13.08.2025

• Brush: RazoRock Beehive 28 mm
• Razor: Stando Perun; KAI Captain J-7 kamisori shavette
• Blade: Personna Super; KAI Captain Protouch MG
• Lather: Moon Soaps - Union
• Post-Shave: OAM - sensitive skin toner; alum block; Benecos 3in1 moisturising & soothing ASB
• Passes & Info: 2 passes on both head and face around a circle beard; good shave on the dome, dumpster fire on the face. 3 different post shave products should tell you enough...

So this shave was a pretty even 50/50. I thought I could finally get away with shaving on my face again, I really hoped it'd be the case. Trimming went well today, so I actually had a pretty solid shape of the circle beard to go by. Sadly, it was completely awful. I don't know how I managed to cruise through a whole AA in 2022 with just this shavette. My muscle memory seems to be gone for the most part and I hoped this would be like riding a bike - once you know how to do it, you never lose it. Unfortunately this wasn't the case here.

It didn't help that most of Union's smell has faded and it mostly smells like a cardboard box where a soap came in. It still had good glide and a nice pinch of menthol, my shaved head proves it. I thought it'd be a shame to leave this expensive KAI shavette lying around, gathering dust. But I should've spent some time re-learning the basics without a blade first. Despite the guarded blade, I caught lots of weepers and basically got every possible kind of irritation. Bleeding spots? Check. Redness and razor burn? Check. I'll have to follow up with an antiseptic spray (alcohol free of course) and some panthenol cream before going to bed. And the shave wasn't even that close. A massive FU on my part... At least I did my best to make this shave relaxing by listening to some ambient tunes again. I know there used to be a consensus that one should shave in complete silence to focus more on the razor feedback, but I think this is a bit more esoteric than actually helpful. I already have trouble focusing on a single task due to my ADHD, strangely ambient music helps me to do it while studying - and maybe it can help me appreciate shaving a bit more again?

My general plan is to get back into alternating between head and face shaves, since combination skin is a bitch and my dry skin parts could benefit from semi regular exfoliation and good aftershave products. Plus it'll fix those glaring patchy growth on my right side being too visible. Apparently the "scruffy goat", i.e. a full goatee with some light stubble around it is a real thing now, so I could easily go with 2-3 days between face shaves and continue to shave my head at least every other day to maintain the smooth look I prefer.