With the Artemis II mission set to rendezvous with the moon and return to Earth this week, it seems fitting that I have some shaves with a M3teorite.
And it’s also time for another week of matching a favorite blade with a new(er) razor. This time around, I’ll be pairing the Oliworks M3teorite with the Bic Chrome Platinum, a blade that I developed a liking for last year and that I haven’t used since last September, so it’s time to get it back in action.
The M3teorite, just as a reminder, is my red aluminum beauty gifted to me by my son last Christmas. It’s light, has a grippy handle, and has 3 plates to adjust the aggressiveness of the shave. I found in my previous shaves with it, that the M3teorite’s shaves all tend toward the milder end of the scale, making the aggressive plate tolerable and more efficient than the other two.
And, just as another reminder, I haven’t used it since late January for a series of shaves pairing it with the Shark Super Stainless.
The Bic Chrome Platinum blade is also on the mild side, but it’s consistent and sharp, so it always seems to do a good job, even when paired with a mild razor. The shaves may need some extra passes to clean things up, but that doesn’t incur any extra irritation.
This week, I’m not going overboard on the “trying new things” kick. In fact, I’ll use the Edwin Jagger trio to help get rid of them, but I will use the Noble Otter Noir et Vanille this week, so that will represent the entirety of the new stuff I’ll be using this week.
I’m expecting some good things in this week’s shaves, but we’ll see what happens!
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #264. The Red & White Sunday Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Oliworks M3teorite red aluminum (aggressive plate)
- Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Sensitive shave soap (white)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Sensitive after shave balm (white)
- Stats:
- 7th shave with the Oliworks M3teorite, 3rd with the aggressive plate
- 3rd blade used with the M3teorite
- 31st shave with the Proraso white soap
- 83rd almost perfect shave (overall rating of 23 or 24)
- 60th shave with an overall rating of 23 (30.2% of all logged shaves)
- 3rd almost perfect shave with the Bic Chrome Platinum
As noted above, this is the first time using the M3teorite since January–long enough where I kind of forgot about how it feels. And I was reminded with the first stroke on my cheeks–lots of blade noise and feel, but not that bad, really. This shave sounded aggressive, but didn’t feel terribly aggressive, though certainly more aggressive than I generally want from my shave.
But it did require a lot more in terms of passes and cleaning up than some other combos do, so the question is whether that’s down to the razor design or the relative mildness of the Bic Chrome Platinum blade. For now, I’ll chalk it up to the blade. I’ve also forgotten how much I like the Bic blades, as I’ve been using some of the more aggressive ones in my collection lately, so it was good to get back to them.
Overall, the shave was good–comfortable, close after some effort, and enjoyable, which is always a goal for my shaves. I liked doing this shave and my skin feels fine afterward, so a win all the way around. That being said, though, I wasn’t wowed–I don’t think the M3teorite excites me the same way some of my other razors do, and I don’t know why. I’ll have to figure that out and report back.
One final note, I am kind of excited to be down to only a couple of shaves left of the Proraso white pre-shave cream. I’m trying to decide what to do with the empty jar when I’m finished. It feels like I need to keep it like a trophy or something. And yes, shavers celebrate finishing off a tub of shaving soap (not a sample tub, but a full one, and I’m nowhere near that point yet), so this is kind of a thing.
Comfort: 23 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 of 25
Overall: 23 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #265. The Edwin Jagger Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Oliworks M3teorite red aluminum (medium plate)
- Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Edwin Jagger Hydrating pre-shave cream
- Brush: Omega 10019 Boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera Shaving Cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera Moisturizing aftershave lotion
- Stats:
- 5th shave with the Edwin Jagger combo (and last with the soap)
- 47th shave with the Omega 10019 brush (2nd to the Proraso boar)
- 8th lather used with the M3teorite
- 84th almost perfect shave
- 61st shave with an overall rating of 23 (30.5% of all logged shaves)
- 4th almost perfect shave with the Bic Chrome Platinum
Yes, the caption on the photo is true: this is likely the last entirely Edwin Jagger shave. I finished the soap today after 4 uses. I really like the soap–it makes a wonderful lather, but I can’t bring myself (yet) to ordering more because I just don’t need another soap, and I’m not thrilled with the pre- and aftershave. Someday, maybe. But in the meantime, I’ve got one or two shaves left of both the Edwin Jagger pre-shave and aftershaves.
This shave reinforced for me that the medium plate on the M3teorite is the sweet spot for most blades for my shaves. It was comfortable, with a little irritation on the neck, and close enough, with some initial stubble that has since laid down pretty nicely. One thing I’m noting is that even with a nice slick base, it doesn’t glide as smoothly as other razors do for me (like the Rockwell, KCG, Razorock, Mühle and Merkur), which does detract. In addition, I find myself riding the edge and using a more vertical angle with the blade than with my other razors, and that could lead to more irritation. So yes, some improvement to technique with this razor, but it also feels a little like a design issue.
Overall, the shave was very nice: since I haven’t used the Edwin Jagger combo since November, I’d forgotten that the pre-shave is aggressively cooling with a strong menthol scent and feel. But I hadn’t forgotten that the aftershave lotion is not a balm and doesn’t really excite me because it goes on like a heavy lotion and takes quite a while to soak or rub in. But again, the soap is excellent with a very nice, rich, thick lather.
Comfort: 23 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #266. The Noble Otter Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Oliworks M3teorite red aluminum (mild plate)
- Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented pre-shave
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow synthetic
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Noble Otter Noir et Vanille shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Nivea Sensitive Soothing Post Shave Balm
- Stats:
- 1st shave with the Noble Otter soap
- 43rd lather used in my shaves
- 15th shave with the Bic blade
- 13th shave with the Yaqi brush
- 85th almost perfect shave (23 or 24 overall rating)
- 62nd shave with a 23 overall rating (30.8% of all logged shaves)
Yup, I’m definitely a fan of the medium and mild plates on the M3teorite. They’ve been very comfortable, providing good closeness with some extra effort, but as I always note, I’ll take the extra effort as long as it doesn’t result in extra irritation, and it didn’t here. This shave was marginally more comfortable than Tuesday’s shave, but with about the same closeness as with the medium plate.
Everything else performed solidly. The Noble Otter Noir et Vanille soap has an interesting scent profile–yes, there’s vanilla, but it smells slightly spicy, with what Noble Otter says is a black tea fragrance combined with light floral notes. It’s an interesting combo, and even under the Nivea balm, I still am picking up hints of the soap.
The soap lathered fine–not great, but it did the job. I prefer lathers with more slickness, but this did the job without exciting me. Of course, I’ll use it at least one more time before I offer a review.
In the end, a great week of shaves that were solid and comfortable.
Next week, a bunch of first tries. Stay tuned!
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25