Thread: Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey

Shave #33.5 - Reality Check

Last night saw me engaged in all types of lewd and lascivious behavior - putting to bed any worries about creeping middleageism - so this morning I didn't want to put a straight in my hand. But, I needed to shave...

T&H 1805 Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

4-Passes with the Mach III and my God I was smooth, with not a peep out of the Alum. I hope someday I can do this with my straights. I've been very happy with my straight shaves, but I'm nowhere near getting this smooth with so little feedback from the Alum. I usually get a bit of a zing from my straight razor shaves, though certainly not unbearable. But, I will say that the stubble is returning quicker than after one of my straight razor shaves. Right now is about 6 hours after my shave and I've already got some bits of stubble. Gotta go to bed, I'm up in the early early's tomorrow and I need some recovery time.

Shave 34 - Strop-A-Dop-Dop

Took my DOVO and restropped it before my shave to help remove any of the Marine Tuf Cloth that might have gotten on the edge, so it has had a real thorough stropping.

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (21)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

A N-S pass followed by a S-N pass, with a touch of extra work under the chin and on the neck gets me DFS.

The DOVO is still shaving real smooth, 21 shaves in without any type of touch up. I'm trying to go as long as possible before hitting my diamond pasted felt. I read somewhere that stropping with a pasted medium rounds the edge. So, once you have hit the paste 3-ish times, it will need to be renewed on some sort of hone. So, for someone like me who wants to preserve the edge as long as possible, it is helpful to prolong the times between pasted stroppings. No real idea if this is true, but it makes a certain amount of sense to me.

For your edification, The Onion talks shaving/shave technology:

Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Shave #35 - Afternoon Delight

My school has the day off, so I took the opportunity to grab an afternoon shave, as I have a, likely drunken, event to attend this evening, thus an evening shave is out of the question.

L'Occitane Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
J. A. Henkels 94 - 9/16" (7)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

A very quick 2-passer with the briefest of touch ups under the chin and on the neck. My cheeks and chin are DFS+ (very close to no stubble feel when stroking against the grain), the rest of my face is DFS (very light stbbliness when stroking against the grain, no stubble feel when stroking in other directions). For how quick the shave was it is a pretty decent result, 40 mins. for a full shower, shampoo hair, shave and strop. For me that's very quick.

Shave #36 - Just Pluggin' Along

Ogallala Bay Rum, Lime and Peppercorns Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (8)
Styptic
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

N-S followed by S-N, with a touch up pass on the neck and under the chin; BBS on cheeks, DFS everywhere else. Pretty comfortable cool water shave, but I did nick the tip of my chin while trying to clean it up. Not a big nick, quick shot of styptic and we're fine. Also nicked my strop - careless Twit. Oh well.

I am noticing microscopic improvements in the quality and speed of my quick shaves. The changes are not really big enough for me to go EUREKA, I've reached a new level. They are just steady small improvements that are not substantial enough to really show up in the whole SAS/DFS/BBS ratings. But still it is nice to think there is some forward momentum.

Shave #37 - Creamy

Took time out of my evening for a luxurious 4-pass shave. Loved every second of it.

Tabac Original Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
DOVO Palisander 6/8" (22)
Alum/styptic
Gentlemen's Tonic AS Balm

My semi-regular 4-passer with a bit of extra touch up on the neck and under the chin. I am DFS+/BBS everywhere. It is so close to BBS everywhere, but I can feel the slightest hint of whiskers in my trouble spots on the neck and corners of the mouth. Oh well, maybe next time, doesn't really matter - the shave feels great. I did pink my chin again. Actually reopened the nick from yesterday.

This was my first time using Tabac Original. Nice! Lathered up pretty easily, and the lather had a nice creamy oiliness that gave me excellent cushion and glide. The smell didn't wow me right out of the gate, but I do believe that I will come to love it, as it grew on me quite a bit during the course of the shave. SWMBO liked the smell right off, so this will have regular spot in the rotation.

Shave #38 - I Wish I'd Chosen the DOVO

I got a beautIful little gift for myself.



I got this shavette specifically for travel, but of course I couldn't wait to use it. Unfortunately, no blades were sent with it. I thought it came with some Dorco blades. So, I'll have to wait until I can procure some blades before I take her out for a spin. That may take awhile. I've never seen DE blades in Taiwan.

Been pretty lazy about shaving the last few days - work and life just got in the way. So, I had a goodly growth when I headed to the shaving cubbyhole today. Normally when I have a thick growth, I automatically reach for the DOVO. I wish I had done that today...

Tabac Original Shave Soap
TOBS Badger Brush
J. A. Henkels 94 - 9/16" (8)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

Ended up doing a 5-pass shave today. The first N-S pass was uncomfortable, pully, grabby, and left some pretty large patches of whiskers. So, I did a 2nd N-S pass, followed by the normal nose-to-ear, ear-to-nose and S-N pass. The end result is I have a very nice shave, but it could have been a much more enjoyable experience.

I'm not sure if it was the lightness of the J. A. Henkel's or that I lacked the finesse to tackle such heavy growth with such a relatively light blade. But, I do better with the DOVO in heavy growth.

Shave 38.5 - Review What?

I have my tri-annual job performance review this afternoon. So, I taught classes in the morning, jogged around lunch and did a quick shave in the shower.

T&H 1805 Shaving Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Mach III
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

A quick 4-passes to BBS. The Aum bloke really rang my bell afterwards. Unusual for me. Maybe my skin is getting used to a single edge. I guess the Mach III will always have a place in my rotation, but nice not to have to count on it.

And, I'm off - wish me luck.

Shave #39 - On the Nature of Writing Razor Porn

My journal and porn share a few attributes. We are here to entertain your baser desires. With this journal you get a voyeuristic look into my bathroom and the chance of some gratuitous bloodshed. Neither of us make much attempt to inform or educate. You might accidentally learn something, in which case there is a strong chance you've learned the wrong lesson. In both razor porn and real porn, it is always better with pictures. So...



Proraso (Green Tubed) Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
WISS 9/16" Ugly Duckling (9)
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum



I have been busy at work and in my personal life. It has kind of killed my desire to shave. Got up in the morning today and decided it was time to return to my routine. Did a N-S pass, guillotining towards the nose on both sides of my face, and then guillotining towards the ears on my neck. Clipped my lower lip when I didn't pay close enough attention to the tip of the blade. Second pass S-N, with scything on the neck to get ATG on the right side of the neck. Followed with a bit of touch up under the chin, the left side of the mustache and the two tough spots on my jawline just in front of the ears.

Result: Surprisingly good. My 2-pass shave is improving. I'm DFS+ on the cheeks and left side of neck. In terms of area, a lot of territory. Everything else is a very respectably DFS.

Shave #40 - Holy Crap!

I found some DE razor blades being sold in the Taiwanese equivalent of a dollar store...



...so, I was able to give my new Don Jae shavette a try today.

T&H 1805 Shave Cream
TOBS Badger Brush
Don Jae Shavette + Gillette Super Blue Blades
Alum
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

I have to admit my total ignorance of DE razor blades. I have never used one before. Anyways, I loaded one into the Don Jae. I gotta say, it was pretty intimidating looking - the razor blade stuck out a good 3+ mm. I'll tell you, I took extra care when shaving with it - an ultra light touch.

I did 3 passes, N-S, nose-to-ear, S-N, and everything went smoothly. A slight weeper on the chin, that I didn't feel happen. No drama. But, holy crap was that blade sharp. It just mowed down my beard, I could hear it, but I couldn't feel any resistance. At the end of 3 passes I am BBS everywhere except a small patch just to the right of my Adam's Apple, which is DFS+.

A couple of things are rolling through my head right now. Though I bought this shavette strictly as a travel razor, I wanted something stainless steel that I wouldn't need to strop, I think it might be good practice for lightening my strokes on the straight. The other thing is I'm wondering if I might not prefer my straights a bit sharper. Right now the edges are oriented towards comfort/smoothness over trying to have the sharpest possible cutty edge.

I don't know. I'm just beginning to learn what I might like.