Thread: A Beginner's Shaving Journal

Congratulations!

Stropping is a _great_ thing to pay attention to right now, because you've got a shave-ready blade, but could lose it easily with one careless lap on the strop. Your muscles don't have any muscle-memory for "good form" yet, so take it slow and give it your full (and relaxed) attention. The main thing is to keep the spine on the strop at all times. (Edit: most of the hanging-stroppers seem to use 40-60 laps before shaving, which might help.)

On lather, I think it was Mama Bear who said something like, 1) soak your brush a while then shake/squeeze it out, 2) work the soap onto the brush tip then swirly it around the bowl until it feels tacky and getting dry, 3) add a palmful of water, then 4) just beat the daylights out of the soapy water with the brush, working it into and out of the brush as it thickens from thin soapy water into a proper thick lather.

Sounds like a terrific start!

I appreciate the help. I just tried lathering up with that technique and it helped a ton. Much better! Thanks

Early on, I had trouble with my lather drying out too. It really helped to add about 4-5 drops of glycerin.