Heavens to Murgatroyd! The middle of day 1 and already 218 messages behind--I'll post, then start catching up...
Feb. 1
Happy February, everybody! Today begins my ‘Dead Is Dead’ focus: slooooow this train down. Hopefully this will decrease bloodshed and increase comfort. I’m also using this focus to decrease my (by TSD standards) modest stable of razors—I’m supposed to have three, but now have seven…
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…this cannot be.
Memory Lane
For the first week, I’ve decided to walk down memory lane by using my razors in order of acquisition. Each week thereafter, I will randomly select razors through the highly scientific process of drawing slips of paper placed inside the Super Dad mug I got as a Christmas Gift from a deluded child who thought she could buy my love (she already had it
).
To keep everything the same for each razor, I will use the same set up this week…
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Blade: This is hell week. All of my DE’s have brand new Personna Blues in them, and historically that first shave with a Personna blade is the one that draws blood
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Soap Commander “Drive”
AS: Clubman Original
Balm: Nivea Cooling for Sensitive Skin
My first-ever DE razor was the Ebony Edwin Jagger DE89…
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I shaved for two years straight with this beauty, and was kind of looking forward to the reunion after a 5-year separation. Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered that the relationship was a bit strained. We were still on good terms, but were no longer finishing each other’s sentences. Kind of makes me sad--it's a beautiful razor.
The WTG pass was easy, and I let gravity do all the work for me. XTG went fairly well, but on my ATG pass I noticed something: this razor is heavier than the MMOC and Flare Tip that I’d been shaving with for the past month. The 1912 that I'd been shaving with 2 months before that isn't much heavier than the other two. I wasn’t dialed in to how much force I needed to exert in order to get through an ATG pass gently. How much of this pressure is me compensating for gravity, and how much is just too much pressure? On my 3rd pass on the neck and lower chin, I finally quit trying to go ATG, and did another XTG rather than risk a cut.
The results were pretty good, though, and that led to my 2nd surprise: the DE89 is not as mild as I originally thought--certainly not like the Flare Tip. BBS on cheeks and much of my jaw, DFS on much of my neck and most of the goat-zone. However, there is a patch on my chin (south pole to be precise) that is
barely CCS. Maybe not even that. Overall I’d call it a DFS, but that annoying patch bothers me so much I’m going to say DFS/CCS. Closeness score: 2
3rd surprise: the application of Clubman gave me… wait for it…
a slight burn. It never did that before, and the only thing I’m doing differently these last few shaves is removing menthol from the equation. Interesting. The burn died away as quickly as the traditional sting does, and I was feeling pretty good, with some
very light irritation on part of my upper lip. Comfort score: 4
I’ve added an additional one-time score for the end of the month: ease of use. How easy is it to find the sweet spot? How easy is it to handle and shave with? How easy are blade changes, etc?
Overall, not bad for a reunion shave. Have an amazing weekend, all! Now to start catching up...
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