The Quest: DFS + 0 Irritation or Ingrown Hairs

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Had a fantastic shave last night with the RazoRock Black Hawk V2 and a Proline. I hadn't had that good of a shave with either until then.

Razor: RazoRock Black Hawk V2
Blade: Schick Proline P-30 (maybe 4th use?)
Brush: Stirling Pro Synthetic
Pre-shave, Shave Soap, Aftershave: Cella

I did my normal two passes, then added some touch ups. I did notice that this setup struggled on and under my chin, exactly where the V1 had trouble. Not nearly as much trouble as the V1, but more than any of my injectors. WTG first pass went well, more efficient than the V1. Second pass most more ATG than XTG, except in my usual trouble areas. Those I knew would need a touchup, so I left them alone. The touchup went well except under the chin where I just couldn't smooth it so decided to call it a day.

Thayer's went on, then applied undiluted Cella after the Thayer's had dried down some. Almost no burn. No weepers anywhere. Completely different shave from the last time I tried it out this fall. Definitely a "good enough" razor for me to keep it around, unlike the V1. What was the difference? I am not entirely certain, but I definitely tried to not feel any blade and favor the cap far more than I ever did before. That might have been it. Or I might have finally figured out the correct pressure with the razor. Whatever it was, I got a fantastic shave.

$30? This razor was $30? All aluminum, sure, but that is likely to last longer than the Zamak razors that corrode as soon as they are exposed to water (when their plating breaks down). I had to refresh my memory, but aluminum corrodes via an oxidation process that supposedly can protect the aluminum from further corrosion. Not a bad metal to make a razor out of, truth be told, although it comes out a bit lighter than you'd expect. Much better razor than the DE89 I purchased first. Price was almost identical.

I'll have to figure out where this razor ends up in comparison to my other razors later, but I think it'll be one I use for a week or two at a time.

Nice.

Interesting how the razor improved while sitting in a drawer for a few months. Some of mine get worse sitting around like that.

This is going to be available in SS, pretty soon, right? Would you suggest the SS or the aluminum?

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Johnnynroy]

Nice.

Interesting how the razor improved while sitting in a drawer for a few months. Some of mine get worse sitting around like that.

This is going to be available in SS, pretty soon, right? Would you suggest the SS or the aluminum?

Happy shaves,

Jim

Depends on the weight of the SS. I just shaved with the General in SS. Much more careful shave. Same blade from the RR yesterday. The weight difference between the two is significant. I will probably keep the General for now and try to learn it over time, as any regret would cost be double to repurchase, but it didn’t wow me like the Hawk did last night. I think a lot of the Hawk’s appeal was the nimbleness, and ease of shave. It felt a lot like my injectors. The weight did cause it to struggle in my trouble spots, however. So a V2 Hawk in SS that weighs about 70-80 grams I would say is ideal and to snatch that up. A 100+ gram Hawk I would guess to shave about like the General in SS. My vote is on the surefire thing, an aluminum Hawk V2. They have an electric blue one out right now too lol.

I’ll post more on my General shave tomorrow. But you have the rough idea of how it went. Not great, but pretty well. I would have been very happy with this back in January.

Oh, and the SOC seems to be breaking in nicely so far. This is after my shave tonight so still damp:

Softer than my previous boars already with hardly any scritch. But that’s after bowl lathering so not as easy to judge scritch. So far, I like it!

 

[Tokyospike]

What was the difference? I am not entirely certain, but I definitely tried to not feel any blade and favor the cap far more than I ever did before.

That was definitely a difference-maker for me. When I switched from a DE to an AC, I had a lot of trouble until I went as shallow as possible and worked on keeping that angle with a light touch everywhere. Also, by the fourth shave the Proline is, for me, the perfect blade, and pretty much stays that way for another 6 to 10 shaves.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Depends on the weight of the SS. I just shaved with the General in SS. Much more careful shave. Same blade from the RR yesterday. The weight difference between the two is significant. I will probably keep the General for now and try to learn it over time, as any regret would cost be double to repurchase, but it didn’t wow me like the Hawk did last night. I think a lot of the Hawk’s appeal was the nimbleness, and ease of shave. It felt a lot like my injectors. The weight did cause it to struggle in my trouble spots, however. So a V2 Hawk in SS that weighs about 70-80 grams I would say is ideal and to snatch that up. A 100+ gram Hawk I would guess to shave about like the General in SS. My vote is on the surefire thing, an aluminum Hawk V2. They have an electric blue one out right now too lol.

I’ll post more on my General shave tomorrow. But you have the rough idea of how it went. Not great, but pretty well. I would have been very happy with this back in January.

Oh, and the SOC seems to be breaking in nicely so far. This is after my shave tonight so still damp:

Softer than my previous boars already with hardly any scritch. But that’s after bowl lathering so not as easy to judge scritch. So far, I like it!

The SOC brush is coming along well. It will get much better, but be slow is getting there. Daily or every other day soaks and towel dries will really help it move along, on days when you're not using it. In a few months you will be amazed if your brush goes like mine has. The Semogue SOC boar is a very interesting beast of a brush.

I don't know that I want another AC razor, but I'm going to consider it after these reports.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Johnnynroy]

Razor: Colonial General in Stainless Steel
Blade: Schick Proline P-30 (5th use?)
Brush: Semogue Owner's Club
Pre-shave, Shave Soap: Cella
Aftershave: Fine Platinum

2 passes plus a touchup pass. Going to start with what I noticed today: my whiskers came in much later than they do with my injectors or with the RR Black Hawk V2. Same Proline blade that was in the RR the night before. But I got to the SAS area around 6 PM. I usually get to my SAS level somewhere between 10 AM and 12 PM. So this shave was significantly closer/longer lasting than my normal shave. I still wouldn't be able to fully shave every other day with this combination.

WTG pass went relatively well, but I had to be very careful with the General compared to the RR or the injectors. More whiskers mowed down than the Hawk. Hybrid XTG/ATG pass much more difficult with the weight of this razor, especially considering the sideways growth direction on my neck. I ended up not smoothing a few areas on my jawline due to the lack of maneuverability. The Proline is definitely still sharp, as was evidenced by a few weepers that sprang up. Ended up needing to styptic them with this shave.

Very good DFS to DFS+, just like with the Hawk. Might have even been a BBS in a lot of places. The Fine Platinum aftershave had a bit more burn than usual, and my face was sore this morning. That luckily has calmed down so I'll be able to shave again tonight. I don't always feel up to shaving following a General shave.

I rode the cap as much as possible, but found the most comfortable angle about 1 degree from being blade not cutting at all. The Hawk has a few more effective angles for me that offer the same amount of comfort. As I've mentioned several times, the General is also less maneuverable which is an very important aspect of shaving to me with the weird angles my neck whiskers grow. I could definitely get more used to the General, but I'm not actually certain it could become a daily driver. Unfortunately, replacing the General would take $100 now, while I only paid $50. I'll keep it around for now and try to learn it over time. I don't know that it has a place in any kind of rotation for me, but it could be a pre-24+ hour shift razor. That seems the most likely use for it as of now. I'll move it and see what I think in a few months. It makes the cut to follow along, but just barely.

The SOC performed quite well. I'll try to post up a picture of it dry in another day or two, as it has far more split hairs than that damp picture in my previous post showed. Quite excited to see what it is like in another few months. Lots of backbone and scrub, and I think it's going to really soften up a lot (it's already softer than my other boars after only a handful of shaves). Enjoy the shaves all!

 

[Tokyospike]

This shave was significantly closer/longer lasting than my normal shave. I still wouldn't be able to fully shave every other day with this combination.

I know the feeling. Somewhere around last December, as I was re-testing the blades that had been the best for me (and coming up on a year and a half of traditional shaving), I started regularly getting shaves that would let me shave every other day, like Mike. I did that for a while. But now, I am down to 2 passes (WTG/ATG) and light touch-ups on my neck . . . which gives me BBS/DFS+, but also just enough growth 24 hours later that I get to shave again . . .

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Good luck with everything move related, Joel. I know moving is a real pain. I suppose most people hate it like we do. But, at least you're moving for a reason, and to a place you picked for a good reason.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Johnnynroy]

I know the feeling. Somewhere around last December, as I was re-testing the blades that had been the best for me (and coming up on a year and a half of traditional shaving), I started regularly getting shaves that would let me shave every other day, like Mike. I did that for a while. But now, I am down to 2 passes (WTG/ATG) and light touch-ups on my neck . . . which gives me BBS/DFS+, but also just enough growth 24 hours later that I get to shave again . . .

Unfortunately, the shaves weren't close enough to go a second day without shaving. Perhaps if I shaved in the morning, but the General shaved me closer than the Hawk V2 but caused serious irritation doing it. I wouldn't enjoy going to work with my face as sore as it is following a shave with the General. The Hawk wouldn't get me close enough to get away with not shaving on the second day.

I had a shave last night that made me question whether I truly value slickness above all other areas of a lather. See Grant's agitation thread and my most recent post (linked here) for a bit more explanation.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

If you can, try the SS General with a Kai Mild Pink. That blade tames the razor down a bit and still very efficient and comfortable for me.

 

[Johnnynroy]

If you can, try the SS General with a Kai Mild Pink. That blade tames the razor down a bit and still very efficient and comfortable for me.

Thanks for the tip! I didn't find the Kai Pinks any less aggressive of a shave when I had used them in the past, unfortunately. I don't remember if I ever used a Feather Pro in it, but I recall that being a more tuggy blade than the Kai Pinks.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

Thanks for the tip! I didn't find the Kai Pinks any less aggressive of a shave when I had used them in the past, unfortunately. I don't remember if I ever used a Feather Pro in it, but I recall that being a more tuggy blade than the Kai Pinks.

They pull a tiny bit for me, but for me it’s after the shave that matters and my face feels so smooth and irritation free it felt like magic.

 

[Johnnynroy]

Whew, been awhile since my last post. Lots to catch up on here. I did a Fixed Four for just under 3 weeks (19 or 20 shaves I think).

Razor: Schick Type M-3 “The Protector” Injector razor
Blade: Japanese Schick II Twin blade
Soap: RazoRock The Stallion
Brush: Stirling Lil Brudder Synthetic Brush
Aftershave: RazoRock The Stallion and Thayer’s cucumber witch hazel toner

Absolutely great shaves with this setup. I started bullfrogging my neck (completely relaxing the skin by tilting my chin down, essentially an exaggerated double chin effect) without doing much stretching of the neck skin during the F4. That helped me nearly eliminate weepers and irritation on my neck, except when I've been getting acne breakouts (turns out fast food and lots of dairy has a tendency to cause breakouts, who woulda thunk?). I stopped the F4 early because I had a few razors staring at me: a Personna Floating Head razor (the blue one) and a GEM 1912. Both have given me excellent shaves.

The GEM 1912 is smoother than the GEM Junior I used to own, which I don't fully understand. I only have one shave with it, but I kept falling into the injector angle (head angle about 5-10 degrees off the flush with the skin) instead of totally flush with the skin. I think I was trying to feel the blade, which these razors do not need to be efficient. I only have 3 blades left, so I won't be returning to it right away.

The Personna Floating Head (PFH) came with a few vintage Personna Twin blades, so I decided to use one. I think these are sharper and less smooth than my normal Japanese Schick Twin blades. I'm over 12 hours out from my shave this morning and still DFS on my cheeks and many areas on my neck (minimum CCS everywhere). I've been getting more weepers with the PFH, but as I mentioned above, I've been having acne breakouts so these get planed off easily. No nicks or cuts, and irritation is at a minimum.

Oh, I've been using the Clubman Dab-On Nick Relief instead of the styptic pencil. So much better. My skin irritates easily, so I'm glad I tried out the other Clubman product. The styptic always made my neck red in that area.

I switched my soap/aftershave combo a few times after switching razors too. I went back to my Stirling Bay Rum with Captain's Choice Sandalwood aftershave. The CC aftershave hasn't been making me wince when I apply it lately. Better technique? Less dry outside? Who knows, but I'm loving it! The Stirling Bay Rum is excellent soap. Still has a sweet undertone, so likely need to leave it open to air again. I can't complain as it is the only Stirling that hasn't irritated my skin, and I love their base too much to not have any of their soaps. If it didn't irritate my skin, I likely wouldn't use any other soaps. They hit the right slickness, cushion, and post-shave for me, coupled with a price point that is unbeatable. Why can't my skin just cooperate?!

This morning I tried the CC Sandalwood soap again. I squeezed all of the water out of my synthetic brush, loaded very heavily, then tried bowl lathering. A few drops of water after about a minute and I blew out the lather. Not fully blown out like usual, but no matter how much I worked it the bubbles wouldn't disappear or shrink. Added a little Proraso Green cream to the brush for the second pass and it absorbed all the excess water easily. Second pass was much better for me. I am leaving the soap open to totally air dry tonight, my thought being that maybe I've added water to the soap over time and there is too much in there now. I have been reading how so many gents love this soap and how water stable it is for them, so it must either be me or my container. I do recall having issues with the Sandalwood cream sample I had, so maybe it is that scent specifically that I can't lather? Anyone have other ideas or suggestions? Maybe I need to just face lather this soap instead of trying to bowl lather it? I'm trying to make it work for me, as I love this scent. My favorite Sandalwood by far. I'll probably add some GFT coconut cream next time as the Proraso Green overpowered the CC scent.

A lot of great shaves, some amazing new razors, and enjoying all of my recent setups. More experimenting to do, but things are looking up again. I need to stop eating like crap and my skin should settle down, which will make everything better.

Enjoy the shaves everyone!

 

[Tokyospike]

Welcome back! Glad everyone survived the move. Not sure what's happening with the sandalwood soap, but I suspect you'll work it out.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I don't know if it helps, but I've taken to leaving all of my soaps uncovered for the 24 hours (overnight) following my morning shaves. If it's good for MdC...

 

[Johnnynroy]

Welcome back! Glad everyone survived the move. Not sure what's happening with the sandalwood soap, but I suspect you'll work it out.

I probably should mention that I haven’t actually gotten a decent lather from it since it arrived back in December. I feel like it definitely is something I’m doing m, and is unlikely to be the soap itself. I just want to cover my bases in case it isn’t actually me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Johnnynroy]

Welcome back! Glad everyone survived the move. Not sure what's happening with the sandalwood soap, but I suspect you'll work it out.

The issue with the Sandalwood is why I asked about Bay Rums in your Blade Thread, Spike. I am very hesitant to buy another soap that has the same level of performance, because it is on my borderline of going into the trashcan. I've only thrown out one soap: Crabtree & Evelyn Seville. I had a wooden bowl of the *** formula that wouldn't lather for anything. I received it as a gift many years ago with a *** Kingsley Pure badger 19 mm brush. Between those two items, I did manage to get through most of the C&E puck (it just took me about 5 years of sporadic use). When I decided to fully commit to wet shaving last summer, I tried to get it to lather like any of my other products and couldn't. I gave it another half dozen attempts, then binned the soap. The bowl now stores my Haslinger. I'm not saying that this Sandalwood soap is to that level of unlatherable. It is so inconsistent and easily broken, though, that I'm nearly as frustrated with it as I was with the C&E. I actually can't use it on consecutive days (a horrible option for a F4 for me) because of how much irritation I get using it. It dries out on my face and doesn't seem to provide any slickness benefit to go with the complete absence of cushion. I thought I was close yesterday, but just adding 3 or 4 more drops of water took the lather from decent but not hydrated enough, to somewhat broken and air filled. I just don't understand how my use of it can be so different from everyone else out there! /end rant

If I hadn't paid full price for it (I have lots of expensive soaps/creams, but I got them all secondhand) and if I didn't love the scent as much as I do, I would have binned or PIFed it long ago. I would never sell this to anyone. I've avoided talking about the product by name on the open forum for several months as I really appreciate the vendor and I enjoy all of his other products. But lord this soap is bad, and I need some help figuring it out. Either that or I just suck at lathering it. Considering I enjoy RazoRock soaps (lots of people don't), I'm inclined to think it may not be me. I'll give it another try over the weekend once it has fully dried out, and add one drop of water at a time. I hate using a soap that is that picky about water. My synthetic brush the other day was fully wrung out, including me squeezing the tips. Normally that makes the brush so dry I actually have to add a couple drops of water onto the puck to load the brush, but it loaded well. My Stirling Bay Rum I can't seem to break, even when I accidentally dump 30 or 40 drops of water in at a time. I know Mike @Esox has the exact opposite experience with these soaps. Here's hoping I figure things out an the issue was me the whole time.

 

[ShavePastor]

My Stirling Bay Rum I can't seem to break, even when I accidentally dump 30 or 40 drops of water in at a time. I know Mike @Esox has the exact opposite experience with these soaps

I agree Joel! In my experience, Stirling can take as much water as you throw at it. I have never reached a point with Stirling where I thought I should be careful lest one more drop of water would ruin the Stirling lather. But that's just my experience. I have 4 Stirling tubs & had a few samples. All were very consistent. Sorry didn't mean to derail.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Joel, just being sure here. I think your soap, the one giving you severe problems, is a Captain's Choice soap, right?

I wouldn't say I love CC soaps. The only one I have is North. I absolutely love its scent.
I have the North splash and balm, too, and they're not even close to as good smelling to my nose as the soap.

Other than the scent, I don't consider my CC North to be a particularly top level soap. There are a good many better performing soaps in my stash, but, still, I think CC North is a decent performer, and it lathers fine.

I suspect you got a dud.

I know what I'd do with it.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Johnnynroy]

Joel, just being sure here. I think your soap, the one giving you severe problems, is a Captain's Choice soap, right?

I wouldn't say I love CC soaps. The only one I have is North. I absolutely love its scent.
I have the North splash and balm, too, and they're not even close to as good smelling to my nose as the soap.

Other than the scent, I don't consider my CC North to be a particularly top level soap. There are a good many better performing soaps in my stash, but, still, I think CC North is a decent performer, and it lathers fine.

I suspect you got a dud.

I know what I'd do with it.

Happy shaves,

Jim

The company is correct Jim. I think you’re correct on the dud. When I first got it, my lathers weren’t all that great and I wasn’t using very good soaps. I didn’t know any better and rather than contact the proprietor, I chalked it up to me. Since I paid full price, I really want it to work. It wasn’t really a cheap soap. I also want to make certain I know what to do if I run into a similar issue again (I could see it happening with Stone Cottage for example).

I just had another thought to try out: I could add some glycerin to the lather! I haven’t found my bottle yet, but I think that could be the ticket. The glycerin, in theory, would hold the water in and make the lather more stable. I wouldn’t have to worry as much about the amount I added then.

@ShavePastor: I love Stirling, no worries on derailing. I love the back and forth conversation so the more the merrier! I will probably snag a few more samples from them. You know what, I’m just going to PM you quick as I had an idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tokyospike]

I have to agree that Stirling soap is as close to foolproof as anything in this hobby/obsession. If someone were to ask me what soap(s) to start with, I would point them to Stirling - bulletproof soap in dozens of fragrances.