Exactly, I had a feeling you were going to remind me of that! (All good this side) Yesterday 16 Feb 2023 Still trying out different razors. Late afternoon shave Beard 30 hours Razor 1 Muhle Rocca 96, coming back to this razor: plan: if no good swap to razor 2 Razor 2 Gillette 1950s Rocket Flare tip Blade Gillette 7o'clock super stainless (1) Cream TOBS Mr Taylors shaving cream, 2 drops glycerine. Citric Acid to hard tap water in the basin kept the basin clean again. This works! Prep Hot water soak x 3 (30s each) Pres-shave Proraso pre-shave white. Brush Ever-Ready 200, nice and soft Bowl (1) blue bowl (2) white bowl. Why two bowls? Lots of lather initially but seemed a bit thin, placed half into the 2nd bowl and added more cream to that, gave it a good workout. Definitely thicker and more protective. Impression: Muhle Rocca 96 with less-than-optimal lather felt quite rough. Leave this razor back on the shelf for now. Thickened up the lather and transferred the blade to Flare tip. Seems a lot milder. Lather now a lot thicker but clogging up the Flare tip somewhat. 17 Feb 2023 Early afternoon shave Beard 21 hours growth. Razor Gillette Rocket HD Blade Gillette 7o'clock super stainless (2) Prep 2x Hot water soak, Proraso white pre-shave Soap/Cream Gillette Blue shave stick, applied to face, with face lathering. Bowl None, face lathering Brush Old Vulfix pure Badger, quite prickly compared to my other brushes 1st Pass Tried going XTG initially - only partially successful but feels do-able. 2nd Pass Mixed WTG and XTG 3rd Pass was still needed together with some ATG touch ups Impression: Minimal weeper right side of chin, stopped on its own. The chin is still my nemesis Trying to find the sweet spot of razor/blade/face prep/lather could take me a bit longer than I thought.
19 Feb 2023 Skipped a day yesterday. Beard 48 hours. Razor (1) Muhle R41 Grande, time to try my hand at this. Backup Razor (2) Gillette Tech aluminium. Blade Astra SP (1) Face prep as usual lots of hot water, proraso preshave, more hot water. Brush Ever Ready 200 re-knotted, nice and soft. Minimal wetting of the brush, started lathering dryer than usual >>> less bubbles! Soap: TOBS Aloe Vera, Extras: Glycerine in the lather - Citric Acid added to the water in the sink. Nice thick lather. Results Great shave no damage Post Alum gave a nice refreshing feel/ Thayer's / Tabac. Pass 1 R41 WTG feels a bit harsh, like the Gillette Slim @3. Really careful, light / no pressure, cap-blade angles is different. Pass 2 R41 XTG in most areas, not game to try the chin. Swapped blade to the Tech. Pass 3 Tech XTG Pass 4 Tech WTG XTG other way. Also added two touch up passes for a lovely Sunday morning shave. Having read Leisureguy's comments, I used Shave Gel and then Aloe Vera gel rather than lather for the touch ups, makes it easier to see what I was doing, nice and slick, easier to use the left hand to lift the stubble for ATG. Result: No damage, best shave so far, especially lower neck and the chin has been conquered, at least for today!
20 Feb 2023 Pre-work shave. Liked yesterday's setup and results so shortened that Face lather with Tabac cream after usual face prep. Although Feb is my Rotating Razors month, I am finding myself drawn back to the Muhle R89. I will stick with this for a while and work on my lathering and my shaving technique for a while. Astra SP day 2 still working well. WTG, then XTG, then T&H No 10 shaving gel for some touch ups and some areas of ATG. Enjoyable shave, good results, lasting for most of the day. I have promoted myself to P-Plates, having made some progress.
Was back at work this week after a few weeks of leave. Late afternoon Saturday shave with plenty of time. Took a deep breath and allowed lo Storto into my razor rotation. I felt thought this would test my evolving technique if anything would. (Kept the Muhle R89 on standby.) I have been fatipped! 25 Feb 2023 Beard: 2 1/2 days Razor 1: Fatip OC slant, finally took the plunge. Razor 2: Muhle R89 to finish off. Blade: Astra SP (1) Cream: TOBS Aloe Vera. Got to the right consistency after the 2nd pass. Prep: usual hot water soaks, with Proraso white preshave. Brush: Razorock Plisoft 400. First use of a synthetic brush. Pass 1 and Pass 2 with the OC slant. After that I bailed out and defaulted back to the R89 Pass 3 and touch ups with the R89 Results: Great shave, especially the flats of the cheeks, and around the mouth area. Minimal weeper below the left side of chin on the 2nd pass. Cleared itself up by the end of the shave. Alum: pleasant tingling, minor zinging in the area of the weeper. Post: L'instant de Guerlain. Found this and two others in the Saturday markets this morning, lady selling off some of her scent collection, proceeds to benefit Cat Haven. More Lessons Learnt Successful first trial of an OC slant. Bit tentative at first but took it easy. Weird feeling with the slant (am I going squint, what's going on down there? LOL) but took the advice on this forum, just treated it like a regular razor. Surprised at how easily this removed stubble in the cheek areas, and below the jawline. Trickier around Adam's apple and chin. Good beard prep remains crucial. Still need to work on my technique around the tricky areas. Will come back to the Fatip in due course, will definitely keep this in weekend rotation. Love the Synthetic brush, the weight in the handle was a surprise. The brush created lather quicker than my boar or badgers. Another surprise. Have a great weekend everyone.
Had the Arko stick grated and relegated to the garage since 28 th Jan. Definitely enjoyed the skin protection and easy lathering so y'day it got an upgrade. 1/ 2 Imperial leather, 3 drops each of the scents. Much better. Another great shave this am, great slickness and quite pleasant. It's a keeper
