Better 'N Better

My short tenure as a straight razor shaver has taught me a lot, and every shave has been noticeably better than the one before. Lately my focus has been on using less razor pressure, now that I'm fairly confident about the angles. I also tried a couple of new things, and this most recent shave was amazing!

The first change was during my shower: I used an exfoliating scrubber on my face and neck. I'm not certain, but that really seemed to help lift my beard. The next alteration came as I reached for the TAoS Sandalwood shave cream, and I decided to try something else. I settled on my brand new tube of Mühle Sea Buckthorn cream, and dropped a dollop into my bowl. I've never had trouble lathering the TAoS cream, but the Mühle cream absolutely EXPLODED into a bowl full of fragrant, thick and creamy lather! The lather felt luxurious and almost gelatinous on my face and neck...very different from anything else I've tried so far, and in a really good way. If it hadn't been for my razor's scritttchy song, I wouldn't have believed that it was actually shaving me...it seemed like it was barely touching my skin! The lather seemed to buoy the razor, and I could actually feel it underneath the razor; is this what is meant by "cushion"? I concentrated on maintaining a light touch, and finished my first pass with ease. The lather was just as nice during my second pass, which was just as easy as the first. I glanced at my brush and bowl, and there was still enough lather for an entire shave! Rinsing my face was amusing because that Mühle lather just didn't want to give up, and I was beginning to think that another shower might be simpler than rinsing at the sink! I couldn't believe what happened next: there was hardly a tingle from my alum block! I couldn't help but grin after I rinsed off the alum and ran my hands over my face...this was truly a DFS!

This shave was only a single data point, so I can't say just why everything came together so well. But one thing is certain: I'm really impressed with the Mühle cream...now I really want to try the soap and their other fragrances! And then there's this MdC stuff I keep hearing about.

Now if I can just figure out how to shave those swirly areas behind my jaw, and still have earlobes afterwards....