It's Not Apollo 13, but We're Working the Problem(s)....

Recovering From a Bad Shave

Yesterday I continued my alternating-razor experiment, but I made a boneheaded move. Instead of taking my usual conservative, multi-pass shave, I instead dialed my Gillette Slim up to three (of nine), and resolved to do a one-pass, with-grain shave.

Bear in mind that I already had numerous small wounds from the maiden shave with the Slim and a new Personna Red blade, and these wounds were getting daily irritation in subsequent shaves.

This one-pass shave was a disaster. Maybe I became cavalier and therefore careless. I'm not sure. But in any case, I opened up some fresh wounds. So one thing I've learned is to leave the $%^&*@ Slim in the shaving drawer until my blade is nearing the end of its useful life.

However, there is some good news. What I wanted from today's shave was a shave that looked good, but wasn't going to freshen or rile any existing skin insult. So I installed my Personna Red blade into my Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements' double-open-comb razor (a.k.a. the DOC). You may recall that this razor is a mild shaver, despite its open-comb design. It can also be made more aggressive by not tightening the handle all the way, but for today's shave, I wanted a lap cat of a razor.

The original, nickel-plated DOC razor.

Another wonderful characteristic of the DOC is that its combed top cap leaves a good deal of lather on the face after stroking. This is especially true when using reciprocating (that is, buffing) strokes. This razor allowed me to get, essentially, a three-pass shave with only a single lathering because I used reciprocating strokes for the entire shave.

The shave was close enough, and importantly, did not open any new wounds and left the old wounds alone to continue healing. Mission accomplished.

De-stinking the Soap of Many Samples

My cream-cheese tub of shave soap accumulated from many samples that offended my olfactory, resulted (as I've previously written) in an easy-lathering, slick soap that smelled like dead flowers, an old lady's bath powder, or potpourri -- all of which I strongly dislike.

Initially the plan was to let it air out for as long as it took to attenuate the stink. I grew impatient, however, and tried splashing in some Aqua Velva Ice Blue aftershave, which helped temporarily; but that's all.

So the other day I added some menthol crystals, some peppermint oil, a bit of water, and carefully re-melted and re-stirred the soap. The result was an improved bouquet. It's still not my favorite, but I now find it acceptable -- though I continue to leave it in the open air. Anyway, mission accomplished for the time being.

Happy shaving!