I got a really great shave this evening. I'm digging the Proraso Blue ASB

I think I'm finally going to do the same thing, at least for one month. I get decent shaves overall, but I know they can be much better. I need to make it a point to lay off the ATG pass (I know that I should, yet I keep doing it!) That's where I end up with weepers. Normally they're very small, and just the cold water rinse after shaving is enough to stop them. There's really no reason, if I improve my technique, that I can't get a nice, close shave without going ATG.

It's likely skin stretching is the technique that will put you past you goals. Good luck!

I like the SC blades. Very much.

Vitamin N to the rescue

Yes. After it was out of the ferrule, I had to sand the sides and bottom down quite a bit. Worth it.

This.

I haven't sniffed that one. Can you describe the scent?

July 2017 - Time to straighten up!

July 16 - Grand Blade Trials Special Edition!!

Razor - Feather SS
Blade - (1)
Soap - Soap Commander Courage
Brush - Jayaruh #46
Post - Alum

I recently ran onto a couple of new blades for the pain stick. And Mongoose, for those of you so inclined. Some of you may have found them earlier but I hadn't seen them until a couple of weeks ago. A Schick blade for AC razors. Interesting. Schick generally makes good stuff so I'm hopeful. Just to have another option. Not sure where the blades are actually made, though Schick is owned by Edgewell which is an American company. Same company that owns/makes Personna, so a U.S. origin is possible, though doubtful in my mind. They make the injector blades in China and the AC blade more resembles that.

I gave careful consideration for the lather to try an unfamiliar blade and decided to trust Soap Commander with my face. I've never had a bad lather since I tried it out, and with the Jayaruh brush I figured I was well covered. I chose the Feather SS over the Kai just because. I feel comfortable with either.

Lather was not disappointing. Super slick and plenty of it. I did only lather half of my face at a time to help keep it from drying out if I slowed down too much. The first few strokes were pretty impressive. My initial reaction was that the blade is not as sharp as the Kai Original or Feather Pro. More along the lines of the Kai Mild, though maybe not even quite that sharp. Still, good reduction, smooth feel, no real issues. First pass went off without a hitch.

The second pass where I went XTG, well, there were a few hitches. All of them bad technique on my part. I was pushing things trying to get the blade to respond and it did on a few occasions. The cost to me? One very minor cut on the neck. Now, if I had put a Feather Pro, Captain Original or even a Captain Mild in and made the same mistakes I'd still be trying not to bleed out. I'm pretty amazed it isn't much worse considering the times I set down too vertically, dragged the tip instead of a flat setdown, and one XTG stroke where I rolled the angle out and it skipped. Yep, should be in the ER right now instead of typing this. So......we can say this blade is forgiving. Very forgiving.

I'll stay with this one through this week or until it gives out to test its longevity. A fun way to change things up!

Well, 10 shaves on the LORD blade. From the feel, if I had to, I could probably get another 5 shaves out of it, getting progressively worse - but I'm not going to. I do NOT need to be one of those people that says "I have 100 blades. I don't need to buy for YEARS."

VDH soap, boar brush - didn't lose any hairs this time, and one or two more shaves and the soap is _gone_.

One thing I've noticed, and just remembered to say so - am I the only one that only needs a goodly amount of lather for the first pass, and not much other than a thin coat for anything after that?

Anyway. Now I get to decide what to do next. I'm leaning towards sticking with the same razor (52 SuperSpeed, 40's style, IIRC), and stuffing a 7 o'clock yellow into it to see how that works.

+1 Agree. Double plus good! If someone asks for a suggestion on a boar brush the Omega Pro #10098 is top of my list. I think Jim @RetLEO-07 likes his, too.
Left one I picked up in October of '15. Right a fresh one recently pulled from a new unit. It has a slightly reduced glue plug to fit a B-400 27mm ferrule.

Yes, lots of lather on first pass, less for subsequent passes. I'm an every other day shaver. Less irritation and I enjoy having a good stubble to mow down.
I sampled 7 o'clock yellow & black. The yellows seemed smoother, a bit harsh on the black. Don't recall which razor I used. Not a spreadsheet keeper.
Recently tried a single Polsilver from my blade safe. Had to look it up for the lack of marking on the paper wrapper. That is a smooth efficient blade.

Probably depends in the level of rinse employed between passes. When I use Arko as a stick, I don't really rinse, and could absolutely do the second pass with residual soap alone.

That's how I end up buffing; residual soap. Can't do that for a full second pass in the shower, as I rinse off between shaves. Makes me feel cleaner, and that's what's important.

July 2017
SE Summer

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The G is the next best thing to open blades. If one can handle the old Schicks, SR is only a small leap of faith. Since it's a race car, I drove it like it was stolen and got away. Good Alum, smooth face, FW on the finish. A very quiet end to a very long week. Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.​

Have a magnificent Monday!

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General, for people looking to improve their shaves:

Learn straight razor style skin stretching. Use it regardless of razor style.

Buy and use alum.

Sunday/Monday midnightish shave - revisiting old friends

Gillette Fatboy on 3 / Topaz Platinum ( 2 )
Jason's non - 30DC Cypress Badger brush
My Red Green Duct Tape Special frankensoap and M-Bomb
Alum and Thayers Witch Hazel Astringent Aftershave

In the current hot muggy weather the added menthol in my lather made my cold water shave extra refreshing. Otherwise, all the equipment was familiar old standbys and performed entirely as expected.

I must say that I am impressed by the knot I have in the Cypress Badger brush. It's a 24mm two-band badger knot from Maggards. It was something Maggards has just started carrying and I could find no reviews on it, so I took a chance based on the price and the fact it is Maggards. So far, the knot has only lost a single hair. It seems quite densely packed and gives a soft face lather with very good backbone. In fact, I find it quite comparable in quality and performance to the two-band knot in my Envy White Alluminati brush. If anybody is considering one of the Maggards badger knots, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them based on mine.

I drained the last driblet out of my Thayers aftershave bottle tonight. I don’t think I will replace it. I have a couple large bottles of the more normal tonic, one alcoholic and one alcohol-free, and I don’t see that the aftershave had any special properties they don’t share - a higher percentage of alcohol and no glycerin but otherwise identical ingredients.

Hope everyone is starting on a great week!

10098, Number 1 GI!!

I've been doing that...and it certainly does help. I still have a few areas that don't want to cooperate. I'm due for a new blade again as well. It's not tugging yet, but I'll bet there's at least eight shaves on it - probably more. I noticed that when this blade was "fresh" I could almost get away with a single pass - at least good enough that if I was in a big hurry, I could.

The Schick Proline blades are actually Japanese. I assume, like they Japanese Injector blades, they are their own beast and not related to either the Chinese Schick or US Personna blades.

The Proline P are AC blades and the Proline B are a mini hair shaper blade which, like the Personna blades in the US, are an Injector blade in a keyless magazine.