Best shave yet !! Here's my story
I've finally got a BETTER full shave from a straight than from anything I've had before !!!!!!! It was also my best shaving experience, period.
I've been shaving with a straight for almost 2 months now, shaving about 2-3 times a week. I started with a gold dollar 200, honed by Lynn. The first few shaves weren't that bad, I was able to get the cheeks done without pulling or scrapping after the 1st week. The jaw line was pulling, and the chin & mustache were brutally painful from the pulling.
I was able to get the jaw line & neck pretty good after about 1 month, but the chin & mustache were bringing tears to my eyes.
Then I won Nelson's (thebigspendur) Wade & Butcher "The celebrated" 8/8 razor. The first shave was substantially smoother & more comfortable on the cheeks & jaw compared to the gold dollar, but OMG was that thing hard to maneuver around the chin & mustache.... And it was still pulling and bringing tears to my eyes when shaving that area.
Anyways, last night, after working like a horse around the house all weekend to get things done before my vacation starts, I decided to take extra me time with a nice, long, hot shower & a shave. My lovely wife was nice enough to bring me a steaming cup of lemon/ginger tea just before I got ready to lather up.
I've never been so calm & comfortable using the razor. It's as if it was an extension of my hand, I could use that big meat cleaver with pin-point accuracy, it was following the curves on my face like a lotus. I finally understood the muscle memory so many people were talking about. I didn't need to think about anything other than where I wanted the razor to go on my face.
I finally got the chin & mustache. THAT made me happy. I didn't need to grab the DE to finish, the whole shave was done comfortably with the straight.
This experience really made me realize how important it is to be patient with straight shaving, to let time give you the required skill. You have trouble with a certain aspect of the shave? Give it a try, if it doesn't work, big deal. Finish with cartidge if you have to. Shaving is a new skill and there is a learning curve involved, respect your limits & live with your incompetence. Don't worry, it will diminish with every shave.
A big thanks goes out to all the advice & encouragement that I got from the members on this forum.
Have a good one,
Glenn.:beer2:
