No Variation November - A TSD Challenge

So i just finished day 1 of the challenge. As i have never used a SE razor or my new brush before i was a bit nervous.
I started with a nice hot shower and washing my face with Dove soap. Once out of the shower i applied some AOS shave oil. I was a bit worried about the new blade tugging. I have read that new GEM SS blades tend to be a bit rough the first few shaves
On to making the lather. Took an almond sizes dollop of the AOS sandalwood SC put it in the bowl. I then took my new synthetic and ran it under the water for just a few seconds. Lightly shook out the excess water and proceeded to whip up the best lather i have made to date.
I lathered up and started my first pass. WTG I laid the head flat to my face and slightly lifted the back side. Started to shave. I first noticed the nice balance of the razor the head weight felt very good with no pressure applied. I then got the nice audio feed back. The strokes were very smooth on the first pass WTG.
I rinsed my face and applied the lather for the second pass. Nice rich and thick lather. XTG for the second pass. Tried slightly more angle for this pass. WOW the razor started to sing. No tugging at all. Rinsed my face and gave it the once over. Very smooth just my normal tiny bit of stubble under my jaw and under my upper lip.
Pass 3 ATG. more of the lather and away I went. ATG everywhere except under the lip. Did a light buff there and under my jaw. That seems to work the best for those areas. I rinsed off with cold water and felt around. This is one of my best all-round. Shaves to date. A true DFS maybe even BBS on the majority of my face.
Now the real test. The AS I decided to go with Pinaud VIBR. When i over do my shave the VIBR will let me know in a hurry. Splashed some on my hands and gave it a go. Yep just as I thought a great shave. Zero irritation and no nicks or weepers. I will chalk this shave up to being super careful and slow.
With my very limited time on different razors. I am coming to the conclusion I may be a SE and injector kind of guy.
I will try to make my posts shorter next time.

Tom

 

I just went through this thread and these are the members that said they would be participating in No Variation NoVember. That is 20. I hope I didn't miss anyone. Best wishes and wonder shaves to all. I really enjoyed my first shave of NoVember. I hope you did, too.
JR Reyes
Marverel
DDuckyMark
NCoxSTL
Joef
Troy M
Jayaruh
dscaver
Hodge
wmbjr
mrchick
PLANofMAN
twhite
Rufus T.
Bosoxfan
cmorris357
Bowler Mike
obturador
Norseman
Jasman
Edit:
Did I forget Bama Samurai ? OH ME, OH MY! Please forgive me.
wristwatchb sorry I missed you.

 

What the heck. Bama made me do this and he is not playing.
Or does he go without saying

 

Did I forget Bama Samurai ? OH ME, OH MY!

 

Thanks Jim, our list of entrants looks like a great group of gents!

 

I am in with a Utopia, GSB, Plisson and Red Proraso all month...I just haven't shaved today yet!

 

No apologies needed for your post! Shaving well, like you did today, is the goal! Truth be told, some of my best, most comfortable shaves have come from injectors.

 

I like the details! Keep it up....I'm a newbie and need to absorb all those details to help me out.
Glad you got yourself a great shave!

 

I couldn't choose 1 soap for 30 days straight, so I changed over to the November focus thread.

Best of luck gents...

 

a fair choice! Glad you're staying with a focus! I hope you master your blade!

 

You raise a good point...BBS does not equal good shave...

 

Just a wild though...I've done it with carts, but is skipping the wtg and going to xtg then atg a bad thing with DE shaving?

 

Quite a distinguished group there, even without @Bama Samurai but when you add him in I think we have the classy of the classy. I've been known to be delusional too.

 

Ah he's just using big fancy citified words that mean Crazy Ivan made him do it.

 

I wouldn't call it necessarily a bad thing but.....it can lead to increased irritation however, depending on your beard thickness and skin sensitivity. If you'd done it with carts you may be fine going that route. You just have to try it and see the result. As with much of wetshaving what works for me might not work for you and vice versa.

 

First shave of the challenge,
Merkur 39c
Personna reds
WSP T formula barber shop
Alum
CC bay rum
WSP black badger

Hot shower
Then I whipped up some lather in my bowl. I think I should have added a tad bit more water but for the most part I think it was a nice lather.
Cold water face wet down applied my lather and went to town.
I figured being the first shave of the challenge i'd change it up and skipped the WTG pass and went straight to the XTG.
To my surprise, no cuts, tugs or irritation. This razor just sliced through it like butter.
Reapplied my lather and ATG I went...I think I sped up a little on one side of my neck. No cuts or weepers, but felt a little scrape here and there.
Got a good rinse with cold water and went to the alum.
The cheeks felt like a cold stone gliding across my face, my neck was a little different....a slight bit of tingling on one side but when I went to the side I felt was a little rushed, a slight burning....not too bad though.
Splashed on some of that CC bay rum and waited for that burn,
The warmth came, then a little warmer...then some more, but then started to cool down. I didn't get the intense burn I was thinking I was going to get on that one side.
Not a BBS but almost a DFS.
Next shave I'm going back to the 3 pass. But it was a good test to see if my face could handle it.

 

And with that, welcome to the Feather SS! In past encounters I've always had a DE loaded and ready to bail when I felt that nervousness rising. Largely because when I got that feeling I was about to bleed. But, I've learned now that when it appears I just stop and think the stoke through, shrug off the nervousness and move with a purpose without rushing. Seems to clear and focus my mind to avoid making a pointless error. On the other hand all it takes is a minor slip of technique and you have a cut on your neck that chooses to open again a few hours later requiring a bandaid. Oh wait, that's me today. Still sounds like a great first result with this razor. You're off and running well!

 

First shave with the Voskhod not sure I like this combo. The Lab Blue and 7 O Clock yellows were much smother shaves with the Progress. I was expecting the Alum to be like fire but was only warm. We'll see what the next shave brings.

 

1st shave in the can. 2 passes WTG till my current neck irritation clears...hope it'll take no more then a few days...I might add a XTG pass next week. ...I like this ...strength in numbers.