Damn Comfortable Shave

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Tuesday. It's no longer March.

Today, I switched razors. This is my Blackbird. The handle is a Tibam New York in titanium. It was custom made (small neck, shorter length) for the 'Bird. I have another very similar handle which is not for the 'Bird, and used it throughout April.

Vi-John (4), flipped. The Tube. Thayers Astringent.

I used another of my SV 2.0 brushes and another of my SV soaps, but changed very little as I was focused on evaluating the Blackbird today. It certainly shaves me closely, but it will never be a Daily Driver for me.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Wednesday. A nice shave.

New blade.

Mergress settings of 1/4 rotation (~1.5 setting) and fully closed for upper lip ATG S-N.

The Tube. Thayers Astringent.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Shave mail...

Yaqi Avanti. It's the SS version of the Progress with some upgrades to the platform.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Thursday. New razor, the Yaqi Avanti, a Progress clone of sorts.

I'm a big fan of my Mergress and Opgress razors both of which are slightly modified Progress razors which shave exactly like the Progress.

This razor is essentially almost a stainless steel Progress, but has been slightly modified. For one thing, an important thing, the blade of the Avanti is much more firmly clamped than the Progress blade. This is clearly visible if one studies photographs of the Avanti and and of the Progress. In other words, it is an improved Progress.

Is it really an improved Progress? One shave does not a good review make, but I'd say yes. I very much enjoyed my shave this morning with the Avanti. On the same settings (1/4 rotation of the knob, and fully closed for ATG S-N upper lip work) it performed just like the Progress platform in my judgment. It's stainless steel and not zamac. No downsides which I've noticed so far.

I think it's a little heavier than the Progress. The head is a bit bulky like the Progress (but both shave me very well; their heads are not a problem for me, not at all). It's very nicely polished and good looking, too.

I like it a lot so far.

Vi-John (2), flipped. The Tube. Thayers Astringent. Mozingo.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[AshleyC]

Thursday. New razor, the Yaqi Avanti, a Progress clone of sorts.


View attachment 2024213


I'm a big fan of my Mergress and Opgress razors both of which are slightly modified Progress razors which shave exactly like the Progress.

This razor is essentially almost a stainless steel Progress, but has been slightly modified. For one thing, an important thing, the blade of the Avanti is much more firmly clamped than the Progress blade. This is clearly visible if one studies photographs of the Avanti and and of the Progress. In other words, it is an improved Progress.

Is it really an improved Progress? One shave does not a good review make, but I'd say yes. I very much enjoyed my shave this morning with the Avanti. On the same settings (1/4 rotation of the knob, and fully closed for ATG S-N upper lip work) it performed just like the Progress platform in my judgment. It's stainless steel and not zamac. No downsides which I've noticed so far.

I think it's a little heavier than the Progress. The head is a bit bulky like the Progress (but both shave me very well; their heads are not a problem for me, not at all). It's very nicely polished and good looking, too.

I like it a lot so far.

Vi-John (2), flipped. The Tube. Thayers Astringent. Mozingo.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Looking back on my posts, I believe I purchased my Progress in 2017. I think it was last year I had to replace the top cap due to zamak rot. There is a small bit of chrome on the middle plate that has flaked off, exposing the zamak.

On that alone the Avanti is an improvement.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Friday's shave was very good.

Vi-John (3), flipped. The Tube (sink only). Thayers Astringent.

Avanti settings were 1/8 of a rotation and fully closed.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Sunday afternoon. My shave very early this morning was terrific. I didn't initially take a picture, but managed to before my time to edit ran out.

My kit included these items.

• Yaqi Avanti
• Shavemac 22 mm D01 2 band fan
• Mike's Barbarshop
• A new Vi-John blade
• The Tube
• Thayers Astringent

I am very impressed with the Avanti! I'll be using it all week. Actually, I'll be using the same kit all week as I'm on spring break at the beach and only brought the above gear.

My shave was very close on these settings.

• 1/8 rotation (for most of the shave)
• 3/8 rotation (for second pass neck S-N)
• Fully closed (for last pass, ATG, S-N on my upper lip).

My skin has been great, felt great post shave. I'm now seven hours post shave. The shave has held up very very well. I'd compare this shave with a really good Blackbird shave in terms of closeness, but it was much smoother, and my skin feels really good.

To be fair, I'm at the beach with beach water, which always seems to improve my shaves.

I'll take pictures when I can and post them.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Eric_75]

Have a great week ahead, Jim.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Monday morning my shave was good. Very good. Excellent.

Avanti settings were 2, 3, and 1.

1. All of my face and neck were shaved on setting #2 which is not rough or harsh. During this "first pass" I go in multiple directions, but not ATG on my upper lip.
2. After again lathering my neck, chin, jawline, lower lip, and near-the-mouth cheeks, I used setting #3, mostly to shave my neck and jawline. S-N. Then, right below my jawline, E-W and W-E after lathering that area again. Also, S-N of my cheeks close to my mouth.
3. Using setting #1 - which is not quite fully closed, but almost - I shaved my upper lip ATG S-N, and did some final finishing of my chin and soul patch. More lather was involved.

That's more or less my standard daily shave unless I'm hurried.

However, it was far from my standard daily shave considering the comfort as coupled with the results. It was a very close shave. Very close to Dolphin Skin.

The Avanti is terrific. Beach water is of course a factor and probably a huge help.

This little 22 mm D01 two band fan is an excellent soft brush.

It's too windy here to take fully outdoors kit photographs with an ocean backdrop. It rained overnight and is very overcast now although the sun is breaking through. I bought a beginner's level stunt kite and am hoping to give it a spin.

This may be the nicest beach house we've ever rented!

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Have a great week ahead, Jim.

Thanks, Eric.

I'm getting the best and most sleep I've had in a very long time which is wonderful.

A hope you have a great week, too.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It's Wednesday. I shaved last night, and didn't write it up, so...

...I'll record last night's shave today.

Yesterday the beach was chilly. On Monday, the temperature was 15 degree higher than yesterday, but yesterday felt less chilly. Their was much less wind yesterday which was the difference. Still, it was chilly yesterday.

I've been here before, in April, more than once, so I brought appropriately warm beach clothing for yesterday.

Today's another matter. It's more chilly + the breeze is significant. I've not yet braved the beach today, but maybe I'll give it a try. We'll see.

I should have taken shave gear photos yesterday. The wind is too strong right now to allow an outdoor kit picture.

I used the same gear yesterday as I did the day before. The blade wasn't even flipped because I forgot to do so.

My settings yesterday were #3 and #1. It was an excellent shave. It's held up very well.

The local seafood is one of the reasons we come here. The best seafood market I've ever been to is blocks away. Inches from the market is a seafood truck which has the best fresh seafood tacos! The people are extremely nice. When they're open that's all we eat. I mean every meal. Of course, I don't just eat the tacos, but also the seafood stew, which is tomato based with veggies and loads of big chunks of fish and a shrimp or two. I do love soup!

We're not far from the pier. The taco truck is next to the water tower. Basically, we're downtown.

I am enjoying my spring break.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It's Thursday. I was able to take an outside photograph of the shaving gear I brought with me to the beach. That's because it's not too windy. On previous days, the wind would blow my kit away which made it impossible to get a photograph outdoors.

Missing from the picture is my styptic pencil, but it's had no use so far on this vacation, and I doubt it will be needed.

The stars of the show are these.

1. Shavemac 22 mm D01 2 band fan. It's a very nice brush. My favorite D01 2 band (of the two I have).
2. The Tube. A terrific preshave, it adds substantially to any shave.
3. Mike's soap. It's my favorite base. I like the bay rum scent a lot, but coconut is my favorite of his scents.
4. Vi-John blades. I like them very much. Bonus: No glue or wax.
5. Thayers Astringent is new to me, but I believe it has very much helped my skin. Plus it feels good and has a very pleasant albeit transient scent.
6. Yaqi Avanti. A Progress clone/modification. It's already a favorite razor. It's already in my highest razor ranking category, the Daily Drivers. It might be more efficient and more effective than my Mergress and Opgress razors. It has a very nice low end and is smooth up to the highest setting I've used which is #3.
7. The beach water. Impossible to beat for shaving if not for taste.

Yesterday afternoon I used settings of 1.5 and almost fully closed. The shave was terrific and long lasting.

The temperature is significantly "warmer" today. The wind is much reduced. It is comfortable on the beach. Note that I'm wearing a cashmere sweatshirt covered by a cotton sweatshirt and cotton sweatpants, so it's not like it is actually warm, but I'm comfortable on the beach today. Yesterday, not so much.

The wind looks suitable for me to again attempt to fly my stunt kite. I know nothing about flying these things other than what I found on YouTube and what I learned the other day when the wind was too strong and it wasn't a bit fun.

These are two photos from the vendor's website showing the kit I bought. We'll see how it does in my hands today.

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It's Friday morning, but I didn't post about my Thursday night shave so here goes.

I used nothing new or different other than a new blade. My only setting was #3. I did a lot less work than usual, so it was just a quick shave. Certainly it was a perfectly good shave. It was still less good than most of my shaves with the Avanti, due to me doing a lot less work.

I was able to successfully fly the stunt kite yesterday. There wasn't quite enough wind to fully take advantage of its capacities, and the wind was a bit gusty which also didn't help, but it was still quite satisfying to get a handle on its operation. It's a lot different animal from the "normal" one string kites I've flown since childhood. The stunt kites require constant attention.

My wife took a video of me flying the kite, but putting it on this board without first putting it on YouTube or somewhere like that is impossible, so use your imagination.

Happy shaves,

Jim