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The Si in my nick is for the element silicon, as in "I love the smell of silicon (burning) in the morning". Comes from building audio equipment. I've been known to burn a transistor or integrated circuit to fill the the work room with that motivating scent.

My Shaving Story

My father gave me his 1954 Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip (Z3) somewhere between 1984 and 1997--I forget exactly when. I'd taken a gillette disposable, bic disposable, and wilkinson DE blade under a loupe, and that's what made me want to try the DE. I took to it right away. I used it with Wilkinson blades from the drug store, just rubbing Williams mug soap on my face, no brush or lather. The last few years, I noticed the Wilkinson blades at the drug store aren't the same. I'm pretty sure they used to be a lot more flexible. Two years ago, I picked up a cheap brush at the drug store, but never really used it. Not that there was anything wrong with Williams, but it seemed to work much better for me without making a lather--just rubbing it on my face a bit gave much better lubrication. So, I was looking onine for better blades than I could find locally, and ran across B&B.

A female friend always said I should try a straight, since I do a lot of old fashioned things, so when I realized I couldn't really relate to new wet shavers here, I decide to become one. After 6 or 7 months, the DE felt like a lot of useless clunky metal on my face. Since I was getting a good shave, I decided to finally go back and try the different DEs and blades so I could learn more and give better answers to newbies.

Shaving

Thoughts & Advice on Shaving

Soap

I've graded my preferences A=best, B=excellent, C=very good, F=I got rid of them.

Cream

I'm just not a fan of creams. A few irritated my face, and others just didn't do it for me. The ones I liked and kept are here.

DE, SE, Injector, Etc.

  • Gillette Flare Tip Super Speed Z3 (1954): My first. Have it a decade or more.
  • Gillette black handle SA: I set it to 1 and do 10 passes.
  • Gillette Slim adjustable J1
  • aluminum handle Tech (Y4)
  • 1928 New Improved?
  • Merkur 34C
  • Merkur Futur: Too difficult to use every day.
  • Merkur custm slant
  • Feather DX non-folding
  • Star SE
  • Ever Ready SE
  • Gem Micromatic
  • Schick injector (E2)
  • Schick injector (G8)
  • Schick injector dial adjustable
  • Feather portable

Straights

  • Radio 9/16 spike extra hollow: sharp and forgiving
  • Union Cutlery 5/8 hollow round point
  • Shumate 5/8 smiley: very comfortable shave from this smile
  • ??? English Wedge 5/8 with barber notch: the notch and heaviness is great for clipping just under the nose
  • Wade & Butcher 5/8 ? hollow: very nice balance and feel
  • G. Wostenholm 5/8" hollow razor with barbers notch and horn scales. Made in Sheffield.

Brushes

Pre & Post Stuff

  • alum block
  • Aqua Velva ice blue
  • Atkinsons English lavender cologne
  • Castle Forbes lavender ASB
  • Geo F Trumper skin food: coral & lime
  • Grey Flannel ASB
  • Penhaligon's English fern AS
  • Pinaud Clubman AS: classic, vanilla, special reserve
  • Proraso liquid cream AS
  • Royall Lyme AS: lime, mandarin, bay rum, spice, musk, vetiver
  • styptic pencil
  • Thayers witch hazel: lavender, rose petal with aloe vera

DE Blades

  1. 7AM Platinum
  2. Asco Stainless Steel (red)
  3. Asco Stainless Steel (orange)
  4. Asco "Stainless Steel" (blue & red)
  5. Astra Keramik
  6. Astra Superior Stainless
  7. Balaka Carbon
  8. Bic Chrome Platinum
  9. Big Ben "Super Stainless" Violet
  10. Big Ben "Super Stainless" Blue
  11. Bluebird Hi-Stainless-Platinum
  12. Bolzano Superinox Inossidabile
  13. Croma Diamant
  14. Crown - Super Stainless (Red Stripe)
  15. Crown Super Stainless Blue
  16. Crystal (Platinum Chrome -- Made in Israel)
  17. Derby Extra (green) vertical package
  18. Derby Extra (green) horizontal package
  19. Derby Extra (orange)
  20. Dorco Stainless New Platinum ST-300
  21. Dorco Platinum Chrome ST-301
  22. Elios
  23. Feather New Hi-Stainless
  24. Gillette Blue
  25. Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (Russian green pack - Blue)
  26. Gillette 7 O'Clock PermaSharp Stainless (Indian green pack)
  27. Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge (yellow pack)
  28. Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black pack - Indian)
  29. Gillette Super Stainless -- metal dispenser "the spoiler"
  30. Gillette Super Thin
  31. Goldendeer (Chinese)
  32. Iridium Super -- out of production
  33. KAI
  34. Ladas Rapira Super Stainless
  35. Lord Shogun
  36. Lord Super Stainless
  37. Lord Platinum
  38. Lord Racer Super Stainless
  39. Lord Cool (red, yellow, black, white)
  40. Lord Extra (blue, black, white)
  41. Lord Classic (green, blue, black)
  42. Merkur Super Platinum Stainless
  43. Nacet Platinums (Made by Gillette)
  44. Perma Sharp Super
  45. Personna Platinum Chrome (Israel)
  46. Personna Super Stainless Platinum (USA)
  47. Rainbow Super Stainless
  48. Shark Super Chrome
  49. Shark Super Stainless
  50. Sharp Stainless
  51. Silver Star
  52. Sputnik Stainless Steel with DuPont Teflon coating
  53. Supermax Super Platinum
  54. Supermax Super Stainless
  55. Tiger Superior Stainless
  56. Timor - from Giesen & Forsthof - Superb SOLINGEN Steel
  57. Treet - Black Beauty, red pack with yellow lines
  58. Treet Dura sharp silver edge
  59. Treet Classic Durasharp (red on yellow pack)
  60. Treet Platinum Super Stainless (orange, blue, white pack)
  61. Treet - Trig Silver Edge Stainless
  62. Vidyut Super Max
  63. Vidyut Zorrik
  64. Voskhod (teflon coated)
  65. Wilkinson Sword Classic (White Label, Germany)
  66. Wilkinson Sword Economie (Germany)
  67. Wilkinson (Indian)

Mad Scientist Threads

My quest to learn the science behind shaving is a work in progress. it started with the accepted notion that the high pH of lather damages the cuticle, and that water absorption widens the hair forcing the cuticle layers to open. But the scientific literature lead to more questions than answers.
  • pH of soaps and creams -- 15 popular soaps and creams tested
  • A Short Survey of Scientific Literature on Shaving -- Covers the basics of how water affects beard hair. Introduces J.B. Speakman's pioneering work on wool fibers, and the first ever published research report specifically about shaving, through more modern scientific tests that provide legitimate scientific data on wetting and cutting.
  • Water Penetration in Keratin: Revisiting the Scientific Data on Shaving -- I put 2 and 2 together to show how scientific research on keratin supports the conclusions of the shaving research. Interestingly, it disproves the popular notion that the cuticle needs to be damaged to allow water penetration to soften the hair for an easier shave.
  • Shaving removes as much skin as hair -- This is a more or less an overview of the literature on how shaving removes skin along with hair. It also explores some of the mechanisms behind this, which gives some insight into razor burn, and hopefully leads to ways to prevent it. Secondarily, by focusing on the hair-skin interface, it highlights the differences between in vitro scientific tests and the practical--in vivo--experience of everyday shaving and clinical experience.
  • Friction of Wet Skin, Lubrication, and... Probes? gives an overview of the research on the friction of human skin, and some questions about how to apply it to shaving.

Shave Wiki

Scientific Papers

These scientific papers were worthy enough that I started a thread for them on B&B.

Microscope Pictures

Other Shaving Posts

Reviews

Wiki Contributions

Meets

Horror Movies

Misc.

Other ADs

I've been collecting horror and science fiction on DVD (and now Blu-Ray) for a few years. Have over 2000 movies going back into the silent era.

My collection of soldering stations. I enjoy building and restoring audio gear, although I can never find the time.

Lately I'm also peering through microscopes. Some pictures are in the links above.

Personal

I'm a computer programmer. Mostly server-side on Windows, and lately .net.

Other hobbies include cooking, especially things that take all day; ancient history, which might explain my fascination with straight razors; and building and restoring audio equipment. Nice to have something good to listen to Johnnie Winter and Chopin. I also roll my own cigarettes.

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