Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Thanks JMueller, I appreciate the encouragement. It helps keep me going on this little journal.

Shave #138.1 - Human Again

I've been annoyingly sick for the last few days, so I've been avoiding shaving - trying to keep a bit of whiskers as protection for when I blow my nose.This morning was the first day I felt like a human being, so I celebrated with a rare morning shave.

Synergy Cavendish Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Feather (3)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I tried 3 passes on the face and 5 passes on the neck again. I'm a very comfortable BBS. I got a small weeper on the chin, usually a sign that the blade is beginning to go off, so I disposed of it.

I feel ready to face the day, which is good, since I have a bit to do to get ready for the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Shave #139 - Day Two

Chinese New Year has been a bit of a bust - my wife has been sick in bed the whole time, and missed everything so far. Today is 初二 (day two of Chinese New Year), the traditional day for married daughters to return to their family homes. My wife did manage to drag herself home for a brief period of time, and while we were out of the house we decided to hit a motel for a "break". You can rent motels here for 2-3 hours or for the night. We took a room for a couple of hours to see if a steam bath and jacuzzi might help her sickness. I brought a razor:

Proraso Green Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (36)

As you might guess, the prep was great, shower, steam bath, etc. however, the bathroom was darkish and I couldn't see what I was doing. I did 3 passes (N-S, without thinking N-S again, and S-N). I shaved very fast and strictly by feel, the result is a comfortable SAS. Not the best, but OK.

Shave #139.1 - Back to Work Shave

Heading back to work bright and early tomorrow, after the winter break. Getting myself ready...

Synergy Cavendish Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Platinum (1)
Hulk's Smash

3 on the face and 5 on the neck again. BBS.

Shave #140 - Straight Shavin'

Synergy Cavendish Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (37)
Hulk's Smash
Baxter of California AS Balm

A quick 2-passer, with a bit extra on the neck. I'm SAS/DFS-. I'm okay with the quality of the shave, but I notice my straight razor shaves have been dropping off in quality. I'm tempted to say maybe it is time for a touch up on my hone, but truthfully both my active straight razors seem to be cutting fine with no real pulling. I'm afraid it is user error. I've been pretty enamored with my DE for awhile. I get quick easy shaves off the DE with brilliant results, especially notable on my troublesome neck. I might need to be a bit more dedicated to my straight razors.

Shave #140.1 - Running Late

I was planning to pull out the DOVO and do a nice slow shave, but in the end I got busy on other projects, and I needed a quick shave before bed. Jagger time.

RazoRock Bay Rum Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Platinum (2)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I did my, rapidly becoming standard, 3 on the face, and 5 on the neck. The 5 passes on the neck does seem like overkill, but it probably only takes me a few seconds more than my previous 4 passes, and with 5 passes I don't need to do any clean up. It still is not irritating my neck, so what the heck?

I'm really starting to like the RazoRock shave soap, slick, cushiony and hydrating. At first I thought they got the scent wrong, but if you put a bit of water on top of the puck for a few minutes before shaving, the Captain's Choice Bay Rum scent comes out nicely.

Like you, I go back and forth between a SR and DE, so I always enjoy reading your posts. I shave probably 6 days out of 7, usually 3/4 of the time with a SR, so I am always wondering on the SR days if it is me or the razor. Usually it is me.

Recently I've been experimenting with some Artisan soaps from Maggard and Mike's Natural and they both have built nice lathers for my SR shaves. I'll have to pull out Razorock and give it a go, now that I see how much you praise it. I tried it early in my SR "career" and didn't think it was anything special, but my understanding of the lathering process has greatly improved.

Please keep the reports coming, I enjoy reading them!

Thanks Harold.

Yeah, I do like the classic shave soaps, but I find myself increasingly drawn to artisan soap makers. As far as shaving goes, I can do almost anything to my skin, but I do exhibit product sensitivity sometimes. I conjecture that my skin sometimes has problems with the preservatives in some more mass produced soaps. The clean ingredient list of most artisan soaps gives me problem free shaving. They're often good value too.

Shave #141 - Feelin' the Straight

RazoRock Bay Rum Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (55)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I did a 2-passer, with an extra pass on the neck, and a bit of touch up. For the first time in a long time I was really feeling the straight. My results are really good for more-or-less a 2-passer, BBS everywhere, except a smidge on the right side of my neck which is DFS+.

Shave #141.1 - Getting Ready for Some Serious Couch Surfing

Wife is on a business trip, I have lots of shows downloaded, and I'm going to lay semi-comatose in front of the boobtube until I pass out. I didn't want any whiskers interfering with the lounging, so...

RazoRock Bay Rum Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Astra Platinum (3)
Hulk's Smash

BBS. Lopped off a pimple I didn't know I had, but not too much blood, the Hulk's Smash stopped it. Now to lounge...

Shave #142 - Props to the Stallion

Another quick 2-pass straight razor shave.

RazoRock Bay Rum Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS Ugly Duckling 9/16" (38)
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
C&E West Indian Lime AS Balm

I was having mediocre results with my straights for awhile, but I've been on fire the last couple of straight razor shaves. I did another 2-passer, with 3 on the neck and a smidge of cleanup. It was a quick shave and I'm BBS, with a bit of DFS+ on the right side of the neck. I'll be impressed if I ever get all over BBS off 2 passes.

I'm going to give some credit to Anthony "The Stallion" Esposito's straight shaving videos. I was watching him, totally zoned out awhile back, really hardly paying attention, when I noticed something he does on his neck that has really helped me since I began employing it. He has a way of pulling the skin on his neck up and sideways, making those damn sideways growing hairs on the neck stand up. It is really simple and obvious, but somehow I never got it on my own. (Check some of his videos to see what he does if you're interested. It is simple to see in the video, but hard to describe in words). Using this stretching technique I've really been able to clip those hard to get whiskers with a downward scything motion. So, I don't know if he's a member here, but thanks Man!

Also, I've gone back to a more consistent guillotine stroke. In general this seems to work better for me overall than scything, unless I'm trying to achieve something specific.

Shave #142.1 - DE/Straight Rotating

RazoRock Bay Rum Shave Soap
Semogue 2012
Edwin Jagger DE89L + Personna Precision (1)
Hulk's Smash

BBS.