PPPS: Patrick Pursues Perfect Shaves

[pdillon]

118/118 of 365 in 2022

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Henson Ti22+ with Personna Lab Blue (4)
Lucky Tiger

Superb shave today! After reading a little bit about how to lather DG I decided to give badgers another try, particularly the Fanchurian which has super soft tips (I believe they may be "gelled" due to how they clump together when dry). I shook out a lot of water but did not squeeze. Loaded pretty heavily then gave one dunk of the tips during lathering. I probably could have added more water, but still the results were very nice. I will continue experimenting with badgers, particularly this one! My face feels great. My neck is in relatively good shape and I think this was an excellent shave on the neck. I think I'm getting a sense of the trouble spots on my neck, and they seem to be decreasing in size if that makes sense. There is still some irritation but it is overall less. There did not seem to be much "glide" when I shaved my neck. I am hoping that if I can dial in the lather, get it slicker by adding more water, I hope that will make things much easier.

 

[pdillon]

119/119 of 365 in 2022

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Henson Ti22+ with Personna Lab Blue (5)
Lucky Tiger

Very nice and enjoyable Saturday night shave. Very different lather experience than yesterday with the same tools. Brush was not shook out as much, and lather initially seemed thin but I kept loading and building on the face and eventually it was a nice lather, foam was flying around but the lather never seemed to bulk up too much (which I like). I took it pretty easy today in terms of efficiency,normal 3 passes on face 2 on neck, but I was really trying to experiment with a super light touch. So there is quite a bit of beard leftover that I can feel. As long as I don't get irritation from this result (either from the shave or the growth) I am happy.

 

[pdillon]

120/120 of 365 in 2022

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Tatara Masamune with Feather (1)
Lucky Tiger

Nice shave today. Very smooth with absolutely no drama. Switched razors for first time in quiet a while. My Masamune and Henson AL13+ arrived in the same box. Over the past few weeks, I have been wondering if perhaps the mild Henson was the one and I should have held off on ordering the Masamune--perhaps even sell most of my other razors (which I plan on doing anyway). After today's shave not so fast, the Masamune really feels much nicer--I'm guessing smoothness--than the Henson. The Henson gives me the best results I have found yet in terms of efficiency without introducing any irritation. But I wonder if as my technique improves I will be able to get the results from other razors while maintaining no irritation. The Masamune today felt so much smoother, but the shave was nowhere near as close. Will plan on spending some more with the Masamune.

 

[Rosseforp]

The Masamune today felt so much smoother, but the shave was nowhere near as close. Will plan on spending some more with the Masamune.

Smooth is good. Go for comfort.

~doug~

 

[pdillon]

121/121 of 365 in 2022

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Tatara Masamune with Feather (2)
Lucky Tiger

Phenomenal lather today. I did three passes face and neck. Still trying to figure out the angle for the Masamune. Not quite getting enough efficiency for a BBS. The neck seemed pretty comfortable after the three passes. After my shower there appeared to be some irritation, but nothing major. Seems to be about the same level of irritation I've been having with the Henson.

 

[pdillon]

122/122 of 365 in 2022

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Tatara Masamune with Feather (3)
Lucky Tiger

Very nice but different lather than yesterday. Yesterday it went on thick and then I added water to it. Today when I took the brush to my face it was thin but I worked it into a lather and it still stayed low structure. Worked on the angle with the masamune, mostly going by feel and trying to maximize the blade feel, which is so low on this razor. Not sure if there is a better way. The results were improved efficiency. Still not BBS on the face, but nice. 2 passes on the neck, no major irritation or anything. Got a small nick on the mustache area, must have been careless when buffing.

 

[pdillon]

122/122 of 365 in 2022

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Tatara Masamune with Feather (4)
Lucky Tiger

Really nice shave. Same as yesterday except it seems like the shaves are getting closer. Getting closer to BBS on the face. Neck is looking generally good.

 

[pdillon]

I missed a couple of daily shaves due to traveling, forgetting my tuck of blades, & life in general.

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Blackbird SB with Feather (5)
Lucky Tiger

Was working with three days growth for the first time this year, and I debated between using my ikon new deluxe or the Timeless .95 sb (I don't have a timeless oc). When I poked my head in the closet, I decided to give the BB a spin.

It was a nice shave and the BB handled the growth well. I hear a lot of advice to use the bird at a steep angle but this seems to scrape a bit for me and is not smooth. I tried to keep a super light touch. The results are good, bbs in places but I was cautious so some areas are not as efficient as others.

 

[pdillon]

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Timeless Ti .68 Scalloped with Personna Lab (1)
Lucky Tiger

I love this razor. Returning to it after a long while and I love the smoothness and glide. Hopefully I can sustain using this without intrroducing irritation, as I prefer the experience to the Henson.

The GD lathet was amazing today. So slick!

 

[pdillon]

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Tatara Masamune with Personna Lab (2)
Lucky Tiger

Woah. Glad I decided to give this razor a try rather than going for another shave with the Timeless after that awesome shave. I seemed to really dial in the angle and, keeping it very consistent throughout the shave, and this seemed to be like a whole different razor. This is pretty close to BBS, although there were a few minor setbacks: I think I was using some pressure and the Masamune seems to give a sort of "dry skin" effect after having shaved off some of the skin I believe; also I was a bit too aggressive in the mustache area. These are all minor complaints and overall the shave was outstanding. The DG soap really impresses me with its slickness. I love just rubbing my face after shaving off the lather.

 

[pdillon]

Chisel & Hound Gentleman Fanchurian with DG After the Rain
Tatara Masamune with Personna Lab (3)
Lucky Tiger

Another wonderful shave with the Masamune.

 

[pdillon]

Checking back in. After 150 daily shaves this year, things went a bit off the rails. A few weeks back, my family took a car trip down to Philadelphia. I broke my daily shaving streak due to traveling late and then it turned out I forgot blades when I arrived.

But that was just the beginning, as my son tested positive for Covid shortly after we arrived so we had to turn around and drive back just a day or so after we arrived.

We all got Covid but everyone was fine. So the past two weeks have been a delicate balancing act of work and watching toddlers not allowed back to daycare.

I’ve only had a handful of shaves during this period and haven’t posted here.

Taking days off has been good for my skin.

I am continuing to love the combination of the Tatara Masamune, Persona Lab Blue, Declaration Grooming and a soft badger brush. Last night the Masamune had no trouble with several days growth, which is surprising for a mild razor. And the Declaration Grooming is so slick.

Also had a good shave with Charcoal Goods Level 2. So my preferences continue to shift and evolve but at least I am getting really good shaves. I hope to resume checking in regularly but I am doing well and getting good shaves in the meantime.

 

[thombrogan]

Here’s hoping your family is all better or will be soon.

 

[thombrogan]

Hoping residents of Casa de la Dillon are all in better health and your shaves have been gentle to your neck these past few months. Your journal entries have always been cool to read.

 

[pdillon]

Hoping residents of Casa de la Dillon are all in better health and your shaves have been gentle to your neck these past few months. Your journal entries have always been cool to read.

Thanks for checking in Thom! Everyone is good here. I am getting excellent shaves at the moment. I will try to get back on the train again with regular updates.

Right now my setup is the Tatara Masamune with Personna Lab blues and the soap of the moment is RR Dead Sea. The Masamune is blowing my mind and the only razor I have been using. I am generally shaving every other day which is a pretty good balance for me. But sometimes I am shaving every day and sometimes there are a few days in between.

I did not shave today but hopefully will shave tomorrow and give a check in.

 

[thombrogan]

Family doing well is the best. Having great shaves with a cool razor is very nice, too. Thank you for the update

 

[pdillon]

Mühle 23mm STF w/ RazoRock Dead Sea
Tatara Masamune SB w/ Personna Lab (?)
RR Dead Sea ASB followed by Philosykos

A rare morning shave: a bit rushed because the kids were already awake (so I reached for the synthetic) but a great shave. The Masamune SB is mild but handled a couple of days growth well. I am absolutely loving this razor. I am really enjoying experimenting with angle particularly I find that edging toward riding the cap or a neutral angle provides incredible smoothness. This razor is also the least irritating for me of any I have found. I shaved daily with it for at least a month a year or two ago and ended up selling it. I always thought of it as the one that got away and I am glad I gave it a second chance.

Dead Sea is a great soap and perfect for the warm weather. I am not certain it would go into the top tier for performance, but it definitely is pushing toward it. Considering value it is top tier. It takes me a while to dial in soaps, and I am still figuring out what works best with this.

The Dead Sea asb is the first alcohol splash I have used in a while. Not sure I would make a habit of it but it is nice to get the feedback.

 

[pdillon]

Paladin 2XL with RR Dead Sea
Blackbird with Perssona Lab (?)
RR Dead Sea AS

Huge departure from the norm delivered perhaps my best shave ever. I was sporting several day's growth so I needed to depart from the Masamune which I have been using exclusively for recent memory while shaving every 1-3 days. This was about 5 days... Monday morning to Friday night.

Very nice, slick lather. Soaked the brush, shook it out a bit and loaded heavily. the lather stayed low structure. I tried to load heavily, going back to the soap while building water and also dipping the tips multiple times.

The Blackbird and I have not fallen in love historically. I focused on a super light hand for the first pass, almost floating. That was a nice reduction. XTG applied more pressure, and basically used the top cap angle as a guide. I did two passes on my neck and three on the face. I can't say I have found comfortable shaves in the Blackbird but the results here were outstanding. I left a tiny bit of stubble under parts of the chin, but I could not see any irritation at all or any discomfort.

 

[pdillon]

Several (3, I believe) shaves since my last post. All with the Masamune, RR Dead Sea and Mühle STF: all good shaves. The only difference is that for one shave I used a Feather. It was nice but I prefer the Personna Lab. The combo really nails it for me, at least with 1-3 days’ growth. I think a fair amount of my inventory may be going on bst soon or whenever I can find the time.

Really phenomenal lather with the Dead Sea today and the synthetic. Really heavy load and a squeezed out brush resulted in a dense, slick lather. The scent is perfect for summer.