Shaving with what others choose, a daily journal.

[toidbb]

This is a journal that I am creating to share my experiences with using the shaving products that were selected by the forum in my voting threads. I hope that I can capture some experiences that might help others as they venture through this wet shaving journey.

First the basics, I live in an area with hard water, so soaps that I rate as having poor lathering capabilities might be better in softer water. Also my skin tends from normal to sensitive, so if a particular razor is assigned a very aggressive rating from me, you can also adjust. My facial hair is thick and not easy to cut, and I normally do 3 passes WTG, XTG, ATG. Finally, I bowl lather using either a straight bowl or one of several scuttles.

Second my current rating levels. I will rate the products in different categories using a scale of 1-10. For razor aggressiveness I will use the Merkur R41 2011 as the benchmark as a level 8. That should allow for some additional room on top if I find something that is more aggressive than it, and we might as straights, SEs, Injectors, etc will also be thrown into the mix with DEs.

Now that we have that out of the way: (Here was what was voted for me to shave with from Monday March 17th through Wednesday March 19th.


A Gillette Red Tip Super Speed (PolSilver Super Iridium Blade), with a Semogue SOC using two band finest badger brush, using the Mystic Water Bay Rum Shave Soap, and finishing it off with Pinaud Clumban Original Aftershave.

Day 1: March 17th
Today's shave went well, the Gillette Red Tip razor is fairly aggressive but still very smooth with the PolSilver blade. With my normal 3 passes I was able to achieve a BBS shave that as of now still only feels a little rough when checking ATG. The Bay Rum scent on the soap was pleasant, but not very strong. Also, although it lathered well, it seemed to dry too fast after application, so I will have to experiment with it more tomorrow. When there, it provided adequate protection. The brush seemed to capture the lather really well, and has good backbone to it. It provided a nice level of scratch while still feeling soft. After the shave, and using the Pinaud, there was a slight burn which dissipated within a couple of seconds after application. I liked the scent, and it lasted for a little less than an hour after shaving.

Day 2: March 18th
Today's shave was very close to yesterday's. I will point out though that I was unable to get a BBS shave in the middle of my neck. My trials with the soap still has it drying very quickly after applying. So, instead of applying to my whole face and completing a pass, I applied the lather in sections. I also would like to reiterate how wonderful the backbone is on this brush, while still remaining soft with little scratch.

Day 3: March 19th
Today, I was able to achieve a very close to BBS shave. I was still unable to make the lather last once applied. So still had to use a quarter method for application. Beyond that a very nice shave, and the last one for a while with the red tip Gillette.

Ratings for the combo: (I will edit these daily, if impressions change, until the last shave with the combo)
1. Razor

• Aggressiveness: 6
• Ease of Use: 8
• Control: 7

2. Soap

• Lathering: 7
• Durability after application: 3
• Scent Strength: 3

3. Brush

• Backbone: 6 (Higher means firmer)
• Bristle Softness: 7 (Higher means softer)
• Lather Absorption: 6

4. Aftershave

• Stings: Yes
• Soothing Level: 6
• Scent duration after application: 3

Thanks again.

 

[toidbb]

Apparently, I should actually create a new reply to the thread daily instead of editing the content of the first, so that it shows as modified. So I will do so from now on.

So the winners of the latest vote that closed on Wednesday night for what I should shave with from Thursday to Saturday were: The Feather AS-D2 razor, the restored Strong Set brush, the TOBS Grapefruit Cream, and the Art of Shaving Ocean Kelp Aftershave. I also decided to use a Feather blade to match with this razor.



Day 4: March 20th
The TOBS Grapefruit Cream has a great scent. It is strong enough to smell while shaving. This cream also lathers well, and unlike the previous winner, did not have issues with drying out. Being the first time that I used it though it will take me another day to find out the correct amount of product, to allow me to do my normal passes. Today I used too little and had to re-lather with more to finish.
The restored brush's shape allows for a very nice use of it for bowl lathering, but also for ease of facial application. The knot that was put on here does not have a lot of backbone, but it is soft with a little scratch to it. When applying the lather to the face, it almost felt like you were painting with a large brush. I realize that being this is a restored brush, the knot, and setting of it is really what determines how it behaves. So, I will probably not focus too much on that aspect of it, and rate this as a one off, which I do not know you can replicate. But I did want to provide you with how the handle shape does help with its use.
The Feather AS-D2 razor should need no introduction. For me it is very smooth, and aggressive enough for minimal passes in the search for that BBS shave. Although it is less aggressive than the red tip Gillette by a small margin, you gain it back in smoothness. Today I did achieve a close to BBS shave, as I did not want to do one more pass to achieve it past my normal routine. It left little irritation if any.
The Art of Shaving Ocean Kelp aftershave has a nice moisturizing mixture, without sting. It smell is pleasant and the scent lasted up to close to two hours after application. It definately provides more moisturization after your shave than the Clubman.

Ratings for the combo: (I will edit these daily, if impressions change, until the last shave with the combo)
1. Razor

• Aggressiveness: 5
• Ease of Use: 9
• Control: 8

2. Soap

• Lathering: 8
• Durability after application: 6
• Scent Strength: 6

3. Brush

• Backbone: 3 (Higher means firmer)
• Bristle Softness: 8 (Higher means softer)
• Lather Absorption: 6

4. Aftershave

• Stings: No
• Soothing Level: 8
• Scent duration after application: 6

 

[toidbb]

Day 5: March 21st.
The TOBS Grapefruit worked wonderfully today. I was able to pick the right amount of product to generate enough lather for my normal passes. Had a BBS shave everywhere except the middle of my neck which was DFS. I have started to notice though that I have to rinse the Feather more often, as it seems to keep a lot of the lather it picks up in between the blade and the base plate. Then it is hard to rinse all of it off, and have to let it sit under the running water for a lot longer to clear it.

Day 6: March 22nd
Today's shave was very good, had the right amount of lather, and achieved a BBS shave except for a very small section of my neck. I also tried to rinse the razor more often, but still had some times where it took longer than usual to rinse off the soap residue from between the blade and the base plate. Either it is a combination of both this cream and the razor, or for this particular shaver it is best to clear it out after every full stroke of shaving.

 

[toidbb]

So the winners of the latest vote that closed on Wednesday night for what I should shave with from Thursday to Saturday were: The Mergress razor, the Simpson PL8 Brush, the Al's Shaving Products Fougere about it (There was a tie, so made an executive decision ), and the Dr. Harris Marlborough Aftershave. I used a Feather blade to match with this razor. And I also decided that I would use three different settings for this one, one for each day to compare. From the most aggressive, middle, and least aggressive settings.

For those new to DE or wet shaving in general the Mergress razor is a Merkur Progress that has been modified with a different bottom handle cap, and calibrated to make sure that the adjustments match accordingly.

Picture will be inserted here of the winning combo later.

Day 7: March 23rd.
Used setting number 5 on the Mergress and I was really surprised at how much blade exposure was provided in this setting. I decided that I should probably take it easy like I would with the 2011 R41, just in case. Some of the worry was justified, at this setting the razor is very aggressive, but I was surprised on how smooth it felt. With the R41, you can almost feel as you start to accumulate razor burn. With this one, as long as you did not put any pressure, it slid without any fuss, and provided great feedback on XTG, and ATG passes. I was able to achieve a BBS shave except for a couple of very small spots, that I partially missed.

The scent of Foguere about it soap from Al's is one that most will probably have an initial polarizing effect though. So some will dismiss it very quickly, although I will say that it does grow on you. It is very strong, and you can smell it throughout your shave. It lathered well, and provided adequate protection while shaving.

The Simpson PL8 brush has a large handle, and as such I would say that you have to use a large diameter bowl/scuttle to lather or use of a shallow bowl, otherwise the handle will hit the sides. This brush is very soft, and provides little backbone. It provides a very soft and luxurious feel when applying lather to the face.

The aftershave also has what I would label as a polarizing smell. It is strong when first applied, but it seems to have dissipated after about and hour and a half after application. I believe that it will sting if used after a rough shave, although today it provided just a small hint if any at all after my shave. Which goes to show how the Mergress was able to provide a smooth shave.

 

[toidbb]

Day 8: March 24th
Used setting number 3 on the Mergress, at this setting there still is a nice blade exposure. And wow, changing the setting to 3, makes this razor sing. It provided audible feedback for all passes. It is less aggressive than the 5, but instead of having to be super extra careful, you can really go to town a bit. Although you should still pay attention to it, as I probably used a little pressure due to how nice it was shaving. This pressure probably led to a bit of the aftershave sting that I felt at the end.

I was able to get great lather out of Al's soap today, and had plenty for all my passes. It is still not super high on the protection level, but still provides a bit of glide.

I am also able to confirm that the Dr. Harris Marlborough aftershave's smell does dissipate in about an hour and a half after application.

Overall a very nice BBS shave today.

 

[toidbb]

Day 9: March 25th
Used setting number 1 on the Mergress, at this setting this razor is a bit above mild. Regardless, it still provided very good audible feedback for all passes. And it is very efficient. I was able to get a nice BBS shave today, even at the lowest setting. The only other item that I will mention is that the larger head of the razor might present some challenge to some with their upper lip right under the nose.

Ratings for the combo:
1. Razor

• Aggressiveness: 6 (Setting 5), 5 (Setting 3), 4 (Setting 1)
• Ease of Use: 7
• Control: 7

2. Soap

• Lathering: 8
• Durability after application: 7
• Scent Strength: 7

3. Brush

• Backbone: 2 (Higher means firmer)
• Bristle Softness: 8 (Higher means softer)
• Lather Absorption: 6

4. Aftershave

• Stings: Yes
• Soothing Level: 5
• Scent duration after application: 6