GIVEAWAY! Challenge PIF - We're Gonna Need A Bigger Razor!!

[fast shaver]

Jaws Blade #3 Shave #8
Tools: SCS Model A Razor, DSC brush & Mongo Bar soap.
Got a nice two pass shave plus touchup this A.M.
The Jaws blade is holding steady.

 

[Time Bandit]

Arko/Boarko/Sharko August continues...

Prep: Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser used w/ a Clarisonic Mia Men

Blade: Shark Super Stainless
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89 Barley Chrome

Brush: Omega Boar 10005/80005
Soap: Arko

Post: Dickinson's Deep Cleanser w/ Menthol & Eucalyptus
Aftershave: Pinaud Lilac Vegital
Finish: English Laundry Notting Hill

I pulled out the razor that started it all for me. My wonderful Edwin Jagger DE89. The razor is great but the blade not so much. I think this is the second or third shave with this blade. It worked but felt a little weak. Never the less it was an enjoyable shave.

Oh and my lady thoroughly approved of the Lilac Vegital.

 

[Tanuki]

FOCS / Jaws (2) for the horizontal strokes down low - worked perfectly

 

[lancre]

Yates 921-M
Shark SS (10)
Erskine 301 Nylon Bristle brush
Balea shaving cream

Shave #10 on the SS blade. I was a little off with the lather (too dry), but it didn't seem to affect the results.
Smooth shaving all the way through, with no drama during or after the shave.

Result: borderline BBS/DFS after 3 passes, BBS after a little touch up.

 

[Demolition]

Sixth shave with the Sharp Jaws Platinum blade #2

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Yaqi Black Marble (24mm Silvertip Badger)
Soap: RazoRock Blue Label

Another close, comfortable shave.

The Jaws Platinum continues to perform superbly. With just my three main passes, I had a DFS+. I could have called it a day, right then, but decided to go for my usual BBS. After a few buffing strokes under my chin and around my Adam's apple, I had achieved my desired result.

On a side note, this Jaws blade seems to be holding up better than the previous one. That blade gave up the ghost after its sixth use. However, this blade feels like it still has plenty of life in it.

 

[T Bone]

Jaws shave #3
Henson AL13 medium
PAA Starcraft (24mm synth)
Southern Witchcraft Samhain soap & splash

Great shave this morning, no pulling or trouble cutting at all until I got to my mustache and ATG on my chin, where the whiskers are tougher. 2 passes and a little touch-up on my neck got me a great BBS- with mostly mild alum feedback and no irritation to speak of. Feels almost-but-not-quite 100% on my jawlines, and there's a small rough bit to the right of my throat. Another strong performance from the killer shark though!

Results: BBS- (9/10)
Facial wounds: 2 (1 tiny spot of blood on my soul patch, another on my neck, I hesitate to even call them weepers, but there they were)
Limbs bitten off: 0

 

[fast shaver]

Jaws Blade #3 Shave #9
Tools: SCS Model A Razor, DSC brush & Arko soap.
The Jaws blade gave me a nice two pass shave this A.M.
The blade is slowing down on each shave though.

 

[Demolition]

Thirteenth shave with the Shark Super Stainless blade #1

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Simpson Special S1 (18mm Best Badger)
Soap: Pré de Provence No. 63

Getting better with age?

For some reason, my shaves with the Shark SS have become smoother and more comfortable as the uses stack up. This is not what I expected because I usually don't get a decent shave from Lord-manufactured blades, let alone longevity.

However, that's not to say that I think this blade is actually any good. Of its thirteen uses, less than half have been better-than-average while the rest have ranged from terrible to mediocre. Normally, I'd have trashed this blade a long time ago, but I kept wondering if it would somehow rehabilitate itself.

Well, here we are on its thirteenth use and, as mentioned, it seems to be performing quite well. Its last few uses have been good, overall, which made me re-evaluate where this blade ranks compared to the other two in this Challenge.

At the moment, it's tied with the Shark Platinum for second-place behind the Jaws. The Shark SS is actually delivering a better shave right now, so it might even take over second place by itself depending on how the Shark Platinum performs over its next few uses.

We shall see.

 

[lancre]

Yates 921-M
Shark SS (11)
VDH Pure Badger
Haslinger Schafmilch shaving soap

Shave #11 on the SS blade. I got the lather right this time, so it was much more comfortable
Smooth shaving all the way through, with no drama during or after the shave.

Result: borderline BBS/DFS after 3 passes, BBS after a little touch up.

 

[mikhou]

Jaws #1, shave #1

Razor: Henson AL13 Mild
Cream: Proraso Green
Brush: Taconic Synthetic
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue

This is my first shave with the Jaws blade. It was just kinda okay. No major issues, but the end result doesn't seem to be as close and as smooth as either of the Shark blades. I also used a Taconic brush that is also just kinda okay. It doesn't hold as much water as my other brush so my lather seemed a little thicker than I normally like it. I'll give the blade another run with my regular brush and we'll see how it goes.

 

[fast shaver]

Jaws Blade #3 Shave #10
Tools: SCS Model A Razor, DSC brush & Mongo Bar soap.
Another nice two pass shave this A.M.
The Jaws blade is slowly fading though but seems good for a few more shaves still.

 

[Demolition]

Thirteenth shave with the Shark Platinum blade #1

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Yaqi Moka Express (26mm Two-Band Badger)
Soap: RazoRock Gols Label

The end of the road for the Shark Platinum.

I was still able to get a reasonably close shave, today, but the effort required to do so was becoming extreme and all of that attention (plus buffing) was leading to some moderate post-shave irritation. Therefore, after thirteen uses, the Shark Platinum has finally bit the dust.

It had a few minor ups and downs over its life, but its overall performance was very good. Consistency was also good as it delivered my desired level of closeness on every shave with only a few exceptions.

This blade felt quite keen at the beginning and maintained its sharpness for a long time. It continued to feel surprisingly sharp through nine uses before it started to lose efficiency. At that point, it began a slow and gradual decline until today's shave when it felt like it was having trouble removing my stubble.

I put a lot of weight on consistency and predictability when I grade a blade, so I was pleased that its performance remained relatively steady throughout its life. So, right now, I'd say that the Shark Platinum places second behind the Jaws with the Shark SS bringing up the rear. The aforementioned consistency of performance over the Shark SS was the clincher.

 

[T Bone]

Jaws, shave 4
Henson AL13 medium
PAA Starcraft (24mm synth)
Proraso green soap
Blade aftershave balm

Got my jawlines nicely today, but neck has more rough spots than yesterday. More weepers, more alum feedback, and more irritation too, though the irritation didn’t last long for some reason at least.

This is a bit of a tangent, but since returning from vacation, I decided that I didn’t want to take carts and canned foam next time, so I’ve been using them up during the week, and using these PIF blades Friday morning and Saturday afternoon. After 4 weeks, I’ve noticed a distinct pattern: good/great shave on Friday, meh on Saturday. I’m not sure if it’s because the carts are easy on my skin - they don’t shave me at all close after all - so my skin is in better shape to begin with on Friday than Saturday. Or maybe I’m more rushed Saturday afternoon trying to squeeze the shave in between weekend chores and dinner. Or the fact that I’m usually sharing the bathroom with my wife on Saturday, so I’m distracted or just plain self-conscious. But whatever the reason(s), both the Shark Platinum and the Jaws have given me 2 nice shaves, and 2 less than stellar shaves.

Result: BBS- (9/10)
Facial wounds: About 10 weepers (1 on my neck, the rest on my mustache/fu man chu area, none were bad)
Limbs severed and devoured: 0

After 1 of each, Jaws > Shark Platinum in an upset. I’ll be back in a couple weeks with the Shark SS, which was the preseason favorite.

 

[lancre]

Yates 921-M
Shark SS (12)
Semogue 740HD
Balea shaving cream

Shave #12 on the SS blade. Smooth shaving all the way through, with no drama during or after the shave.
It's starting to need more work to get a good shave with this blade, so I think it's time to bin it.

Result: borderline DFS after 3 passes, borderline DFS/BBS after some touch up buffing.

 

[fast shaver]

Jaws Blade #3 Shave #11
Tools: SCS Model A Razor, DSC brush & Arko soap
Got a fairly nice shave this A.M. but the Jaws blade is at The End of The Trail therefore in the Bin it goes.
Thanks to @Grundi & everyone else for this blade Challenge.

 

[Demolition]

Seventh shave with the Sharp Jaws Platinum blade #2

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Omega 10005 (24mm Boar)
Soap: Pré de Provence Bergamot and Thyme

Another top-notch outing from the Jaws Platinum.

This blade has now performed flawlessly for seven shaves; that's one more than the previous Jaws blade. My shaves have been extremely quick and comfortable without any irritation or tugging. My usual main passes have all been very routine. I don't even have to think about what I'm doing because the blade just glides over my skin without effort.

Buffing has been a simple affair, as well. Generally, a few strokes around the Adam's apple and along my jawlines and I'm left with a perfectly smooth face.

The one question that I had about the Jaws blade was whether or not it would display any longevity. Maybe that's been answered now that this current blade has surpassed the previous blade in number of uses, yet still feels like it has a lot of life left in it. We'll explore that some more in the coming days (or weeks?).

 

[mikhou]

Jaws #1, shave #2

Razor: Henson AL13 Mild
Cream: Palmolive Classic
Brush: A generic badger (I think) off of Amazon that I really like
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue

The Jaws blade does okay, but it feels little rough to me. I find both Shark blades to be significantly smoother. I’ll use it again on Tuesday, but it’s not one that I would choose to purchase in bulk.

 

[Demolition]

Fourteenth shave with the Shark Super Stainless blade #1

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Yaqi Aqua (24mm Tuxedo)
Soap: RazoRock Santa Maria del Fiore

A relatively close, comfortable shave.

Now on its fourteenth use, the Shark SS continues to perform reasonably well. It did take a very long break-in period to get to this point, though. As noted in my earlier entries about this blade, the first half-dozen outings were below average. However, it began to improve at a steady pace over the next half-dozen.

Now, it is offering decent shaves with only some minor issues, namely that it requires a bit more effort to get to my preferred level of closeness. There is also a barely perceptible amount of tugging during the WTG pass. This doesn't affect the quality of the shave, but it's there.

I only required some light buffing to get to a BBS-, at which point I decided to stop. No sense pushing things too hard and angering the shaving gods, right?

Frankly, I should probably ditch this blade. After all, it is only providing slightly better than average shaves. They're serviceable, but nothing special. However, for testing purposes, I'd like to see how long this string of decent performances lasts.

 

[hugosf]

Razor: Gamechanger 84 SB

Brush: Simpson’s Trafalgar T3

Soap: Stirling Eletric Sheep

Blade: Shark Super Stainless (5)

Bowl: Captain’s Choice Scuttle

Blade #2 Shave 5. Super smooth blade.

 

[mikhou]

Jaws #1, shave #3

Razor: Pre-war Gillette Tech
Cream: Proraso Green
Brush: A generic badger (I think) off of Amazon that I really like
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue

I haven't been enamored by the Jaws blade prior to today, but pairing it with the Tech made a difference for me. It was a much smoother shave today than with the Henson (which surprises me because the Hensons seems to work well with almost any blade). It's still not something that I would choose to purchase, but I had a much more comfortable shave today than with the Henson. I might have ended up a touch less close than I did on prior shaves, though. But it was certainly an acceptable DFS.