Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #82 - Too Late

It's about 2am, so my evening shave was a bit abbreviated.

Klar Heidelberg Classic Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (18)
Alum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I wanted to make it quick and head to bed, so towel prep. (my normal prep.), and then 2 passes (N-S, S-N). My face is DFS and the neck is CCS. Good enough for now. If I have time tomorrow, maybe I'll pull out the DOVO, take my time and try for a better result.

Shave #83 - A Bit of Practice Required

I pulled out the DOVO and set out to do a 4-passer.

Tabac Original Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (34)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
Nivea AS Balm

Well, I can tell that I have been a bit distracted by my DE lately. Normally if I take the time for a 4-pass straight razor shave, I would expect to be pretty much BBS. Today I fell short. My face is DFS++ and my neck is about DFS. A very respectable shave, just below what I've come to expect. Practice makes perfect, and I'm out of practice, so I'll try to show my straight razors a bit more love.

Shave #83.5 - Heading to the Dentist's

I needed a quick shave after work, as I was headed to the dentist's office, and I didn't want her to have to deal with stubble, so I went with my quickest shave:

C&E West Indian Lime Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Alum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

Four exceptionally quick passes and I'm DFS++. Now to go and get my teeth drilled. :-(

Shave #84 - Back on Track

Musgo Real Lime Oil Soap
Ogallala Bay Rum, Lime & Peppercorns Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (19)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

I tried a little experiment. I washed my face with the Musgo Real preshave soap, applied a hot towel over it, washed it off, then reapplied the soap by rubbing it on my face against the grain. I left the soap on and face lathered the Ogallala soap over it. It definitely added to the slickness and I think made lathering easier. So, maybe I'll try it a few more times to see if it seems worthwhile to me.

I settled down, paid a bit of attention, and completed a 4-passer. I'm all over BBS, with the exception of a quarter sized spot just to the right of my Adam's Apple. Kudos to me. So I'm happy with that, now I'm off to have a bowl of Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe with my wife's French teacher.

Shave #85 - My Skin is Blazin'

Well, I'm going to call that experiment a failure.

Musgo Real Lime Oil Soap
Proraso (Green Tubed) Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
J. A. Henckels 64 - 9/16" (13/3)
Alum
Baxter of California AS Balm

When I tried applying the Musgo Real soap as a preshave, my skin got a bit of a burn. Also, the soap seemed to cause the Proraso to dry out a bit prematurely, though it did improve the volume of lather, but what good is copious amounts of dry lather? Anyway the slickness that I wanted was not there. Not my best shave, and the alum really rang my bell, but I'm blaming lather problems and skin sensitivity rather than razor technique.

I'm an uncomfortable DFS-.

Shave #85.5 - Resting the Skin

I chose the DE today, primarily so that I could shave quickly and wouldn't have to leave the lather on my face any longer than necessary. My skin is still very mildly inflamed.

Klar Heidelberg Classic Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Personna Precision Blades (1)
Nivea AS Balm

Went with the Klar Heidelberg soap, it is mildly scented, smelling like a very nice bar of soap. It is very gentle on the skin and did not inflame my skin irritation. Currently it is my favorite soap among those in my shave den, but I have some Synergy and Queen Charlotte Island artisanal soaps on the way. I'll clean out some of the soaps and creams that aren't working for me to make way for these products.

I did 3 passes and am about BBS.

Shave #86 - Cold Water Shave Season is Almost Here

Well, it seems like spring has arrived. The temperatures inside the house are hovering between 27C and 30C. (My wife considers these to be comfortable indoor temperatures and doesn't allow much air conditioning. I am acclimatizing, but it is tough for a lardy Saskatchewan boy). I can still enjoy a hot water shave, but it won't be too many more days before I'm switching to cold water shaving and what I consider to be summery shave products.

Klar Heidelberg Classic Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (35)
Alum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

Today I did 3 passes (predominantly N-S, nose-to-ear, and S-N) with a little touch up on the chin. My face is DFS++ and my neck is around DFS/DFS+. I'm beginning to experiment a bit with reducing my number of passes and seeing if I can still get the type of results that I want. This was a pretty decent start. The shave was quick. The alum was virtually silent. My skin feels great. The results on my face are more than good enough, and my neck...well...it's not that bad. Actually, as my pores are now beginning to close up and the whiskers dehydrate, even my neck is feeling pretty good.

Shave #87 - A Gift from SWMBO

I continued my abbreviated shaves today.

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (20)
Alum
L'Occitane Cedre & Orange AS Balm

I did a 2-passer (N-S, S-N) with very slight touch up on the neck. The result is okay. My face and chin (where the growth patterns are more logical) is DFS+, while my neck is CCS/DFS. I think I can, with a bit of work, get my neck under control without needing 4 passes plus touch up.

My wife bought me a tube of L'Occitane AS Balm today, very soothing and pleasant smelling.

As this was my 20th shave on the WISS, I followed up the shave with an extreme stropping, which I do every 10 shaves. I slightly altered my routine this time. I did 60 laps on the rough leather, followed by 60 laps on a newspaper, and then 300 laps on smooth leather. I'm not sure, but when I have stropped on newsprint in the past, I thought it had a bit more of a sharpening effect, not just smoothing out the edge. We will see if this adds anything or not.

I have a letter to the editor published in The Taipei Times. If any of you have any interest in the current democratic struggles in Taiwan, check it out. Mine is the second letter in the link (the better written one).

[ LETTERS ] - Taipei Times

Shave #87.5 - Tokyo Tornado

SWMBO is leaving for a few days in Tokyo tomorrow, so she is a whirlwind of activity. As I think I've said before, my sink is not in the bathroom, but kind of in the hall, so today was not a straight razor day. Besides, after yesterday's mega-stropping, I wasn't in the mood to strop.

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Personna Precision Blade (2)
Alum
L'Occitane Cedre & Orange AS Balm

3 passes and a little extra touch up for a quick and efficient BBS. Nice!

Shave #87.75 - Doctors, Yuck!

Had a doctor's appointment today, so grabbed a quick shave in the shower after my morning work out.

Proraso (Green Tubed) Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Alum

I like shaving in the shower, a great time saver when cooling off post-workout. Used to do it all the time. Now that I have so many shave alternatives I've contemplated pitching the Mach III, but I'll likely keep it for this express purpose. Without my glasses I can't shave carefully enough to use the DE in the shower.

BBS. But, it didn't last long. Maybe a couple hours. BBS from the DE lasts longer and a straight razor BBS longer still.

Doctors appointment was fine. Just annoying, as they tend to be. On the first day of med school doctors are given a stack of books and a dead human body - no wonder they're so creepy.