Hard to keep up... past Shave's of the Day

Well, I'm back from my trip and I never posted ANY of my shaves from both Sunday as well as the weekdays. So I'll try to recap quickly:

Sunday - I still used the Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera shave soap, using the technique of soaking it in hot water while taking my shower. I switched back to the Vision to see if the shave would be different. Because I had it cranked down to it's lowest (read least aggressive) setting I got less nicks than the Super Speed and overall the shave was just a little more pleasant... but, what I realized over the week was, this (most likely) had more to do with my technique and angle than the razor or blade.

The shave was good, and I decided to only take three passes, which were WTG, XTG and XTG. There was still a little stubble, but my face felt better.

Equipment:

• Merkur Vision 2000
• Merkur Super Platinum Blade
  
• Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera shaving soap
• Lathered in Edwin Jagger Apothecary Mug
• Edwin Jagger Super Badger Brush
• Pinaud Clubman Liquid Nick Relief
• Toner Spray
• Aqua Velva Ice Sport (bracing) aftershave
  
• Art of Shaving Aftershave Balm (soothing)
  

Monday - Skipped the shave because 1) I had to wake up early to fly/travel, and 2) I wanted to give my face a rest. My stubble didn't get too bad skipping a day.

Tuesday - Because I was in a hotel with no other distractions I could take my time. I made sure to try and wet my beard as much as possible in the shower. I have been forgetting to mention that I have been putting conditioner on my beard while in the shower and letting it sit while I wash the rest of my body. Not sure if this is helping at all, but I would think it can't hurt.

I decided to use my Art of Shaving shaving cream instead of soap to see if there was any difference, also because I was lathering directly on my face with no mug brought along. I used the Dovo Silvertip Travel Brush, which is much smaller than my Edwin Jagger Super Badger, and it was fabulous at building a lather directly on my beard! I think I actually like a smaller brush now, but maybe only for building a lather directly on the beard. The shaving cream was MUCH easier to make a proper lather with than the soap (for me... unless I just don't know what a "proper" lather actually is). I'm not sure if the shave was actually better because of using the cream, but it turned out good. I again focused more on building technique rather than getting the closest shave ever. I never went ATG because I didn't want to ruin the experience.

Equipment (for the entire week):

• Merkur Vision 2000
• Merkur Super Platinum blade (newly replaced... only this day)
  
• Art of Shaving Shaving Cream
  
• Dovo Silvertip Travel Brush
• Lathered directly on beard
• Toner Spray
• Aqua Velva Ice Sport (bracing) aftershave
• Art of Shaving Aftershave Balm (soothing)

Wednesday - My experience was similar to Tuesday with the exception that I was beginning to understand razor angle better and getting less nicks (except for one mistake on my upper lip when I actually cut myself, not nicked... but that was lack of paying attention and being careful. The cut happened due to REALLY bad razor angle and letting it slide on my lip). I REALLY like the combination of bracing aftershave followed up by a soothing after shave.

Thursday - This, aside from not being truly baby butt smooth, was a wonderful shaving experience! Less nicks again. When applying the aftershave I am feeling less burn.

Friday - Decided once again to give my face a rest.