Fold a Losing Hand

Yesterday's shave with the Gillette 7-o'clock black blade was so irritating that my face only began to feel normal in the evening. Then considering my next shave, I didn't want another possible shave like the previous; after all, you fold a losing hand.

So I dealt out the next blade on deck in my rotation, which was a SuperMax Titanium. I stored the Gillette blade for possible use another time (like for opening a box or something; no, actually I'll want to see if the aggressive palm stropping had any effect on the comfort of the shave -- just not today), and, for the moment at least, put the SuperMax blade into my c.1948 Tech razor for this morning's shave. The plan is to take my preferred two-pass shave (WG, AG) for a high-quality outcome, using the Weishi 9306-F for the finishing pass.

It's been so long since I last used one of my SuperMax-T blades that today's shave was an unknown. Would it again rile my skin like the Gillette 7-o'clock did yesterday, or would it feel rather face friendly?

I did a quick search of my own blog for a previous article on the SuperMax blade. Interesting that in the most recent shave summary and review of 31 January 2015, I was experimenting at that time with a two-pass shave, also WG then AG, but using a more aggressive razor for the second pass. I believe I abandoned that approach simply because of the high risk of the final pass with the less-face-friendly instrument.

What a Difference a Day (and a Blade) Makes

My shave with the SuperMax was night-and-day better than yesterday. Perfect? No, my skin was probably still injured and sensitive from the previous few days' abuse with that &^%$#@!! Gillette 7-o'clock-black blade, but today was noticeably better with more comfort during the shave, less irritation after, and fewer weepers -- and those that are present this morning are likely residual from yesterday.

After today's shave I had a splash of witch hazel, then some Neutrogena balm. The blade got just a bit of oiled-palm stropping, then back into the Tech for tomorrow. (All's well that oils well?)

Happy shaving!