Three days of beard growth…a challenge for any blade…but today is also Day 2 for the same Russian Sputnik blade. I was keen to see if the blade would perform well under these conditions. Everything else remained the same as Day 1. The focus is on using a very slow and mindful technique to try and get a good shave from only three passes. Quite stressful in some ways….which is probably the purpose….getting me to “let go” of the goal.

To repeat the “kit”: Prep. with MR GLO; lather with Palmolive shave stick built up with the Chubby #2 “Super” brush; do first pass with razor; Add Palmolive shave cream to the brush and then lather up again for the next two passes of the razor; finish with alum block.

A three-day beard has some interesting benefits:

• The beard works with the brush to really build up a great lather;
• The greater surface area of the longer beard picks up a lot more water and really softens the hairs;
• The skin underneath is really in good shape from the rest its had!

The Sputnik performed beautifully…it cut the three-day beard like it was going through butter. A most enjoyable shave and a really EHM result…a solid 9.4 on the scale. Finish with Cliniderm cream and a shot of R&G Extra Vielle.

A note on the Palmolive products. I’ve said it before and will repeat it again: these two are some of the BEST shaving products out there, and despite the fact that they are pretty expensive to buy in North America given importation costs and dealer profit margins – qualifying perhaps as mid-range in price – they are actually among the least expensive to buy in Europe. My daughter bought the shave stick for me for 1 Euro (about $1.40) in Holland and the tube of cream was 2 Euros (about $2.80) in Ireland. Man at those prices, the Palmolive shave stick and shave cream are, in my opinion, the best value-for-money there is. If you haven’t tried these, they are worth every penny.