The deets:
Gillette Goodwill, most likely 160 - first time use
7:00 SS (green box) - new blade, works great in my 34c, Maggard V3
Maggards synthetic brush - same as usual
same bowl as usual
Chiseled Face Cedar & Spice - first time use
The process:
The CF was from a sample so I scooped out a bit into the bottom of my lathering bowl. It lathered up much much quicker than the Stirling I'm used to. I got it lathered to the point where it looked ok and went to work. My previous shave was just 2 days ago but I only did my neck so the beard was 7 days in the making. Poor lil Goodwill got clogged up after doing the right side of my face. I had to loosen it and vigorously swish it around to clear it out. After shortening up my strokes and swishing/rinsing more frequently it still got clogged up. After having to loosen it up a second time then carefully retightening while paying attention to blade alignment I was done after it started pulling bad under my nose.
I called into the bullpen and went to the Maggard V3 which I had used 2 other times. The first time it mowed down 9 days of growth like a rabid lawnmower. The second time (2 days ago) it took care of 5 days growth but only on the neck. I think the 2nd time the blade alignment was off because it definitely felt different whilst switching sides. Tonight I paid close attention to how it was aligned and went to work on the other side of my face. It still had trouble at my chin and was pulling at the hairs under my nose so I tossed the blade and pulled the brand new blade from the goodwill. Again more double checking alignment. Finally finished up with a Damn Okay Shave. After an amazing debut a few days ago it's starting to sputter out which seems weird.
But wait there's more! Not much lather left so I scoop out a bit more and lather up for my noggin. I didn't spend as much time here as I should have because of all the fun that I had getting my face decent. On my head I use a Mach3 because I can get a Pretty Damn Good Shave in one pass with touchups vs. I don't know how many passes with a DE. By the time I got to the last section of my noggin the lather had dried up so I reapplied and finished up. PDGS complete. I'm not sure how long the whole thing took but it was a while. I did my customary brush hand-squeegee and worked the lather around in my hands for a minute or two. Very quickly the nice thick lather dried out.
I really liked the scent of the Cedar & Spice which is good because it's quite a strong scent. My wife walked in on me as I was finishing up and I heard her say through the closed door that she could already smell it. She liked the smell in the tub, but didn't really like it outside of that. I think protection/slickness was pretty good but it's hard to judge when my razor scene starts to go wheels-off. I'll be giving it another try in the near future but I have 9 other samples that just arrived that I need to attend to.
Here's what I think I learned for next time:
-I'll go back to my previous daily razor, the 34c, with the 7 oclock super stainless blade when trying out new soaps.
-I'll be paying closer attention to the lathering process. I'm fairly new to this but I usually look for the texture to be yogurt-like. I haven't ever really noticed a change in color/shine/sheen, but that could be due to the lighting in our bathroom. The Stirling soaps I'm used to take a bit of work (water) to get there but not all soaps are the same. I looked at "The Literature" and found that the CF lathers up fairly quickly and doesn't seem to need as much water. Obviously it needs more than I gave it before I started on my noggin.
-Next time I use the Goodwill it will be on 2-3 days growth. I really thought with it being an open comb it would handle longer growth more easily. Lately I've been an every 3 days kinda guy although the past 1.5 weeks have been a bit of an anomaly with the holidays and a camping trip mixed in. I might have to bring it down to every 2 days since I have so much soap to try out.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome.
Gillette Goodwill, most likely 160 - first time use
7:00 SS (green box) - new blade, works great in my 34c, Maggard V3
Maggards synthetic brush - same as usual
same bowl as usual
Chiseled Face Cedar & Spice - first time use
The process:
The CF was from a sample so I scooped out a bit into the bottom of my lathering bowl. It lathered up much much quicker than the Stirling I'm used to. I got it lathered to the point where it looked ok and went to work. My previous shave was just 2 days ago but I only did my neck so the beard was 7 days in the making. Poor lil Goodwill got clogged up after doing the right side of my face. I had to loosen it and vigorously swish it around to clear it out. After shortening up my strokes and swishing/rinsing more frequently it still got clogged up. After having to loosen it up a second time then carefully retightening while paying attention to blade alignment I was done after it started pulling bad under my nose.
I called into the bullpen and went to the Maggard V3 which I had used 2 other times. The first time it mowed down 9 days of growth like a rabid lawnmower. The second time (2 days ago) it took care of 5 days growth but only on the neck. I think the 2nd time the blade alignment was off because it definitely felt different whilst switching sides. Tonight I paid close attention to how it was aligned and went to work on the other side of my face. It still had trouble at my chin and was pulling at the hairs under my nose so I tossed the blade and pulled the brand new blade from the goodwill. Again more double checking alignment. Finally finished up with a Damn Okay Shave. After an amazing debut a few days ago it's starting to sputter out which seems weird.
But wait there's more! Not much lather left so I scoop out a bit more and lather up for my noggin. I didn't spend as much time here as I should have because of all the fun that I had getting my face decent. On my head I use a Mach3 because I can get a Pretty Damn Good Shave in one pass with touchups vs. I don't know how many passes with a DE. By the time I got to the last section of my noggin the lather had dried up so I reapplied and finished up. PDGS complete. I'm not sure how long the whole thing took but it was a while. I did my customary brush hand-squeegee and worked the lather around in my hands for a minute or two. Very quickly the nice thick lather dried out.
I really liked the scent of the Cedar & Spice which is good because it's quite a strong scent. My wife walked in on me as I was finishing up and I heard her say through the closed door that she could already smell it. She liked the smell in the tub, but didn't really like it outside of that. I think protection/slickness was pretty good but it's hard to judge when my razor scene starts to go wheels-off. I'll be giving it another try in the near future but I have 9 other samples that just arrived that I need to attend to.
Here's what I think I learned for next time:
-I'll go back to my previous daily razor, the 34c, with the 7 oclock super stainless blade when trying out new soaps.
-I'll be paying closer attention to the lathering process. I'm fairly new to this but I usually look for the texture to be yogurt-like. I haven't ever really noticed a change in color/shine/sheen, but that could be due to the lighting in our bathroom. The Stirling soaps I'm used to take a bit of work (water) to get there but not all soaps are the same. I looked at "The Literature" and found that the CF lathers up fairly quickly and doesn't seem to need as much water. Obviously it needs more than I gave it before I started on my noggin.
-Next time I use the Goodwill it will be on 2-3 days growth. I really thought with it being an open comb it would handle longer growth more easily. Lately I've been an every 3 days kinda guy although the past 1.5 weeks have been a bit of an anomaly with the holidays and a camping trip mixed in. I might have to bring it down to every 2 days since I have so much soap to try out.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome.
