Shaving Diary and Question

[DJSneak]

I have been wet shaving with a Merkur 38c Barber Pole HD for about 2 months now. I started with the blade that was included with the Merkur and had about 6 great shaves with it. I changed the blade for one of the Lord's Platinums that I bought with my starter kit and had 2 decent shaves. The second shave was getting uncomfortable with the Lord's, so I changed it with another Lord's. The following 2 shaves were acceptable, but nothing like the first shaves with the Merkur blade. Aside from not getting the smoothest shaves out of the Lord's, I was starting to feel like a king (and still do) with the process and technique of wet shaving with a DE.

By that point, I started to become fairly involved in B&B and had read up on most of the stickied posts. My AD was starting to ramp up, but I was keeping it under wraps. I picked up a blade sample pack (ASTRA, BLUEBIRD, DERBY, FEATHER, Gillette 7 O'clock (Russian), KAI, TRIG, TREET, SUPERMAX (Platinum and Stainless), LORD (Platinum and Super Chrome), LORD S. Stainless, Shark S. Stainless, ASCO S. Stainless, BIGBEN S. Stainless, CROWN S. Stainless) from a friendly vendor on here. I have gotten through about half of the pack, mainly all of the Lord's, two Red IP blades and a Gillette 7'oclock SS (green package). I went ahead and bought way too many razors off the BST forums (some are gifts, in my defense).

I use Kyle's Prep method and I think my technique is very good for the short amount of time I have been doing this. I bowl lather, sometimes making a superlather with KMF and a shave puck. I take my time shaving, paying attention to both pressure and angle. I have a bit of trouble on my neck (no weepers, just not as smooth as I would like) which I attribute mostly to how thin I am. My neck has a lot of variation. My AS routine is Hot Water rinse-> Cold water rinse->Witch Hazel->Aqua Velva AS->Avalon Organics Lavender Daily Moisturizer.

Getting to the point of my post, I haven't found a blade that I am satisfied with yet. For lack of a better way to describe this, I love shaving now. I look forward to it, even if my shaves haven't been stellar. I am going to continue working through my sample pack as there are a few blades in there that come highly recommended that I haven't tried.

Here's my question: Should I find a blade I really like before trying out my 39c that is burning a hole on my bathroom counter? Any comments beyond this question are very welcome.

My regular arsenal:
38c Barber Pole
Vulfix Pure Badger VF4008
VDH kit Boar Brush
ClassicShaving.com Vanilla shave puck
Col. Conks Bay Rum shave puck
Kiss My Face lime shave cream (for superlather)
Thayer's Cucumber Aloe Witch Hazel
Aqua Velva AS
Avalon Organics Lavender Daily Moisturizer

My toys that I haven't used:
Merkur 37c and 39c (to see which I like better, then I'll put it back to the pasture for B&B BST)
Gillette Red Tip, Black handle, Slim Adj, and SS (2 of which are gifts)
C&E Best Badger Brush (#130291)
Bigelow shaving cream
Mama Bears soaps: Chocolate Mouse, Autumn Romance, Celestial (something)
QED Tangerine and Spearamint Shave Stick
C.O. Bigelow No. 1200 ASB

 

[Mink]

My advice is to not be resistant to try new things - but try to only change one thing at a time. If you change blade type, razor, soap, and razor pattern in one step, and it works, you won't know what caused the major improvement. I stayed with the same prep and soap for 10 shaves. I used the same blade in 2 different razors for 2 shaves each. Before I did anything for post shave, I carefully noted what went well, what seemed different, what needed to improve. Keep a shaving log. You will find that good results are possible from many different products, some products will just never work, and some products improve over time as your technique and knowledge of products improves. It's unlikely that this process will work for you, but hopefully it gives you an idea of how to approach it. Don't be surprised if things that seem to always work well don't sometimes. Figuring out what works best for you is a large part of the fun and accomplishment.

 

[Gruder]

I recommend that folks try each blade brand for a minimum of two weeks. A month is better. Too many variables can easily mask bad technique. Pick what's worked best so far and use nothing else for the next couple of weeks. I promise improvement.

Welcome!

 

[DJSneak]

Having a shave log is a great idea, I'll definitely start that up.

I hadn't considered using one type of blade for a long period of time. I have so much to get through, but I will slow down a bit and use a blade type at least twice before writing it off.

 

[Luc]

+1 to the above. Try it!

A bad blade in one razor might be fantastic in another razor. You know, YMMV

 

[JPM]

Take it for a test drive! I told myself I was going to stick to one razor for a couple months before I tried another one. Yeah, right! Now I've got six or so and I've tried them all.

 

[Mr. Imperial]

The nice thing is, unless you're seriously about to die, you're going to be shaving for the rest of your life. So there's really no hurry .

 

[DJSneak]

The nice thing is, unless you're seriously about to die, you're going to be shaving for the rest of your life. So there's really no hurry .

I'm sure I'm not the only one that is in a hurry to get the next shave in. It's funny that instead of feeling the daunting task of shaving coming on (3-4 days of not shaving), I can't wait for the next shave.

 

[WhosYerBob]

My advice is to not be resistant to try new things - but try to only change one thing at a time.

+1 Try just *one* thing new - then go back to your baseline to verify your findings. It takes time, but you'll be amply rewarded.