MAYhem 2016
May 3
Razor - 1959 Gillette Ball End Tech
Blade -
View attachment 101890
(1)
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold Rinse, Alum, Nivea
Onward and forward to the setup chosen by fate and @
DDuckyMark. Only one thing about this setup gave me chills and it's only the most important piece. The blade. The Chinese Baili Super Platinum, known as the Baili Green as well as several other more colorful names. I tried it once and said never again. Yeah, well, we know how that goes around here.
While setting up MAYhem shaves is definitely fun and entertaining, there is a greater point to it all. It's the perfect chance to test technique and to once again validate that Technique Trumps Tools. Or to discover truly unusable tools. @
DDuckyMark may have found one earlier with the Patrix blade. Another fantastic (cough cough) Chinese product. So, by randomizing gear and then letting someone else randomly choose the setup, I'm really setting up 30 days of having no control over the gear and having to try and adapt technique to overcome. That's what today feels like to me. It's a good, but mild razor, a top notch soap, a brush that's definitely usable but a blade that, well, let's just leave it at that.
So, my first adaptation was to really cover my face in Arko. Not a light film or any usual thing like that. I'm talking let's get some soap on the face. Serious soap. And on top of a lot of water. Then, hit it with a wet brush to slick it all up. Well, ok, so too much water at first as the first pop of lather ended up on the ceiling and walls again, but one shake of the brush and it's about right. Wet, slick Arko all nice and lathered up and here comes the first pass. Expecting pain, scraping, really horribleness and............I actually took the razor apart to make sure I had loaded the right blade. It wasn't smooth necessarily, but it wasn't horrendous either. And, at the end of the first pass I felt like I had a pretty good result going. Lathered up again letting it really whip up and the XTG pass was actually no worse and maybe even felt a bit smoother. Huh?!?! Went ahead and did a G-slide on the neck and, ok, yea it's the Baili Green but it still didn't rip me apart. Just set up a nice irritation that the Alum set on fire. But.....no nicks, cuts, weepers and I finished three passes with a DFS.
How in the world did that happen? Well, two thoughts come to mind. One, the extra slick Arko definitely helped. No added drag from lather or lack thereof. Second, I used the Baili in a bit more aggressive razor the first time. The Ball End is one of the milder ones around and I suspect that may explain a lot of it. Limit the exposure and keep the angle right and this blade may have the ability to be used. I'm also wondering if it isn't engineered to work with milder razors, given that every Chinese made razor I've found has been ultra-mild. Makes you wonder.
So, that one is down and even less damage than the first day with supposedly better gear! Tomorrow it's the setup chosen by @
Bama Samurai who coined the phrase "Marvy's Law" in reference to drawing the Marvy brush and soap together at some point. Here is tomorrow's setup, courtesy of Chris:
Razor - 1959 Gillette Super Speed
Blade - Kai
Brush - Marvy
Soap - Marvy
Yes, boys and girls, the man who coined the "Marvy's Law" phrase managed to pick it out of a randomized list. I'm thinking witchcraft may be involved. My take on that setup? Why not a Japanese blade I like from the Samurai man? And the '59 SS.....one of the best. The rest.....I'm already working on a solution. We'll see if it works.
Ok, for Thursday it's time for @
English expat to step up and give me the numbers. 1-15 for the blade, 1-15 for the razor, 1-6 for the soap, 107 for the brush. I await my fate.
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