Tuck at a Time (TaaT)

[blethenstrom]

Morning shave - 5/9/24
Razor: Swing SB
Blade: Derby Premium (5/5) (4)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Pilssoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Whiskey Woods
Rating: 9.75/10, DFS++
Switched to another Swedish razor in the Swing. Another awesome razor and it did not let down either. Very easy shave albeit with more blade feel than the Matador I used yesterday. Smooth and plenty close.

 

[Hawkweber]

Finished Partial Tuck (3 blades) - Parker Premium Platinum

Using the usual Merkur Progress and Weber razors. Both of the first shaves produced weepers. I don't get those that often, so this was not a good start. Both seemed rather rough and had difficulty getting through certain areas and had lots of tugging. I was able to get a decent shave out of them, but it wasn't as close as I would like and wasn't very enjoyable.

Second shaves from each went a bit better. No weepers and it settled down, but still had tugging and could not get close shave.

Monday is my double shave day as I shave in the morning and then again at night since I have to be up early on Tuesday. Had third shave in am with the Progress and it was less stellar than the other two. At night I had third shave with the Weber and even with only 16 hours since the last shave it did so poorly after the second pass that I decided to switch to the Progress (which still had the blade from the morning in it) and see if it could do a good clean up for third pass. Nope. This is sad.

New and final blade in the Progress for the 1.5 days of growth and it really struggled especially around the chin and jawline - I could almost feel each whisker trying to be ripped out of my face on the first pass. No weepers. Finished the shave. End result was decent, but not very close.

Second shave this morning and I guess plowing through the extra growth yesterday just did this blade in. Was able to finish to get a decent shave but I really had to work at it. Not going to attempt a third shave as past performance has shown that they are not good for it.

All in all, I would consider these blades to be similar to the Derby's for me. Between the Extra and the Premium - closer to the Extra for all the tugging and work required to get it to cut whiskers and closer to the Premium for final result which is decent but not too close.

 

[blethenstrom]

Finished Partial Tuck (3 blades) - Parker Premium Platinum

Using the usual Merkur Progress and Weber razors. Both of the first shaves produced weepers. I don't get those that often, so this was not a good start. Both seemed rather rough and had difficulty getting through certain areas and had lots of tugging. I was able to get a decent shave out of them, but it wasn't as close as I would like and wasn't very enjoyable.

Second shaves from each went a bit better. No weepers and it settled down, but still had tugging and could not get close shave.

Monday is my double shave day as I shave in the morning and then again at night since I have to be up early on Tuesday. Had third shave in am with the Progress and it was less stellar than the other two. At night I had third shave with the Weber and even with only 16 hours since the last shave it did so poorly after the second pass that I decided to switch to the Progress (which still had the blade from the morning in it) and see if it could do a good clean up for third pass. Nope. This is sad.

New and final blade in the Progress for the 1.5 days of growth and it really struggled especially around the chin and jawline - I could almost feel each whisker trying to be ripped out of my face on the first pass. No weepers. Finished the shave. End result was decent, but not very close.

Second shave this morning and I guess plowing through the extra growth yesterday just did this blade in. Was able to finish to get a decent shave but I really had to work at it. Not going to attempt a third shave as past performance has shown that they are not good for it.

All in all, I would consider these blades to be similar to the Derby's for me. Between the Extra and the Premium - closer to the Extra for all the tugging and work required to get it to cut whiskers and closer to the Premium for final result which is decent but not too close.

Wohooo the tuck is done!

We win some and we loose some. I assume that the Parkers Premiums that you had were made in Turkey. If so they probably were made by Derby. It would make sense that they would behave like a Derby Extra or Premium given that.

I have had some discussions before regarding Parker Premium blades and where they are made. I won a PIF for a Parker SoloEdge and it came with a 100 pack of half Parker Premiums. On the box of these it said that they were made in Egypt so the half DE blades I have most likely was made by Lord, whereas the DE blades most see are made in Turkey. We figured they might just have different contracts with the blade manufacturers and whoever gives them the best price. Who knows?

 

[Hawkweber]

We win some and we loose some. I assume that the Parkers Premiums that you had were made in Turkey. If so they probably were made by Derby. It would make sense that they would behave like a Derby Extra or Premium given that.

Unfortunately, the tuck doesn't list any point of manufacture. But they probably are Derbys in different packaging. Most likely Premiums since they also are made with "Swedish Steel" and are Platinum, Chromium, Ceramic, Tungsten, and Polymer coated.

 

[m949]

Friday, May 10, 2024

Pre-Shave: Cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: DSCosmetic V92 brass razor, scalloped cap
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (5/5) (3)
Brush: Mühle Purist Silvertip Badger Ebonite
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather (sample) / TOBS - Cedarwood Shaving Cream (sample)
Aftercare: Thayers Witch Hazel Unscented / Aloe Vera Gel
A/S: Boss - The Scent Aftershave Balm
EdP: Boss - The Scent Intense

This concludes the GSB tuck. It was a great ride and I love those blades. They are magnificent in every one of my razors. I will revisit them for sure.

I have an open tuck of Suneko blades lying around which I will start next week. The tuck contains 10 blades, this particular one still has 7 blades left. This will be a "one and done" journey for me, so the dice will indicate number of blades rather than number of shaves per blade.

I did have some skin issues when starting this blade which I initially did blame on the blade, but which was probably just some over exfoliation and soap burn. This is now under control. However, if there should be an irritation with this blade again I will abort the Suneko TaaT exercise, dump the remaining Suneko tucks in my stock , and move on to the next tuck.

 

[blethenstrom]

View attachment 1843564
Friday, May 10, 2024

Pre-Shave: Cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: DSCosmetic V92 brass razor, scalloped cap
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (5/5) (3)
Brush: Mühle Purist Silvertip Badger Ebonite
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather (sample) / TOBS - Cedarwood Shaving Cream (sample)
Aftercare: Thayers Witch Hazel Unscented / Aloe Vera Gel
A/S: Boss - The Scent Aftershave Balm
EdP: Boss - The Scent Intense

This concludes the GSB tuck. It was a great ride and I love those blades. They are magnificent in every one of my razors. I will revisit them for sure.

I have an open tuck of Suneko blades lying around which I will start next week. The tuck contains 10 blades, this particular one still has 7 blades left. This will be a "one and done" journey for me, so the dice will indicate number of blades rather than number of shaves per blade.

I did have some skin issues when starting this blade which I initially did blame on the blade, but which was probably just some over exfoliation and soap burn. This is now under control. However, if there should be an irritation with this blade again I will abort the Suneko TaaT exercise, dump the remaining Suneko tucks in my stock , and move on to the next tuck.

Wohooo Tuck is gone, tuck is gone!

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning shave - 5/10/24
Razor: Swing SB
Blade: Derby Premium (5/5) (5)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Pilssoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Lustray Blue Spice
Rating: 9.25/10, DFS++
A solid shave from a solid razor and blade. I have come to expect that out of this group. Just a couple of short stubbled areas that prevented me to give it a BBS rating, but it is very good. I did have a tiny bit of post shave tenderness so I could not give it full score on comfort. Still a super nice shave.

 

[Hawkweber]

Start Partial Tuck (3 blades) - Gillette Platinum

First blade used this morning. Much better than the previous Treet Platinum and Parker Premium Platinum shaves. DFS+ without having to work at it.

 

[cranewarrior]

View attachment 1843564
Friday, May 10, 2024

Pre-Shave: Cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: DSCosmetic V92 brass razor, scalloped cap
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (5/5) (3)
Brush: Mühle Purist Silvertip Badger Ebonite
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather (sample) / TOBS - Cedarwood Shaving Cream (sample)
Aftercare: Thayers Witch Hazel Unscented / Aloe Vera Gel
A/S: Boss - The Scent Aftershave Balm
EdP: Boss - The Scent Intense

This concludes the GSB tuck. It was a great ride and I love those blades. They are magnificent in every one of my razors. I will revisit them for sure.

I have an open tuck of Suneko blades lying around which I will start next week. The tuck contains 10 blades, this particular one still has 7 blades left. This will be a "one and done" journey for me, so the dice will indicate number of blades rather than number of shaves per blade.

I did have some skin issues when starting this blade which I initially did blame on the blade, but which was probably just some over exfoliation and soap burn. This is now under control. However, if there should be an irritation with this blade again I will abort the Suneko TaaT exercise, dump the remaining Suneko tucks in my stock , and move on to the next tuck.

That's a lovely razor. Adding to my shopping cart for a future purchase, lol.

 

[m949]

That's a lovely razor. Adding to my shopping cart for a future purchase, lol.

My first razor from DSCosmetic. I was always a bit apprehensive about razors Made in... I didn't think the precision would be there. But I have to say, this is one fine shaving tool. But don't take my word for it, check out this thread from the V92/V95 aficionados:

DS Cosmetics & their Brass V92 twin cap​

 

[m949]

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Pre-shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: DSC V92 brass, parallel cap
Blade: Suneko Amorphous Diamond (1/7)
Brush: Arno 26mm Classic #12, Gen5 synthetic
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: House of Mammoth - Indigo / TOBS Cedarwood (samples)
A/S: TOBS - Royal Forest (sample)
Aftercare: Thayers Witch Hazel Unscented / Aloe Vera Gel
EdP: Byredo - Super Cedar

Starting partial Suneko tuck (1/7). It's a good blade for sure, I will have to go through this tuck with my other razors as well to make an informed judgement, but so far so good.

Note: don't be shocked by the razor head, the cap wasn't properly screwed down, not that the photo is very clear- the camera can be only focused on one area. I realized that only mid shave when the razor was quite aggressive. After properly securing the blade, the shave was butter smooth.

Also, the print on the blade and tuck differs: it's the same blade, the manufacturer just misprinted one of them (I have no idea which is the correct one).

 

[Pinto90]

I got tired of trying different blades all the time, now I'm going to finish the last blades I bought.
Hey it's not a hundred, I wouldn't know how to finish them!

I will come back to announce when I have finished all the tucks.

There should be a new rule: it is not worth the game if they are blades you like however it is okay.
The important thing is to have fun with shaving.

 

[awk_m4]

Retroactive Tuck recording.
Blade: Feather, One and done.
May 7-11, 2024
Tuck is done!!

05/07/2024 I rated the shave as a 7 due to a small nick on my scalp along with some irritation.

 

[Pinto90]

View attachment 1844215
Very curious that there are several Suneko blades with different lettering, in this photo the blades with "Suneco" lettering with the final C and Chinese lettering, while in other blades it says Suneko Amorphous Diamond with K instead of C.

I like these with Chinese lettering better,anyway this blade will tempt me too.

 

[m949]

Monday, May 13, 2024

Pre-Shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: DSC V92 brass razor, scalloped cap
Blade: Suneko Amorphous Diamond (2/7)
Brush: Arno 25mm Classic #12, Gen5 synthetic
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Smoking Monster - Red Dragon (tallow)
A/S: Two Girls - Florida Water (decant / diluted)
Aftercare: Aloe Vera Gelly
EdP: Armani Privé - Thé Yulong

The second Suneko blade from this partial tuck. It goes to show that TaaT is quite the useful exercise as I start to appreciate this blade more and more. I didn't like the first three blades at all, but the more I use them, the better they perform. This is a VERY sharp blade, make no mistake. It could be a bit smoother and it probably does get there for the second or third shave, but nevertheless it is a very good blade.

The Suneko can be ordered from AliExpress and is relatively cheap compared to other blades but the price does not reflect any poor quality. There is dedicated thread about those Blades here:

Suneko Amorphous Diamond blades

Wishing you all a great start of the week!

 

[blethenstrom]

Evening shave - 5/11/24
Razor: Swing SB
Blade: Derby Premium (5/5) (6)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Pilssoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Jeris Osage Rub
Rating: 9.75/10, DFS++
What a pleasant end to a great tuck of blades! These blades have performed in all the razors that I have thrown at them and this last shave was no exception. Super smooth and comfortable and very close. No issues.

Evening shave - 5/12/24
Razor: KCG
Blade: Ladas Stainless Steel (1/5) (1)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Pilssoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Citrus Musk
Rating: 9.25/10, DFS+
New blade to me in the Ladas Super Stainless. I decided to start safe and use a mild razor. The KCG performed just like it should and I have a very nice irritation free shave. The blade is certainly sharp and it resulted in a pleasant shave.

Tuck eliminated!
Another one bites the dust! I finished the Derby Premium tuck on Saturday evening and I have to say that it has been a mighty fine blade for me. Smooth and comfortable. Plenty sharp to accomplish the job. Each blade had no issues of shaving me smooth for a week each at six shaves per blade. I do have a good bit of these blades so I will return to these .......eventually.

Onto the next tuck in the Ladas Super Stainless. This will be my companion for the next five weeks or so.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Another one bites the dust! I finished the Derby Premium tuck on Saturday evening and I have to say that it has been a mighty fine blade for me. Smooth and comfortable. Plenty sharp to accomplish the job. Each blade had no issues of shaving me smooth for a week each at six shaves per blade. I do have a good bit of these blades so I will return to these .......eventually.

I have no issue with Derby blades. Noting that the current production is different than a decade ago (so we're told). My understanding was that the older ones were not as sharp.

This led to many being critical of the Derby brand.

 

[blethenstrom]

I have no issue with Derby blades. Noting that the current production is different than a decade ago (so we're told). My understanding was that the older ones were not as sharp.

This led to many being critical of the Derby brand.

I agree I think that the pre 2016 blades really hurt Derby. Now I have never tried one from before 2016 so I cannot speak for them, but all the ones I have used Premium and Extra has been just fine. I assume all of those has been post 2016. Sure they are not the sharpest in the bunch, but they certainly will do the job and do it well.

 

[blethenstrom]

Evening shave - 5/13/24
Razor: KCG
Blade: Ladas Stainless Steel (1/5) (2)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: Omega 81052 Banded Boar
Aftershave: Stetson Cooling Moisture
Rating: 8.5/10, DFS+
Last night's shave was one with a bit of irritation. I decided to bowl lather for some reason and I thought it looked like good lather. Maybe I am just trying to blame something else than myself, but the first two passes WTG, XTG was just like normal, but for some reason the ATG was a bit rough. I ended up with neck tenderness and a weeper and still this morning I can feel the tenderness. Still a very close and presentable shave.

 

[m949]

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Pre-Shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerin
Razor: Mühle Rocca R95
Blade: Suneko Amorphous Diamond (3/7)
Brush: Mühle Purist Silvertip Badger Ebonite
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Smoking Monster - Golden Dragon (tallow - unscented)
A/S: Two Girls - Florida Water (decant / diluted with Thayers Witch Hazel)
Aftercare: Aloe Vera Gelly
EdT: Zino Davidoff

Rushed shave this morning...still DFS. Nothing more to wish for. Outstanding blade, it's up there with the Greats!