Well my advice is to skip the shave or change razors if you feel rushed or can't concentrate on the pain stick. My ability to take that advice myself is impaired, and yeah, Ivan can talk you into jumping off a cliff while dry shaving with a pain stick if you let him. That boy is just crazy though.

Nice. For heavy drinkers I presume? Oh, and do they come in a size 9 1/2?

hmmmm. . . This more to your liking?

Fashionable. I like it.

@TomJ89de, one piece of advice on aftershaves with high menthol levels: Wash your hands thoroughly after putting them on your face. Especially if any part of your body itches.

I still feel that one. Ouch!

I haven't been able to use Osage Rub again yet. May have to work on a crazy shave plan near the end of the month, and use this for the aftershave.

They come in a more casual design too.

Thanks for the advice unfortunately it is a lesson I've already learned the hard way got a real burn and rash between my fingers I now was hands straight away

May of missed your point there I did also learn that the hard way after working with nitromorse all day then going the toilet.... That was sore

Your advice for dealing with SWMBO is oddly similar to a coworkers advice. His has never worked for me either.

Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.

December 15

Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie Long 12601 - The Pony
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea

Onward and forward to the next setup. Blade 8 of the twelve blades of December. It's the Souplex, a stainless blade made by MEDYNA Raiserklingenfabrik GmbH in Germany. Yes, that is the correct name. I copied/pasted to make sure I got it right. This is the first German blade I've used, other than the Van Der Hagen which are made in Solingen. This blade also calls Solingen home as it is printed on the blade. I've seen some pretty bad reviews of other German blades (and some good ones) but never one for the Souplex that I can remember. Not sure if it's really a blade or an advertisement for chicken noodle.

The razor is the deadly, dangerous, frighteningly terrifying 1959 Gillette Super Speed. Ok, so maybe it's not that bad. I did get a pretty nasty cut with it once though, so tremble a bit. Ok, ok, so it was because I didn't have the doors tight on it. Should be a nice mild shave today, though not as mild as the Remei, though the blade can have a lot to say about that.

Brush is the Vie Long 12601 horse and the soap is TSD Lanolin Bay Rum. Nice lather and great aroma so off we go. I noticed on the first pass that this blade is a bit rough. Not horrible but again, just a bit rough. I was able to adjust a bit on angle and smooth it out some, but it was still rougher than I normally like. First pass seemed ok, second pass XTG seemed to do far less than it should. Still a bit rough and it left quite a bit of work for the third pass. ATG and Gillette Slide on the neck for the third pass and I ended with a medium DFS. It seems like the blade isn't as sharp as some, though not horribly dull either. Just didn't get everything as good as I like for a full three pass. I should be high DFS to BBS after three full passes if the blade is the right quality.

No nicks, cuts, weepers (apologies to @Bama Samurai - I know you're getting bored) but the alum was quite hot for a Super Speed shave. Clearly my face isn't thrilled with the blade. Nor am I. I'll give it one more day before moving on and hope to improve but I think I'm destined to mediocrity again tomorrow. I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated with a string of mediocre shaves. It's time I could be using a great blade and having great shaves, or suffering through agony to eliminate the really bad ones. Hanging around in the ineffective middle is irritating to more than just my face.

Happy Tuesday! It's the last day of my weekend so Monday/Wednesday looms for me tomorrow. I'll leave you with a picture of the deadly dangerous Super Speed. Try not to shy away.

​

Here's wishing you some horrific shaves, just so you aren't irritated any more.

Now see? That's the kind of support I'm looking for. I feel better already.

Still no sample pack I don't think I will see them before Christmas now but it's not a problem since I have my technique to continue with and also mongoose have responded to me saying they will be in touch in the new year still along way from owning one but a step closer. I'm going to just do two passes with touch ups tonight as my bbs yesterday has kept growth at bay I will report on day 2 of my technique improvement

Great looking brush. It looks like it as lather making monster.

I notice you and a few others use cold water post shave I have been using a very hot towel round my head then shave oil consisting of witch hazel grape seed oil and tea tree. What are the benefits of cold?

I do a cold water rinse after using hot water for the lather and shave. It closes things up and stops any small weepers, and just feels better to me before I do my Alum, Witch Hazel, and Aftershave. Only way to know if it works is to try it. Some crazy people shave with nothing but cold water. YMMV.

I am a cold water shaver, and I found it helps keep the irritation down. It was actually one of my 30 day focuses a few months ago. I have kept it up ever since.

Interesting you should write this. I was going to come here and share my experience with this brush. It's huge! A lather hog! 15 swirls on the puck and you're good for 5-7 passes. If you have a mustache or goatee you won't get much splay, not enough room. Soft as anything I've used and some. It's absolutely amazing! I love everything about it.