Tuck at a Time (TaaT)

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 07/30/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .84-P
Blade: Shark Platinum (2)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Hive 24
Aftershave: Clubman Whiskey Woods
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Doppelganger shave! Identical shave to the last one I had with this setup. Ultra smooth and plenty close and oh so near a BBS. All the components of this shave worked just like they were supposed to. Great shave!

 

[Hawkweber]

Start tuck - Gillette 7 o'clock Super Platinum (Black)

I was going to move on to Treet Dura Sharp, but @JCinPA had a PIF for a tuck of these and I felt that I should use these now and report out. So, I should have a report in 15 days.

 

[m949]

Pre-shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerine
Razor: DSC AX Ti 1.55 on Pioneer Ti handle
Blade: Astra SP (4/5) (2)
Brush: ARNO Manchurian 2-band badger, Jade Palace
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Smoking Monster - Phoenix Mountain Pomelo Blossom Dan Cong (tallow)
Aftershave: Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve (decanted)
Aftercare: Thayers Witch Hazel Unscented / Aloe Vera Gel
Extrait de Parfum: Afnan - Supremacy in Oud

Outstanding shave with the Astra in the AX Ti 1.55. That was one of the best shaves I had with these blades and it's a good match with this razor. No irritation, no nicks, no weepers. DFS+ in two passes WTG without any of my usual buffing. Very, very good shave today.

This was the second use of this Astra SP and it went into the bin today. One more blade to go and we'll start with a new tuck next Monday. What will it be? We shall see next week.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 07/31/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .84-P
Blade: Shark Platinum (3)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Hive 24
Aftershave: Clubman Lustray Blue Spice
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Ditto shave! Another great shave by this combination. No sign of the blade slowing down and no indication of irritation. Nice and smooth just the way it is supposed to be.

Blade is running out! This weekend the tuck will be done and a new one will be opened! Exciting times, exciting times. I think I will break my scheduled lineup of blades and go for a tuck of Dorco Primes.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 08/01/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .84-P
Blade: Shark Platinum (4)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Hive 24
Aftershave: Clubman Citrus Musk
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
The shaving bliss saga of this week continues. Another fantastic shave. Plenty close and without any irritation.

 

[m949]

Pre-shave: cold water splash
Razor: Yaqi Mellon / DSC ZOC hybrid SLOC, Destroyer Ti handle
Blade: Astra SP (5/5) (1)
Brush: Mühle Purist Silvertip Badger, Ebonite handle
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Cream: Speick Shaving Cream
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann - Seville Splash
Aftercare: Aloe Vera Gel
EdP: Creed - Himalaya

We're on the home stretch with the Astra SP. Today I loaded the last blade of this tuck into the Mellon / ZOC hybrid; top caps and base plates of the Yaqi Mellon (zamak) and the DSC ZOC are interchangeable; here we have the Mellon cap on the ZOC plate.

This was a very smooth shave with a good DFS result in two passes WTG with only two touchups. I love the SLOC concept as it provides continuous lubrication throughout the shave. The Astra blade is doing very well in all the razors I have tried it in. We'll go a bit more aggressive tomorrow for the finale of this tuck in the Mühle Rocca R95.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 08/02/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .84-P
Blade: Shark Platinum (5)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Hive 24
Aftershave: Clubman Jeris Osage Rub
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Perfectly boring shave! Well actually that is a good thing. It means that it is just like the last one and just like the one before that. Consistency is the most important to me and this certainly did not disappoint. Super close, no irritation and oh so close the BBS. What more could you ask for?

Only one shave left on this blade and tuck and it will be wrapped up with the Shark Platinum. This blade has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. It works really well in some razors, but in others it has struggled a bit. However, overall I would say it is a solid performing blade that has no problem for a weeks worth of shaves for each blade. I would say that this blade benefits from a medium, upper medium razor. This is where it really shined for me. Even in aggressive razors like the R41 it was a good blade.

 

[m949]

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Pre-shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerine
Razor: Mühle Rocca R95
Blade: Astra SP (5/5) (2)
Brush: Maseto Synthetic
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Mühle Sandalwood soap
Aftershave: POLA Galantom II after shave lotion
EdT: Zino Davidoff

Tuck completed.

Today's shave concludes the Astra SP adventure with a lovely DFS shave in the Rocca R95. Overall the Astra blades seem to be okay blades, results were consistently DFS and higher.

Apart from shaving performance which was quite good, the only thing I did not like were the persistent wax dots which even on a second use wouldn't entirely melt away. Most blades have less wax on them and those dots would be gone after the first shave. The Astra was the first blade I tried which simply had too much wax on them. This became quite annoying after a while, and is the reason that Astra SP's won't make the cut for a 100 blade purchase.

A new tuck awaits on Monday and as it is a 10 blade tuck, I'll go "one and done" in one go.

 

[m949]

Monday, August 5, 2024

Pre-shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerine
Razor: Mühle R89 Traditional Rosegold
Blade: Personna Platinum (1/10)
Brush: Mühle Purist Silvertip Badger Ebonite
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Barrister and Mann - Fougère Classique (sample)
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann - Seville Aftershave Splash
Aftercare: La Roche-Posay - Cicaplast Baume B5
EdP: Byredo - Rose of No Man's Land

New month, new week, new tuck. First use of a Personna Platinum plate in my first and my mildest DE razor, the Mühle R89. First impressions are already good, no wax dots on the blade.

The Personna Platinum seems to be a mild blade but has some sharpness to it. It performed quite well without tugging and provided a good DFS in the R89. It will of course have to stand up to these results with subsequent shaves in a bit more aggressive razors.

As this is a 10 blade tuck, each blade will be used once and then binned. The tuck will be completed by August 26.

 

[blethenstrom]

Evening Shave - 08/03/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .84-P
Blade: Shark Platinum (6)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Hive 24
Aftershave: Brut After Shave
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Very consistent week worth of shaves with this blade. It works very well in the RR GC .84-P. Just like the other shaves this week it was smooth as can be and plenty close. No complaints.

Evening Shave - 08/04/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .68-P
Blade: Dorco Prime (1)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: Omega 10065 Boar
Aftershave: Clubman Pinaud
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9/10 (DFS+)
Shave Rating: 9.5/10
Went back to the RR GC .68-P to kick off this new tuck and it while it was a smooth shave it was not as close of a shave as the .84, but I suppose that that should be no surprise. Still it was a very respectable and pleasant shave. No issues. Certainly a sharper blade than the Shark Platinum though.

Tuck Eliminated!

Well well well another one bites the dust! The Shark Platinum blade tuck was finished on Saturday evening. It has been a good performing blade, but it seems to be a bit razor sensitive. It performs best in medium to aggressive razors for me whereas in mild ones it did struggle a bit. Still a solid blade and I would not hesitate to use it again.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 08/06/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .68-P
Blade: Dorco Prime (2)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: Omega 10065 Boar
Aftershave: Skin Bracer
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Fantastic morning shave. Very smooth and comfortable. The blade is nice and sharp and is doing very well. Great combination! All round a great shave.

 

[m949]

Pre-shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerine
Razor: Yaqi Harlequin OC, Razorock UFO handle
Blade: Personna Platinum (2/10)
Brush: Arno 26mm Classic #12, Gen5 synthetic
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Soap: Smoking Monster - Phoenix Mountain
Aftershave: Kwong Sang Hong - Two Girls Florida Water
Aftercare: Aloe Vera Gel
EdP: Armani Privé - Thé Yulong

The Personna Platinum was a bit tuggy today. It had to deal with 2 days growth and I angled the razor a bit shallower. Could have been a question of finding the correct angle. Nevertheless, DFS in only one WTG pass with touchups. Quite amazing result actually.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 08/07/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .68-P
Blade: Dorco Prime (3)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: Omega 10065 Boar
Aftershave: Clubman VIBR
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
Nice, smooth, comfortable and close shave this morning. Smooth sailings with this one and very similar shaves so far this week. Blade is going very strong and does not seem to have lost any steam. It should not have any issues completing this week.

 

[Hawkweber]

Finish tuck - Gillette 7 o'clock Super Platinum (Black)

Ok, my estimate of it taking the usual 15 days to finish this tuck (3 shaves per blade) didn't pan out. As much as I appreciate @JCinPA providing the tuck, these blades do not get along with my beard (coarse salt and pepper) or skin.

I started with the usual 1 blade for each Progress (set to 4), Weber SS, and 34C. First shave with the Progress and there was a lot of tugging particularly around the chin and neck. It was not an enjoyable shave but was able to get somewhat smooth on the cheeks, but not very close elsewhere. Not only that, but my face and neck were extremely irritated, and my face was rather red and sensitive for quite a while afterward. I had essentially the same type of shave and issues when using the Weber for its first shave. The 34C, once again, failed miserably to give a decent shave and ended up with a barely SAS, and yet still had the irritation.

Second shave with the Progress, now opened up to 4.5 to see if that extra gap would help, still had the tugging in the same areas albeit slightly less, but still ended with the same results and slightly less irritation, but quite noticeable. Second shave with the Weber was just like the first also with a bit less irritation. I wasn't going to use the 34C a second time, so I put that blade into the Progress and opened it up to 5. No difference from the previous second shave at 4.5.

So, now I had gone through 3 blades and still had 2 left. But this is Tuck at a Time, and I need to finish this tuck (and also to be fair to John as he sent me 5 blades, so I have to use them). I did a One and Done with each in the Progress and Weber - I didn't enjoy any of the shaves.

One thing I did notice about these blades is the acoustics when shaving - the sound was of a higher pitch than essentially any other blades I have used, and this was in all three razors. I'm not sure if it is the thickness of the blade, the type of steel, or what, but it was something that I caught my attention right away.

The redness and irritation after using them makes me wonder if I was having some type of reaction to a coating on them. I have used platinum coated blades before without problems, but maybe there is something else going on here? And I don't think it was due to it being too sharp or cutting too close as the blades had problems with my whiskers and the closeness wasn't anything to write home about. Plus, I just came off of using the Flydear Super Platinum which is extremely sharp (much more than these) and got very close shaves without the irritation and redness.

 

[blethenstrom]

Finish tuck - Gillette 7 o'clock Super Platinum (Black)

Ok, my estimate of it taking the usual 15 days to finish this tuck (3 shaves per blade) didn't pan out. As much as I appreciate @JCinPA providing the tuck, these blades do not get along with my beard (coarse salt and pepper) or skin.

I started with the usual 1 blade for each Progress (set to 4), Weber SS, and 34C. First shave with the Progress and there was a lot of tugging particularly around the chin and neck. It was not an enjoyable shave but was able to get somewhat smooth on the cheeks, but not very close elsewhere. Not only that, but my face and neck were extremely irritated, and my face was rather red and sensitive for quite a while afterward. I had essentially the same type of shave and issues when using the Weber for its first shave. The 34C, once again, failed miserably to give a decent shave and ended up with a barely SAS, and yet still had the irritation.

Second shave with the Progress, now opened up to 4.5 to see if that extra gap would help, still had the tugging in the same areas albeit slightly less, but still ended with the same results and slightly less irritation, but quite noticeable. Second shave with the Weber was just like the first also with a bit less irritation. I wasn't going to use the 34C a second time, so I put that blade into the Progress and opened it up to 5. No difference from the previous second shave at 4.5.

So, now I had gone through 3 blades and still had 2 left. But this is Tuck at a Time, and I need to finish this tuck (and also to be fair to John as he sent me 5 blades, so I have to use them). I did a One and Done with each in the Progress and Weber - I didn't enjoy any of the shaves.

One thing I did notice about these blades is the acoustics when shaving - the sound was of a higher pitch than essentially any other blades I have used, and this was in all three razors. I'm not sure if it is the thickness of the blade, the type of steel, or what, but it was something that I caught my attention right away.

The redness and irritation after using them makes me wonder if I was having some type of reaction to a coating on them. I have used platinum coated blades before without problems, but maybe there is something else going on here? And I don't think it was due to it being too sharp or cutting too close as the blades had problems with my whiskers and the closeness wasn't anything to write home about. Plus, I just came off of using the Flydear Super Platinum which is extremely sharp (much more than these) and got very close shaves without the irritation and redness.

Seems like some rough shave. Better luck with the Flydear.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 08/08/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .68-P
Blade: Dorco Prime (4)
Soap: BSS #1
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Lustray Blue Spice
Shave Comfort: 9/10 (Tightness)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.25/10
Nice and close shave, but with a little bit of of skin tenderness. I think I over shaved so it was self inflicted. Blade still nice and sharp. Also had some issues with the lather since I am trying to get the last out of my tub. Do not think I had enough product loaded on my brush.

 

[Hawkweber]

Start tuck (First Half) - Treet Dura Sharp

I have an extra blade, so I am going to add it to this tuck for a total of 6 blades.

 

[m949]

The redness and irritation after using them makes me wonder if I was having some type of reaction to a coating on them. I have used platinum coated blades before without problems, but maybe there is something else going on here? And I don't think it was due to it being too sharp or cutting too close as the blades had problems with my whiskers and the closeness wasn't anything to write home about. Plus, I just came off of using the Flydear Super Platinum which is extremely sharp (much more than these) and got very close shaves without the irritation and redness.

Had the same issues with the Astra SP tuck which I just completed. I used each blade twice. I had irritation (burning sensation) and redness all over my face, and with any razor I used. From mild (R89) to the more aggressive ones. The blades did tug at times as well. I checked and eliminated all the software and then looked at technique and shaving procedure. It seemed that each shave scraped more than cutting, taking off a layer of skin and leaving my face raw. I adjusted pressure, concentrated on the right angle and did one less pass; I only shave WTG. It usually resolved until next day.

However, I haven't had this issue with blades like the Wizamet, Nacet, Permasharp, GSB and Gillette Platinum and I used all these blades in pretty aggressive razors, including my DSC AX Ti 1.55, without any such problems. This isn't the first time either I have this experience, as the Suneko Amorphous Diamond also gave me this kind of irritation.

I have come to the conclusion that some blades just might not be for me. And, don't let anybody tell you otherwise; blades which may work well on other people might be horrible for you.

I still seem to have issues with this new tuck. Either the skin is not really healed and requires a bit more time or the Personna Platinum is a dud for me too. We will see on Monday when I try a new blade in the Yaqi Vostok 1.05 DC (will probably only use the OC side). If I'm having the same post-shave rawness, I'll eliminate the TaaT for these blades and move on to another tuck.

 

[m949]

Friday, August 9, 2024

Pre-shave: cold water splash / YBN Glycerine
Razor: DSC ZOC - Yaqi Mellon SLOC Hybrid
Blade: Persona Platinum
Brush: Arno 26mm Manchurian 2-band badger, Jade Palace
Bowl: DSC scuttle
Cream: Speick Shaving Cream
Aftershave: none
Aftercare: La Roche-Posay - Cicaplast Baume B5 Repairing Balm
EdT: Zino Davidoff

DFS in one pass. I'm surprising myself, or is it the razor? Maybe the blade? We'll see if the Personna Platinum makes the cut. That will depend whether the irritation I described above will continue or abate. At the moment it doesn't seem to get better, with the irritation not coming right away but slowly, often 2-3 hours later. Very strange. I might need to take a few days off from shaving and change blades.

 

[blethenstrom]

Morning Shave - 08/09/24
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .68-P
Blade: Dorco Prime (5)
Soap: Arko
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft RR400
Aftershave: Clubman Jeris Osage Rub
Shave Comfort: 10/10 (Smooth)
Shave Quality: 9.5/10 (DFS++)
Shave Rating: 9.75/10
And we are back to the regular quality shaves that this blade and razor has been given me. Just nice close comfortable goodness. No issues.