My B&B All-Star Blades Trials

Another Wednesday, another audition comes to a close! It's official -- Gillette Silver Blues are definitely progressing to the next round, and they are well-placed for a second-round victory!

This week also marks the end of my TOBS Grapefruit trials. Great cream, good lather, nice scent, but I'm not sure I love enough to buy an entire tub of it. I think this would make a great occasional use cream for something different, much better suited to buying a sample or two once in a while for variety. Still, it left me with a favorable impression, and I'd recommend this cream to anyone who likes strong citrus scents!

Our next contestant on The Blade Is Right comes to us from Mother Russia. Put your hands together for... POLSILVER SI!

Good morning, denizens of the B&B Collective, and Happy Sunday!

As promised, this morning I kicked off week #1 of the Polsilver SI audition! All of my usual equipment was there, and this week's stand-by cream was Trumper's GFT (see "lather note" below for a special acknowledgement!). Prep consisted of my usual, leisurely Sunday morning routine -- soak the brush in hot water while showering, then lather and slather for a three pass (W/X/A)+touch-up shave.

It's been a few days since a blade last touched my face, so my slow-growing whiskers had a chance to make themselves known. The Polsilver SI acquitted itself well. I'm always amused by the amount of whiskers floating in the sink after my first pass on Sunday mornings, and this morning was no exception. The shave was smooth and comfortable, with one small nick in a momentary lapse of attention. The touch-up pass hit all of my usual spots, though the blade certainly did a commendable job without that.

It's too early to make an assessment of this blade's chances to advance to round two, but out of the gate, it definitely got my attention!

Lather Note: This morning, I think the water-product-lather recipe finally hit home. I'd always been satisfied with the lather I've made, but I never really took the time to see if I could make it better. The last 2-3 weeks, I've been experimenting with the water levels I use to make lather with.

I think what finally drove this home is a comment one of our fine gentlemen (whose name, unfortunately, slipped my mind) made in another thread about when one has enough water in the lather: If the lather seems to have lots of bubbles but seems dry, add more water. I've been carefully paying attention to that over the past 2-3 weeks, and the results have been, needless to say, quite pleasing. I haven't been generating heaps and heaps of meringue-like foam like we see in the "lather porn" threads -- a good thing, I'll add, since I wanted to use this lather, not show it off -- but rather enough (both in terms of quantity and quality) for my needs with enough extra to go around should I have needed it. In fact, if this quality of lather continues, I'll have to reduce slightly the amount of product I use.

Last night (Wednesday) was the end of Week #1 of the Polsilver SI audition week. I'd say this was a very successful week, shave-wise, though I did have a weeper or three -- probably as the result of blade buffing with a touch too much pressure. Still, I was very satisfied with this blade's performance, and if next week goes as well as this one did, this blade will advance to round #2!

Next week's cream sampler will be TOBS Avocado! I'm quite excited to try this out, as it has a wonderful reputation here on B&B!

Also -- stay tuned for not one, but two special announcements!

Earlier today, I received a package in the mail from my enablers at Maggard. My order for two Captain's Choice samplers (Bay Rum and Lime) arrived! I still love Nivea ASB and will continue to use it as appropriate, but with the nicer weather coming, I wanted to try something lighter. Since the fine Captain had received a number of positive reviews espousing its moisturizing properties, I thought it would be a great candidate.

I'll be incorporating one of those two products into my shaving regiment tomorrow, and as a "thank you!" for reading my notes in this thread, I'll include my thoughts about the product I use with tomorrow's feedback. I have absolutely zero expertise in scent descriptions, so if you're expecting "notes of pepper, leather, and cardamom"-type comments, this won't be for you. Instead, you'll get a layman's opinion on the aftershave from both a functional and general impressions perspective.

Stay tuned for special announcement #2, due to be released this coming week!

A pleasant Easter, Passover, or Just Another Sunday, my friends in de-whiskering!

This morning starts week #2 of the Polsilver SI audition. Per my usual Sunday routine, I had a relaxing shower, followed by a leisurely shave. This morning also brought two new entrants to the field: TOBS Avocado and Captain's Choice Bay Rum Aftershave.

The blade performed admirably this morning. It was close and comfortable, though I find that this blade sometimes requires a little extra attention during the touch-up phase. I still think it's safe to say that this blade will advance to Round #2, though it is not leading the pack. It's definitely in good company with the likes of Feather, Gillette Silver Blue, Gillette Yellow, Gillette Russian Green, and Astra SP. Round two is going to be exciting once we get there, but we're still a few samples away from being able to do that.

TOBS Avocado has a great reputation here, so I was justifiably excited to try it out. The cream smelled clean and fresh, though my built-in Mark I Scent Discriminator had a difficult time discerning the actual avocado scent. The scent of the actual fruit tends to be subtle, so I'm not terribly surprised. Still, it lathered nicely and provided plenty of lubrication, and I'm looking forward to the next two shaves with this cream.

And, finally, I'm auditioning a new aftershave. I have a family function today, and the weather at our gathering point is on the cool side. The cooler weather ought to "pair" with a spicier aftershave, so I opted to test-drive my Captain's Choice Bay Rum sample.

To be perfectly honest but fair -- because, after all, what gentleman isn't? -- when I pulled the top off the 7ml pump-spray sample bottle to take in the scent yesterday, I was far from impressed. It smelled medicinal to me, and I was turned off. However, I wanted to give it a fair shake, so I pumped three small sprays on the underside of my wrist and rubbed against the other wrist, then waited until it dried to smell. Unfortunately, my initial impression hadn't changed -- medicinal. I honestly wondered how anyone could possibly love bay rum as much as many people do with this kind of scent. Really, I was befuddled. I was hell-bent on giving it a chance, so I tried it this morning for its intended purpose.

Wow.

Given some skin real estate to work with, this aftershave's spiciness came through. What came off as medicinal in the bottle or on a tiny bit of skin on my wrist became spicy and warm on my face, and the scent really started to open up. At first, there was a little bit of a pleasant sting, but that quickly disappeared, as did the medicinal notes. Surprisingly, my skin does not feel dry, though it doesn't feel as moisturized as some of the reviews led me to believe it would (nor, unsurprisingly, as much as Nivea ASB). Overall, I'm not sure how much I love the scent, but I don't hate it. I'll at least try to use the rest of the sample before I make a final decision on it.

As a brief follow-up to my last, I just had my Monday Night Shave. This time around, I used Captain's Choice Lime. This AS definitely lives up the to the popular description to my Mark I Scent Discriminator -- freshly cut limes! It had a little less sting than the BR, but since I only shaved 36 hours ago, I imagine there wasn't as much exfoliation. Of the two, I seem to prefer the Lime, but that's inexperience with the comparatively more complex scent of BR speaking, I imagine.

Either way, I am not disappointed with either sample!

On a related note, in my previous post, I indicated that my skin didn't feel as moisturized as some of the reviews led me to believe I would with the Bay Rum. After about an hour, my skin felt nice and soft. I suspect it took a little time for the glycerin and witch hazel to work their magic, but whatever it was, the results were worth the wait.

Try the Cat o Nine Tails!

Tonight's shave brings the Two Weeks of Polsilver SI to a close, and also brings our Week of TOBS Avocado audition to a close! Here are the scores:

1) Polsilver SI: Advances to the second round! It's not leading the pack, but it's a solid contender.
2) TOBS Avocado: Love the performance, ambivalent on the scent. This will not be joining my "must buy" list, but that's based entirely on the scent. The performance lived up to this cream's reputation, and were this strictly a performance-based evaluation, this cream would definitely be on the "to buy" list.
3) Captain's Choice Bay Rum Aftershave: This is my second use of this aftershave, and I have to say, it's growing on me. I'm not entirely enamored of the Bay Rum scent, but it's definitely making its mark.

With the close of the Polsilver SI round, the All Star Blades Trials are officially over. However, as with any good match, there's always a special moment at the end. This brings us to...

A few weeks ago, I purchased a 1956 Ball-end Tech via the B/S/T. The gentleman who sold it to me included a tuck of Voskhod's. I held off using the razor and the blades until I'd reached the end of the All-Star Blades challenge. As a special treat to me for holding off, and a special treat to you for reading, I will use my new acquisition with these new blades for a week starting Sunday. Then, we'll have a wildcard round of auditions so that the Voskhod's can be tested for a two week period in my standby EJ. Trumper's GFT will be the standby cream for the Tech, then we'll go into the normal two-week rotation with the EJ to test out the Voskhod's. Of course, I'll be reporting my results!


Good question! Once I'm done with the Bonus Round, there are a few more razor blades I can try (two Sharks and a Lord). I will likely go into "Exhibition Matches" with these blades, since they're not All Stars but do deserve their day in the sun. I'll continue this thread... and when we're done with these, I'll announce round two, which will get its own thread, with its own fun!

Stay tuned, folks! There will be a third special announcement in a few weeks!

Because I had a social engagement on Saturday evening, I was forced (because, really, using new shave toys is such a hardship) to accelerate my inaugural shave with the '56 Ball-end Tech. Overall, the experience was quite nice. It's a milder razor than my EJ, and as others have noted, it requires a bit better technique because, ironically, of how forgiving this razor is. If your angle is anything other than precise, you're going to get a sub-par shave because either the head will glide (not enough angle) or the safety bar will interfere with the blade's contact with the skin (too much angle).

For most of the first pass, things were a little touch-and-go as I figured out the right mechanics for using this razor, but once I adjusted, I was rewarded with a smooth, comfortable shave. The Voshkod did its job admirably, but until I get a chance to run it through my EJ, I won't be able to make a fair comparison with the other blades.

The results of this shave were mixed. Now, several hours later, I'm feeling places that I could've done a better job on. I'll be doing a "reset" shave on Sunday evening to clean up what I failed to adequately cover today (Saturday). Fortunately, all of the places that need "reset" are the places that I traditionally have issues with anyway, so at least I'm shaving consistently across multiple razors.

All of that said, I enjoyed this shave and can understand why the Tech is such a popular choice!

Tonight's shave marks the end of the RAD Rewards week of the wildcard round. After three shaves with my '56 Ball-end Tech, a few thoughts come to mind:

1) An extra-mild razor like a Tech really does force you to refine your technique. Once I upped my game to meet the Tech's requirements, the shaves improved dramatically. I'll need to continue working with this razor to really get good shaves with it. I had to touch up the same spot a few too many times, which tells me that I need work on my technique in that area.

2) Voskhod is a nice, sharp blade. I will refrain from further comment until I try it out in my stand-by razor, the EJ.

3) Captain's Choice Bay Rum really does have some nice moisturizing properties. I'm still not totally sold on Bay Rums, but am pleased with the performance of the good Skipper's product.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Wildcard Round! We'll be using the EJ, GFT, and a Voshkod for week one of the normal two-week audition window, with an as-of-yet undetermined cream samples for week #2!

Stay tuned!

Well met, fellow travelers of the path to Shave Mastery!

This morning's shave takes us back to basics, with my Usual Gear. In a moment of whimsey, I decided to swap out the GFT for AOS Lemon. Thus began week one of the Two Weeks Of Voshkod!

This morning's shave was close and comfortable with my usual routine (W/X/A + touchup), and I found that my touch-up pass required less work than with many other blades. Undoubtedly, the sharpness of this blade lent assistance in this effort, as did a few other refinements in my technique -- most notably, stretching my skin in different ways than I had before to get through the trouble spots. However, overall, I'd say I had a great shave with this blade. So far, so good!

This morning's post-shave care included cleaning off my face with cold water, then a pat dry followed by a splash of witch hazel. After cleaning up the rest of the gear, brushing my teeth, etc, I then used Captain's Choice Lime. There was no burn at all, so it seems my technique was fairly good this morning!

As an aside, I'm becoming quite enamored of the good Skipper's Lime. I have a full bottle of both it and the Bay Rum en route presently, set to arrive on Monday. They won't replace Nivea ASB by any stretch of the imagination, but they will certainly provide me more choices in aftershave. I strongly suspect I'll be using CC in the warmer months and Nivea in the cooler months (and as needed in the summer months), but we'll see.

Thus we come to the end of week one of The Two Weeks of Voskhod. Unfortunately, the player was ejected from the game and will not be returning. Either my technique was absolutely awful tonight (though, Captain's Lime did not point anything out), or these blades can't take the kind of treatment three shaves with my EJ unleashes upon it. After two nicks -- not weepers, nicks -- on my chin, I decided this blade's days on the field of play were done. I finished my shave out, very carefully, then tossed the blade and put the tuck away. If these blades work for you, by all means use them, but for me, they aren't suitable. Fini.

That said, I used Captain's Choice Lime tonight. I really dig this aftershave, and will continue to use it. I think the Bay Rum variety will wait until it gets a little warmer out, but we'll see. I think it'll grow on me.

Next up, we are going into the Exhibition Match round! Our first player will be Lord Super Stainless blades!

Thanks for doing this! I really enjoy your work.

mightyeskimo said:

Thanks for doing this! I really enjoy your work.

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It's a pleasure to do. I feel like this is a small way I can give back to the community -- an "experience PIF", if you will.

Thank you for your kind words!

Random Shaver said:

"experience PIF", if you will.

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+1000. Thank you as I have been inspired to do my own journal as well.

MrSmith said:

+1000. Thank you as I have been inspired to do my own journal as well.

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I added it to my subscription list -- thanks for pointing it out! I look forward to reading about your experiences. You're definitely taking a more rigorous approach than I am, but you also have more variables in play than I do.

Best of luck!

Happy Sunday, one and all, and a very happy Mother's Day to all of the special women in our lives who are so very important to the previous, current, and next generation of shavers!

This morning's shave was the beginning of Two Weeks of Lord Super Stainless, and the first of the final three competitors in our Race To Round Two. Our cream this morning was AOS Lemon, and our razor of choice was the EJ89.

After a great shower, I lathered and slathered the cream, then applied razor to face. The blade gave me a great shave. It was smooth and comfortable, but that's to be expected from a fresh blade. The first (WTG) pass harvested a good amount of whiskers, as told by the floaters in the sink (a wonderful sign!). The second (XTG) pass also yielded good results. It's worth noting that my second-pass routine these days is to do a genuine XTG on my cheeks and jaws, an ATG on my chin, lower and upper lip, and blade buff oblique-to-the-grain on my neck. The third (ATG) pass was effective as well -- this one going genuinely ATG on my cheeks, jaw, and neck, and skipping the chin, lower, and upper lips entirely. A final touch-up pass cleaned up typical problem areas in the hollow of my cheeks, my left jawline, the left corner of my mouth, and the underside of my chin.

As an aside, a word about technique: I read elsewhere on the forum that a dab of styptic on one's fingertip will assist with pulling wet skin in the desired direction, so I decided to give it a try. I can confirm that this trick works. It's now in my mental toolkit to make future shaves even better!

Last but not least, we finished out the shave with a cold water rinse, followed by a dry-pat of the face, then witch hazel. After cleaning up my gear, brushing my teeth, etc, I added Captain's Choice Bay Rum owing to today's gorgeous weather. I was rewarded with almost no sting at all (the "technique final exam", in my opinion).

Overall, I'd say these are good blades on the first shave. I am concerned, however, that they're not sharp enough to be truly effective for a full three shaves. I will reserve judgment until Week One is over, and of course, I will continue to report my findings.

Now get out there and thank the Moms in your life for being the wonderful women that they are!

Enjoying this thread. I liked The Lord Stainless on the first shave, found it to be a rusty tin can on the second. Interested to hear your experience.

renewingmind said:

Enjoying this thread. I liked The Lord Stainless on the first shave, found it to be a rusty tin can on the second. Interested to hear your experience.

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Thank you for your kind words! Expect some feedback tomorrow, as I'll have the opportunity for a rare treat -- a mid-week morning shave!

Wanted to stop in and thank you for checking out my thread. I have and will continue to follow this thread, but wanted to make a special post to let you know that I thought that the Mother's Day shave was just an overall pleasant read. Also I like to rub Alum over my hands prior to shaving as that will also give you a bit of grip throughout your shave as well.