I just wanted to drop a quick post explaining one of the quirks that happens sometimes when planning my shaves, and how it manifests itself in the next two months (8 weeks) of shaves.
In my run-up to my 300th shave, I really concentrated on a longer-term plan for upcoming shaves. This, I hoped, would have two positive effects: one, tying together the upcoming shaves fairly nicely, without all needing to share a common theme. And two, really letting me get a plan together that would let me get to as many new things and get back to as many existing things as possible without seeming forced. And, I guess there’s a third thing here, I wanted to just have some fun with the planning.
The main upshot of this is that in the next 8 weeks of shaves, I’ll use 6 new-to-me blades. A few I’ve had for a while, others are more recent arrivals, and others came with new razors.
So in my continual quest to make sure to at least try the blade they ship with, I’ll put the RK blade to the Henson medium (I don’t like the blade, but figured I need to give it a go).
The Oliworks M3teorite shipped with Filoso blades, so I need to give those a try.
And the Mühle shipped with their own blades, so I have to try those.
I’ve had two different Derby blades for a bit, and I’ve never tried either, so it’s time for another two-week blade comparison, to compare the Derby Extra with the Derby Premium.
With all of the hype they’re getting, I purchased and need to try some Personna Gem Platinum Diamond Glide blades and see if they’re for me.
And for a sense of nostalgia, I also picked up some Gillette Super Blue blades and will give those a go later on.
The fun part here came in a few ways. First, weaving in the razors to use. Obviously, the blades that came with razors decided themselves, and I prefer to give the first shave with a new-to-me blade to the Henson mild, so that decided the Personna Gem shave.
But the blade comparison with the Derby blades posed a challenge as I really felt I couldn’t use the Henson mild for two weeks in a row just a month or so after using it with the Gem, so I’ve paired the Derbys with the Rockwell, though I haven’t fully decided if I’ll go with plates 4, 3, and 2 or 3, 2, and 1. Plus, I got to have fun naming those shaves: the Derby Derby. Look forward to that.
And then, in a major strategy shift for me, to celebrate the 300th shave, for that week I’ll use the Super Gillette Blue (Gillette Super Blue? I’ve really got to nail down the official name before I use those) with 3 different razors, all the mild favorites: The Henson mild, Mühle R89, and the Feather AS-D2. It will be an interesting opportunity to compare the mildest of my razors with each other.
For those of you keeping score at home, I’ve got 41 different blade brands in inventory right now (42 if you count the Kai, which I do not have in stock and will not stock again), but have used 25. So this sprint over the next couple of months will get that number up to 31 blades tried.
I still need to try the Parker blades in general, but also probably need to try them in the 55-SL Semi-Slant. But I just can’t convince myself to go back to that razor yet. I want to, really, because I want to decide if I’m going to try a milder slant, or if slant razors just aren’t for me.
All the while through these 8 weeks, I’m mixing in some favorite lathers with some new ones, and I’m pretty excited about the lineup I’ve created as there’s maybe only one that I’ll be using that I’m not thrilled to use (the Razor Emporium Nordic, but I have to finish that up just to clear it out).
Also, now that I’ve got seven brushes in stock, it’s fun to mix those up and not just land on the same three every week. And I’m excited about each one is a different experience.
So there you go, an intro to the plan for the next 8 weeks stay tuned because I’m excited to go through all 24 shaves!