I got my kit earlier in the week, but unfortunately just before I had to leave the country on a short business trip. This afternoon I decided to give it my first attempt.

I took my Dovo Special out of its box and wiped off the oil haze that had be put on it by the good people of SRD. Being a bit of a germophobe, I put it Barbicide diluted per the instructions for about 10-15 minutes. I took a hot shower and put conditioner on my beard. When I got out of the shower, I rinsed the blade off well and got to making my lather.

My first impression of Mama Bear's Backyard Gazebo is that it's quite slick. I had some trouble getting the lather "fluffy" enough or creating enough of it, but I hope another read through of the wiki will help. The soap was so slick though, that I could still feel it on my face after I finished shaving and rinsed a few times! My silvertip knot from thegoldennib felt glorious, though!

As for the actual shave, it was rough at best. The first hurdle I came across that I had never thought of was shaving with eyeglasses on. I kept hitting them with my hand. Luckily I don't usually wear them while shaving so it shouldn't be a problem.

Aside from hitting my eyeglasses, I found it difficult to see with the toe of the blade facing my ear, which took some adjusting of my grip. I found myself constantly adjusting my blade angle, which was difficult because I couldn't see well. For some reason I found the left side of my face easier to shave even with my dominant right hand (didn't feel very comfortable using my left hand to shave).

I just stuck to the flats of my face - sideburns to jaw, cheeks to jaw, neck. My technique was obviously horrible and despite the blade passing over whiskers at about a 30 degree angle (judged by about 3 spine widths) the blade didn't seem to be cutting much hair. Which resulted in my newbie self making too many passes and ending up with some red bumps and a couple of minor nicks.

JimmyHAD's advice from his signature "An old barber told me to hold the razor securely but lightly enough so that is if it pulls the razor will flex in your fingers and be less likely to nick. He also told me to never force it if it does pull. Following that advice I have rarely gotten a nick" was what I kept trying to remind myself and it saved me multiple times. Thanks Jimmy!

I was trying to have patience and it took my about 15-20 minutes for my first attempt. By that time I was already getting small rust-like water spots on my blade, which was disconcerting. Any ideas on why this is or how to prevent it would be appreciated. Could it have been the Barbicide? It says it's a "rust-free" formula.

I decided that it was probably time for me to put down my straight and finish up with my Fusion. My Nivea Sensitive balm burned a bit, but never felt so good!

I stropped my razor with my SRD 3" modular paddle and thought it was a great product as well. My technique leaves a lot to be desired (stating the obvious), but I was happy that the paddle was 3" wide and that I didn't have to worry about pulling it taut. After stropping about 40 times (lost count), I used a Q-Tip to put a couple drops of camellia oil on both sides and resolved to try again on Monday morning.

Overall, it was a very rough first attempt, but I look forward to improving in the months and years to come! This skill/hobby/art seems worthy of my time in my hectic life and even worthy of waking up a few minutes early for on weekdays!

Cheers,
El Che

PS. I'll work on keeping my posts shorter in the future!