SoS: February 6th, 2012 ~ February 12th, 2012

Sunday night shave I wasn't planning on having. Was test lathering some TSD soap and got such a great lather that I didn't want to waste it.

Prep: Practically none, just a decent amount of face lathering and leaving the lather on
Lather: TSD Interception soap - face lather
Brush: Vulfix 2234
Razor: Gem OCMM
Blade: Pella Gem PTFE (1), 3 passes
Post: Cold water rinse; Krampert's Finest bay rum

I initially had some trouble getting the TSD soaps to lather well for me as they stayed very thin. I had the same trouble with another glycerin based soap, Col. Conk. Well thanks to a couple tips from Steve I was able to get a very nice thick and stable lather. Other than the wonderful scent my favorite thing about these TSD soaps is their slickness. Even with little prep I had a splendid shave with no weepers or irritation.

 

Catch up time! Been sickly with the flu since Wed or Thurs of last week, and was home from work today as well.

Saturday Morning:

Pre: Hot Rinse
Razor: Merkur 23c
Blade: Supermax Super Platinum
Cream: Speick
Brush: Omega 10005
Post: Thayers WH, Cold Rinse, and I forget which A/S

From what I remember, it was an excellent shave with no irritation at all.

 

Feel better soon! Been there .. it was nasty this year!

 

Yeah, that is pretty sad. I've DE shaving for about three weeks now and I'm still a little tentative and slow. One problem is the fact that I am still getting at least 5 or 6 bleeders each day. Still working on finding best razor. Actually, the den itself is at least adequate as I have numerous vintage Gillettes, a decent brush (tweezerman) and several soaps and creams recommended in this forum - Arko and C O Bigelow among them. Problem is technique I suppose.

 

Yea, the first few months can be a "wandering in the wilderness" feeling. Are you re-wetting your skin in between each pass? What's you beard and skin type and what razor and blade do you use most often? 5-6 bleeders has gotta hurt.

 

I do wet my face between passes. My skin is super sensitive and my beard probably average in toughness. So far, I have used only Gillettes: Blue Tip SS, Late 1940s SS, Fat Boy #3 setting, Long handled black Adjustable #3 setting and a 1950s English Rocket. (I have collected razors for years but haven't used them). The blades I have used are NOS Gillette Super Blue Blades along with generic platinum blades from the drug store. I was thinking of ordering the sampler blade package from Joanna. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

While I can't say that I have used any NOS blades, I have used the generic drug store blades with OK results. That was after I had lots of time to refine my technique though. I would say a blade sampler would be a stellar idea. I'm on my second sampler, and I've been at this for a year and a half now I think, though it seems longer for some reason. I'm pretty sure I have tried over 20 types of blades, and I have more that I have not even tried, and more on the way. RBAD?

Edit: I didn't see the suggestions part of your post. I have lots of those, but a lot of them, YMMV.

Astra SP
Shark Super Chrome
Personna Reds
Polsilvers or Iridiums (or not, they are discontinued)
Rapira/Ladas/Voskhod (Lots of people here like the Voskhods)
Gillette 7 O'Clock (Black, Blue, Green, Yellow)

I have plenty more as well, but those are ones that I have really liked, sort of in the order that I have tried.

Feathers were in there towards the beginning (Black, and Yellow) and I like them, but find they are finicky for me. I have no problem getting a good shave out of one, but sometimes it takes a bit more concentration/touchups. I prefer the 7 O'Clock Yellows.

Hope this helps!

 

My eclipse red ring is selling tonight so just going to have a shave with it . ps nice pic