Second day on the same Voskhod blade. Blade: Voskhod, 2nd use. Razor: 1934-39 Gillette Aristocrat Brush: New Forest 2001 Two Band Soap: Kiss my Face Limes Shave Cream Aftershave: Derby City Chop Shop Shave Tonic The first few swipes of the razor were surprisingly rough. The more I used it, the more it settled in, and by my second pass, the shave felt fairly smooth. I'm going to blame my prep for the initial roughness. Though it isn't something I would expect to get from Astra, Ladas or Feather. On the other hand, I did get a closer shave than yesterday. Almost BBS by the third pass. Tomorrow I'll either continue stepping it up and go with a red tip, or tone it down and go with a blue tip. How my face feels tomorrow morning will decide.
This is why I said it was a 2 shaves and done blade. I have exactly the same experience on the 2nd use. Rough and feels a bit dull but still quite soft but it just gets harder work to get a decent finish. On 3 day stubble it struggles to cope and can tug a little. Not so bad on a daily shave tho. I'm tempted to put this blade down as a one use only as even though I CAN get a 2nd shave from it, I'm not sure it's worth the extra effort and discomfort. In my opinion a fresh Voskhod is a super blade but dulls too quickly and can soon feel like you're shaving with a 3 day old blade. When I did my 20 blade comparison test both Voskhod and Astra greens came out scoring the same and I placed them somewhere between 'the middle of the road' and high performance. However Astras gave a cleaner cut first time so less need to touch up and go over but the Voskhods had less aggression and gave a smoother/more comfortable shave, less scratchy and little post shave aggression but did need to go over places a few times where it didn't cut cleanly after each pass. Overall I preferred the Voskhods to Astras because even though they were harder work to get a decent shave, they left me feeling a lot more comfortable and less irritated. With Astras I have a tendency to get a bit of a burn and sometimes it's not worth having the extra sharpness if it's gonna leave you feeling sore or irritated. When you're done with these I'd like to challenge you to try Dorco blades or Supermax Blue Diamonds.
Week 1, day 3 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Y4 Ball End Tech Blade: Voskhod, day 3, 3 passes Brush: 24mm fan set in Oscar11 handle Soap: AoS Sandalwood Post: Cold water rinse, Dickenson's WH, B&BW Oak 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue Wax A bit smoother today. Pretty darn near BBS. I was pleased.
I'll not accept that challenge. Dorco's are right at the bottom for me. Supermax blades are okay, but not in my favorites. Third and final day with this Voskhod blade. Blade: Voskhod, 3rd use. Razor: Blue Tip Super Speed Brush: Semogue 830 boar Soap: RazoRock P.160 Aftershave: RL Safari Smoother start than yesterday, but still not what I would call a smooth effortless shave. I was quite delighted to toss that blade. I'm actually not looking forward to using a fresh Voskhod blade tomorrow. We'll see if a new razor can bring some enthusiasm back for this blade.
Just goes to show how different people get on with different blades. I too don't like Supermax that much but find the blue diamond and the platinum to be excellent but I refuse to touch any other Supermax blades. I thought you would like Dorcos as you said you use Feathers and for me they are almost as good only less aggressive. For me, the Derby, Treet and Rapira blades are my bottom and I don't like any of the Gilletes either yet some people swear by them.
Hmmm. Just goes to show that blades really are subjective. Dorco's and Feather's are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum to me. I've liked almost all Gillette and Personna produced blades I've tried.
Week 1, day 4 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: Merkur 34G Blade: Voskhod, day 4, 3 passes Brush: H.I.S. Synthetic Soap: Vintage Colgate Barber's Soap + 2 drops Em's Place Woodstock EO Post: Cold water rinse, Dickenson's WH, Jovan Musk 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue Wax I'll say it - BBS, zero irritation. But then again, it was with an HD.
Not to crash your awesome testing, analysis, and comments @swarden43, but you are making me miss Wegman's. BEST GROCERY STORE EVAR! What don't they have? Super polite and happy workforce. Chefs in the deli. A zillion cheeses and loose leaf tea varieties. Vegan options out the wazoo. Awesome store brand stuff. Black truffles in the produce department! And their coffee is insane. Such a happy place on Earth. There. I said it. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Week 1, day 5 (Friday's shave) Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: W4 Black Tip Blade: Voskhod, day 5, 3 passes Brush: Klenzo Nylon with original knot Soap: TSD Sea Buckthorn Post: Cold water rinse, Avon Wild Country ASB, Wild Country cologne 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue Wax A bit rough. I wouldn't take it to 6 shaves. Shaves 3 and 4 were the best. The Klenzo does a fair enogh job to keep in the rotation.
Week 2, Day 1 Prep: Hot shower, hand strop blade Coffee: Wegmans Traditional, BLACK Tunes: Pandora Shuffle Razor: OLD Type Blade: Voskhod, day 1, 3 passes Brush: Omega 49, Big Red Cream: Tom's of Maine Post: Cold water rinse, Osage Rub, Brut Attitude 'Stache Care: Dirigo Blue 'Stache Stuff, Dirigo Blue Wax Great shave! I have a feeling this is going to be one of those blades that is rather finicky about what razor its dropped into. And if it is, I won't be buying more, not when I know the Astra SP works wonderful in every DE I put it in. I'm not OCD, but I am pretty firm in sticking with my rotation. I won't alter it just for a blade. *off to see if I can contact Tom's of Maine and convince them to bring back their shave cream!
Considering the prices of the DE blades now a days when you buy them in bulk of 100, 3 shaves is good enough to get from a blade and even if you shave daily the 100 pack should last you close to 10-11 months, so that's 10 bucks for 10-11 months? dirt cheap! I like the Voshkods, Sputnik and Rapira Platinumms so far, not sure about the rest but I think I need to play more with the Ladas to make up my mind
Yes. Monday through Friday I use a different DE everyday. Saturdays I rotate through my 8 straights. Sundays are for my SEs. Every shave is a 3-pass shave.
well that's taking cheap to a whole new level!!! Got 2 shaves on my Voskhod and lets see if I can make it trough the end of the week lol
