As much as I was excited about last week’s shaves, I’m less excited about this week’s shaves. But not completely unenthused, mind you.
Let me explain a bit. I’ve got new things I need to try. And old things to finish. And almost too many razors to manage comfortably (at least in my mind.
So, when I started planning this week’s shaves, I really wanted to use the Merkur for the second time. But I needed to pair a good blade with it, but didn’t want to go with one that I’ve been using a lot lately (Nacet, Perma-Sharp, Astra blue and green). So I chose the Gillette Platinum.
I found it surprising that I’ve only used the Gillette Platinum blades for one week’s of shaves. And matching it with an adjustable razor is a great plan, so that I could dial it down or up if needed. It does have a Razor Emporium assigned aggressiveness rating that is higher than the Nacet, but the same as the Perma-Sharp and Astra green blades, so it could be a more aggressive feeling shave than the first week of Merkur shaves.
But I wanted to get in the Proraso red pre-shave and lather that I’d picked up recently. And I really want to get the last shaves with the Element 47 and Nordic lathers. So I built the week accordingly. Nothing flashy or really exciting, just stuff I needed to try or get rid of. The shaves will be fine, but they just don’t thrill me, at least on paper. I mean, I’m looking forward to the shaves, but just not with the same excitement as some others.
It’s also been 4 months since I last used the Barbasol 1919 lather/after shave combo, so it’s definitely time to get that in.
Let’s talk about what’s new for this week: In addition to the second week shaving with the Merkur Progress razor and the Gillette Platinum, it’s the first shave with the Proraso Nourishing pre-shave and shaving cream (red formulas). I got some samples of them a while back from Maggard’s, but was unable to get any of the aftershave.
I also picked up some Nivea Men Sensitive Cool Post Shave balm, and will give that it’s first go this week, and should finish the sample of the Razor Emporium Element 47 shaving soap to free up another sample jar.
So let’s get into the week to see how it all went.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #273. The First Proraso Red shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Merkur Progress 500 (setting 3)
- Blade: Gillette Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Nourishing pre-shave cream (red)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Nourishing shave soap (red)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Sensitive after shave balm (white)
- Stats:
- 4th shave with the Merkur Progress 500 razor (1st on setting 3)
- 4th shave with the Gillette Platinum blade
- 1st shave with the Proraso red pre-shave and lather (6th Proraso used)
- 45th lather used (18 remaining to try)
- 29th shave with an overall rating of 21 (13.9% of all logged shaves)
During the first week with the Merkur, I noted that setting 4 was fairly aggressive (for me, anyway). That’s why I decided on setting 3 for today’s shave, and with the Platinum blade, it was still slightly aggressive. I think if I pair it with the Bic or the 7 O’Clock Yellow, it will feel fine, but there was some notable blade feel. Not enough to dial it down mid-shave, but it did contribute to a less comfortable shave than last week. There wasn’t any irritation with the alum, but I had to take a lot of time to think about the rating for this shave because it wasn’t outstanding, and I know I can get a better result. So I ended up dropping it to an overall rating of 22.
My first use of the Proraso Nourishing (red) pre-shave and shaving cream was good. I’m not a fan of the scent–it’s warm and pleasant enough, but I find the scent of the other three (the blue, green and white) better suited to me. The two products worked well enough, but I’m thinking that while I do have coarse beard hairs, they really aren’t that dense, and those are two things that the Proraso red line targets. But my opinion of it may improve–if you recall, I wasn’t thrilled with the Proraso blue after its first use, and it’s come to be one of my favorites.
This is the kind of shave that shows the progress I’ve made in 20 months–at the start, this would have been perfectly acceptable, but these days, I know that there are better results to be had. And while I feel it’s a bit disappointing to get a shave like this, I need to give myself the grace to understand being judgemental of a shave result that is sub-par is perfectly okay.
Comfort: 22 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 21 of 25
Overall: 21 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #274. The Last Element 47 Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Merkur Progress 500 (setting 2)
- Blade: Gillette Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Menthol pre-shave soap stick
- Brush: Razor Emporium badger shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Razor Emporium Element 47 shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Nivea Men Sensitive Cool Post Shave Balm
- Stats:
- 5th and final shave with the Element 47 lather
- 27th shave with the Razor Emporium badger brush
- 37th shave with an overall rating of 22 (17.7% of all logged shaves)
Slightly less blade feel, but less closeness and slightly more irritation on my neck with this shave. I know I’m trying to get the Merkur dialed in, but it just seems to run more aggressive than I expect. So I think the next week of shaves with it will be with a milder blade like the Bic, Shark, or 7 O’Clock yellow.
Some good news, though, as I gave the Razor Emporium Menthol pre-shave stick its second go–the grittiness I complained about in that first use rinsed off easily from the top of the stick. It still doesn’t have a lot of coolness, but it does have the slickness that it’s unscented sibling provides.
Speaking of coolness, I’m a bit stumped with the Nivea Men Soothing cool post shave balm. To be honest, I’m not feeling any cooling at all, and it’s scent profile and general feel just makes it feel identical to the soothing post shave balm.
And finally, I can report that the last couple of shaves with the Razor Emporium badger brush have been very nice. I’ve managed to get it to stop shedding so many bristles, and I only spotted one in the lather this morning, so that’s a big win. I generally really like this brush, but when it was dropping so many bristles in the lather and on my face, that got very frustrating.
Back to the overall shave, though, this one was good, but not outstanding. We’ll see how Thursday’s goes and I kind of suspect that I should just leave the Platinum blade alone when using the Merkur.
Comfort: 23 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 22 out of 25
Overall: 22 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #275. The 275th shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Merkur Progress 500 (setting 1)
- Blade: Gillette Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented pre-shave soap stick
- Brush: None
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Barbasol 1919 shaving cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Barbasol 1919 aftershave balm
- Stats:
- 6th shave with the Gillette Platinum blade
- 6th shave with the Merkur Progress razor
- 6th shave with the Barbasol 1919 shaving cream
- 92nd almost perfect shave
- 28th shave with an overall rating of 24 (13.3% of all logged shaves)
Okay, lesson learned: going forward, I need to treat the Merkur Progress as a more aggressive razor. That means I need to pair it with milder blades or keep the settings very low for more aggressive blades.
This was an amazing shave. There was no irritation, even with the alum, and with an extra few strokes, I got very near to the closeness I want.
It’s been four full months since I last used the Barbasol 1919 shaving cream, and it definitely was time to get back to it. It coats, lubricates, and protects excellently. Though it did really clog up the razor pretty easily since I was using setting 1–making the gaps smaller than usual. The aftershave followed along and moisturized my skin nicely and is providing a nice classic fragrance to the shave.
And one last note: this was shave 275 (this is an educated guess, but if it’s off, the real number isn’t that far off). Shave 300 is just two months away, and I’m starting to plan what special things I’ll be doing for that week, so stay tuned!
Again, though, a great end to the shave week after a little bit of a rough start. But every shave should be a learning experience, and I learned a lot about both the Gillette Platinum blade and the Merkur Progress razor this week.
Next week, some hopefully game changing shaves.
Comfort: 25 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25