A newbie’s journey into DE shaving
- Thread starter Guido75
- Start date
Congrats on the 5K milestone....
Congrats on reaching 5k!
Likewise!
- Thread starter
- #5,005
Well that’s in the pocket (protector) already! I will get another Ares early July!
You are a chatty one aren't you
!! Just kidding, congrats on the 5k!!- Thread starter
- #5,008
| Date | 06.01.2025 |
| 365 daily shaves | 006/365 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
Lambda Ares v2 Gillette ABC Pocket Edition | 7 OC Yellow (14) | Zenith Manchurian |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash Mastro Miche preshave | BSS #1 (38) | Cold splash Aftershave Balm |
| Effectiveness | Facial Impact Score FIS™ |
| 8.75/10 (BBS-) | 10/10 (GlideFest) |
| Notes: |
My oldest razor meets my newest in a get-ready-for-office shave. I need to be on stage in the afternoon so I shaved my head yesterday already an this morning opted for a nice comfortable two pass shave. Marvellous is all I can say. Both razors very capable at their task. The ABC with slightly more blade feel, but other than that worthy adversaries in this shave.
BSS#1 was nice as ever and performing as expected meaning excellent. The Manchurian was very capable of lathering up which helped as well of course.
Wishing you a wonderful shave today!
Still in.
Razor: Gillette Slim J2
Blade: Nacet (2)
Bowl: Turkish Copper
Brush: Kent Synthetic
Soap: An old sample of something that smells nice and makes a great tallow based lather
AS: Stirling Autumn Glory
A DFS with my (presently) favorite blade and a wonderous little machine called the Gillette Slim.
Razor: Gillette Slim J2
Blade: Nacet (2)
Bowl: Turkish Copper
Brush: Kent Synthetic
Soap: An old sample of something that smells nice and makes a great tallow based lather
AS: Stirling Autumn Glory
A DFS with my (presently) favorite blade and a wonderous little machine called the Gillette Slim.
That's funny since I first thought of Revenge of the Nerds the first time I heard about Lambda razors!!You need to use a third Lambda so you can be part of the Lambda Lambda Lambda.
- Thread starter
- #5,011
| Date | 07.01.2025 |
| 365 daily shaves | 007/365 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
Lambda Ares v2 Gillette New Improved | 7 OC Yellow (1) | Zenith Manchurian |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash Mastro Miche preshave | Intesa (3) | Cold splash Aftershave Balm |
| Effectiveness | Facial Impact Score FIS™ |
| 8.50/10 (DFS+++) | 9/10 (Butterysmooth) |
| Notes: |
Fresh blades and with the 7OC that means potentially opening the game to weepers. The fact I used the New Improved might have been a bit obvious or oblivious in hindsight, but that’s definitely a more blade feel aggressive razor and so I managed to score some red pins here and there which I have accounted for in my facial impact score. Interestingly aftershave feedback was manageable although I was anticipating higher sting levels. The New Improved is more present than the Ares and also much less smooth, but still a very nice razor to use. I absolutely love the New Improved for its history and its build (like a tank). Not to mention the fact that in the shiny shiny department it can rival with the Ares.
Intesa was very nice lathering up in my Captain’s Choice Bowl. Worked well with the brush, better at least than Proraso, but I still have the impression the brush favours face lathering and/or a painting motion when dealing with creams. Intesa is very fresh in its scent and I like it a lot. Comes out rather hard/firm out of the tube, but once it’s out, it is like any other cream.
Wishing you a wonderful shave today!
I am guessing the NEW Improved must be much more aggressive than a regular NEW, Guido? My NEW seemed like a ***** cat today - very well behaved with no desire to bite or scratch.
- Thread starter
- #5,013
Definitely Jim. The New Improved is more flat in its teeth and also has a more flat baseplate cause the blade to bend less in my experience - which makes the New Improved much more blade forward than the docile cat you are referring to in the NEW. I concur with that assessment by the way. My NEWs are rather mild in feel at least. The Short Comb is even more mild, but definitely not in effectiveness.
- Thread starter
- #5,014
| Date | 08.01.2025 |
| 365 daily shaves | 008/365 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
Lambda Ares v2 | 7 OC Yellow (2) | Abe’s Brush Works Slim Oak 2BED |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash Mastro Miche preshave | Hampshire Wool Fat (80) | Cold splash Aftershave Balm |
| Effectiveness | Facial Impact Score FIS™ |
| 9.25/10 (BBS+) | 8.5/10 (Smooth) |
| Notes: |
Using the Ares solo today to see how it stands (out) on its own. Also saves me time while I get ready for the office. I managed to nick myself right under the chin. I think from using a little too much pressure. I needed to take that into consideration for facial impact, although again aftershave feedback was minor / manageable. I am also finding that the Ares has a more narrow angle spectrum for me than the Athena. Slightly more towards the cap whereas the Athena appears to favour steep with the technique I have. Which is no critique, just an observation. The flying solo Ares provided a very smooth and close shave. Close to marble finish (definitely not in all places, but feeling really silky on the cheeks for sure) in only two passes and some touch ups. Really amazing (for me and my skin that is). I have only had 4 shaves so far with the Ares, but this will definitely be in my fixed rotation. What an amazing razor! And given today’s results I can only imagine how effective the shave will be with the Ares v1!
First use of the 2BED so kindly send by Eric @MaineYooper. Well, first use on my face that is. Head shave some time ago was fantastic. No trouble at all lathering up on HWF. A very gentle face lather. Loving every second of the process.
Wishing you a wonderful shave today!
- Thread starter
- #5,015
| Date | 09.01.2025 |
| 365 daily shaves | 009/365 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
Lambda Ares v2 Blackland Blackbird SS | 7 OC Yellow (3) | Abe’s Brush Works Slim Oak 2BED |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash Mastro Miche preshave | Hampshire Wool Fat (81) | Cold splash Aftershave Balm |
| Effectiveness | Facial Impact Score FIS™ |
| 9.25/10 (BBS+) | 9/10 (ButterySmooth) |
| Notes: |
Two mastodon razors in today’s shave. Flawless and heavenly results. It might very well be marble finish today or I was just a little too enthusiastic awarding 9.25 yesterday (I have lowered the score in my spreadsheet). What I also have to backtrack slightly is my remark on the Ares’ angle. I noticed today that I was shaving at a steeper angle than I thought. Perhaps the changing of the handle from my @lasta Blue handle to my @lasta Lavender handle had something to do with that. The Lavender handle is much lighter than the Blue handle (because of the added lead weight in the hollow chamber of the handle). This Lavender handle might there winner in the long run for the v2 head. Both razors performed admirably and I thoroughly enjoyed the shave. The exposure on the Blackbird makes it less of a GlideFest than I like or prefer, but the results were splendid. The 7OC blades are mellowing out so I should be getting into the groove again with them.
Lathering HWF was better than yesterday. I think because I backed up a little on water intake during face lathering. I have noticed the 2BED being capable of holding much water so just dipping the tips was a better way to go.
Wishing you a wonderful shave today!
- Thread starter
- #5,016
| Date | 10.01.2025 |
| 365 daily shaves | 010/365 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
Lambda Ares v2 Gillette Fatboy @5 | 7 OC Yellow (4) | Abe’s Brush Works Slim Oak 2BED |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash Mastro Miche preshave | Proraso Green (10) | Cold splash Aftershave Balm |
| Effectiveness | Facial Impact Score FIS™ |
| 8.75/10 (BBS+) | 10/10 (GlideFest) |
| Notes: |
Last shave of the initial 7-run with the Ares. And given it’s Friday I gladly loaded a blade in my beloved Fatboy. The 7 OC blade is doing well at this point with the initial harshness I feel on the first runs disappearing. My stubble was definitely less because of yesterday’s shave to the point of actually being able to skip a shave. Well, technically that is, because I never skip a shave! And here is also where for me the added value of a preserve routine comes in. Because as soon as I started washing my face with my preshave the bristles of my beard started to rise and by the end it was clear a I needed a shave. Which I indeed do. But boy was the shave close yesterday! Well today’s razors were both very effective as well with WXTG and XTG leaving me plenty of smooth and I even had the idea of stopping there. Until I chased the baby with a couple of touch up strokes with the Ares. Very comfortable and smooth as well as utterly enjoyable.
I switched to Proraso Green in light of the Brush Chronicles with the 2BED. I loaded my usual amount to chuck the difference with the Manchurian knot. Smeared it across my wonderful Captain’s Choice Bowl and seat I went for a thick and rich lather. As Jim @Goblin mentioned in @Letsgoalready journal I tend to go just a little more sideways with brushes because of the ring shape of the ridges in the bowl. This motion still gives plenty of agitation to the hairs to build a lather. And lather I definitely had! There was so much left I also completed a two pass head shave with my Baldilocks razor the GEM G-Bar. Fresh GEM blade baboon BBS- in one pass!
If all goes according to plan the postie is delivering my final gear package with my final razors: Ikon Tek, Yaqi Sentinel 1.50SB and Goodfella OC (New Zealand razor). Looking forward to giving all those a spin.
Wishing you a wonderful shave today!
All set for 2025! Love it.
- Thread starter
- #5,018
| Date | 11.01.2025 |
| 365 daily shaves | 011/365 |
| Razor | Blade | Brush |
| Executive Shaving Outlaw Classic | 7 OC Yellow (5) | Abe’s Brush Works Slim Oak 2BED |
| Preshave | Soap | Postshave |
| Cold splash Mastro Miche preshave | Tabarko (103) | Cold splash Aftershave Balm |
| Effectiveness | Facial Impact Score FIS™ |
| 8.75/10 (BBS-) | 10/10 (GlideFest) |
| Notes: |
PHENOMENAL shave this Saturday as I grabbed my GOAT razor. Autopilot, smooth, comfortable and super effective for my beard and skin. I am very curious about the Ares v1, because that will have the same exposure but only half the gap. This morning the Outlaw showed my other razors who rules the den. There’s just no denying. I still love the other razors and admire their individual qualities, but I think the Outlaw sets my bar over which other razors need to jump. I could have easily stopped at 2 passes WXTG and XTG for a rather smooth face, but I did a light ATG for super smoothness. No hassle from the blade either. Smooth and comfortable.
I needed just 10 counts of loading for a luxurious and thick/rich lather. Totally enjoyable. And the 2BED knew exactly what to do with it. Soft and good backbone were an excellent combination today.
What topped it off was the daily hug with the LOTH. “What soap did you use today?”. I was slightly cautious so I asked why? And she said “smells nice! I like it” - I said it was Tabac (which she doesn’t like because it smells like old men) meshed together with Arko (which she likes) better known as Tabarko. Seal of approval obtained!
Of course the postie did not show up yesterday, so no delivery. Only a notification they didn’t make it. Stay tuned for your delivery time. So no telling if it will be here today even. Not that there are no razors I can shave with of course. It’s peeving but not annoying.
Wishing you a wonderful shave today!
I've never mixed Tabac and Arko.
I have mixed Arko with Yardley English Lavender and Yardley Wild Rose and it was pretty dang nice.
- Thread starter
- #5,020
Mixing Yardley with something else sounds like even more blasphemy than me mixed Tabac and Arko
Not that I have ever tried Yardley. Way before my DE shaving time. I did look it up yesterday to see if I could score some just to try it. Reviews are almost always raving.
