Growth: 3 day beard (morning shave)
Prep: Warm shower: Stirling Sheep bar soap
Pre: Stirling mentholated pre-shave soap
Brush: Rudy Vey 25mm STF
Lather: PAA Supreme Sandalwood Science (CK-6 formula)
Load Bowl: HC&C shave bowl (straight walled)
Lather Bowl: HC&C shave bowl (straight walled)
Razor: PAA Starling V3
Blade: Personna GEM PTFE-coated Stainless Steel (D7)
Plate: Open Comb
Razor: Micromatic Open Comb (MMOC) with bumps
Blade: Personna GEM PTFE-coated Stainless Steel (D7)
A/B shave with V3 and MMOC with bumps.
I have been shaving exclusively with vintage GEM-style razors for the last three weeks or so and today found I really had to switch gears to shave with the Starling V3. The MMOC was not a problem as my previous shave was with that razor and I had been using all of its friends for the last three weeks. The Starling felt a little rough today. My first path lather was not up to par. My previous A/B shave was the bumpless MMOC (with 1/2 spine shim) vs. the V3 Starling and in that shave, the Starling was more comfortable (but then again, I had been shaving with the Starling for several shaves in a row). In that shave, both razors produced the same closeness after two passes. This shave, I would say the MMOC (with bumps) was the smoother shaver and was a little more efficeint in the XTG on my chin. I think these differences come from how recently I had been shaving with that type of razor. All in all, it was a good shave. I just have to keep in mind that I need to switch gears and shave with the same razor two shaves in a row to get back in the swing of things. Same thing happens when I am in my AC razors for a while and then come back to my GEM-style razors. The first shave is usually off until I get back into the muscle memory for that type of razor.