I'm a Movemberist: my movember journey

[Landri]

Hello there folks! Movember is here and I want to share my journey to the MO land. A little background first: I’ve been a fan of the clean shave since I got my first “real” job (part time bank teller to pay for college). I’ve never wear a beard or a MO (except for a year in college when I actually believe my beard give a badass Viking look).
Since my wet shave conversion I’ve been shaving almost every day: it makes me feel sharper, cleaner makes me feel like I can conquered the world! But now is time to show my compromise and said: I’ll wear a MO, I’ll be part of the movement!
My idea is to post how the MO is growing, how my shaves (yes I’ll keep shaving) and all the perks that this adventure involve. Please join me:

11/1: two days growth. My weapon is my beloved Gillette slim, setting at 9 on the first pass, then 5, 3 and 1 on the next passes, loaded with a Persona blade (blue package Made in USA stamp on the blade). My soap of the day is a frankensoap: a mixture of arko, Mystic water, palmovile and some soap samples that I don’t remember. I use my Vulfix 404 to create a great lather.
The first problem is to remember NOT to shave my whole face. I don’t apply lather on my upper lip, to remember not to shave there.
First pass a traditional WTG: lovely. The blade sings the requiem of the fallen whiskers. More lather and a second pass ear to mouth: another great one. Relather and another XTG this time mouth to ear.
I’m not a ATG guy; but I consider this as an special shave so I go for it. Smooth result: the slim and the Persona works as a charm.
My alumblock point me at some places where I applied to much pressure; but nothing really serious. Kanwa AS and AOS sandalwood AS balm, a little bit of Dior’s Fahrenheit for the GF and my first day as a Movemberist was done.
Here are some pictures of the experiment:

Thanks for watching fellows!!

 

[Landri]

11/2: not much to inform. Second day in and I noticed that is kind of hard to determined where the future MO should end, for now I'll give it enough room to grow before I shape it.
Today the slim and the Persona blade again. Tabac was my soap of choice and the brush was an AOS Pure.
Only 3 passes today: WTG and XTG mouth to ear and XTG ear to mouth. Alumblock, Old Spice AS balm and Neutrogena balm (sunny day better wear an AS with sun blocker). Fahrenheit is my daily fragrance for the summer season (and my GF loves it!)

Thanks for watch!

 

[Landri]

11/3: First shave with a recently acquired Sheraton. A great shave. The OC razor was mild enough to delivered a DFS in only two passes without any irritation. Cella was my choice today.

11/4: I took a day off fro shaving.

 

[Landri]

11/5: the strangest thing happened while I was using the Sheraton and a Voskhod razor: it pull and drag a little!! The shave was superb but that pulling feeling wasn't really expected. Maybe I got a dull blade?

 

[Landri]

11/6: the Voskhod give me razor burn... this time on my slim. I'll try a new blade, maybe this one was dull.

11/7: I'm skipping today shave. The razor burn still is given me problems.

 

[The Polock]

Keep up the good work sir! You aren't alone. I am in the process of growing my first mustache ATM. Thanks to Movember that is! May post a couple of pics sometime... Although I hate pictures of me. Look stupid smiling. Look stupid not smiling. Can't seem to find a happy medium. Lol that or I just look stupid in general. Anyhow keep at it and I hope the razor burn clears up. RB IS THE DEVIL.

 

[Landri]

Sun burn + razor burn: no shaving for me this last couples of days

 

[The Polock]

Ouch! Ya I had to take a few days off a couple of weeks ago. Sunburned to hell lol hope ya heal up quick.

 

[Landri]

11/10: back on the shaving horse. Astra SP in my slim set on 3 (I'm going to take it slow for a few days). The Tabac soap loads nice and build a great lather with the help of the Vulfix 404 (boar/badger mix). Only one pass XTG for a good enough result (considering that is my day off and I'm still a little red from the sun burn). My AS was some baby oil to help soothe the damage skin.
And now some pics of my still-not-so-obvious MO:

Thanks for watching again!

 

[Landri]

11/11: second day with the Astra on my Slim set on 3 (1 for the neck). Proraso (white) for a glorious lather and a great one pass shave,
good enough for a lazy sunday.
The MO is on a steady rhythm; but I almost shave it today..

 

[Landri]

11/12: Another day, another shave. Third day with the Astra, this time on my Sheraton. Great shave, this OC really can deliver a close shave with a little effort. Tabac as a soap, I like the way Tabac linger a bit after the shave. A great DFS with only 2 passes.

11/13: Fourth day with the Astra. I'm still getting great shaves from this blade and I can see why they get a lot of love on the forum. Dr harris marlborough was my soap of choice: I LOVE THE SMELL OF THIS!!! And the performance... the performance is awesome!!! a 2 pass shave for a DFS shave with the Sheraton.

 

[Landri]

14/11: another day another shave. Today is kind of cold so I'm gonna facelather with Cella and my Vulfix 404. Is funny how at first some soaps and creams give problems with the ratios (water/product) and after a while they just start performing like a champ.
I'm really amaze of the Sheraton performance, this time I load it with an Asco (blue wrap) blade and went for a two pass shave: one WTG and one XTG for a BBS shave.

 

[Vlad]

Anyone at work notice the MO yet, or know about Movember? It's about time for the 'stache to start paying off. You could also use it to talk about classic wet shaving!

 

[Landri]

Anyone at work notice the MO yet, or know about Movember? It's about time for the 'stache to start paying off. You could also use it to talk about classic wet shaving!

A couple of coworkers made some jokes yesterday; but that give me the chance to talk about Movember (which is kind of hard cause Movember makes no sense in spanish).
It also works perfect to preach about the mighty wet shave and the advantages of the DE world (and B&B of course)

 

[joshua1970]

excellent Landri!! keep up the great work!

and Vlad, I'm starting to get questions about it - most everyone in the office has donated to boot! and I'm determined to convince the others to shortly!


1/2 way point - hard to believe!

 

[Landri]

11/15: I must confess that the Sheraton is really surprising me. I can get pretty mush BBS without the ATG pass.

11/16: third day with the Asco blade and still doing a nice job. I used some frankensoap today and just one pass for a DFS.

 

[Landri]

11/17 and 11/18: The same setup and result that I post on 11/16.
But now I got some pics:

 

[Vlad]

Hey, that's starting to look like a real mo!

 

[Landri]

11/19: Sheraton loaded with a fresh Supermax blade. Vulfix 404 and Tabac for a great lather.
Only one pass tonight, my face feels a little hot after a nice summer (ish) day.

 

[Landri]

(overwhelm by work)

11/20: The Sheraton took the place of the Slim as my daily shaver. It gives me a nice DFS in only two passes! So I decided to give my slim a break, tonight I'll let it soaking on soapy water to remove any gunk that may build on it.
The shave was great, the Supermax Blue Diamond Platinum is a really fine blade IMHO. Arko was my soap of choice and the Vulfix 404 the brush.
I've been noticed that the Vulfix is loosing hair on every shave, 2 or 3 at the time. Any of you experience this?

11/21: After an overnight soak I took the Slim and use an old toothbrush tho remove the gunk from the visible parts, then a good shake and dry with an old t-shirt; tonight is gonna rest on a dry place before I stored to give it a vacation.
The shaving setup and the result were the same that yesterday. And the Vulfix is still shedding...

11/22: Today the blade seems a little bit duller maybe it has reach it limit, but still isn't uncomfortable so I do the whole shave with the same blade. The Vulfix is still shedding this is been happening since I first got it (@ 1 year ago). The amount of hair that it has lost isn't interfere with the performance of the brush, I'm getting really worry now.
The Slim is dry now and before I put in it "vacation drawer" I put some sewing machine oil to make sure that all the moisture will be way of the mechanism and to remove any possible rust or gunk that may survive the water soaking.