Has it happened to you too?

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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fallingwickets
Clive the Thumb
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Has it happened to you too?

Post by fallingwickets »

You use a brush, or a razor/blade, a soap, a cream with some frequency and then one day your shave just sucks? Ive been using personna hospital blades (with extreme fidelity!! :D ) for years and all of a sudden every shave feels harsh and uncomfortable. Any of you gents suffer a similar fate with a shaving product you use regularly

clive
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CMur12
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by CMur12 »

Hi Clive -

I guess I'm hopelessly uninformed. Last I knew, you faithfully used (nasty :P ) Merkur blades.

As to the phenomenon you are reporting, I don't recall having that experience. Though I have some favorites, most any decent blade seems to serve me pretty well, with the exception of Feathers. I've done well with most soaps I've tried, as well, as long as they are scented and not fragranced. I have stronger preferences for brushes and razors, though none of these, once established as favorites, have turned on me.

- Murray
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John Rose
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by John Rose »

I used to like Brut and Old Spice Classic aftershaves, but I don't plan to buy any more of either.

It goes the other way too. When I first tried Italian Barber's "GIT" aftershave I thought it was "meh".
The second time, "It doesn't suck".
Now I quite like it. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be available any more, but I'm hoping RazoRock's "Irish Countryside" splash is close enough.

Semogue 620 boar brush - Maybe it's just getting old, but it seems much softer than I remember. Losing its backbone or something.

Half of my brushes are boars and are what i started with, but now I might only use any of them 10% of the time.

I used to prefer alcohol-free balms of various brands, but now I like the slap of an alcohol splash. I don't like waiting for the gooey residue (of a balm) to dry, but I really like the slight film of the shea butter in the Proraso Red splash.
:-k Maybe I should try making some splash/balm blends.

I find myself choosing my milder razors these days - EJ DE87, Pre-War Tech, LC New, Aristocrat, Aristocrat Junior, and adjustables at lower settings.

I used to hyper-mile my blades to 30, 60, or even 100 uses, but now I just toss them at 20, which is the max you can count on a D-20 D&D die.
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fallingwickets
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by fallingwickets »

I used merkurs until about 2015 and then switched to the personna which until now have always cut rather well. Maybe my skin is changing with old age LOL

clive
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drmoss_ca
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by drmoss_ca »

fallingwickets wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 6:53 am You use a brush, or a razor/blade, a soap, a cream with some frequency and then one day your shave just sucks? Ive been using personna hospital blades (with extreme fidelity!! :D ) for years and all of a sudden every shave feels harsh and uncomfortable. Any of you gents suffer a similar fate with a shaving product you use regularly

clive
It might be just one bad pack, but if it persists over several packs one assumes a change in manufacture. Not really an issue for straight shavers! :whistle:
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fallingwickets
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by fallingwickets »

on one hand I regret not getting into straights, on the other im thankful i didnt as i dont have the attention span to properly look after a straight.

:roll: :lol:

clive
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by brothers »

As Clive stated, the problem can be a result of any one or more of the listed components of the shave. Not just limited to the soap or the blade (or the straight razor! :D ) Or, even the water or the technique as applied by the guy that's shaving. Most of the time it's a failure in consistency of quality or operator error, which is usually the case in my experience.
Gary

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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by scruffy »

My skin has changed. I used to be able to do DE shaves very comfortably. I broke out with severe rashes all over my hands, neck and arms. It seems like even the skin on my face has changed. My hands get cut just by touching everyday objects. My shaves end up with cuts all over my face. I have changed my shave routine to using an electric razor and then doing one last pass with a DE. It sucls but I can not do regular shaves anymore. Even having soap on my hands stings like crazy.
Ed
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fallingwickets
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by fallingwickets »

sorry to read about your troubles, Ed. On the plus side, youre still shaving :D :D :D :D :D

clive
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offshoot
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by offshoot »

No. Not yet.
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fallingwickets
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by fallingwickets »

No. Not yet.
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

wow!!!! nice to see you out and about. hope all is well.

clive
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jww
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by jww »

Use to happen to me when I was actually constantly swapping back and forth with my setups daily. As I settled into a single regime (after a good 10 years probably, I might add) it's all gone swimmingly well.

ymmv.
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Aty
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by Aty »

Men grow older, and skin changes. It makes sense then for our routine and tools to adapt and change more from necessity, rather than from boredom. On darker side of things, perhaps I was looking for plausible explanation why I needed that certain brush by Plisson, and some other stuff from Meißner Tremonia.
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John Rose
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by John Rose »

John Rose wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:51 am I used to hyper-mile my blades to 30, 60, or even 100 uses, but now I just toss them at 20, which is the max you can count on a D-20 D&D die.
Image
Now I'm down to using a D-12.

On the other hand, with the recent acquisition of a Henson AL13 (Mild), I'm starting to like Feather blades.
"If this isn't nice, then what is?" - Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex
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offshoot
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Re: Has it happened to you too?

Post by offshoot »

fallingwickets wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 12:52 pm
No. Not yet.
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

wow!!!! nice to see you out and about. hope all is well.

clive
Hello Clive, I'm pretty much ok. Always pleasure to "meet" you!
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