My Second Shave! WOW

Hi all,

Not sure if anyone read my first shave experience but this one was MUCH better!

I tried using near boiling water in my "Thrift Store Scuttle" ... it didn't work out so well lol. The bowl was so hot that as soon as lather would build it would start to dry really fast. To be honest, the scuttle was so hot that I couldn't even hold it. Thinking about it now, I'm wondering if I were to add alot more water maybe the lather wouldn't dry so quickly.

Anyways, I poured out most of the super hot water and left about an inch at the bottom of the ceramic bowl so the lather would stay warm.
Bam! Great lather, hot shower completed, razor stropped (getting much better at stropping too!). So I lather my face and get to work. The action of moving the blade down my face felt so much more familiar this time around. I did my left and right side, both cheeks and neck. And there was WAY less pain, nearly NONE, so I decided to do a second pass. Second pass went great, I did a combo of WTG and XTG. I felt so brave that I tackled my mustache and chin areas! I started with the mustache. I was fairly cautious, but still mostly comfortable. I attempted to go WTG on the stash but it wasn't quite working for me so I decided to go XTG both ways. Stash is clean! When I moved to the chin area I noticed it was slightly awkward. The hair here is WAY more course then the rest of my facial hair (I wonder why?). I ended up doing a modge-podge of WTG, XTG, and ATG passes all in one pass.

I rinsed with cool water and examined.

I was very happy with my second shave! I had 3 small (about 2cm) knicks, 2 on my chin area and 1 on my left upper lip. I rubbed in some Gillette Aftershave balm (contains alcohol, ouch). After the balm dried I rubbed in some Clinique Face Lotion.

Last night's shave felt very painful afterwards, and there was quite some redness. Tonight there is almost no redness and the pain is comparable to a regular cartridge shave after using an alcohol based aftershave. I think is my face was more used to the straight I could have done a 3rd pass and it would have been and even closer shave.
On a sidenote, I must say that I am loving how evenly cut my sideburns are when using a straight.

Great shave, and I can't wait to shave again tomorrow night.

THANKS SRP!!

Great read! The chin is a pain in the butt for me too. For me I know its not so much a difference in hair thickness, but the different angle it grows out of my face at, and of course the curves of the chin.

Glad to hear it isn't hurting so much, allthough the aftershave always seems to sting a bit.

You're doing great, Karm!

Trust your right brain and tell yourself "This is something I can do!"
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Morty

You're doing great, Karm!

Trust your right brain and tell yourself "This is something I can do!"
Namaste,
Morty -_-

---

Good thing I'm left handed and right brain domenant lol!


Thanks for the kinda words guys

maybe try some alum in stead of the alcohol based aftershave
it will help to stop the bleeding from the nicks to

Using cold water to rinse your face off after the shave instead of hot can help stop the bleeding sometimes. I am just getting the hang of using the straight razor too, and also getting experience at doctoring up the small cuts it sometimes leaves.:) It is getting better though with time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KarmaPolice

Good thing I'm left handed and right brain domenant lol!


Thanks for the kinda words guys

---

Remember us lefties are the only people in our "right" mind.

Anyway congrats on the shave. I did read your other post also. I also found using both hands to shave interesting. The chin is challenging and will take a little while to master.

Also, when you rinse with cold water your pores close and your skin will feel smoother (it does with me anyway).

Hello, KarmaPolice:

You're coming along well, my good man. Congratulations.

The chin and the mustache areas will take longer, since one must maneuver through hills and valleys. Make sure the pressure is light here.

My after-the-shave practice is to rinse off the remaining soap with lukewarm water and add alum block as an astringent. Then I clean, strop and oil the razor before putting it away. Following that I clean my brush and mug and put them away. Finally I rinse off with cold water, add a touch of witch hazel, an aftershave balm and finally aftershave.

Then I'm in heaven.

A note of caution for you: ease up on the boiling water in the lathering ritual. I have found that extreme hot water breaks up the lather. For sure, please don't immerse your brush in boiling water. Hot water from the tap is fine, but not boiling. If you can't hold the water tank in your improvised scuttle in your hand because it is too hot — it is too hot. That means your metal lather mug then will be extremely hot and contribute to lather breaking up or drying.

Stay with it and experiment.

Regards,
Obie

Enjoy reading your shave reports, Karma. Try rubbing your face with a couple of ice cubes after the shave. I bet that would be very refreshing down there in the tropics (I know it is in Upstate SC).

Obie,
You use the aluminum on a warm face, not after cold water?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Obie,
You use the aluminum on a warm face, not after cold water?

---

Hello, Mvcrash:

Thank you for your note.

The water is actually lukewarm. I feel the lukewarm water rinse provides a welcome stage for the alum, which I always run under cold water, to do its work. Now, about three or four minutes later, after the razor is dried, stopped, oiled and put away, and the brush cleaned, then comes the cold water, followed by a delightful rubdown with an ice cube. Witch hazel, balm and aftershave complete the routine. I know most gentlemen apply alum block after a cold rinse, and that's fine, but my method works better — for me.

Regards,
Obie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obie

Hello, Mvcrash:

Thank you for your note.

The water is actually lukewarm. I feel the lukewarm water rinse provides a welcome stage for the alum, which I always run under cold water, to do its work. Now, about three or four minutes later, after the razor is dried, stopped, oiled and put away, and the brush cleaned, then comes the cold water, followed by a delightful rubdown with an ice cube. Witch hazel, balm and aftershave complete the routine. I know most gentlemen apply alum block after a cold rinse, and that's fine, but my method works better — for me.

Regards,
Obie

---

Thanks for the reply. Don't mean to hijack he hread. Anyway, I'm here to learn so I'll give it a try.