Excellent photo & great setup Clint!!

3 SEptember
3rd Shave for SE September

Pre-Shave: Hot Shower
Brush: 22mm Maggards Synthetic
Soap: Electric Sheep, Stirling
Razor: Valet VC2, Autostrop
Blade: Feather FHS-10 (2)
Post-Shave: Witch Hazel, CVS
Photo:


This was another shave out of desire. One of the good things about my Sundays is I have no where to go in a big hurry. When I got around to a shower I saw just a little bit of stubble and said way not.

Once again the Electric Sheep made some very nice lather. There are a lot of people who would not be without their Stirling Soap. If the Electric Sheep is an example of the rest of the Stirling lineup I now know why. I am getting used to the little 22mm Maggards brush though I am still on the fence if I am going to keep it or PIF it.

When I decide to shave I just know I was in store for some razor burn. I mean there was hardly any thing there to shave. I was pleasantly surprised with the shave though. After two pass shave my face is smooth and irritated free. I chose to try out the CVS brand Witch Hazel. It did it's job but I am unsure about the smell. Though it did dissipate fairly quickly.

Glad you finally got to go home.

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Couple of questions and then an observation. What seems to be the issue with the Gem razors? Is it a really a technique issue or a razor/blade issue?

I know that you believe in TTT but that doesn't mean you need to be a slave to it either. While I can get good to great shaves out of certain types of razors I do not enjoy using them at all, namely Gillette TTO razors and injectors. Could I get better shaves from these razors with effort and practice? I am certain that I could. However, I could use that same time and practice to get better with razors I actually enjoy using. In the end it's just shaving so my advice would be use what you enjoy.

Thank you.

Great looking razor.

Thank you Clint. I thought it cleaned up rather nicely. It also shaves really well.

What Clint said, John.

TTT is the underlying theory of the 30DC. However, the true purpose of this whole exercise is to help people improve their shaving technique so they enjoy their daily shave more. And in keeping with that, the overall mantra is probably:. "It's your shave, enjoy it your way." Emphasis on "enjoy".

I can use Gem-type razors well now after doing a focus month with them. However, I still find them clunky and clumsy to use compared to an injector or DE and just plain don’t enjoy them as much. I have several in my rotation stack and will use them from time to time but doubt I will ever put the mileage on them that I will on some of my DEs and injectors. For SE SEptember, I will probably use a Gem once or twice and injectors the rest. And I can live with that. Nothing in TTT says you must love every tool equally, and if there are some you don’t, well, it's your shave, so have it your way. Including NOT having it the ways you don’t enjoy.

I wouldn't be surprised if some day I decided to sell or PIF all or most of my Gems. And I won't consider that a "failure" if I do. I tried them and determined I could use them but just plain don’t enjoy doing so -- so I won't.

Don't waste too much "conscience" over this one. Just spend the month enjoying your shaves instead.

I guess it's time to start thinking of a focus. I have a five plus hour drive ahead of me to think it over.
Travel SOTD
Palmolive Shave Stick
AoS Pure Badger Brush
Tuckmar Razor
Pitrulon Classic After Shave
Have a blessed Sunday!

Thank you both for you advice and thoughts.

I think for me the issue is that the Gem razors almost seem too "harsh". It's not an aggressiveness in the conventional sense but more of a feeling of going past shaving well into exfoliation. Some of that is probably technique but I also think it's possible that a Gem is just too much razor for my skin and beard. I think I need to keep in mind that just because they work for some people doesn't mean they will work for me.

I agree with the emphasis of this post. I like GEMs from an artistic aesthetic more than a practical one. And I have some GEMs that give me a much easier shave than others. I use them occasionally for the variety, and I am focusing because I enjoy that variety and personal challenge. But as soon as it becomes a burden, I'm out. I also find injectors much easier to use. I am most comfortable with DE's. I think shavettes are the most fun. And truth be told, they will probably all make appearances. Roll with what pleases ya. No judgement here.

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Lovely picture.

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Gem Micromatic Clog Pruf
Gem Stainless (3)
Semogue 2000
Stirling Gentleman Soap
Soap Commander Love ASB

I haven't shaved in a few days and didn't have my kit when I showered at the gym this morning. I figured I was setting myself up for failure with this one, but it wasn't bad at all. Not quite as smooth as my normal shave, but not bad at all. 2 pass dfs.

And that's ok. That's the beauty of it. We all have our slice of the pie. And we get to share in one another's enjoyment of our experience as opposed to the degree to which others share in our love for a particular piece of gear. For the record, I have shaved with three GEM razors over the last three days. One was significantly easier to shave with than the other two, both of which were effective but could get rough pretty easily.

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Great shot, Brian!

These reviews are also posted on my 30+ soaps thread here. If you are really bored, feel free to tag along. If you feel that the unhijackable thread is being hijacked by them, please feel free to ignore http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/reviews-of-30-soaps.57343/#post-1310609

Two Rule Breakers Force Me to Screw Up and Cheat
Got your attention now, right? OK, here's the story - I had made it a rule not to sample discontinued soaps, and only to use/review soaps from makers I already own (saving those for when the boxes were in transit), but today an unexpected rule breaker showed up in my review lineup... Il Colonai Mango. Since the opportunity to pay $60 for a puck of this soap came my way yesterday I decided to try and understand what kind of soap would make anyone crazy enough to do such a thing. Knowing the high cost of the soap, and the small size of the sample, I decided to bet that a hard soap like this needed very little product to whip up a good lather, so I gathered up the shavings from the bottom of the container and pressed them into my lathering bowl, figuring I'd leave the sample intact for others. Long story short, I botched the lather. I decided to make the best of it and add some more shavings off the sample, but at that point it was too late. Tried to salvage a face lather using what I had, but it was a crappy enough first pass that I decided to abandon I Colonai Mango for another soap...

OK, my botched lather sent me back t a familiar soap. (I know, I'm cheating a bit here by reviewing a brand I am already very familiar with... but whatever.)
Anyway, I didn't expect to like Cheshire's scent at all (tea scented???), but it was intriguing enough after getting a whiff of the sample that I went all in on the experience. (For those of you not familiar with B&M, their scents are unique, complex and very hit and miss.) Every one of them, though, whips up easily into a rich, thick lather which has made me a fan. Compared to yesterday's shave with Midnight and Two, the soap may have been a little less moisturizing, but the great scent and awesome lather gave me a little better "experience" and better than average results. It may end up on the "buy" list.

Another thing to bear in mind about the Gems is that the earlier ones - the models before the Micromatic turn to open ones - were designed to be used with much thicker carbon blades. Which for some people makes a difference. The solution is to shim the blade by taking the backing spine off an old blade and placing either one half or even the entire spine underneath the spine of the new blade you are putting in the razor.

I find, for example, that the Damaskeene, 1912s and Gem Junior work fine as is. However my 1914 and my 1924s are completely unusable for me without a shim. The blade feels like it is almost flexing or chattering without the shim and it acts like a skin plane instead of a stubble razor. I end up with pink lather and weepers galore. But put a shim in and they feel like aggressive but controllable razors. Having said that though, now that I am satisfied I can use a 1914 or 1924, I don't. Even with a shim, I still don’t find they give me a pleasant shave experience, so why bother?

By the same token, in the Gems designed to take modern thickness blades, the MMOC is considered an aggressive razor that needs a light touch. Well, for me, it is too aggressive for enjoyment. I can use it but don't enjoy doing so. The G-Bar and Featherweight are much milder and I like them both.

Excellent point that I forgotten about. I also forgot to mention that I find the blades can be more harsh the first shave or two.

From what I can find, they are pretty pricey here. I might buy a pack of the 30mm size just to try.

It is tough to pay any more when a Feather Pro is your comfort blade, and you always have the Supers to step into....