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Learning all the things

Somewhere, I saw suggestions for criteria when evaluating blades. I think I'll try and use a similar approach to narrow it down. So far though, I haven't really used any blade that I strongly dislike.

a) Razor Blade / Country / Type​
b) Sharpness? (aggressive, moderate sharpness, mild sharpness, tugging or pulling, ect...).​
c) Closeness of Shave? (DFS, CCS, BBS, ect...).​
d) Smoothness/Roughness of Shave? (moderately smooth, very smooth, very,very smooth, ect...).​
e) Comfort of Shave? (no irritation, slight irritation, touch of burn, itching, ect...).​
f) Overall Rating? (awesome, great, passable or unpleasant).​
g) Compatible with your Razor(s)? (yes or no).​
 
wazabees said:
Gotcha! That's pretty much how I started out "way back when". I went with Astra blades in a Merkur 34C. Reading recommendations and seeing what others used, I ended up with a 100-pack of the old Polsilvers and a 200-pack of Feathers. But after returning to reading forums, I'm seeing a lot of diversity in blade preference, so I figured I'd try some more. Which blades ended up being your favorites?


I'm leaning towards comfort as well. At the same time, I'm trying to find a good balance between comfort and efficiency. If you could only choose one of your current favorite blades, which one would it be?
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that's a tough one - but it right now I think it would be the 7 O'Clock Yellows - The Nacets are very, very similar in feel though, but right now I have been using the yellows more
 
Scuttlesoap said:
that's a tough one - but it right now I think it would be the 7 O'Clock Yellows - The Nacets are very, very similar in feel though, but right now I have been using the yellows more
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Assuming those are the ones with SharpEdge on the tuck? I have a tuck in my box of tricks, so I'll give it a whirl one of these days.
 
wazabees said:
Somewhere, I saw suggestions for criteria when evaluating blades. I think I'll try and use a similar approach to narrow it down. So far though, I haven't really used any blade that I strongly dislike.

a) Razor Blade / Country / Type​
b) Sharpness? (aggressive, moderate sharpness, mild sharpness, tugging or pulling, ect...).​
c) Closeness of Shave? (DFS, CCS, BBS, ect...).​
d) Smoothness/Roughness of Shave? (moderately smooth, very smooth, very,very smooth, ect...).​
e) Comfort of Shave? (no irritation, slight irritation, touch of burn, itching, ect...).​
f) Overall Rating? (awesome, great, passable or unpleasant).​
g) Compatible with your Razor(s)? (yes or no).​
Click to expand...
For me it was simply best to try the blade for a handful of shaves and not over-think it. Did it feel good on the skin and help me get a great shave…or did it tug my stubble and rip my face up? You can go pretty deep in the blade rabbit hole like anything else…going so far as to find the “best” blades for each razor you own, which might differ from razor to razor!
 
GearNoir said:
For me it was simply best to try the blade for a handful of shaves and not over-think it. Did it feel good on the skin and help me get a great shave…or did it tug my stubble and rip my face up? You can go pretty deep in the blade rabbit hole like anything else…going so far as to find the “best” blades for each razor you own, which might differ from razor to razor!
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Yeah, I'll try and rein myself in a bit for sure. I'll settle for a top 5, which should work for the razors I currently own. ;)
 
wazabees said:
How did you figure out your favorite blade? What were your criteria? And do you have different favorites for different razors?
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I tried out a bunch. I probably bought samplers for 1.5 years or so before settling on a specific few. I look for smoothness and closeness, with an emphasis on comfort. If a blade is smooth, so far I've been able to coax a good shave out of it. As to whether I have favorite blade/razor combos, no, I don't. I like to keep things simple, so I have reduced stock to just the SuperMax blades.
 
June 29th '21

loevik_20210629_2404_01.jpg

The tools
Razor: Lupo .95
Blade: Gillette Rubie (1)
Brush: Shavemac Beagle
Soap: The Goodfellas Smile Sea Citrus
Pre: Cube 2.0
Post: Hey Joe Acid Lemon mixed with some Snake Bite
Rating: 3.5/5
Last shave: 3 days-ish ago

The prep
Shower, and put some Cube 2.0 on my face afterwards. Then went to make my lather. It took a minute, so I added some warm water to my face, before applying the lather using the Beagle.

The blade
New blade day today! The Gillette Rubie. Starting off with my WTG pass, the blade felt incredibly smooth, pretty much like the Perma-Sharp. My issues began with my second pass, some sort of weird XTG/ATG hybrid pass. Now, that was a bad idea. I should’ve stuck with the normal plan, and gone XTG and an ATG-ish cleanup pass. My bad idea rewarded me with a tiny weeper on my neck. No big issue, but it was annoying. I think I got too cocky, considering how smooth the blade felt. So, at this point, I won’t blame the blade. I’ll blame my poor decision. In the end, I ended up with a DFS with some minor irritation on the left side of my neck.

The soap
Now, the soap. It’s not really a soap. It’s a very thick cream, and I wouldn’t even call it a croap. I could easily scoop it out with my finger, and smear it into my shaving bowl. The lather I got was creamy, slick and smelled pretty decent. I got more of an aquatic smell rather than citrus. Post-shave was still pretty slick.

The happily ever after
The alum bloc told me where I'd gone wrong, and there were a few places, especially my neck. Oh well, lesson learned!
The Acid Lemon still smells really, really good to me and it leaves my skin feeling pretty happy. Being another warm day, I had to mix in some Snake Bite, though I would prefer not diluting. Maybe I'll try adding some menthol crystals.

The next time
I'll try the same set-up and the same blade for my next shave.. I'll just be more careful.
 
July 1st '21

Razor: Lupo .95
Blade: Gillette Rubie (2)
Brush: Shavemac Beagle
Soap: The Goodfellas Smile Sea Citrus
Pre: Cube 2.0
Post: Hey Joe Acid Lemon mixed with some Snake Bite
Rating: 3.5/5
Last shave: 2 days-ish ago

Call it a carbon copy of my previous shave, second attempt at this blade. I feel like the blade doesn’t cut my whiskers very well. I could go over the same area again and again and still hear the feedback from the razor, but the whiskers remained. Not particularly long whiskers, but still! I ended up with a SAS this time as I really didn’t want to push my luck. Today, it was WTG, XTG and a cleanup pass.

The alum bloc told me that there was minor irritation over most of my face. Ditching this blade for this razor and moving on.

The next time: I'll use a Feather blade, I've had some good shaves with that blade in my 6S
 
Yesterday's shave, July 3rd '21

Razor: Lupo .95
Blade: Feather (1)
Brush: Wee Scot
Soap: ML Shaving Supplies Cool Orange
Pre: N/A
Post: Alum bloc + Hey Joe Acid Lemon mixed with some Snake Bite
Rating: 4/5
Last shave: 1 1/2 days-ish ago

I felt like a face lather with the small, yet big, Wee Scot.

Okay, so I think the Lupo .95 is considered a somewhat aggressive razor. And the Feather blades are considered somewhat sharp. I was a bit apprehensive about this shave, but went with it. Going WTG felt pretty good, and very smooth. No damage and the whiskers were easily mowed down. Then XTG, which was also pretty good, but I did get a tiny weeper on my neck. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to try ATG on some areas as well, and I quickly had to abort that. I got some blade skipping and it felt like I was about to get bitten any second. To avoid getting nicked, I changed to a cleanup pass instead. Overall, a decent shave and not a whole lot of sting from the alum bloc, except for my neck where I got the weeper. In the end, I got myself a DFS.

The soap from Matti still smells fantastic and it has a good amount of menthol. I did feel some tightness following my AS splash, so a few hours later I applied some moisturizer. All in all, pretty happy.

In regards to testing blades, I've had the best luck with Perma-sharp and Wizamet SI. I look forward to going back to those and testing again to see if I get the same results. Next up.. I think I want to try Astra Superior Platinum again and see how I go with a milder blade. Hopefully I won't get cocky again...!

And a happy 4th of July to everyone who's celebrating today! 🎉🥳
 
July 6th '21

IMG_20210706_175116.jpg

Razor: Lupo .95
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: Shavemac Beagle
Soap: Zingari Man Coconut Nanas
Pre: N/A
Post: Alum bloc + Zingari Man Coconut Nanas
Rating: 4.85/5
Last shave: 3 days-ish ago

I keep touching my face.

Let's start with the soap. The smell is entirely out of this world. It may very well be one of my favorite scents right about now. MdC Agrumes and Bay Rum is certainly up there, but this.. This was something else. The smell of coconut is up front, and it smells like vacation. My better half loves it as well, and she mentioned it reminded her of a cabana, near the pool, with long drinks and suntan lotion. It's really, really nice. After soaking my brush for a bit, I loaded it up directly from the soap tin. I then made up my lather in a bowl. I got rich and creamy lather which felt incredibly slick during my shave. The post shave feeling was also outstanding.

I went with a milder blade in the Lupo today, and I ended up with a fantastic shave. Three passes, WTG, XTG and some ATG cleanup. All in all, a DFS+, bordering on BBS. No nicks, weepers or irritation at all. I suspect I slowed down a lot because I was enjoying the smell of the soap so much. ;)

Next shave will be with the same blade, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also curious to see how my shave will be with 2 days of stubble, rather than 3.
 
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Yesterday's shave, July 9th ‘21

IMG_20210709_170838.jpg

Razor: Lupo .95
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Brush: Shavemac Beagle
Soap: Zingari Man Gypsy
Pre: N/A
Post: Alum bloc + Zingari Man Gypsy
Rating: 4.8/5
Last shave: 3 days-ish ago

Another fantastic shave! Slowing down really helps me out. I’m never in a hurry so I can take my time. The soap… My better half said I smell like candy. She approves. The prominent scent is citrus, but it’s not a sharp scent like straight lemon. It’s the combination of citrus, cucumber and pineapple that just makes a fantastic blend. To me, it’s a tropical summer scent, slightly acidic. I’m still not very good at describing scents, but it’s sailing up to one of my favorites. I’m a Zingari Man fan for sure!

Second shave with the Astra SP blade. Still as smooth as my previous shave. I went WTG, XTG and XTG from the opposite direction. Then a bit of ATG cleanup. It felt like I might have overdone it and I thought I’d end up with some irritation, but no. The alum bloc reported back to me, and there was only a minor sting on the right side of my neck. That particular spot has already been declared a problem area. This does let me know that I seem to have good luck with milder blades in the Lupo.

After rinsing off the alum, I applied the Gypsy splash. The same amazing scent as the soap. I couldn’t be happier with that. It feels like there’s plenty of skin food in the splash, but I must admit I miss the sting of an alcohol splash with menthol. I have plenty more splashes to choose from though, depending on my mood!

The next shave will be different. It’ll be on the 11th, so that’ll be SHARK week (on Discovery!). I’ll have a go with Arko as well, but .. I have such amazing smelling summer soaps now that I won’t be staying away from. Thanks for reading, and I hope you’re having a fantastic day!
 
Great shave Fred!
wazabees said:
The next shave will be different. It’ll be on the 11th, so that’ll be SHARK week (on Discovery!).
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Have they come out with any new stuff yet. I used to watch a while ago but it got to the point where most of the programs were the same things year after year, just recut.
 
GearNoir said:
Great shave Fred!

Have they come out with any new stuff yet. I used to watch a while ago but it got to the point where most of the programs were the same things year after year, just recut.
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I don't think I've watched it before, so all of it will be new to me. ;)
 
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