A Negative Result is not Failure

The most impressive part of the first "perfection trial" was the oil cleanse. Wow, was my skin tight! Not in a swollen way... if you've never done an oil cleanse, and you have oily skin, get right on it. But this new oil went way deeper than the original Castor/Argan blend, and no comparison at all with my cheapo homemade cooking/mineral blend.

I'm heavily into reading about Vitamin D now, and its non-metabolic effect on target tissues (there's a receptor for practically everything, it seems) is described as "anti-proliferative" as well as causing differentiation, as from basal cell to corneocyte. That's a distinction I missed originally, and it highlights the need for exfoliant pumpkin juice, which does, I believe, support proliferation.

Those processes are supposed to occur over a period of time, but just like the first time I put D on a senile wart, I could feel the need for balance immediately. Having applied the whole pumpkin juice, it just felt perfect. If I can get away with that daily, I will do it. I think it might even turn things around for my greasy pillowcase.

The Shave

I enjoyed long, easy strokes on the reduction WTG, and settled on a new method to adjust for blade flex: tightening the razor against my face. The rationale is that no skewing motion will exceed the force used to twist the baseplate exactly perpendicular into my face. I've been doing it for a couple shaves now, and so far, so good: the blade is secure.

But there was no free pass, and no "crunch." I had to work pretty hard for near-BBS in three and a half passses, and it showed: erythema at the contralateral jaw corner, a general appearance of prominences having been razed. Missed stubble in the ipsilateral cheek hollow and under the irritated jaw corner are perceived as especially insulting. So far, it seems purely superficial, at least, and nothing's burning. Carbamide and the Veg are harmonizing in their special way. Post shave doesn't get any better, with the Dollar Tree 3-in-1 going on extra wet, and drying down to what must be the most moisture my skin can hold. If I were preparing for a special event, I would be satisfied. Trouble is, I'm not.

I think the combination of preshave oil and congestive agent was a bad idea. Maybe if I had done the whole oil cleanse first, then applied the Cetaphil. Maybe not even then -- I need something as frictionless as soap on the surface and  in the follicles, and the sludge these things make with NMF seems to swell the stratum corneum alone, not the deeper layers.

On the other hand, swelling the outer layers of skin is probably why I didn't manage to cut myself. My pitch went quite a bit higher than I wanted, hitting the hair so far away from the root. I could feel myself screwing up at times, but there wasn't much skin to catch. Congestion at least made it fairly smooth. But, like I've said before: I'm not in this for the exfoliation.