My New Shave Schedule:

Old habits die hard but this one I was glad to get rid of which took me a while to. For a number of years, I was required to shave daily and after I became disabled, I kept shaving daily. So one day I decided to wait a couple of days and it made a huge difference for the better. And ever since then, I've been shaving just about every 2 to 3 days. So me doing daily shaves has come to an end:

So from now on, I'll be shaving every 2 to 3 days since I'm no longer required to shave daily. The cartridge razors are doing a phenomenal job for me. Between good prep, using a shave soap & brush, along with this shave schedule, I've been getting phenomenal shaves with zero irritation.

Proraso Green & The Track 2:

Today's shave was great. It's also Friday which means Proraso Friday is in effect. So I went with the modern day classic Proraso Green which has an incredible Menthol & Eucalyptus scent to it which is just what my sinuses needed today. And to finish off today's shave, I went with a nice healthy dose of TN Dickinson's Witch Hazel and then I put the icing on the cake with Pinaud's Osage Rub which puts the post shave feel over the top:

The 1970 Gillette Track 2 was really good. I managed to get a squeaky clean post shave feel in 3 passes. It's been a while since I've used this razor and the blades did slightly tug a bit. So after I finished my shave, I took the Track 2 to my new fire hose strop for 10 passes and then I followed that up with 5 passes on the rough leather and 10 passes on the smooth leather. So that should have more than freshened up the blade that I have on the Track 2. If not, I can always put a new blade on there. It's got quite a lot of shaves on it.

Vision & The Gillette Shield:

Today's shave was great. Sorry for the delay folks, I had to take my mom to the doctor today and we didn't get back till just now. My mom has walking pneumonia. Earlier today I went with Soap Commander which is my top artisan brand of soap and I also went with my personal favorite, "Vision" which has an incredible aqua, amber & mint scent. Then I finished it off with a nice double dose of my "go to" splash and then I went with Soap Commander's matching aftershave balm which adds a touch of menthol to the already over the top post shave feel:

The Gillette Shield was great. I had that sheet of ice post shave feel after just 2 passes. My next shave of the day will probably be on Sunday. I find that shaving less tends to lead to a much better shave experience and almost no irritation occurs when I do.

Derby Shave Stick & The Black Diamond:

Today's shave was good but I have to quit using DE, single edge & straight razors. More on that in a moment. Today I tried 3 new things and all 3 were really good. The first was the Derby Shave Stick. It reminded me of Arko in terms of performance only with a much better scent which is kindly a classic clean soap type of scent. And to finish off today's shave, I paired it with a nice healthy dose of Thayer's Cucumber Witch Hazel which smells like a freshly sliced cucumber:

The other thing that I tried today for the first time was an ILR edge on my black diamond straight razor. It was good but almost deadly which is why I have to say adios to the traditional wet shaving razors. My first pass went extremely well and then things went down hill from that point. My against the grain pass told the same sensitive skin story I've been experiencing over the past few months and it had been 2 days since my last shave. The final pass is what woke me up to a fact that I had been ignoring for the last 6 years which is the side effects from long term anesthesia. My hands started shaking and come really close to being deadly as a result. So unfortunately, I have to quit using DE safety razors, single edges & straight razors and it sucks too.

Lemon Chill & The Fusion:

Today's shave was great. After a nice, hot & relaxing shower, I grabbed Stirling Soaps and their lemon chill scented soap which has incredible lemon meringue pie scent to it. This soap is doing a better job at getting rid of my sinus issues than my cold medicine is. And I finished off today's shave with the matching aftershave balm which is also helping:

I'm too sick to use a DE safety razor or a straight razor so I grabbed my Gillette Fusion which was excellent. I have an extremely close and smooth shave that resembles and feels like a sheet of ice which I got after performing 2 passes. I don't know when my next shave is going to be because I'm still pretty sick even though I've been taking some cold medicine.

The Muhle R41 1st Impressions:

The Muhle R41 is an awesome razor. When you mention or ask someone in wet shaving what's the most aggressive razor you can buy, this specific one is the 1st that gets mentioned and rightfully so. So lets get started. First the packaging is excellent. This razor was made in Germany:

The shave was great but very aggressive. I can feel the blade on my skin. I also don't recommend daily shaving with this specific razor. It's that aggressive:

It's also a 3 piece which is a good thing. I did come with a Muhle branded DE blade but I want keep it in tact so I went with a Feather DE blade:

The instructions and brochures that came with it are mostly in German :

This razor had no problem removing my 4 day old beard. The fit and finish is nothing short of phenomenal and the grip is also excellent. It is some where in between light & medium weight. It's not as light as a bakelite razor is but still weighs less than a DE 89. The price tag starts at around $56 U.S. Dollars depending on where you go. In addition to not shaving daily with this razor, you also don't really need to go against the grain either on your 2nd and final pass. I regret going against the grain on my 2nd pass from now on, I will only do 2 with the grain passes. All in all, I'm glad I bought this razor.

American Blend & The R41:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Fine Accoutrements and their American Blend scented soap which has an incredible scent to it. The scent is based on YSL Rive Gauche Pour Homme (2003). And to finish off today's shave, I paired it with the matching aftershave splash:

The R41 was really good. 2 passes at the most is all you need. I did make a bit of a mistake and went against the grain on the second pass. The next time I will only do with the grain passes with this razor because it is very aggressive and has no trouble removing any beard.