This morning I shaved again with the SE1. My blade? The same Proline I've used every day but one since Christmas. How many days is that? I'm not counting, but the blade is still going strong enough for me to have flipped it with plans for Monday morning's shave.
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Homemade shaving oil
Dickinson's Witch hazel
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My bottle of Special Reserve is lower than this picture which is a few months old. I'm going to run out in a few more months or a year. I use it a lot, not daily, but it is one of my two most used splashes, the other being Avon Brisk Spice.
My shave was good enough. BBS face. DFS neck. A very good DFS. N-S. S-N. R-L on my jawline. A little more on my lower lip.
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My face feels a bit overdone. My face, not my neck. I have no idea what that means unless it has to do with me leaving off my usual application of shea butter last night before bed. I used Equate Noxzema as usual last night but neglected to add the second layer, the Equate. This morning's prep process was a bit different, too, because SWMBO bumped me from the den between my shower and my shave, but I made up for it by washing my face again before my shave.
I'll add some shea butter to my face in a few minutes. That should fix things, or at least help.
Could be I should change my blade, but I do not think so. Not just yet, unless I change my mind. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to change blades, so I'll think about it.
Nothing is horrible, or even bad. It's just a minor concern.
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The SV soap is amazing. The soap lathers into a very creamy consistency but it also hydrates extremely nicely without running all over the place. Other soaps are close. SV is perfect in its performance, and the Flying Mango has almost enough scent.
Happy shaves,
Jim
I don't have quite as many shaves on my Proline as you do, but I haven't changed it since loading when I got the General. I flip it after every shave. Not sure if this "face stropping" of the opposite side of the blade does anything for longevity, but I am certainly getting more shaves out of one than I was expecting.
I LOVE the Stirling Badger. Since going to 36 hours between shaves, I haven't touched another brush. No scritch from it at all. It seems to be a "pure" badger type bristle, but it feels nothing like a pure. Face feel is much closer to the Captain's Choice Silvertip badger I have, but more backbone and better lathers so far. Shocking how well this setup has been working for me since accidentally stumbling upon it. Glad your shaves are also going well with the SE1! I think your pictures show what I was thinking: the SE1 has a scalloped bar guard, while the SE2 has a true open comb guard. The General is a non-textured straight bar guard. I don't know what the gaps/blade exposures/etc are between the three, but I wonder if the guard plays into that efficiency difference you notice.