Dorco Prime starter set: TTO razor, 30 ST-301 blades,
and a nice case with mirror.
|
My shave soap again this week is from the second pre-production run of Grandad's Slick 'n Creamy Shave Soap for Sensitive Skin, which is being used for the initial offering of client samples.
- Sensitive & thin skin, somewhat loose on neck
- Lots of angles and dips -- paired with a moderately tough beard
- Challenging to get a close, comfortable shave
- Cool-water rinse only, prior to lathering
- Grandad's shave soap for sensitive skin lathered with a boar brush
- (After-shave treatments are specified in each day's notes)
- The Dorco Prime razor.
- The use of the Dorco ST-301 blades for most of the week, finishing with last week's ST-300 blade for the final two shaves.
- Since I finished last week with two shaves on an ST-301 blade from the Dorco Prime set, I will begin the week with that same blade, thus starting this week with the third shave on the 301 blade in the Dorco Prime razor.
What I Learned this Week:
- I'd rather have some minor blood shed and a very close, near-totally-baby-smooth shave, than a mediocre, coarse shave and no wounds at all.
- The Dorco Prime razor -- likely a twin to a chrome-plated Weishi 9306 version -- can give an good daily shave -- and I could use this razor as a daily instrument.
- The Dorco Prime DE razor and the Weishi 9306-F give me shaves that are indistinguishable from one another.
- My one day, Thursday, returning to the Merkur 33, however, gave a better overall shave -- even with a last-use ST-301 blade! -- slightly less irritation, fewer wounds, a bit closer. However, this was before I slowed down my shaving strokes a bit.
- I like the Dorco ST-301 blades, and they are a good blade for me to use and give me good results, but they're not the absolute perfect match for my skin (matching blade to skin is a very personal thing).
- On Thursday's shave I began making slower strokes with the razor, which, going forward, may improve the overall quality of my shaves.
Next Week:
The Polsilver Super Iridium blade is on deck.
This week's shave journal:
Sunday:Dorco Prime razor and ST-301 blade. |
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.0; Cheeks - 4.5; Lower lip & chin - 4.5; Under jawline - 4.2; Neck - 4.8.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.40, Irritation-4.2, Wounds-4.0
Three passes, with the last being very fussy, gave me as close a shave as I've had. The extremely close and fussy third pass did open some minor wounds. Finished with a cool-water rinse, tea-tree after-shave lotion, a partial beard alum rub, and Gillette lotion for sensitive skin (white bottle).
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.2; Cheeks - 4.8; Lower lip & chin - 4.5; Under jawline - 4.7; Neck - 4.2.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.48, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-4.0
Summary rating: 4.24** (Again a good shave with a diminished rating because of minor wounds.)
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.0; Cheeks - 4.2; Lower lip & chin - 4.2; Under jawline - 4.0; Neck - 4.0.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.08, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-3.5
Summary rating: 3.92** (A forgettable shave.)
The Weishi 9306-F: an apparent twin to the Dorco Prime razor. |
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.0; Cheeks - 4.5; Lower lip & chin - 4.5; Under jawline - 4.2; Neck - 4.0.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.24, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-4.0
Summary rating: 4.12** (Not a bad shave, just unremarkable.)
Merkur 33 with blade, side view. |
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.5; Cheeks - 4.5; Lower lip & chin - 4.7; Under jawline - 4.2; Neck - 4.3.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.44, Irritation-4.3, Wounds-4.8
Summary rating: 4.50** (A nice shave -- even with the final-use -- seventh-shave -- ST-301 blade.)
Closeness details: Upper lip - 3.8; Cheeks - 3.8; Lower lip & chin - 4.5; Under jawline - 3.7; Neck - 3.7.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-3.90, Irritation-4.8, Wounds-4.5
Summary rating: 4.28** (This might be a good process for late-to-work mornings.)
Merkur 15C with blade, side view. |
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.5; Cheeks - 4.2; Lower lip & chin - 4.8; Under jawline - 4.2; Neck - 4.3.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.40, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-4.0
Summary rating: 4.20**
Closeness -- a separate evaluation is done for each of these five areas: a) upper lip, b) cheeks, c) chin, d) under jaw line, and e) neck; then these five are averaged together for a single closeness rating. The following are the scale criteria:
5 – Smooth when rubbed against grain & other directions
4 – Smooth across grain but not against grain
3 – Smooth with grain only
2 – Not smooth to touch, but appears adequately clean shaven
1 – Not smooth to touch, and stubble apparent
Irritation:
5 – No perceivable irritation
4 – Minor irritation just after the shave, disappears quickly with time or applied balm
3 – Minor irritation that lingers for more than an hour but less than six
2 – Irritation that is perceived throughout the day
1 – Visible razor burn
Wounds:
5 – Absence of any wounds
4 – Pinpoint weepers only
3 – A total of three or less nicks, small cuts, and larger-than-pinpoint weepers
2 – A total of four to six nicks, cuts, and larger-than-pinpoint weepers
1 – Worse than 2, above (first aid, quick!)
Regarding use of tenths of rating points: For closeness or irritation, each additional tenth of a rating point represents about 10% of the shaving area in question. For wounds, it represents gradations within a rating. For example, if I have, say, six pinpoint weepers only, I might give a wound rating of 4. However, if I only have one wound, which is a pinpoint weeper, that would likely get a rating of 4.9.
**Regarding the single-number overall shave rating: To give equal weight to shave closeness and harshness, I now double the shave-closeness rating, then add the values for closeness, irritation, and wounds, and divide that sum by four.
Happy shaving!
No comments:
Post a Comment