks now and I think I have it down. I want to return to TGQ for a few days, then the new stuff for a few days, then back to TGQ for a few days before saying anything about the new stuff. I just don't want to make any comments about this new stuff until I am 100% sure that I have given it a more-than-fair trial period and have done a good job of comparing and contrasting it to the Gold Standard, TGQ.
 
Hot Shower
Tabac Soap
Restored Every-Ready 52C best badger
Edwin Jagger DE89L
Personna Med prep
Alum block
Thayers Witch hazel
Superior 70 Bay Rum

Man are the Med preps good blades!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top