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Dexutter's Shave Journal

I'm starting a blade trial (rather, just started) and I needed a place to keep up with my own reflection. To those of you reading, this will be pretty boring and EXTREMELY subjective.

Hardware:
E2 Fatboy - Settings will vary, At least 1/week (FF Friday)
40's Style SS - Less frequency than the fatboy, but #2
J1 SS flare tip - may slip in on SS Saturday
K2 Slim - Least likely to be used
EJ DE89 - If I'm on the road (3 piece for the win!)

Brushes:
RR Plissoft Monster - My go to for now
Perfecto Best Badger - Only for hard soaps, or when I get the badger bug
More - Searching for a cool handle to restore with a badger or boar, still looking to try out a boar as well (we'll see)

The Lather:
TOBS Mr. Taylor - My current favorite, but I'm working through some AD
CO Bigelow - If I need the wake-up
Williams Mug - Used once, Liked it fine, will try it out some more
Arko - Haven't tried yet, but I will this week, it may move up

Pre/After Shave:
Homemade Preshave oil - works for me, hot water, shower, oil, lather...
Pinaud Clubman - Most days
AV Ice Blue - When I'm feeling fresh!

The Blades (not this order):
Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow
Gillette Silver Blue
Gillette 7 O'Clock Black
Astra SP
Voskhod Teflon
Personna (Israeli red)
Personna Med Prep
Perma-Sharp - Super
Rapira - Swedish Super Steel
Lord Platinum
Feather
Polsilver Super Iridium
Kai

Tried Derby's already, not awful, but not great.
 
I will be interested in your opinions on the different blades. I have tried about 1/2 of them - nice selection. I also like your razor choices.

If you like the smell of ARKO I think you will like it's performance.

Have a good night.

Pete
 
First blade up - Gillette 7 O'clock yellow

Shave 1 (Sunday 3/6)
Hot water/pre shave oil
TOBS Mr. Taylor
Fatboy on 3

Smoother than the Derby, felt like less tugging on the first shave. Very nice shave with no irritation (one weeper [re-opened from day before]) Didn't feel quite as close on first pass, but results were great

Day 2 (Monday 3/7)
Hot water preshave (rushed)
Arko face lather (1st time for both)
Fatboy on 5

Way too much change for me. I think the biggest culprit was the rushed preshave. I have been sick all weekend and I think I rushed the whole shave. Had to keep correcting blade angle. Re-opened the weeper from yesterday and made a new one. The blade was great when angle worked. Really like the Arko as well, but bad shave. User error. 2 passes with CU was enough and some razor burn later (although the arko hid it for a while).

Taking today off, shave tomorrow (probably AM). I'll get a much better feel of what I like/don't like about the blade (I'm going to the 40's SS) Glad I started with this blade. Its fine, but not super promising. I'll be out of town this weekend and won't bring blades with me (may be buying some there) but we'll see how Wed, Thurs, Fri go!
 
That Arko can whip up some lather. It is soft enough that you can mash it into a bowl but just so convenient in stick form. When my skin is dry I find it can be irritating to my face - but it is easy to work with.

Hope you feel better soon and that the face heals up with a day off.
 
Shave 3 this morning:

Shower and preshave, E2 Fatboy on 5, TOBS Mr. Taylor, clubman

Wonderful shave! Worked on the angle today, that helped a ton! The blade ran like a champ. Super smooth still, not ultra-sharp. But I'm happy with this one. My beard is pretty light so sharp isn't hugely important. No razor-burn, BBS.

I think I'm gonna like some other blades more, but I'm very happy with this guy!

Couple more shaves on it, then the Silver-Blue is up next!
 
Very good job on the BBS shave. The Gillette Silver Blue blades are ones that I have never tried. Heard they are sharp and smooth and many people like them quite a bit. Before getting caught up in Straights and SE's - I had bought a bunch of Polsilver SI's and debated between them and the GSB's.
 
Fatboy Friday (AKA shave 4)

Very similar to yesterday (swapped TOBS for Bigelow)

Great shave, no complaints. Still feel like the blade doesn't want to cut, it just has to? Takes a bit more effort to cut the under-chin hair, but when it does, I get great smooth results.

I'll be flying out today, so no blades on the plane with me, may pick up a 5-pack of something at walgreens in dallas to keep at the brother-in-law's place for my EJ DE89.
 
Look for retail store/drugstore/dollar store branded blades made in Israel (Personna) not from Korea or Israel (Dorco).
 
Alright!
Back home from TX (good trip, it was 80 and sunny when I left, 30 and cold when I got up today back home...)

Time for GSB!
E2 Fatboy on 5, preshave oil with hot water
GSB
TOBS Mr. Taylor's
Clubman AS

Great shave - may have mishandled the razor in a couple places, but the blade was ultra smooth. No tug or catching. My third pass under the jaw (my highest risk of burn/nick) was ridiculously awesome. I sort of thought that I wasn't going against the grain enough, but after a rinse, this was better than I'd ever gotten there without irritation. Less cleanup needed and it's a great shave!

We'll see how this week goes (May be taking my Super-109 on its first shave tomorrow) but I think the GSB is my new favorite!

1. GSB
2. 7 o'clock yellow
3. Derby
 
I think I've fallen behind abit!

3 more shaves on the GSB (2 with Fatboy, 1 on 40's SS)

Easily my favorite so far! This blade has been sharp, smooth, and consistent. Something on this list is going to have to blow me out of the water to pass these ones up!

That being said, I like them in the Fatboy a bit more than the SS I think. We'll see if that flips for any of these blades...

Side note: Won Blade PIF last week, there a few more to try that weren't on my original list, but I'll toss them on the end! I'm also going to try and keep track of my wife's blade preference (Picked up a K1 Lady Gillette for her). She's used my flare tip SS and the Lady Gillette with feather's and likes it plenty. I think I'll try here on some other blades next week.
 
Nice job on the shave back on the 15th - good when you can get a trouble spot.

Consistently good shaves with the GSB is a good thing. If they do turn out to be your preferred blade I have seen some attractive prices for 100 packs.
 
Equipment Update:

I've had a few changes from some acquisition (the wife is far too encouraging) and a couple PIFs. Changes in BOLD


Hardware:
E2 Fatboy - Settings will vary, At least 1/week (FF Friday)
40's Style SS - Less frequency than the fatboy, but #2 (I picked another, but I think it may not be used here [potential gift for the brother in law])
J1 SS flare tip - may slip in on SS Saturday
O2 Super 109 - In rotation, still trying to determine if it's on par with the Slim/Fatboy

K2 Slim - Least likely to be used
K1 Lady Gillette - It's my wife's razor, but I may try it on the face a couple times (also, may try some blades with her)

EJ DE89 - If I'm on the road (3 piece for the win!)

Brushes:
RR Plissoft Monster - My go to for now
Perfecto Best Badger - Only for hard soaps, or when I get the badger bug
More - Searching for a cool handle to restore with a badger or boar, still looking to try out a boar as well (we'll see)
Rubberset 600N handle restored with a TGN Finest F2 Badger - my first restoration


The Lather:
TOBS Mr. Taylor - My current favorite, but I'm working through some AD
CO Bigelow - If I need the wake-up
Williams Mug - Used once, Liked it fine, will try it out some more
Arko - Great Lather! The smell is fine, but not my go-to. Definitely using on the road
Palmolive - Haven't tried it yet, but expectations are fair
Suavecito - picked up at the barber shop, nice soap with good cushion, okay lather
RR Don Marco - Great summery/citrus scent, great lather
Ogallala Sandlewood and Bayrum - Need to work on picking up enough product, smells fantastic

Pre/After Shave:
Homemade Preshave oil - works for me, hot water, shower, oil, lather...
Suavecito Preshave - Nice tea tree scent, working pretty well

Pinaud Clubman - Most days
AV Ice Blue - When I'm feeling fresh!
Suavecito Bay Rum - First Bay rum aftershave, its got tons of fragrance, lasts all day!
 
Blade Change! Gillette 7 O'clock black (super platinum)

Today was a very nice shave.
O2 Super 109, Suavecito pre-shave, RR Don Marco, TGN Finest F2 Badger, Clubman

Ditched my first lather after a pass and a half, restarted with much better lather (first time trying the RR Don Marco) I thought the blade seemed very sharp! Not quite as smooth as the GSB, but sharper. My final pass cleaned up everything very well! Again, I'll get a much better feel for the blade as I use it this week. But preliminary results - it's a new #2.

I'm willing to blame some of the smoothness on a bad lather. So we'll see if it improves this week (also, fatboy and SS tend to give me the best shaves)

1. GSB
2. 7 O'clock Black
3. 7 O'clock Yellow
4. Derby

And to think, I loved DE shaving with those Derby's - it's getting so much better!
 
That super adjustable 109 is a very nice shaver. I like mine better than the FB and right there with the Slim.

Good job pitching the lather if it did not work and whipping up some more and better lather. The 7 ' o'clock black blades are good but in my experience more expensive than other blades that perform as well.
 
Yesterday's shave

Slim on '7'
7 o'clock black (2)
Preshave, Ogallala sandlewood/bay rum, sauvecito bay rum AS

Good shave, not the best. I find that I get raw more easily with the Slim for some reason. Still like the blade, but I have to run it in the Fatboy and SS to make a decision.
 
Thursday night shave

Fatboy on '7'
Shave 3 with the 7 o'clock black
Preshave, Palmolive shave stick, clubman AS

I don't think I used enough palmolive. The shave was fine for the first pass. After that, not great. I think these blades are great, but not quite as forgiving as the previous ones. Today is SS Saturday, we'll see how the blade goes with my foolproof setup (40's SS, preshave, TOBS Mr. Taylor, Clubman or AV)
 
Super Speed Saturday:
40's SS - 7 o'clock black (4)
TOBS Mr. Taylor - Clubman

So I've been a bit down on these Super Platinums... Until now. I think I like them better than the GSB in the SS. The GSB is still an all round #1 - but I think I'd keep them around for the SS!

Also: My wife switched out here feather (lady gillette) for a 7 o'clock black last night, said it was her best shave ever. So, unless something is better for her, I'll be keeping those guys in stock around the house!

1. GSB
2. 7 O'clock Black (#1 for the 40's SS)
3. 7 O'clock Yellow
4. Derby

Next up - Astra SP!
 
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