Thread: And then I peeled my face off.

Hopefully these daily updates don't get annoying for all of you but I like to reflect on my shave and this is a great place to organize my thoughts so here we go with what I learned today

1. Alum doesn't need to hurt. Of course it will especially below the jawline while learning.
2. Music helps. At least for me. Playing some relaxing music in the back ground can add to the experience, depending on my mood some classical or some up beat electro-Swing is great.
3. The act of stropping can be quite relaxing in itself.
4. Proraso creams will take more water than you would think
5. While the fundamental concept is the same, lathering a cream and a soap are definitely two different things
5.A. I definitely prefer the aroma and feel of the Proraso over the old wilkinson sword soap i used years ago
6. Angles, angles, angles. I need to work on them. Need to watch more videos and pay attention to grips on the razors.
7. As awkward as using my left hand was on the first shave, now at only shave number 3 trying to shave the left side of my face with the right had is just awkward. So glad i started using the left hand. In fact the area i get the best shave at this point is my left sideburn and cheek
8. I need to find some other soaps and creams to try out as well as look into pre-shave lotions
9. As natural as shaving my sideburns and cheek seem to have been there is a lot of learning to do along the jaw line and below.
10. Navigating all those curves in the area we call the chin is an entirely different set of challenges.
11. To take a shower and comfortably complete 1.5 passes. That's 1 complete and then some WTG touch up as i learn, currently takes me about and hour.
12. I have SOOOOO much to learn.
13. While functional I am not a huge fan of my current aftershave. Ideally I would find something with a more cooling yet revitalizing feel... as funny as it may seem a finish with a minty/citrus type feel would be great. Any suggestions?
14. I need new footwear for work. While not directly related to my ability to shave, just how sore my toe was from being crammed in there all day became apparent during the shave.
15. I thoroughly enjoy the shaving process and find it a great way to unwind and relax in the evening.

Well, that's my thoughts after today's shave. All in all calling it another step in the right direction, decent shave and only 1 little nick below the jawline on the right side

Le sigh.....

Okay I know I'm only into this a week, and wow have i learned a lot, but the biggest thing i have learned is just how much i need to learn. At five shaves in I am frustrated, with myself more than anything. Yesterday, shave 4 was definitely the worst shave, but my whole day was off that day. Today was a little better but I am having some serious issues with lather drying on my face. I am getting a good lather build up in the bowl, with a nice whipped cream like texture and look. The lather stays nice and fluffy in the bowl throughout the entire shave session but the lather on my face dries quite quickly resulting in either dry flaky white caked on stuff or a gummy sticky goop. Neither of these is very helpful with the shave. Not sure what i am doing wrong, I have been using Proraso cream, and last night while just playing with making lather i mixed it with the wilkinson sword soap that i had around. This resulted in a lather that seemed really promising so thats what i went with today, and gooped right up combine the lather issues with learning to shave around my chin and jaw line.... le grr... Maybe i should stop using the straight below the jaw and under nose until i get the lather thing sorted?

Any suggestions on the lather drying issue? My only thought is maybe my face is sucking up all the moisture. It can be pretty dry here, and i often deal with dry skin issues anyway. Is this something that using a pre-shave lotion will generally help with? Or are there soaps/skin care products you guys would recommend that will help with the dry skin?

I dunno, just musing on the shave experience, and reminding myself Im only 5 shaves in so its okay to still be learning

one thing that really helped me when I first started out was keeping my face WET. I still shave the same way I did a few years ago, one area lathered at a time, and always wetting the area I want to shave before I apply my lather. I wet my right cheek and jawline area, lather and shave. Move to the next area and repeat. I typically do this for two passes on each area and I get great results from it. I hope this helps, oh and when you get to that 5-10 shave point, slow down take your time don't get over confident you will end up cut.

Originally Posted by Hotsoup

one thing that really helped me when I first started out was keeping my face WET. I still shave the same way I did a few years ago, one area lathered at a time, and always wetting the area I want to shave before I apply my lather. I wet my right cheek and jawline area, lather and shave. Move to the next area and repeat. I typically do this for two passes on each area and I get great results from it. I hope this helps, oh and when you get to that 5-10 shave point, slow down take your time don't get over confident you will end up cut.

Okay, I had to laugh when I read this. This is very close to what I did today. Had a night out with friends Friday night and passed on the shave that night, and then due to that "day after a night out" feeling passed on the shave for Saturday. Then today with Sunday afternoon i had some time to step back, and take a slow calculated attack at the shave. I started things a little different this time around and may continue doing it. I grabbed a puck of Williams Mug the other day so wanted to play with the lathering a bit, lathered it up nice and easyish and slapped it on my face. Then i just left it there while i rinsed out my lather bowl and brush and took another swing at the soap lather but this time dropped a little glycerin in in the bowl too. The lather seemed to come out a little creamier if that makes sense. Anyway due to the incredible expense of the Williams Mug soap, i then washed it all down the drain and filled the bowl with nice hot water. Next was the shower, took the brush with me and used it to wash my face just to wake up the whiskers a little. After the shower was some Shaving oil to slick up the face, then i lathered up the Proraso because i wanted to see how it would work with the shave oil on my face. I don't think i used enough water with the cream as it started to gunk up a little once it was on my face, but a little water on the brush helped with that as i progressed. Completed my first pass with slightly better results than in the past. The oil on the face seemed to help the blade slide smoothly so that was nice. I changed up the technique a little after re-reading some of the beginner information went with shorter strokes and well don't know how to explain it short stroke down, then slid the blade back up a little before down again a little farther, seemed to work well so may keep it up for future shaves. After needing to re-lather a few times during the shave i successfully got through the first pass. It was an okay shave but not great so i decided to go for another pass that turned into a mix of WTG and XTG. I decided to give the Williams a go as the actual lather on my face, and here is where you post gets funny. I decided to wet, lather, and shave smaller sections of my face. This way not only would my wet shave remain a wet shave but i could also take a moment to study the hair growth before shaving each area. Most successful shave around my chin to date. The second pass where I focused on smaller areas went great, i think it is a technique i will continue to use at least in the short term while i learn my face. Also played with a few new grips today. It certainly wasn't a fast shave (with the entire process hitting around the 1.5 hr mark haha) but it was a good shave. Now i just need my whiskers to grow back in so i can try again. The alum let me know that the shave along the neck is still a little rough. I get no stinging feedback along my cheeks but chin and below the jaw line... whew lets you know your alive. Some after shave and moisturizing lotion and done. Face feels good, haven't had any ingrown hairs since abandoning the electric face peeler. All in all things are going great.

Excelent, I actually don't use a pre shave oil, I use Grandpas pine tar soap to do a pre was, rinse and the oil from that stays, doesn't hurt the lather at all. I've tried porasso, and from what I gather the hard cream is thirsty. I like the shave it gives, but I traded out for TOBS now, love them smell and she shave is a little more comfortable. Williams soap I love the scent and the shave is ok for me, but I have sensitive skin and it started to burn bad! didn't finish with wiliams to say the least.

hmm... I did notice a bit of a burn towards the end of the shave when lathering with the williams but figured it was from new guy shaving technique rather than the soap. I will need to order some other soaps to try there is very little available locally unfortunately... I do quite like the scent with the Williams... I have a stick of Arko that a local member gave me I may give that a go too. Haha.. this straight shaving is a lot of fun.

Arko is really great, it should be a big improvement from Williams (unless you master the secrets of Williams)

I think your lather problem is the amount of water you're adding to the mix. I use an amount of Proraso about the size of an almond. If your brush is boar leave it soaking whilst having a shower. When you're ready to start mixing the lather don't shake all the water out of your brush just hold it upside down over the sink until it stops dribbling water, then whip up your lather. I lather my face then strop, lather some more the shave. Chin and neck, I bought a very cheap shavette not to shave with but to practice different grips for different parts of my face obviously without a blade in, that really helped with the confidence levels in those difficult areas. One last point post shave, I like the Proraso balm, but from your last post it sounds like you put aftershave on before the balm. This I've found dries the skin, try balm then aftershave.
Finally practice making lather then practice some more brush it on your forearm to test it and see if it dries out if so then you need to add more water, keep adding water until the lather starts to fade you'll then know where the sweet spot is to get the perfect lather. This will also tell you if you'll get an allergic reaction to a soap, better here than on your face.

Thanks for the lather advice. I know this may be a question with no real answer... But when it comes to lather what sort of consistency am I looking for when it's ready. At this point my lather ability is inconsistent to put it politely. Am I going for a finished product that feels/looks like the chemical ridden canned goop or is there a better comparison? Thanks again for all the help guys. This site is awesome

For me, a good indicator of a "ready" lather is that, when I lift my brush from the bowl, there are peaks rising from the bowl to meet those descending from the brush. Think of stalagmites and stalactites trying to meet each other in a cave.