Similiar prep, as described in third shave prep. Got good lather, and placed it only on the areas where I need to shave about 30-60 seconds before. I made sure that I wiped my face off regularly with a hot towel, then put the hot towel back over my face for a few moments after I rinsed it clean.
The shave went over all well, the only nicks were from old ones that I went over again with the razor, basically just re-opening the old ones on the chin and neck. No need for the styptic, they all stopped bleeding well before the end of the shave.
The downwards and cross stokes on the cheeks went well, no real problems to speak of.
The upwards stokes on the neck caused some irritation that lingered for about an hour afterwards.
The upper lip went well, used only the toe of the razor for most of the strokes, used both downwards and sideways strokes. Missed most of the hairs that were closest to the nose, and discretion being the better part of valor, chose to leave those alone for now.
The chin was difficult and took a long time, but I got most of it.
Tried the downwards stroke on the right side of the neck again, with similiar results.
Overall good shave, although the drying out associated with the witch hazel got worse last night. The overall effect of irritation added to the drying out of the skin was a :cen . It drying out of my skin only amplified the subsequent irritation. It lasted for about two hours last night. Although all the irritation is gone this morning, there is still some dryness, which cause me to order some GFT skin food yesterday. I cannot abide by the dryness anymore, it is killing me. Even though I know it will take at least a week for the skin food to get here, I am going to skip a day of shaving, wait for the stubble to grow out, and work on my stropping technique tonight instead.
I am earnestly hoping that my face gets used to this method. I am no quitter, and certainly not thinking of doing something almost heretical to most of the members of SRP, but I really wish the irritation starts to dissipate after a few more shaves, as my face gets used to the method.
BTW, does anyone know why the cheeks take it so well, whereas the rest of my face doesn't seem to cooperate?
As always comments or suggestions are welcome.