Closeness Relative To Exfoliation

The anticipated growth spurt followed my return to the Rimei. After the second shave. stubble was decidedly more noticeable and long. So I redoubled my efforts to make my most efficient, simple prep only as exfoliating as with the Merkur. In other words, I believe it was just that I took away too much skin, making the hair stick out more.

Witch hazel solution as oil cleanse, Williams for lather, no oil. Two passes, WTG and (the recently redefined) XTG yielded the velvety antithesis to BBS in two passes, perfectly close and even.  Followed by alum and blue Dollar Tree aftershave: not even a prickle. So far, so good.

The shave didn't last eight hours, however. Just a little too shady, and slightly rough. As the Sharks and Predators went into triple OT, I considered the risk to my pillowcase and decided it would be okay. Sometimes, too, the stubble seems to pry at sore nerves, but my skin was still a pleasure to stroke. Indeed, it seemed to ease the stubs back into the recovering follicles.

Next morning, the sandpaper felt a bit hairy and soft, but pretty much complete. I now felt like saving my witch hazel for postshave, not being very oily, and just washed with water. Three drops of jojoba oil would keep the blade off, with Arko providing the other half of my most protective, simple prep. This got three passes, and still wasn't as close, initially, as the preceding shave, but looked quite sharp. I left the sink confident the skin had been restored for good.

In summary, I've adapted a feather-light, barber style technique to safety razors, which usually are used to extract hair and plane the skin somewhat. It appears that BBS is not in the cards for me. I am nonetheless quickly developing a taste for the skin condition, which feels as if I were only shaving every three days. Hair that is well-supported by full-thickness epidermis presents less shadow than one might think. It's like a closer, healthier version of an electric shave.

There is some question whether that Baili blade was still barber-sharp today, so maybe it let me off the hook a bit. I think the NEW LC needs a shot at this...