Balin's Blade Bonanza

[Guido75]

Date	15.05.2024
366 daily shaves	136/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Blackland Blackbird SS	Gillette Minora (2)	Razorock Big Bruce
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (2)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
9.75/10 (Almost clean)	5/10 (Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9/10 (BBS)	7.5/10 (Comfortable)

Notes:

Summary. Another effective and wonderful shave. All players working in unison with each other.

For extended shave notes click here.

Razor and blade. Second run with the Minora. Good blade although I had the impression that the pairing with the Blackbird made it feel a little harsher. Still comfortable but not smooth.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Balin]

Shave 2 with the Minora

I decided to push it today for a BBS and was successful. I added a touch pass for my jawline, under chin and lower neck area. There was a little more feedback from the alum and aftershave than yesterday but still well within acceptable limits. I don't find this combo smooth. It doesn't seem to glide as well as my other razor and blade combos. I am swapping out the razor tomorrow for shave 3 .

 

[Guido75]

Date	16.05.2024
366 daily shaves	137/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Karve CB OC-C	Gillette Minora (3)	Abe’s Brush Works Blutt STF
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (3)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
9.75/10 (Almost clean)	5/10 (Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9/10 (BBS)	8/10 (Smooth)

Notes:

Summary. Almost a copy of yesterday’s shave. Only this time with the Karve Christopher Bradley.

For extended shave notes click here.

Razor and blade. Good pairings today between the Minora and the Karve. Blade had a good performance and feels like it can take another round so it’s loaded up for tomorrow. I think it would benefit from a little more smoothness but overall I have the impression this blade with land in the upper part of the chart.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #3 - Gillette Minora
Yaqi Flipside
Razorock Son of Zeus Shave Soap
Razorock Son of Zeus Aftershave


My new Flipside came in so I took it for a spin. It's a combination head with a safety bar on one half and an open comb the other. I used the safety bar side and it was reminiscent of a Muhle R89 but considerably more aggressive. I suspect if I had calipers to measure I would see that the blade gap is larger than on the R89.

The Minora performed well. It was again smooth and quiet housed in the Flipside, so it's clear that the razor (Baili BT131) was the deciding factor the other day when I experienced roughness. Still, I venture to say that I have used smoother blades this year (KGC, GSB, Silver Star) and I think the initial judgement I had of the Minora being a GSB little brother is apt. It's just not quite as good in my opinion. That doesn't mean it's a poor blade or that people won't find it worthy of stocking. None of that. It's just not the best performer for me with my personal lilkes and dislikes.

I'll probably take this blade out for one more shave this week before moving on.

 

[Balin]

Shave 3 with the Minora.

I switched razors to my WR1 .74 and acheived a comfortable BBS shave today. I found the blade still plenty sharp and the razor glide was better. I wonder if it has to do with the polish of the WR1 compared to RR GC not quite as polished . I like this blade but not enough to stock up on them. I have 2 tucks left so I think I am good for now. I think this has historically been a 3 use blade for me but I will use it again tomorrow just to see .

 

[Guido75]

Date	17.05.2024
366 daily shaves	138/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Fatip Special Edition Gentile	Gillette Minora (4)	Razorock Beehive
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (4)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	5/10 (Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
7/10 (DFS)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Notes:

Summary. It's Friday and it is been a long time, so today is a Fatip Friday!! Of course it was a splendid shave. All comfort. All effectiveness. All rolled into one.

For extended shave notes click here.

The blade is still cruising along on shave 4 - no signs of fatigue. And I echoe Andrew and Alex - performance is good, and there are better alternatives for me and my skin.

Enjoy your shave!

 

[Balin]

Shave 4 with the Minors.

I had a comfortable DFS shave today. I found the blade had dropped off for me today. It was a little rough but that could be because I only 16 hours between shaves

 

[Lockback]

Shave 4 with the Minors.
View attachment 1847978
I had a comfortable DFS shave today. I found the blade had dropped off for me today. It was a little rough but that could be because I only 16 hours between shaves

The Minora has become one of my favorite blades. Unfortunately, at current prices, it's going to be awhile before I buy any more of them.

 

[Guido75]

Date	18.05.2024
366 daily shaves	139/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Razorock Game Changer .84P SB	Gillette Minora (5)	Abe’s Brush Works Smokey Bandit
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (5)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
7/10 (Nicked myself)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
8/10 (DFS+)	8/10 (Smooth)

For extended notes click here

Blade on 5 and I have the sense it is losing its sharpness. Comfort is stable or stable enough, but extra effort is necessary to get to where I want to be.

Enjoy your shave everyone!

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #4 - Gillette Minora Stainless
Rimei A2001
Son of Zeus Shaving Soap & Aftershave


I am finishing off this Minora with this shave. The cutting ability has diminished noticeably, this seems like it could be a 3x per edge blade for me which is OK, but not exactly durable for me considering my type of facial hair.

I have no real complaints about the Minora from my time this week with it. It's a good performer with adequate smoothness and comfort. With that said, I think there are many blades I prefer that are more widely available in my locale and cost less.

 

[Guido75]

Date	19.05.2024
366 daily shaves	140/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Lambda Athena	Gillette Minora (6)	Razorock 400 Butterscotch
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (6)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9/10 (BBS)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Extended Notes:

I will start a fresh blade come Monday. I would say the Minora is a solid performer and middle of the road for me. Today on shave 6 it performed admirably in combination with the Athena.

Come Monday I will switch to Nacet.

Enjoy your shave today!

 

[Balin]

I used my WR3 yesterday but today I read @Guido75 's shave report prior to my shave so I jumped into a Nacet shave!!

I had comfortable BBS shave today with 2 passes and 0 touch ups! There was a bit of irritation, lol with the placement of the glue dots . I had to use an old blade to scrape the dots off as they look just a little too close to the blade edge. I tried the blade early, the first 3 months, of my wet shaving journey and hated these blades. They turned my face to hamburger! I re-visited them a year and half later and they quickly went to my top tier of blades. I have not tried a longevity test with the Nacet so I am going to try to use the same blade all week.

 

[Guido75]

Final shave with the Minora yesterday. Where does it sit?

Blade	Sharpness	Comfort	Excalibur potential
Shark Chrome	5	5	Yes
Gillette Rubie Plus	5	5	Yes
GSB	4	5	Yes
Rubie	5	4	Possibly, but unlikely
ASCO	4	4	Yes
King C Gillette (MiC)	5	3	Not likely
Sharp Titanium	5	3	Maybe
Gillette Minora	4	3	Not likely
Racer	3	4	Maybe
Lord Cool	3	3	Unlikely
Silver Star	4	2	Possible
Sputnik	3	2	No

Onwards with Nacet. Just had the first shave and it’s a familiar blade. Likely to end higher in the rankings.

 

[Guido75]

Date	20.05.2024
366 daily shaves	141/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Blackbird SS polished	Gillette Nacet (1)	Razorock 400 Butterscotch
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (7)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9.25/10 (BBS+)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Notes:

Monday’s shave was spectacular. Super close and comfortable.

Extended shave notes can be found here.

Nacet is a wonderful blade that I am getting more used to. It feels less like a hit and run for me at this moment and in this shave. I could have stopped at two passes if pressed, and as I wasn’t did my normal routine.

Enjoy your shave today!

 

[cranewarrior]

Shave #1 - Gillette Nacet
Arko
Haward Razor

I have had a decent amount of shaves under my belt using the Gillette Nacet, so it's a real effort to approach this week with a beginner's mind and without preconceived notions about it. Nonetheless I know from various discussions here that the Nacet is among the sharpest blades after the Feather, and this means for me personally, it likely should be used in a mild razor. I have many of those - my most recent acquisition is the Game Changer .68P but I went with one of the first razors I bought made by Haward, a Chinese manufacterer. It came from Amazon and is a nondescript Zamak offering, though made well enough without defects or blade alignment problems.

I had a very enjoyable session with 1 WTG pass and a couple of touch ups. The Nacet is a strong performer. I don't know if it is a case of the razor moderating the Nacet's pure cutting ability, or the Nacet enhancing the razor to higher heights. It's probably just semantics, but I enjoy this pairing with Arko very much. It's much, much better as a team than the humble materials might suggest.

No self-harm was done and there was just the slightest burn from my witch hazel application. All in all a fine shave. What can I say? I don't want to project for the rest of the week, but the Nacet has always been good to me, and I don't see that changing.

 

[Balin]

Shave 2 with the Nacet

I was rewarded with another comfortable BBS today. My WR2 is my fussiest razor but it pairs really well with the Nacet. Thank goodness I have a stash of 500 Nacets!

 

[Jay21]

Date	20.05.2024
366 daily shaves	141/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Blackbird SS polished	Gillette Nacet (1)	Razorock 400 Butterscotch
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (7)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	4/10 (Sharp Edge)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
9.25/10 (BBS+)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Notes:

Monday’s shave was spectacular. Super close and comfortable.

Extended shave notes can be found here.

Nacet is a wonderful blade that I am getting more used to. It feels less like a hit and run for me at this moment and in this shave. I could have stopped at two passes if pressed, and as I wasn’t did my normal routine.

Enjoy your shave today!

I’m a bit surprised you didn’t find the Nacet sharper. For me, it’s the top of sharpness.

 

[Guido75]

I’m a bit surprised you didn’t find the Nacet sharper. For me, it’s the top of sharpness.

I am a bit surprised I didn’t change that score from yesterday’s shave

 

[blethenstrom]

I am a bit surprised I didn’t change that score from yesterday’s shave

Copy and paste baby!

 

[Guido75]

Date	21.05.2024
366 daily shaves	142/366

Razor	Blade	Brush
Lambda Athena	Gillette Nacet (2)	Razorock 400 Butterscotch
Preshave	Soap	Postshave
Cold splash KCG Face Wash	Hampshire Wool Fat (8)	Cold splash Proraso Green Balm

Passes	WTG XTG ATG and touch up
Process Quality	Blade Sharpness
10/10 (Clean)	5/10 (Sharp)
Effectiveness	Shave Comfort
8.75/10 (BBS-)	9/10 (Buttery Smooth)

Notes:

No fuzz, comfortable and close shave today.

For extended shave notes click here.

Blade on two shaves including this one so should be sufficiently sharp. According to my shave statistics the blade performs well in the upper ranges of DFS+++ to BBS. Usually. Today it was very comfortable, but I felt sharpness was less than yesterday. So while yesterday’s score could have been a 6, I am slightly downgrading to a 5 - maybe tomorrow will be better again. I say could by the way, because stubble was more than the other days with the Minora which I find interesting considering I shaved with a Blackbird no less.

Enjoy your shave today!