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If you have to do something...

Cvargo said:
hmmm seems like the lover of Menudo is talking a lot of smack today. Don't anyone tell him no one can see his moustache until he puts the product in. LOL
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aww Young Padawan, rejected by the order of TabacaVeg and unable to grow real hair, and you resort to insults of graying hair, sad..... so sad.. I will pray for you. BTW nice shave Chris, before Chad hijacked it, LOL
 
Cvargo said:
I'll be honest I have learned that the pro blades can be all over the map it seems, but the ProGuard are always consistent for me.

Another thing to question could be is your approach angle correct? Any slight adjustment to that could alter what you are feeling.
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I’ve tried a myriad of angles in razor and stroke. Besides the blade it could well be I’m just working through a skill plateau where I don’t feel like I’m progressing in a consistent manner anymore on difficult areas.

Glad to hear about the ProGuard consistency, though the slight less exposure (I think?) concerns me some. I’d probably lean toward to Pro Supers for my next box.

Dagwoodz said:
Sorry to hear about the rough shave Chris. Hopefully a new blade solves those issues
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Thanks, I hope so too!

Xenostr8shaver said:
aww Young Padawan, rejected by the order of TabacaVeg and unable to grow real hair, and you resort to insults of graying hair, sad..... so sad.. I will pray for you. BTW nice shave Chris, before Chad hijacked it, LOL
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Lol, thanks!
 
Ugh...more disappointment today. His last estimate about a week ago was “7-10 days”, now this:



(I’m not Jonathan Zimmerman btw)

He knows the demand is there, but seriously...

dkeester said:
Bummer about the rough shave, but glad it came out nice.
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Thanks Doug!
 
One of the great mysteries of shaving, razor resistant hairs. Some thing it's just a natural evolutionary response to multi bladed razors. Much like super bacteria. But much the scourge of BBS chasers.
 
NurseDave said:
One of the great mysteries of shaving, razor resistant hairs. Some thing it's just a natural evolutionary response to multi bladed razors. Much like super bacteria. But much the scourge of BBS chasers.
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Well I seem to have hit the jackpot, because I have a plethora, lol!

 
Shave #98:

Made myself do a 3 pass WTG/XTG/opposite direction XTG again. Gear was the Feather and TOBS, finishing with a lather soak and homemade Brut AS. I did pop in a new Pro blade today and that did smooth things out quite a bit and slightly improve reduction.

This time I also forced myself not to push it (not even clean up) and to stick with the results. So the final score is DFS on cheeks and jawlines, CCS/SAS on upper lip and chin (mostly SAS). Only one very minor superficial slice on the top of the chin from a poor lower lip stroke.

Thoughts: ATG definitely required where I can get away with it. I have to continue to improve my XTG technique with the Feather on the upper lip and chin. I’d like to walk away each day with a DFS/CCS at the least. I’m thinking that being stuck with a daily DE pass to finish the shave regimen isn’t the worst thing. Still I’ll hope that one day I can improve to the point of matching my DE results. So close, yet so far. I’m entering the zone of diminishing returns on skill.

1 shave away from the 100th! Spoiler alert: it won’t be a TOBS shave! Not sure what I’ll use yet. ?
 
cmh737 said:
Exactly. Whatever works best.
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Thanks Chris. I haven’t given up yet! But I will continue to “reset” the shaving field once in a while with a DE.

dangerousdon said:
Hmm...it won't be TOBS, but what will it be. congrats on the up coming 100th.
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Thanks Don!

I’m thinking I’ll whip out my Grooming Department: Absinthe & Leather or Coattails. I’m going to deserve a first class shave!

Sskim3 said:
Big milestone coming up! WOOHOO
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Thanks Tom! I’m excited to hit this marker too!
 
Shave #99:

Made myself do another 3 pass WTG/XTG/RXTG. Used the Feather SS, Pro blade, TOBS Sandalwood, and finished with my Pinaud classic cut decant.

This time around I really focused on stretching the skin a bit more. Using the Feather SS makes me a bit lazy in that regard because of the bump; you don’t have to skin stretch, but it does help reduction a tad.

Overall shave level is DFS/CCS. That’ll have to do for today. I actually did a bit better on the upper lip and chin than normal, which I’m pleased about.

Its a shame my 100th open blade shave has to come on a work day, but looking forward to it tomorrow!

CA has been fortunate enough to remain in the 80s; this week was supposed to be mid/high 90s from last week’s forecast, but looks to be pushed off to next week for now.

The kids officially have less than a week of school left.

Happy Friday all!

 
Nice penultimate 100 shaves, Chris! I routinely use a 'jectah or DE to clean up and take care of the ATG pass, so no shame there at all!
 
With my honing inconsistencies I make use of a DE cleanup or final pass all too often.
 


?? Shave #100: ??

It happened!

Yes my friends, I have unlocked the secrets of the universe. The world is my oyster. Papas got a brand new bag.

Today’s shave was definitely not TOBS Sandalwood, as foretold in the annals of journaldom. (Thank goodness)

The gear for the milestone was: Feather AC SS, Feather Pro blade (today was it’s 3rd shave), RR Big Bruce synthetic, Grooming Department: Coattails, with Captain’s Choice: Venture as the finale.

I have never had a better SR/Shavette shave in my life!

It was so good, it is only a step below some of my better DE shaves! I hope the longevity is there, because I’m going to be facerbating alllll daaaaay loooong.

The adventure began to look bleak from the start - kids were up early, SWMBO ninjaed the bathroom and shower before I could get in, and other random stuff. But I was determined to get it done before heading out to work!

I scrounged up every bit of skill and learning I had accumulated since starting this open blade journey, to culminate in this moment, and it paid off in spades.

I started with a nice, hot, cleansing shower for prep. I kept the face moist with hot water from the sink after jumping out, while loading the Coattails onto my Big Bruce. This soap is a killer; I’ve said it before, this is the soap TOBS wishes it could be. Beef tallow based, super easy to lather, slick, great scent (it’ll be even better if Mohammed perfects his almond scent for it) and face feel for days. It didn’t take much product, but I spent about 2 minutes face lathering and had plenty of lather built up in the Bruce for 3 passes and a final lather soak.

I chose to go the full Trinity today with WTG/XTG/XTG-ATG mix. I did my due diligence with arm contortions, facial contortions, and skin stretching. I took my time, paid careful attention, and tried to go a little zen. Murphy only visited briefly when I had a bad touch down on a false start, but it was just a prick and closed up in less than a minute.

Final result: BBS/DFS



My upper lip is literally a few stubble hairs from BBS and the underside of my chin is leaning toward DFS. Everything else is DSBBS. Once my face normalized, I couldn’t believe it. I hope this continues!

Many thanks to everyone’s pro tips, videos, and instructionals. They all helped tremendously to get me to this point! This one is for you!

 
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