My Very Own First Shave Post
I should be doing some homework now, but this is more important.
I received my 4/8 William Elliot & Co. today (thanks Josh Earl) along with two EBay specials for honing practice. Being a Tuesday, I had rushed home from school and arrived at home with only a few minutes before I had to leave for work. I live at my parents’ house, and commute forty minutes to the University of Cincinnati daily. I work in plumbing at the Home Depot, which coincidently is located twenty-five minutes away in the direction of the university. Normally I would not have bothered returning home; today I had a feeling I would be getting the 4/8 in the mail. I was not disappointed (today, yesterday had been a bit of a letdown, as I had had the same feeling then…). I took it upstairs and swiped a few hairs from my Mom’s brush, and tink. Oh, yah. I showed my Mom, who proceeded to stare at me with an expression that can only be described as you’re-so-crazy-it’s-no-wonder-you-don’t-have-a-girlfriend. “You’re crazy,” she said.
“You ever doubted?” I inquired.
A long pause. She was thinking about it. “You’re crazy.”
I showed one of my younger brothers the razor, and he was puzzled. I had not really told him what I was up to lately. “You mean… to shave with?” I nodded; he was still puzzled. “Why did you spend money on that?”
I showed him the hanging hair test, and then he did something stupid. He will be nineteen this April, so both of us ought to know better, him for doing it, I for not realizing he was going to. Pling. :eek: He plucks the razor, which I am still holding up from the HHT, with his finger. I did not really know it could sing. I was more concerned, however, with shouting, “DON’T DO THAT!!!!”
“Whoa that’s sharp!” He had not cut himself, he had gone against the blade, and was alright. By this point I was more worried about the razor. Especially after what he said next. “It’s really thin; I felt it bend with my finger.”
Damn.:cry:
Well, I though, so much for shave ready. I didn’t have time to inspect the blade too thoroughly, as I still had to go to work. Lucky me, it was a dead slow evening, so I spent six hours idling in anticipation to my first shave followed by dread as to whether or not the edge of the blade had been rounded.
When I got home, I began preparing for that first real shave. I checked the razor again along the length of the blade with the hanging hair test, it seemed to be alright. I stropped it a bit anyway. I took a shower, mixed up some Taylor of Old Bond Street sandalwood shaving cream I received last week, painted my face and got to work. I had not shaved since Sunday in anticipation. What an amazing feeling. I am left handed, so I started with the blade in my left hand working on the same cheek. I took a little concentration for me to figure out how to work in the mirror, with the Mach III it does not really matter much and other that shaving I do not have to use mirrors very often. Switching hands was even more challenging; it took some thought to get the angles right for that first approach, as I was off in several dimensions. The jaw line and chin will definitely take some practice. I did notice that one pass with a straight proved superior significantly to one pass with the disposable.
After rinsing, I re-lathered and tried across the grain. I originally started going from side to center, the way I do on the mach III on the rare occasions I attempt to do multiple passes. After some trial and error, I determined that center to side strokes work much better, especially on the neck. It allows something of a downward angle that agrees with the terrain under my jaw a little better.
I contemplated whether or not I wished to attempt a third pass, and in the end decided I would. You only live once. I rinsed and lathered up again. This went rather smoothly, although holding technique as well as the jaw line and chin will need some practice. I did not go against the grain on the upper lip; I settled with two passes there. Any time I felt it starting to “dig in” I backed out and made the attempt at a shallower angle, so I avoided any major cuts. Final tally: one pin prick sort of nick under my nose on the left, another on the center of my chin, one on the right side of my face in between the corner of the mouth and the jaw line, as well as one on my neck. That last one was from an ingrown hair, courtesy of the Mach III. It was always mean to my neck, for some reason. No slice cuts (well, there was one, but we will get to that later), no weepers, nothing that can be seen from more than a few inches away. Considering how clumsy I was handling the razor in the mirror, especially with wet fingers, I think I did well.
Concerning the quality of the shave, my cheeks are quite smooth and my neck is pretty good, with a few missed spots. Chin definitely needs some practice. So does the jaw line, but not as bad as I expected. That was always the trouble zone with the Mach III, right underneath the jaw, if you drew a line just inside of the jaw bone it could never quite get it. With the straight, the difficulty is on the actual curve of the jaw itself. I have seen some tips here for stretching to get that taken care of; I shall try that next time.
After rinsing the lather and drenching my face in wonderfully refreshing cold water, I slapped on some balm (which did sting a bit more than normal) and cleaned up. My face is a bit sore from the new experience, as well as dry and I currently lack any worthy moisturizer. Fortunately it will have a day to rest, as have a loaded schedule Wednesday and probably shall not shave again until Thursday morning. All said and done, it was a great experience which I look forward to refining.:tu
Oh and that one slice cut? Which was the only one that just would not stop bleeding? The only one that is visible? It is on my left ring finger, where I slashed it carelessly changing hands with the razor….:gth
-Michael
