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Shave of the day

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I've been very disappointed with this week of shaving.

I have been using Wilkinson Sword blades someone sent me, and it feels like I'm barely shaving.

Wilkinson Sword blade
Proraso soap
Boar brush
Floid AS

Very ordinary shave, I am convinced it's the blade.
Well not all wilkinsons are equal. I'm not a fan of any BTW, but there's a big difference between german, and brazilian (like from coles)
I didn't even know there was an indian WS.

As far as my lather catcher and new SE blade, it's like a straight on a stick that combo, completely different to any DE. the birth of the saftey razor with disposable blades right there.
You can tell why it took off and now that's what we are shaving with in one form or another.
 
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Yes, there's a big difference between the Brazillian Wilks and the English (vintage) ones. The Germans are middle of the road for me, not bad but could be sharper. The Indian Wilks (which are really Gillette as Gillette owns the Wilkinson Sword name in India) are sharp but a bit rough on my face.

Didn't have time for a shave this morning. Sad.
 
Received a wonderful blade sampler pack in the mail from RM. Thank you! Looks like I'll be DE'ing for a while and I'll try and comment on each blade.

Last few shaves using a russian 7'oc blue which shaves fine but I think I like the yellow better. Really starting to like the mwf, I go for it more so than the tabac.

Also a few days ago got some of the nivea something something sensitive balm, and it feels fine. Unprompted, wife says "mm smells nice". It is now the default AS.

edit: the wilks at my coles I think are made in china? will check
 
Yes I finally got off my arse and got them posted. I needed to really have a look at what you said you had and tried, and then throw in things that you had not seen. Anyhow, you should have plenty of shaves in the bag with that lot, there's 10 GBE's in there along with some Blacks, both Greens, and some Vietnamese Superthins which are a nice blade. The Lord/Sharks will be a different shave also. Have fun!

I think the 7OC Blues are better than the Yellows by a fair margin, although the ones I tried were Czech manufacture, the Russians may be different enough to give a completely different experience. That said I love any blade out of the old Czech factory. The blues are nice and sharp while having great smoothness. I got 5 shaves and it was still going.

Today I got around to a slow Saturday morning ritual shave. Decided to celebrate my 50 Iridiums arriving, so the shave looked like this:
  • Slim, set to 7
  • Super Iridium, fresh
  • Proraso Sandalwood
  • Vie-Long Horsey

First off I am glad I hand lathered a few runs though the brush while in the shower. Was still quite funky afterwards but was much better. Also ran a straight bowl lather of the Proraso first as a test, while also further defunkifying the brush.

Must admit that the Horsehair has amazing backbone and I definitely want to try it on MWF next. Nice small yet scrubby brush, while the tips still being nice and soft. Just enough scritch and not spikey at all. Looking forward to having it break in a little more.

The Proraso is the same dependable lather but it acts a bit differently to the original parabens formula, mostly in the amount of water it takes (less) and the way it lathers. Not sure if this is due to the lack of parabens or the fact it has the shea butter in it. Scent of the cream and lather was not astounding to me, however after rinsing off I detected it on my skin very nicely. Also had a nice peppery note on top, definitely masculine. Two of my very blonde female friends were sniffing me in the cafe today about 2 hours post shave and both were fussing over me. I'd say that was a win.

DFS the result, although I have been spoilt by the 7OC Blues. Iridiums are sharp enough but do not shave as close. The joy of them comes in when you can attack your face and know when you will get bitten. Super forgiving, smooth and comfortable blades.
 
All hail the horsey.
pat 1900 GEM SE, tabac and horsey for me today.

edit: I thought you were working on a source for proraso sandalwood for us all IIRC?
 
I was, still am. Can't get there in business hours, work is the other way unfortunately.
 
I've been using the Voskhods recently, and they do appear to be a good blade.
No idea on their longevity as I am swapping all blades after a max of 4 shaves.
 
Little Boar from MensBIz
5th shave SE in the Bullet Tip
Speick - something new - got the face wet - rubbed the stick across the hairy bits and lathered away.
Excellent - I do like the Speick despite its somewhat medicinal aroma - it gave a nice lather softened the bristles enough that the aging blade moved through them smoothly and efficiently.
I have found a new friend.
 
I've been using the Voskhods recently, and they do appear to be a good blade.
No idea on their longevity as I am swapping all blades after a max of 4 shaves.

Four is a good number. I bin them after three but I like a sharp blade.
Little Boar from MensBIz
5th shave SE in the Bullet Tip
Speick - something new - got the face wet - rubbed the stick across the hairy bits and lathered away.
Excellent - I do like the Speick despite its somewhat medicinal aroma - it gave a nice lather softened the bristles enough that the aging blade moved through them smoothly and efficiently.
I have found a new friend.

Speick is a good latherer, the smell isn't at all bad it's just not overpowering like others.
 
I've been using Cella and an Astra. I don't know f my technique has improved or its the Cella, but I am getting less irritation then when I first tried the Astras.

I bought some Nivea sensitive balm yesterday and am pretty keen to try it out, I might even shave this afternoon if I ever get the damned assignment written.

Next blade I try will either be Feather or Gillette 7OC Blue.
 
I've been using Cella and an Astra. I don't know f my technique has improved or its the Cella, but I am getting less irritation then when I first tried the Astras.

I bought some Nivea sensitive balm yesterday and am pretty keen to try it out, I might even shave this afternoon if I ever get the damned assignment written.

Next blade I try will either be Feather or Gillette 7OC Blue.

I would think your technique is probably the reason you are getting better results.

Nivea is good stuff, cheap and accessible. Nothing overpowering at all either.
 
Speick is a good latherer, the smell isn't at all bad it's just not overpowering like others.
I would tend to agree with Glen. It has a certain note of odour which seems somewhat medicinal, almost like disinfectant maybe. That said it is not unpleasant.

I would think your technique is probably the reason you are getting better results.

Nivea is good stuff, cheap and accessible. Nothing overpowering at all either.

Agreed on both points. Nivea is damn near unscented as far as I am concerned. Smells quite a bit like normal moisturiser. I think that more than a few women would like to pay half the price of their normal moisturiser and use the ASB instead.

This morning for me:
  • Slim on 7
  • #2 shave on an Iridium
  • Vie-Long Horsey
  • MWF

Well the MWF was no match for the Horsey. Beautifully scrubby little thing it is. Nice lather, extra water on second pass. Comfortable shave but not the closest, feeling quite stubbly after lunch on the cheeks.
 
Speick's pretty soft too so as a stick is easy to use.

Anyhow, nothing new here. Same old soaps, brushes, razors and blades.
 
Same here, going to be sticking with tabac and the horsey over the winter.
And with the fact that I can move an SE blade from the latcher catcher for 2 shaves, then the MM CP for a shave or so, then to a 1912 for another 2 shaves these days, probably not going to fire up any new DE razor/combos for a while.
Before it was SE for 3-4 shaves, DE for the rest so something new every week there, plus used different soaps in warmer weather (swapped between MWF, Cella, and then glycerin soaps).
But now pretty much going to be what I like best for this time of year and the new method for Se blade longevity. Also shaves going to be shorter due to the low ambients, going to be just 2 passes at most, so nothing to write home about as far as closeness.
Someone start talking more about coffee, alcoholic drinks and gardening or something please!
 
.........Someone start talking more about coffee, alcoholic drinks and gardening or something please!

Although it's tempting, I refuse to drag this thread off topic.

After reading about glenos "sampler pack" which looked like it had somethng like 100 blades (or about a two year stash in my book), I decided to give the dreaded Feather a try. Plonked it in my minty birth year Tech and had a great shave. Don't know if it's the mildness of the Tech or the sharpness of the Feather but the combo worked easy on a two day beard. Nice actually. Now I can expand my DE rotation.
 
Spoke too soon. Had another shave with this combo and ended up with some far more than usual razor burn. Will give the Feather a miss in future. Was my last one anyhow.
 
I've switched to Irisch Moos for now. It's not a bad scent and it needs to be used. The lather is good and combining it with Voskhod blades seem to give a good result.
Blade: Voskhod
Cream: Irisch Moos
Brush: Badger


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Although it's tempting, I refuse to drag this thread off topic.

After reading about glenos "sampler pack" which looked like it had somethng like 100 blades
117 to be exact, at a blade a week it is over two years, and I already have 20 or so more blades, but I think some of them will go in the bin. Merkurs are looking that way,but I will revisit in a few months when I am more confident of my abilities.
 
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