Michiganlover's Blade Sampling

[michiganlover]

Wednesday August 26th

2nd shave with Crystal in "Lord Merkur Tech"

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner
-Omega 49 in Red
-VDH Select
-Ogallala Bay Rum Limes and Peppercorns AS

This shave was about on par with yesterdays. Fairly smooth.

For reasons I can't fully explain, I seem to get far better results from face lathering VDH. The lather just seems richer that way. This isn't an issue, as face lathering is quite enjoyable.

Tomorrow will be the last day for my Bay Rum sample, as the bottle is nearly empty.

 

[michiganlover]

Thursday August 27th

3rd shave with Crystal in "Lord Merkur Tech"

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner
-Penworks Finest Badger
-TOBS St. James/ Real Shaving Company SC
-Ogallala Bay Rum Limes and Peppercorns AS

Still a very close, and comfortable shave with the Crystal blade. No real sign of it being dull, so it could probably go for a few more shaves. This looks like a good daily blade, although not nearly as smooth as the Gillette Green.

No nicks!

Today I finished off my samples of TOBS St. James, and Ogallala Bay Rum.

Tomorrow will be Crystal/Red Tip Superspeed.

 

[michiganlover]

Friday August 28th

1st shave with Crystal in Red Tip

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner
-Penworks Finest Badger
-Susie's Bubbles Bay Rum
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB

I love my red tip!!

This was a close, comfortable shave. One minor nick. The Crystal shaved fairly smooth. Not the best blade that I have tried, but you can certainly do way worse (Merkur anyone?).

The Susie's Bay Rum seems to produce a mild burning sensation on my face. I don't get this with other products.

I am also discovering that I seem to have better luck lately face lathering soaps. If I bowl lather the water/soap ratio is off upon applying to my face. Likely because I start off every pass with a warm water rinse.

Take care, and have a great weekend!

 

[michiganlover]

Saturday August 29th

Decided to try out my Gem G Bar with a two shave old Ted Pella today.

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner
-Omega 49 boar in red
-AOS Lemon SC/ Krissy's #15
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB

My newest Gem edition came in the mail earlier this week, and I was itching to try it out.

The shave was wonderful, with only a few small weepers, and a little irritation on the very bottom of my neck, underneath the adams apple.

I have been trying unsuccessfully a few times this week to get an acceptable lather out of Krissy's #15 tallow based soap (Krissy was kind enough to send me some samples with my clay order).

My lather skills probably need much improvement, so I just decided to super lather the soap with my AOS Lemon, the results were quite pleasant.

Alright I am off to check if a local Indian Grocery got a restock of Godrej in; a local source for this would be amazing!!

Enjoy your weekend!

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Sunday August 30th

Another round with my Gem G Bar this time with a brand new Wal-Greens Gem blade.

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner
-Penworks Finest Badger
-Susie's Bubbles Bay Rum
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB

Another wonderful Gem shave, with no major nicks. It's been quite a few days since I have nicked open the bump on my upper lip, that exists from a childhood scar.

I have almost always nicked this open with my Gems in the past, due to the # of passes, and different angles required to get a close shave on my upper lip.

The Susie's Bubbles Bay Rum is still causing a mild burning sensation when I use it, but I am too frugal to simply throw it out.

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Alright I am off to check if a local Indian Grocery got a restock of Godrej in; a local source for this would be amazing!!

Forgot to update you all on the search for the elusive Godrej at the local Indian market.

I popped in there last week, and he said he would go shopping the next Tuesday, and would likely have it in stock then. I checked back this Saturday, and it still wasn't in stock.

He said he was going to his supplier on Tuesday, and would see what he could do. He said he would set it aside for me, if he got it in, so that is a good sign.

He did have Godrej hair coloring, so I have my hopes that he can get me some Godrej. Not that I NEED more shaving cream, but I am not going to pass up high quality supplies available locally.

 

[Gruder]

I need to try a gem one of these days. Congrats on 1k posts, BTW!

 

[michiganlover]

I need to try a gem one of these days. Congrats on 1k posts, BTW!

Thanks!!

You should try a Gem, they are wonderful, and perhaps even a better shave than any of my DE's razors.

 

[michiganlover]

I am committing to doing a week long test of Williams Mug Soap, so my blade sampling for the coming week will be found in this thread instead:

A Week of Williams!

 

[michiganlover]

Sunday September 6th. Day 7 (final day) of the Week of Williams

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Omega 49 boar in Red
-Williams Mug Soap/ KMF Unscented
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-"Lord Merkur Tech" with new Shark Super Chrome

The Shave:

Overall a very nice quality shave. The Sharks for me feel no different than the Crystals I had been using. This isn't a bad thing, as the Crystals were a decent enough blade, just not the "Oh Wow" results the board has raved about.

No nicks today at all!! Yee Haa!!

Day two of the Williams/KMF combo further cements it for me: this combo is vastly superior to Williams by itself.

However, I am not sure (from an economics standpoint) why I would bother with this, beyond the fact that both products are available locally.

The Williams is $1.30 per puck, and the KMF $5.69.

For 6.99, I could buy quite a few other products, many of which would probably smell better too.

For $2.00 more, I could buy the big tube of Proraso.

And in fact for $2.00 less, I could buy a tube of "Real Shaving Company" Shaving Cream, which performs equally to TOBS.

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Monday September 7th.

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-AOS Lemon SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-"Lord Merkur Tech" with 1 shave old Shark Super Chrome

The Shave:

After coming off of "The Week of Williams", I wanted to use a product that performed at the top of it's class, hence the AOS Lemon SC; Williams is barely passable in my opinion.

I also had went North on Sunday, for the annual Labor Day Mackinaw Bridge Walk, so I had almost a two day growth to shave through this evening, as I opted to not attempt shaving at the campground.

The Shark seemed to be really pulling on pass one, due to the extra day of growth. After that, it really didn't seem to be cutting well at all, especially on my upper lip.

I finally admitted defeat, and finished off my upper lip with my Gem G Bar.

Overall, the Shark gave me a pretty nice shave, with no irritation, and no nicks, it just seemed somewhat on the dull side.

Tomorrow will start a new Shark blade in my Redtip.

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Tuesday September 8th.

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-AOS Lemon SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Red Tip Superspeed with new Shark Super Chrome

The Shave:

Since I had shaved my two day old growth off the night before, I really only did a one pass shave this morning, just enough to touch up any stubble that had grown back.

The Shark seemed a whole lot more smooth in my Red Tip, but tomorrow will tell the full story, when I do a standard 3 pass shave.

Still I am not at this point hugely impressed by the Sharks, and they are probably a brand I would not purchase again.

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Wednesday September 9th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-AOS Lemon SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Red Tip Superspeed with 1shave old Shark Super Chrome

The Shave:

Overall, a very close, comfortable shave. I did WTG, WTG, XTG, with minor touch ups to my upper lip. Somehow it was not necessary to perform my blade buffering on my left lower neck, which is the first time that has ever happened.

The Shark seems to still be performing ok, but not as smooth as some other blades. Not a horrible blade by any means, but not my favorite either.

Tomorrow will start a Shark in my Slim Adjustable.

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Thursday September 10th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-Susie's Bubbles Bay Rum
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Slim Adjustable with new Shark Super Chrome

The Shave:

I am never failed to be impressed with my Slim Adjustable. It seems to give the smoothest shave of any of my DE razors. Sometimes I can barely feel the blade!

The Shark performed extremely well today, and I received no nicks, and what feels like no irritation.

The Bay Rum fragrance always seems to cause a mild burning sensation on my face, so I will likely move on to a different Susie's scent to try out (I bought 6 of the 1/2 puck size samplers, and still have 3 to try out; I gave two away in newbie kits).

~John~

 

[Tetractys]

Excellent thread sir, and thank you very much for the detailed information! I look forward to comparing results once I acquire a sampler pack of blades.

 

[michiganlover]

Friday September 11th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-VDH Select
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Slim Adjustable with 1 shave old Shark Super Chrome

The Shave:

Overall, a very nice shave. No nicks, weepers, or cuts!! Woo Hoo!!

I think I am going to go an extra day with the Shark in the Slim Adjustable. It still seems to be cutting pretty well.

My upper lip is not as irritated today, which is certainly a very good thing. It had a couple of whiteheads, perhaps from my inadequate lather from the "Week of Williams".

Have a great weekend,

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Saturday September 12th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-Florena SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-"Lord Merkur Tech" with new Astra Superior Stainless blade.

The Shave:

Not sure why, but I have been unable to detect any difference in the last few blades I have sampled. The Sharks, feel very much the same as the Astra's I tried out today. Maybe I am just a person who is blessed, and able to use a whole bunch of different blades.

Thus far the "Gillette Seven O'Clock Super Stainless" (Russian Greens) have been the smoothest, but other than those, most blades have felt similar (with the exception of Lord Super Stainless, and the Wal-Mart Personna's. OUCH!!).

Today's shave was fairly smooth, but I did get one pretty good weeper near my Adam's apple, not the blade, or razors fault, just my carelessness.

I purchased a lot of shaving creams off of the B/S/T, and it came with a nice size sample of "Florena", which whipped up into a very luxurious lather. It has a mild pleasant smell, but not a scent to really rave about.

Enjoy your weekend,

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Sunday September 13th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-C.O. Bigelow SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Gillette Old with 1shave old Astra Superior Stainless blade.

The Shave:

I have a Gillette Old, and a New I acquired about a month back, that I had not yet tried out.

Decided to give the Old a whirl today. The old provided a very smooth, and very close shave. Just one minor nick. The shave with the old was pretty close to incredible. It's an awesome feeling to know I am shaving with something made at the turn of the century.

The Astra in the Old was also a very nice combo.

I have joined the "Week of Mentholated Products" (see here: Anyone Up for a week of Metholated Products?), so I will be shaving with nothing but C.O. Bigelow for the next six days.

Considering that Proraso/C.O. Bigelow is a top quality product, this will be nothing like the sacrifice I made for the "Week of Williams".

I love the cooling feeling of Proraso!!

 

[michiganlover]

Monday September 14th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-C.O. Bigelow SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Gillette New with 2 shave old Astra Superior Stainless blade.

The Shave:

So I acquired a short comb Gillette New a few months ago, and decided I was ready today to take it for a test drive. It shaved about the same as the Old from yesterday, which is to say it gave an excellent shave. The Astra blade is still performing perfectly as well.

I really love the cooling effect of Proraso!! WooHoo!!

The Open Comb design allows you to instantly know when your angle is off, and apparently I am still improving in that area, as "tracks" were left behind initially in some areas.

Tomorrow will start a new Astra blade in my Red Tip Superspeed.

~John~

 

[michiganlover]

Tuesday September 15th

The Setup:

-Dove conditioner (as pre-prep)
-Penworks Finest Badger
-C.O. Bigelow SC
-C.O. Bigelow Elixir Red ASB
-Gillette Red Tip Superspeed with new Astra Superior Stainless blade.

The Shave:

Excellent high quality shave today from my Red Tip. It seems to perform well with every blade I put into it. No nicks today, and a minimal amount of irritation on my lower neck (there is almost always some irritation there).

Still totally loving the cooling effect of the Proraso!! Woot!!

P.S. I should go back, and look, but it has been quite a while since I have nicked that bump on my lip from a childhood scar. I think I am improving, and getting better at this game!!