Badlander's Adventures with Blades

[Badlander13]

Yesterday was shave six:
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Merkur Platinum DE shave six
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
SS Vetiver & Vanilla Soap
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & AS balm
The Experience:
Two passes today. On the first pass WTG on my cheek I noticed pulling from the razor. As a member predicted my thought was, "Huh, that's new." Loading the brush with a soap was new and halfway through the building the lather I went back for more soap. Not sure about that. This was my first time lathering a soap as opposed to a cream. Seemed a little more time intensive but that may be my technique. I also think the lather was too dry as it dried on my neck before I got there. Opened a tiny spot on my neck that didn't bleed but looked irritated and like it might. No issue after the witch hazel. Shaved late in the day after a shower. Walking into the get together I remember thinking the balm just "smelled right" with the woodsmoke from the fire. Girl's are split on the smell.

 

[Badlander13]

Today was shave seven:
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Astra SP shave 1
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
SS Vetiver & Vanilla Soap
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & AS balm
The Experience:
Did two and a half passes today. Got so caught up with lathering the soap I forgot to put my hot towel on. Tried to get a wetter lather today. Certainly went on smooth. The house was cold today and the lather was plenty cold. Don't think I'd enjoy menthol in the winter. Only like 16 hours of growth. New Astra SP made that *ping* sound as it cut the hairs and there was no pulling.

Invicta's advice about using the top of the razor and then rolling it down was right on. Much easier to index where the blade is actually going to start cutting. Did some face stretching that was helpful today. Slowed down on the chin and just tried to accept that it was gonna be difficult. Hard to get flat surfaces and there's not much that stretching can do about it. Only iffy bits were on the neck as I tried to go "across" but its actually ATG for my beard. I guess for the first pass I should be going from left ear to my right and then for the second go from top to bottom starting at the jawline. The "half" pass was ATG going up on my cheeks. Went well. No irritation but I don't think I can pull that off on my chin or mustache yet. Witch hazel revealed very little irritation even on my neck where I expected some. So far its the best shave I've managed with a DE. Wife described it as "baby butt smooth with some Boudreaux's butt paste on top." She's got no idea how much smoother it could get I think.

 

[Badlander13]

Yesterday was shave nine:
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Astra SP shave 3
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
SS Vetiver & Vanilla Soap
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & AS balm
The Experience:
Did almost three complete passes. Avoided ATG pass on the mustache and chin. Astra blade feels mellow to me compared to the merkur blade but it could also be improving technique. Started with more water in my shaving bowl than ever before. The lather started with much larger bubbles than I've seen before but it gradually tightened
up without me needing to add more product. This lather was harder to put onto my face because it would slip down the brush and my face more easily but eventually got on there. *Seemed* to provide for a great shaving experience. I would put this shave up there with a two pass cartridge shave but it also felt more pleasant over all than a two pass cart shave. Finally broke down and ordered some B&M sample soaps from Maggards. Very curious to try the Hallows, Leviathan and Lavanille.

 

[Badlander13]

Today was shave twelve:
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Astra SP shave 5
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
B&M Hallows
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & AS balm
The Experience:
The Hallows was hard to load on the brush since it was a sample. Overall this soap struck me as floral more than anything. Not old lady like violets or rose but definitely floral. The soap performed great especially given how hard it was to load on the brush before scuttling. I'm curious to try the Leviathan next and then probably the Lavanille. I should probably pick-up a sample of the spice since the overall base works so well. I wouldn't say its better than the Stirling soaps or the SS soap though. Maybe it does come down to scent? I let my bowl warm-up in the sink with the hot water in an attempt to keep the lather warmer longer. May just rest the bowl in the sink next time to see if I can keep the lather warm. That would be awesome. The Astra SP's seem to be treating me pretty well. I'm considering just wet shaving at this point and going back to the cartridge if my face needs a break. Lower lip under upper lip helped with the chin today. Lastly as I was doing a last WTG pass to clean-up the blade quit "catching" and whisker. Made me wonder if I'd hit the limit of the closed comb and blade without doing an ATG pass. Food for thought. But how much closer do I really need my shave to be?

 

[Badlander13]

Notes on Soaps and Creams:
Creams I liked:
Bigelow
The menthol in this was pleasant during the warmer months but I couldn't imagine it in the cooler weather
Crown & Truefitt
My recollection is that it was very similar to the Bigelow.
Creams I didn't:
Taylor's of Old Bond Street
I *thought* it left me with an "old lady" smell that lasted all day. Is it possible it was the Old Bay Rum aftershave balm I used? I actually chucked it out after the first day.
Speick:
It was just a cream with a mild floral/herbal scent. Wasn't tremendous and I didn't love it. I expect with a little effort I could do a lot better.
Soaps I liked:
Sudsey Soapery Vanilla and Vetiveer
The wife loves this one. Its a little sweet for me. I would prefer a scent that is a little "crisper" and not so sweet. The cushion, slickness and overall lather are great and it leaves my face feeling tremendous. The scent is even *pretty good* its just not "perfect."
Barrister and Mann
I really like the lather and performance of these "Glissant" soaps in general but so far none of the scents have really done it for me.
Hallows
So so scent. A little floral with a dank undertone.
Leviathan
This left me feeling like I'd shaved in the wreckage of a whaling ship. It was like the Laphroig of soaps or something. A dark acrid smoke was all I got from it. Walking around later I kept smelling that diesel note. Did not like it.
Lavanille
I was neutral to almost enjoying this scent. It made my face itch a little though and I wonder if I'm mildly allergic to something in it.
Latha Sandalwood
This smells sweet and the currant certainly seems in the front. Almost besides the point since this has been discontinued.

 

[Badlander13]

Notes on Creams and Soaps cont’d:
Stirling Soaps
The tallow and Lanolin has been great. Very slick with a nice feel when I’m finished. Price point is insanely good. The soaps seem mildly scented when compared to B&M and SS. I will eventually own at least one of these soaps in my den. Probably a matching aftershave and balm as well. Scents I’ve tried so far are Arkadia, Ozark Mountain and Dunshire. They’re all fine with piney/woody notes. Next up I think are executive man, Agar (Oud), and possibly Gatlinburg.

 

[Badlander13]

Today was shave fifteen:
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Astra SP shave 8
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
SS Vetiver and Vanilla
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & Vanilla AS balm
The Experience:
The lather was great today- maybe a smidge dry. Used the leftover to wash my face after I was done with the passes. Gonna change the blade. Didn’t tug but almost seemed *too* mild. I found myself using a little more pressure and there were pink patches on my cheeks. Witch hazel didn’t turn up any sensitive bits though. This was a relaxing shave after yesterday’s when it seemed maybe the Lavanille was bothering my face. Smelled the sample again this morning and it does smell appealing. Hope I don’t notice any itchiness when I try it again this weekend.

 

[Badlander13]

11/12/2018
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Astra SP shave 1
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
WK DM Merchant of Tobacco
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & Vanilla AS balm
The Experience:
I could really feel the cushion today. I'm loving having a full sized puck of WK. The LOTH walked into the bathroom and told me it was an improvement over other scents I've used. I've been experimenting trying to see just how much water I can add to the soap while I lather. I actually tried to "break" some Stirling the other night just to see if I could. I didn't want to lather for that long. This was pretty good lather but I was in a little bit of a rush. Face felt great afterwards and the SS Vanilla didn't clash with the soap. I can really sense that the as one contributor put it, the soap is for me, the aftershave is for the Mrs. I'm convinced I want to track down a sample of the Cuero and also the King of Bourbon. I might try a WK balm that matches whichever is my favorite.

Been reading about Pinaud Special Reserve. After the next Balm I get I think I might track down a Pinaud sampler. It definitely sounds like its a niche market though.

Other notes on Stirling Samples:
The Mrs. liked the Vanilla and Sandalwood. I like the Barbershop and so does the daughter. At some point I'll own a puck of that. They're also coming out with a tobacco and vanilla scent I think. That seems like something we all might like.

 

[Badlander13]

11/14/2018
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Astra SP shave 3
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
WK DM Merchant of Tobacco
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & Vanilla AS balm
The Experience:
I really enjoyed my shave this morning. Was a little hard to leave the bathroom. I feel almost arrogant with the Astra's at this point. Maybe its the blades, maybe its the Merkur, maybe its the WK. I did 3 passes today and went wtg, xtg and atg except for my mustache area. The atg pass was more south to north on my neck than truly against the grain. Something to consider. I've been pondering an open comb razor. That's simply crazy. Had a little bit of a hard time lathering this morning. I think the brush was too dry when I loaded up on the puck. I've started lathering a little more aggressively before painting and I'm starting to enjoy that. Maybe a boar brush *would* be nice but I wonder about that since I have such sensitive skin. I also am wondering about using a great splash instead of the witch hazel. That stuff does smell horrible. Would a splash be functionally different?

 

[Badlander13]

11/17/2018
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Feather: Shave 1
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
WK DM Merchant of Tobacco
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & Vanilla AS balm
The Experience:
I was blown away at how different the experience was with the Feather vs. the Astra SP. It was completely different. I don't understand how that could be but it was. It was ploughing through the whiskers but I had to keep going back and cleaning up patches. It was strange. I even nicked myself with the corner of the blade while doing my neck. I haven't done that before. By the time I applied the witch hazel it was done bleeding. Really was extraordinary how unhelpful this blade seemed to be. Maybe the Merkur 34c just isn't designed to be used with it somehow.

 

[Badlander13]

11/18/2018
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Feather Shave 2
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
DG TSM Fougere
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & Vanilla AS balm
The Experience:
I really enjoyed the Declaration Grooming soap today. The change of scent kinda woke me up and it seemed almost as slick at the WK soap. The difference was not huge. The soap was about as thirsty as the WK as well. I'm not sure how people lather on their face since I often need to add a significant amount of water to the lather. Maybe they just work up to the right amount keeping in mind some measure of water that was in the brush last time. Or maybe they add water to their face? The Feather blade worked better today but still seemed far off from where the Astra's were. I have SO many blades left to try but its a little hard for me to resist the urge to order a set of 100 Astra's at the moment. Given that I get 7 shaves from a blade that would be two years worth of blades though. I can almost see the bottom of my container of balm. That's making me a little nervous since in the beginning the balm felt like a godsend after some of those first few shaves. I ordered some CL Unconditional Surrender Toner so we'll find out what that's like when it gets here. I'm excited to replace my Walmart Witch Hazel with something that might smell and feel a little better. Hopefully its better than the Lucky Tiger AS I bought.

 

[Badlander13]

11/20/2018
The Gear:
Merkur 34C
Feather Shave 4
WCS synthetic brush
Cheap Japanese Tea Bowl
The Goop:
WK Merchant of Tobacco
T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel
SS Vetiver & Vanilla AS balm
The Experience:
Lather was slick and shiny today and felt great on the face. Noticed that one side of the razor was more aggressive than the other and when I looked down I *swear* one side of the comb had more razor sticking out of it than the other. I opened the razor and reseated the blade. This seemed to help a little. I don't know whether its a quality control issue with the Feather or with the Merkur or neither. In an effort to clean-up quickly after the first two passes I did some ATG on my neck and cheeks. The Feather seemed to handle this better than the Astra but this morning I've also noticed a patch of stubble under my jaw that didn't get mowed down quite as well as it should have. Apparently I need to work on technique and part of that may actually be checking on how the blade is seated in the Merkur every morning. I had no idea.