Two weeks ago today, I met with Dewey, Kriton, spazola and a few other folks in Arlington. 2 days prior, I had received a Wapienica from Lynn, and I wanted to talk to everyone before I actually tried it. I'd been reading the forums for about a month, and had seen goodness-knows how many videos and writings, and felt pretty prepared. Now I'm ready to tell you what's happened since then.
That afternoon, I hit a Walgreen's and picked up a Van der Hagen boar brush and puck o' soap. Cheap and simple. For those of you who did not meet me, I will let you know, I keep a full beard. For the moment, I'm still only shaving three areas: Left cheek, Right Cheek, and Throat. I'm just short of blind in my left eye, so I've been doing the right side with a straight until I get used to the 'feel' of it, and am confident enough to do the other side without benefit of seeing what I'm doing.
The Wapi is pretty nice, I get a better shave with it than the M3 or Gem. I started using the straight on the right, and the M3 on the left cheek so I could compare vs the old-style shave. Now I'm doing Gem on left, Straight on right, and the neck depends on how balls-y I'm feeling.
I now understand the complaints about the Wapi steel scales. They make it harder to control the angle on the blade, as if it slips out of the vertical, the weight really tries to pull the blade.... but I think I've dealt with it OK so far.
I think I need to work on my lather (and read up on soap/brush use in general) as the VdH soap I got at Walgreen's seems to really have some suction on the blade after a moment or two of motion. I don't know if that's normal, but it is a bit disconcerting. I used a bit more water the last few times (thinner lather) and it seemed better.
Also, the last time I shaved, I did three passes, and it was just this side of BBS, minimal irritation, and I feel oddly proud of myself. ;)
I did accidentally knock the blade against the sink while rinsing on my last shave, and there was a tiny, tiny nick on the blade. It is big enough that I can see the scratch it leaves on a strop, so I don't know if I want to use it on my face before I do something about that. :shrug:
Overall, I'm loving the straight. I would appreciate advice on lather/soap, but I can research that on the forums if need be.
Oh! I did have one mishap: On my first shave, part of my sideburn became clean-shaven, so I had to thin both of them. ;) I also had a tiny cut, right where I first placed the blade on one stroke. No bleeding, my styptic pencil remains unused.
--Maeglin