A newbie’s journey into DE shaving

[Guido75]

Date	09.08.2023
365 daily shaves	221/365
GRUME August	09/29
SOTMC	09/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	05/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorine Flatboy*	Jinyu (1)	DVH Synthetic
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Alpha Men 2.0	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

*OEM Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
8/10 (~20m)	7/10 (multiple weepers)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
7/10 (DFS)	6/10 (Harsh)

Notes to this shave:

Summary - Let’s concentrate on tomorrow’s shave shall we?

Razor and blade - The Flatboy is one of my love it or hate it razors heavily dependent on the blade you pair it with. And based on this first shave that pairing is not necessarily a desirable one. Must have been my rookie technique. I know from experience that the Flatboy can give stellar shaves - must try harder. And I believe that the heavier OEM handle is not the best suited for the razor. It is magnificent with the R41 head, but less so with this one. The blade honoured its name because the swordfish yielded its sword with precision and most damage was done during WTG mind you. I believe I used the wrong angle.

Brush and lather - Nice today. Brush is also great in building lather.

Technique - consistent and constant. But for some reason it did not work today. I should have gone with my rotation and used the Athena instead.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[lasta]

Date	09.08.2023
365 daily shaves	221/365
GRUME August	09/30
SOTMC	09/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	05/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorine Flatboy*	Jinyu (1)	DVH Synthetic
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Alpha Men 2.0	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

*OEM Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
8/10 (~20m)	7/10 (multiple weepers)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
7/10 (DFS)	6/10 (Harsh)

Notes to this shave:

Summary - Let’s concentrate on tomorrow’s shave shall we?

Razor and blade - The Flatboy is one of my love it or hate it razors heavily dependent on the blade you pair it with. And based on this first shave that pairing is not necessarily a desirable one. Must have been my rookie technique. I know from experience that the Flatboy can give stellar shaves - must try harder. And I believe that the heavier OEM handle is not the best suited for the razor. It is magnificent with the R41 head, but less so with this one. The blade honoured its name because the swordfish yielded its sword with precision and most damage was done during WTG mind you. I believe I used the wrong angle.

Brush and lather - Nice today. Brush is also great in building lather.

Technique - consistent and constant. But for some reason it did not work today. I should have gone with my rotation and used the Athena instead.

Enjoy your shave!

My first and so far only shave with the killer fish was eye opening as well. But at that time, I blamed it on using a very unfamiliar and aggressive razor. Hearing of your dance session, maybe it's the blade.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

Guido, what do you think of the Alpha Men 2.0 soap?

 

[Guido75]

Guido, what do you think of the Alpha Men 2.0 soap?

I like it. Thick and creamy and super easy to lather. Good scent. It’s produced in Italy by Rasoigoodfellas.

Not necessarily a repeat purchase but that is only because there are so many good soaps out there.

 

[Guido75]

My first and so far only shave with the killer fish was eye opening as well. But at that time, I blamed it on using a very unfamiliar and aggressive razor. Hearing of your dance session, maybe it's the blade.

Yeah, the Flatboy can be quite aggressive too - but for now I tend to agree with your assessment. Might have been the blade.

On a happy side note - scored a Gillette Aristocrat OC yesterday evening!

 

[mgweatherly]

On a happy side note - scored a Gillette Aristocrat OC yesterday evening!

That is awesome! I can't wait to hear your reaction to using it. Congrats

 

[Guido75]

That is awesome! I can't wait to hear your reaction to using it. Congrats

Thanks Mitch - I am super excited. Sitting on pins and needles until it arrives! This one was on the list for quite some time as you know. But either they were overpriced, I got overbid or I manly exercised my restraint (ahum). But RAD got the better of me - and there is a celebratory occasion to justify it to the LOTH!

I only have the bay photos for now, so will make some when it arrives and gave it some needed TLC.

Cheers!

Guido

 

[Guido75]

10.08.23

• Guido75
• Aug 9, 2023

Gillette NEW RFB • Jinyu (2) • Yaqi Lucky Dice • Alpha Men (Aventus)

Date	10.08.2023
365 daily shaves	222/365
GRUME August	10/29
SOTMC	10/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	05/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Gillette NEW RFB*	Jinyu (2)	Yaqi Lucky Dice
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Alpha Men 2.0	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

*Lasta Lavender Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
8/10 (~20m)	9.5/10 (almost clean)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
8/10 (DFS+)	10/10 (GlideFest)

Notes to this shave:

Summary - Not that’s more like it! Wonderful first shave with this new to me razor. Very comfortable, very smooth and very easy to use. Much softer than the NEW FB and on par I would say with the NEW SC (in terms of feel, performance needs another blade to really assess).

Razor and blade - I actually had planned to shave with the Flatboy again, but decided to give myself a break and seeing @jason2 use his RFB yesterday tilted the balance to this yet unused razor. What an amazing razor this is! And I love my handles!! Blade is gone after this shave. We are not going to be long term friends. But in the RFB the blade behaved much better.

Brush and lather - Simply love this brush. Absolutely amazing result is nothing but magnificent lather.

Technique - consistent but I have changed my XTG from Gillette Slide to ‘just’ E-W and W-E to see and feel differences in results. I have struggled with my jaw line these last few shaves although I am using the same technique. Did S-N as XTG on the neck. Need to explore this further.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[lasta]

That RFB looks NOS, what a great catch!

 

[jason2]

Nice looking razor there. Glad you got to use it and enjoy the shave. The English made some great Gillette razors.

 

[Buttercup]

Wonderful first shave with this new to me razor.

Lovely razor, Guido! My heart goes pitter-patter when I see a British made razor. Generally speaking, I find the build quality to be higher than their counterparts from the States.

 

[Guido75]

That RFB looks NOS, what a great catch!

Not quite, but close enough. The handle is definitely not period correct (aluminium ball end), but I was never planning to use that anyway. Case is in decent condition with a very good conditioned blade holder.

Nice looking razor there. Glad you got to use it and enjoy the shave. The English made some great Gillette razors.

Thanks Jason. Yes that was the main reason for pulling the trigger on this one. I wanted to get my English trio complete (Tech FB, NEW FB and RFB - I know the Hybrid, but can’t win ‘en all!).

Lovely razor, Guido! My heart goes pitter-patter when I see a British made razor. Generally speaking, I find the build quality to be higher than their counterparts from the States.

Thanks! This one is semi French actually (Importé d’Angleterre). But it was effective like the other English while smooth like the French perhaps!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Raven Koenes]

Thanks! This one is semi French actually (Importé d’Angleterre). But it was effective like the other English while smooth like the French perhaps!

Cheers,

Guido

I spit out my morning coffee reading this. That is hysterically funny as an analogy for imperialism.

 

[Guido75]

Date	11.08.2023
365 daily shaves	223/365
GRUME August	11/29
SOTMC	11/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	05/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Fatip OC*	Gillette Super Stainless French (7+8)	Simpson T3
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Alpha Men 2.0	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

*OEM Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
8/10 (~20m)	9.5/10 (almost clean)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
8/10 (DFS+)	9/10 (Butterysmooth)

Notes to this shave:

Summary - Lovely face and head shave today. No fuzz no drama. All good.

Razor and blade - I forgot about this blade due to Shark Week and I had no idea how many shaves it had. I had to look it up after the shave. I would not have known it was that many. Smooth and comfortable. The razor is just great as usual.

Brush and lather - Face lathered with the T3 today. Worked really well and gave less backbone than usual which in my book is a good thing. Splendid lather and enough for 5 passes.

Technique - Not specially planned, but I revisited some of my earlier techniques - doing a usual horizontal XTG and using Gillette Slant Strokes mostly. On the XTG slanted up so it is actually more of a XATG stroke I guess. I had the idea this was more effective today. And maybe just maybe my technique has improved as well following my month of consistent shaves in July.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Buttercup]

Greetings, Guido!

As a relatively new face shaver, your SotD triggered some questions and I hope you don't mind me asking.

Lovely face and head shave today.

Do you shave your face and head daily? I've never shaved them both on the same day and am currently alternating from one day to the next. When you shave both at the same time, do you lather your face, shave your face then lather your head, shave your head. I'm curious about the process.

Face lathered with the T3 today.

Do you build all the lather for both face/head shaves on your face?

Once I get me head shaving technique more stable, I'd like to shave both face/head on the same day. Thanks for entertaining my questions, Kind Sir!

 

[lasta]

Greetings, Guido!

As a relatively new face shaver, your SotD triggered some questions and I hope you don't mind me asking.

Do you shave your face and head daily? I've never shaved them both on the same day and am currently alternating from one day to the next. When you shave both at the same time, do you lather your face, shave your face then lather your head, shave your head. I'm curious about the process.

Do you build all the lather for both face/head shaves on your face?

Once I get me head shaving technique more stable, I'd like to shave both face/head on the same day. Thanks for entertaining my questions, Kind Sir!

I'm pretty sure Guido has a full head of hair. He's shaving it because (like all of us) wants more hair to cut!

 

[Guido75]

I'm pretty sure Guido has a full head of hair. He's shaving it because (like all of us) wants more hair to cut!

If it’s got hair I’ll shave it!

 

[Guido75]

You are most welcome!

Do you shave your face and head daily?

Not always no. My face hair grows faster than my head. But I’ll admit that smooth and soft is my preference at the moment. When you see x+y in my blade count that’s when there is a combined face and head shave. I do shave my face daily.

When you shave both at the same time, do you lather your face, shave your face then lather your head, shave your head.

Exactly that, so one step at a time.

Do you build all the lather for both face/head shaves on your face?

If I can yes. Lather is lather so I use what I made for my face. I don’t like runny lather so no point in making new lather for the dome.

 

[Buttercup]

I'm pretty sure Guido has a full head of hair. He's shaving it because (like all of us) wants more hair to cut!

Exactly! For over twenty years while on active duty I got a high and tight haircut every week. After retiring, I knocked it back to every two weeks or so. When the pandemic hit, I started cutting my own high and tight with my beard trimmer, eventually going to a straight buzz cut. A few months back I looked at all my shaving kit and thought, Why Not? A slippery slope, Eh?

If it’s got hair I’ll shave it!

Sorry, Guido...I know you're fishing for it, but I'm not going to be the one to ask the follow-up question to this statement!

When you see x+y in my blade count that’s when there is a combined face and head shave.

Understood, it's taken me a bit to get the hang of looking at the format of your SotDs. Thanks for answering my Qs, Guido!

 

[Guido75]

Sorry, Guido...I know you're fishing for it, but I'm not going to be the one to ask the follow-up question to this statement!

No it’s more mundane than that! My natural hairline has definitely retracted over the years so it was a matter of time to go for bald eagle. But what I have noticed is that the more you shave the faster it grows back!

Guido