@palmolive fox
Nice write up Barry. Its' great to see your progress and be able to relate to that. Good going with the R41/Derby combo. Yep. I had the same Derby experience early on, a few months ago, and shelved them. I am encouraged by your comments and might haul out the Derby Premium sometime, but no, not in my R41!
@JACarbone
Pfff! Brrr! Cold! Not here in Perth, WA! My wife is off to Holland in May to visit her relatives, they just shared a video of a snow dump in Sneek, but she has Dutch genes and loves just looking at pictures of snow!
@Paul Turner. Thanks for sharing. I am encouraged by the recent posts where even the Senior Shavers get some nicks 'n stuff. Not because anyone nicked themselves or didn't have a perfect shave, but because that means that's kind of part of shaving right? That's re-assuring because that is what I am experiencing, each day is different.
Sunday 12 March 2023
Skipped shaving y'day, my son spent most of the day with us to help out with some IT stuff.

Gave my face a good chance to rest, so that was good.
View attachment 280301
Growth: 2 ½ days
Lather Bowl: White
Brush: Puro Tasso boar pre-soaked in tap water
Razor 1. Fatip lo Storto, because I had 2+ days growth.
March
Madness, right?!
Razor 2.
Muhle R89
Blade: Astra SP, a blade I am confident with.
Face Prep: HWS 30 secs x 3
Pre shave: Proraso white.
Soap:
MWF. Had to try twice to get this more or less right.
Post Shave: HW rinse, CW rinse. Alum, Thayer’s
Aftershave: Brut A/S
Passes:
I reviewed my
Mapping pictures I took in Dec, also it's easier to see with 2+ day's growth. There are some crazy swirls and whorls in the right neck area!
1st pass: OC slant Fatip: strictly WTG only, tentative shave. Partial shave only, MWF drying up, removed, added water, re-lathered.
2nd pass: OC slant Fatip. Still with the grain. Managed to get around the chin and Adam’s apple area with this razor with no damage, but did not want to go any further. Feels efficient, but not comfortable to me.
3rd pass:
Muhle R89. My comfort zone. But the Astra SP is not as sharp as the Feather I used the other day.
4th pass:
Muhle R89, finishing up around the chin and Adam’s apple.
Touch ups:
Muhle R89, using the left hand leading the way against the grain, and buffing XTG. This seems to work for me. Much better with R89.
Results:
The whole shave took me an hour. Sheesh.

. I need to try something different for my work days in the week ahead.
Nicks: slight weeper at the end of 2nd Pass below the chin.
Alum burn: Overall nice zinging, nothing more. ***
Another great shave and more things learnt.
However, the MWF was not so good today. Initially squeezed all the water out of the Puro Tasso brush, loaded for about 20 to 30 seconds, lathered in the white bowl, slightly too thick, added a
few splashes of water from the sink (Citric acid in this water) but it quickly became too bubbly. Tossed this and started again. This time I really gave it a good work out in the bowl and it got thicker, but somehow not the same as my efforts earlier in the week.
The Fatip OC slant is tricky to get even blade alignment with. Takes a bit of fiddling and takes a while. I like the way the slant shaves, but the OC is a bit much for me at this stage. I might look around for a CC slant.
Residual stubble: Minimal in my neck/AA area. I think that this area is As Good As It Gets.
Plan: Leave the MWF for now. Back to basics tomorrow.
(***PS I rescued the broken Alum by heating up some brass plate I had lying around and rubbing that smooth. Tommy Tape to add some grip!)
View attachment 280299
Have a great Sunday Gents, looking forward to what the week brings.
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