A newbie’s journey into DE shaving

[Guido75]

Date	26.07.2023
365 daily shaves	207/365
GRUME July	26/31
SOTMC	26/31
Consistency Shaves	24/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	03/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Matador Deluxe*	Dorco ST300HQ (8+9)	Kox Blue Synthetic
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Dutchy Bergamot	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

* Gillette Extra Thin Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
8/10 (~20m)	9.5/10 (almost clean)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
8.5/10 (DFS++)	10/10 (GlideFest)

Notes to this shave:

General - nice relaxing face and head shave. Back of my head feels baby smooth with LOTH seal of approval. Blade deserves double digits so up for bat again tomorrow.

Razor and blade - I have tried the Fatip cap together with the Matador baseplate and that works like a charm with excellent equal blade alignment. Haven’t shaved with that combination yet, but bound to. Or I might give the Old Type cap a go. Blade gave a fabulous performance on both face and head.

Brush and lather - Hybrid lathering using my usual routine combined with Marco’s method. Luscious lather was my part. Face lathering was again fun today. Good lather with nice protection. I do have the sense that with face lathering I have less soaking in time than I do bowl lathering.

Technique - Same as yesterday. Excellent three passes to smoothness and desired results without issues. I would not say autopilot, but close to it.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Guido75]

Date	27.07.2023
365 daily shaves	208/365
GRUME July	27/31
SOTMC	27/31
Consistency Shaves	25/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	03/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Matador Deluxe*	Dorco ST300HQ (10)	Kox Blue Synthetic
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Dutchy Bergamot	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

* Gillette Extra Thin 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:

General - nice relaxing face shave. As mentioned yesterday the blade deserved double digits. A smooth shave ensued.

Razor and blade - I have found the right way (or best way) to load this razor and the exposure was more even this morning. The razor is working really well as always. Blade performance above par. No tugging, no pulling. Smooth and comfortable.

Brush and lather - Bowl/face lathering was again fun today. Good lather with nice protection. Made sure my lather had sufficient soak in time before the first pass.

Technique - Autopilot directional passes.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Guido75]

Date	28.07.2023
365 daily shaves	209/365
GRUME July	28/31
SOTMC	28/31
Consistency Shaves	26/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	03/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Matador Deluxe*	Dorco ST300HQ (11)	Kox Blue Synthetic
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Dutchy Bergamot	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

* Gillette Extra Thin Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
8/10 (~20m)	9.5/10 (almost clean)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
7.5/10 (DFS)	10/10 (GlideFest)

Notes to this shave:

General - sweet and smooth shave today. Very pleased with the results.

Razor and blade - Exposure was again slightly off today, but manageable and actually unnoticeable during the shave. The exposure is uneven, but the distance to the safety bar appears to remain equal. I loaded the blade on autopilot yesterday after cleaning, so I thought might as well shave with it. Smooth and comfortable shave I must say.

Brush and lather - Face lathered again today. That starting with the chin is an excellent way to start painting or lathering on the face. No matter if you are bowl or face lathering. I am keeping this one. Again, hats off to @BudgetShaverGuy. Good slick lather followed.

Technique - Usual routine. XTG is a mix of strokes I found depending on my mood of the day. Equally effective in my view.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[lasta]

Congrats on achieving an above average trend of Glide Fest!

Looking forward to your July monthly attribution analysis. I'm old and too far set in my ways, closer shave = more ATG buffing haha. Could use some fresher perspective.

 

[Guido75]

Congrats on achieving an above average trend of Glide Fest!

Looking forward to your July monthly attribution analysis. I'm old and too far set in my ways, closer shave = more ATG buffing haha. Could use some fresher perspective.

Thanks! Dutchy and face lathering apparently. But I must say the Matador makes it very easy too!

Too old?! I might have the wrong impression, but I was under the assumption that we were in a similar ballpark age wise.

I will make sure to provide extra details for the monthly evaluation.

 

[lasta]

Thanks! Dutchy and face lathering apparently. But I must say the Matador makes it very easy too!

Too old?! I might have the wrong impression, but I was under the assumption that we were in a similar ballpark age wise.

I will make sure to provide extra details for the monthly evaluation.

One is only as old as one feel!

Technically I haven't pushed 40 yet. But from your level of enthusiasm, you are a lot younger at heart than me!

 

[Guido75]

Date	29.07.2023
365 daily shaves	210/365
GRUME July	29/31
SOTMC	29/31
Consistency Shaves	26/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	03/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Matador Deluxe*	Dorco ST300HQ (12)	Kox Blue Synthetic
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Dutchy Bergamot	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

* Gillette Extra Thin Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
9/10 (~15m)	10/10 (clean)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
7.5/10 (DFS)	10/10 (GlideFest)

Notes to this shave:

General - short and sweet shave today. 2.5 passes with a good end result.

Razor and blade - This combination keeps handling well. Slightly harsher than yesterday, but that could very well be because of my shorter preshave than usual.

Brush and lather - Face lathered again today. Very nice lather in absolutely no time at all.

Technique - as this was a faster shave than usual I followed a mindless pattern on autopilot of WXTG (Gillette Slide), XTG and ATG on the cheeks only. Results were very decent and very pleasing as this tells me I can use my knowledge gaines this month for fast shaves too if I need to and still feel adequately smooth. I believe I could have even done it with my usual pattern - food for a later experiment.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Guido75]

Date	30.07.2023
365 daily shaves	211/365
GRUME July	30/31
SOTMC	30/31
Consistency Shaves	27/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	03/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Lambda Athena*	Shark Platinum (17+18)	Simpson T3
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Dutchy Bergamot	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

* OEM Handle

Passes	WTG XTG ATG
Efficiency (details here)	Quality / My process
9/10 (~15m)	10/10 (clean)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
7.5/10 (DFS)	7/10 (Comfortable)

Notes to this shave:

General - a very fine Sunday Science Shave. Blade has now been binned.

Razor and blade - I have a confession to make. I still have the blade from Shark Week. I retired it but not really binned it. I gave it a couple of laps on my Twinplex to see how it would behave in the Athena. And it behaved. Comfortable not smooth. But still very fine results. Head shave evenly fine. Albeit that the Greencult 1 paved the way with a marvellous mowing down of 3-4 days of growth with a KCG blade yesterday evening.

Brush and lather - Back to bowl lathering to build up and face lathering to complete. Nice and rich. The T3 was very suited for the job.

Technique - Textbook routine today using my standard Sun Ray Pattern. Worked really well. The Athena’s angle is pretty narrow for me and revolves around neutral.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Guido75]

Date	31.07.2023
365 daily shaves	212/365
GRUME July	31/31
SOTMC	31/31
Consistency Shaves	28/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	04/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Mühle R41*	Rhino	Omega Roma
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave	Dutchy Bergamot	Cold splash Aftershave Balm

* Lasta Green Long Handle

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

Notes to this shave:

General - I think it has been a while since I shaved with the R41. Splendid shave to kickstart the week.

Razor and blade - new vintage blade by generosity and kindness of @lasta. Paired with the R41 this was an excellent blade to be using. Are these still available? I’ll admit stubble was less (testimony to the Shark Platinum blade and the Lambda yesterday), but if I’d pushed for it I could have achieved a two pass DFS shave. I did not push and maybe for the better. An excellent and smooth blade on its first outing.

Brush and lather - Back to bowl lathering to build up and face lathering to complete. Nice and rich. Slightly thinner than usual but I decided to run (pun intended) with it.

Technique - consistent and constant. Worked like a charm. I could have been more effective on the jaw line so need to watch that tomorrow.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[lasta]

Rhinos are still being made, same blade being used by the surf/turf guys!

 

[Ligeti]

Curious what soap you'll select for august

 

[Guido75]

Curious what soap you'll select for august

That will be Alpha Men 2.0 for Aventus August. I still don’t have Arko, so Arko August will have to wait.

 

[mgweatherly]

I still don’t have Arko

Does this mean you've never used Arko? If so, how is this possible?

 

[Guido75]

Does this mean you've never used Arko? If so, how is this possible?

It does Mitch. It does. At first simply out of ignorance (I learned about its existence here) and second not following through on an urge (I have 4-5 years of soap in stock as it is). But at last (and finally!) I have figured out where to get it in the Netherlands. We have a Turkish supermarket where this might be simply available from the shelf.

No other reasons. So no anti-Arko sentiments or anything (as I have never tried it myself that would be simply laughable).

Guido

I have also never tried The Veg. Reading the reviews I am simply too afraid!

 

[mgweatherly]

It does Mitch. It does. At first simply out of ignorance (I learned about its existence here) and second not following through on an urge (I have 4-5 years of soap in stock as it is). But at last (and finally!) I have figured out where to get it in the Netherlands. We have a Turkish supermarket where this might be simply available from the shelf.

No other reasons. So no anti-Arko sentiments or anything (as I have never tried it myself that would be simply laughable).

Guido

I have also never tried The Veg. Reading the reviews I am simply too afraid!

I definitely recommend picking up a stick. This may be bold, but I think every wet shaver needs to try Arko at least once. I'm sure you've read a lot about it, so me giving my view about why won't add to any bias that you may develop before using it.

The economy, simplicity, and effectiveness of face lathering Arko with a boar brush appeals to the engineer in me, and I suspect it may appeal to your inner accountant. It just works. I marvel every time I use it, and every time the quality of the experience is the same. I could not think of a better soap to take on travel. I understand why the Arkonaut army exists.

The smell, even for someone like me who enjoys it, is an acquired taste. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't. My wife actually really likes how my face smells after I shave with Arko. That almost makes my opinion of the smell irrelevant.

I can't wait to read what you think of it (no rush).

Cheers!

 

[Eric_75]

I can't wait to read what you think of it (no rush).

@Guido75 Me too!

 

[Guido75]

I definitely recommend picking up a stick. This may be bold, but I think every wet shaver needs to try Arko at least once.

It’s going high on my list Mitch! Beats RAD! Haha!

 

[Raven Koenes]

It’s going high on my list Mitch! Beats RAD! Haha!

Arko creams are not bad either. They should be very cheap at Turkish markets, and they come in different scents.

 

[Guido75]

July Evaluation

With August about to start and @lasta anxiously waiting the monthly evaluation is due.

• July was High Efficiency Summer and saw 31 shaves with an average effectiveness score of 8.3 (June: 8.2) - which equates results at mostly DFS+ level. Marginally more effective than June therefore, which is interesting as I think I used more higher efficiency razors in June than July, but then again a Fatip OC and a Matador Deluxe are hard to beat.
• I took 2 blades into double digits: Shark Platinum (18 shaves) and a Dorco ST300HQ (12 shaves). Honourable mention for the Dorco Prime with 7 shaves.
• Lowest score this month was a 7 on effectiveness with both a Fatip OC and my Gillette Super Adjustable. Mainly pairing with the blade or the blade needing to come into performance. Best shave by far (and since a long time) was a 9.5 with the Swing and a Shark Platinum. I had some minor nicks, but man was that smooth!.
• Razor usage in July:
  • Fatip OC (19%)
  • Matador Deluxe (26%)
  • Timeless Ti95 (10%)
  • Lambda Athena (6%)
  • R41 (10%)
• Regarding razor usage I have been more relaxed about my rotation. I have selected razors by the shape of the day rather than my spreadsheet rotation and again liking the process as I did in June. RAD is still on the horizon I noticed, but I am in between my feelings - on the one hand I like buying new razors and on the other hand it only feeds my sense of not using all razors to the extent I would like.
• Soap of the month was Kox Dutchy Bergamot which I took to 80 shaves and the bottom is nowhere in sight. I think this small puck (70 grams) can give me about 160+ shaves. It lathers fantastically (also showing the streak of GlideFest and Butterysmooth shaves I have had) and has a super nice post-shave feel to it. Definitely buying more when this puck is gone.
• New additions to the den were a Yaqi Lucky Dice Tuxedo (@lasta!! ), some amazing razor handles, and the Greencult 1.0.

I continued my revisiting/reinventing of my shave routine following my discussions with @JoWolf on technique and results. I can stil improve, particularly on blade choice, but overall I think this wa one of my better shaving months. It was comfortable, relaxed, very nice results-wise and I enjoyed discovering my gear, thinking about lathering techniques, about razor angles, and thinking about which razors I would really like to add or not. In short: FUN!

Next month's theme is Aventus August, hosted by @JAHE. I had much fun last year, so I am guessing with all the extensions in the den since August 22 lots of fun it glooming on the horizon. I had an initial plan to see if I could alternate between Arko August and Aventus August, but that requires the presence of Arko which currently is shining in absence. We'll fix that on a later date.

August will also see me exploring new razor rotations with perhaps a revisit to the Shave of the Week society. And maybe finally an inaugural shave with the Gillette NEW RFB.

 

[Guido75]

Date	01.08.2023
365 daily shaves	213/365
GRUME August	01/31
SOTMC	01/31
Blade Biter’s Archive	04/32

Razor	Blade	Brush
Timeless Ti95 SCL*	Rhino (2+3)	Zenith 502B XSE
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)	9/10 (neck irritation)
Effectiveness	Comfort / Blade condition
7/10 (DFS)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Notes to this shave:

General - Aventus August is upon us! I almost forgot what a wonderful soap this is. Excellent face and head shave today.

Razor and blade - Slightly less smooth than yesterday. Also wondering if the blade displayed less of a performance. Pairing with the Ti95 seems at least less optimal.

Brush and lather - Superb lather with the Zenith today. What a wonderful brush this is. And the colour is absolutely beautiful. Makes me want to go get more butterscotch brushes.

Technique - consistent and constant. Jawline was less smooth and I had some redness on the neck.

Enjoy your shave!