I struggled with that title. Can you tell? See, I normally wake up at 5 a.m. to start my day, and this week likely is no exception, even with Thanksgiving coming on Thursday.
Just as a reminder, last week went very well, with a clean sweep of almost perfect shaves with the Rockwell razor paired with the Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (black) blades. But there was more irritation with the more aggressive plates on the Rockwell, so I expected that this week with the Henson mild would have some really nice shaves.
On the software side, I’m looking forward to two days of Proraso products, as I’ll be maintaining the Proraso Sunday shave, but adding Proraso blue to Thursday’s shave, since it’s Thanksgiving.
Let’s see how the week goes!
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #205. The Proraso white Sunday 7 O’Clock black shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13 mild
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (black)
- 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)
Let me just say that I really struggled with rating this shave. I’ve intentionally set a very high bar for a perfect shave, where there needs to be absolutely no irritation and no stubble feel left over. Everything short of that isn’t a perfect shave. And I expect that a perfect shave will happen very rarely. And it does help that I’ve only got 7 almost perfect shaves with an overall rating of 24 of 25.
But this was an amazing shave. Extraordinarily close, absolutely no irritation, even with a few extra strokes to clean up a couple of spots. But I’m going to assume that some of today’s quality comes from the fact that there was a longer stubble to get through–three days instead of the usual two.
The Henson mild definitely consistently earns its rating as my favorite razor because it just does such a great job on my face, and today’s shave had some blade feel, but afterward, there wasn’t that feeling on my skin of having dragged a blade across it. And those 7 shaves with a 24 of 25 rating? Yeah, four of them were with the Henson mild.
The Proraso white shave cream delivered a great lather so that there was a slickness throughout the whole shave without needing any reapplication. And the pre-shave and after shave balm performed as wonderfully as they always do.
The bottom line is that this was an outstanding shave that is exactly what I wanted to find when I started this journey. I’m thrilled to find it.
Comfort: 25 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 of 25
Overall: 24 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #206. The Edwin Jagger shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13 mild
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (black)
- 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
I look forward to every shave–it’s a nice change over the cartridge days where I shaved in the shower and just wanted to get it done. I look forward to them for various reasons: excitement over trying something new, using a favorite combo, or coming back to something I haven’t used for a while.
So I was looking forward to using the Edwin Jagger sample combo since I haven’t used it since the end of September, but I was quickly reminded that it just isn’t a favorite. The pre shave lotion really is formulated like a typical skin lotion, and it has a very aggressive menthol scent and cooling feel. The shaving cream works well, lathers well, and lubricates very well. But the aftershave just kind of turns me off–it too is a lotion similar but thicker than the pre-shave, but it forms a thick layer on the skin and takes a while to be rubbed in and to absorb.
But to the shave: it was very good, but I’m realizing that I do give some weight to how much joy a shave brings me, and the Edwin Jagger products just don’t bring me the joy I want from a shave. So yes, it was close and mostly comfortable–not quite as comfortable as Sunday’s with a little more burn with the alum–but it also took some extra strokes to get the closeness I want. Ordinarily, I’d take a shave like this because it really was good, but there’s just that nagging disappointment at the pre-shave, lather, and aftershave.
Comfort: 22 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 22 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #207. The Turkey Day Proraso blue shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13 mild
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (black)
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Protective pre-shave cream (blue)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Protective shaving cream (blue)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Protective aftershave cream (blue)
Not an almost perfect shave, but very good and very close to being one. The only let down is that it felt like the blade is starting to dull and wasn’t performing as cleanly as it has the rest of the week.
But the razor glided across my face excellently thanks to the Proraso blue products. I love the aftershave, and I’ll have that scent following me around for the day, which won’t be a bad thing today as I’ll be in the kitchen for about 6 hours.
This was a good shave week, and the 7 O’Clock black blade certainly performs well for me with a mild setup. This indicates it’s probably more on the aggressive end when compared to the green and yellow blades in the lineup, but it certainly isn’t a bad one. But I only have one tuck, so I need to think about whether I’ll want to reload.
Comfort: 22 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 22 out of 25
Overall: 22 out of 25
