Thread: First SRS

So today I got my most comfortable and closest shave with my new Boker. It surprised me how long it took for me to get a decent shave. Razors do have vastly different characteristics. Some of the challenge may have to do with my beginning to use a different shave soap as well.

DR Harris soap is excellent but it loads my brush so heavily that it takes forever to get enough water in the soap.

I have learned there are a few good rules of thumb for soap lather. (1) The lather should be semi-gloss shiny. (2) The lather should feel slick, giving no feel of pull on the brush when "painting it on" nor should there be "holes" in the brush trail. (3) It should rinse easily from the blade of your razor. If it starts to get caked on, add a little water to remaining lather on your face and work it in with the brush. Ensure (1)&(2) before continuing to shave.

Most, if not all, of the above advice has been stated in various ways, in various places on the forum. I just finally figured these elements out for myself, thanks in part to advice of others.

Another thing I learned is: aftershave is awesome! I have some Prorasso refreshing balm and it feels good and soothes irritation. It also tells you how much you've injured your face by various degrees of initial burn.

Finally: when I was a teenager I loved a game called "Devil May Cry" and for some weird reason I developed a compulsion to have a set of razors, one with black scales, the other with white. "Ebony and Ivory" if you will. So i took a picture...

So I noticed a trick that some barbers use in their videos. The trick is loading some soap on their hands and working it into the beard. I realised that a thin layer of soap residue from the first pass had contributed to improved glide and cushion on the second pass. So, I tried spreading some soap on my face pre lather and the result was comfort like I can't describe. Will be doing this from now on.

So... A few weeks ago I got the Boker and it scratched my strop. I found that it's due to some puckering of the leather after being treated.

Until today the Boker just didn't seem to strop up right. Tried using an x stroke, and it worked! Use the x even with a thicker strop. Lesson learned.