Thread: First real SR shave

Jhenry,

If I don't do ATG it feels like the last shave was a day ago. With ATG it is smooth in all directions/ But without it feels very coarse in that direction.

Hi Brickbag. As I read it your all going off easily.
Although I think you make a lot of work on your pre shave. But if you're happy and it works for you, I'd say just do it.
So go ahead and keep your razor sharp. And greetings to your girlfriend

Again, a real successful shave(the very best yet).

This time the beardprep was quite minimal, although it was 3 day beard.

Prep
I had a hot shower but didn't use any conditioner. After the hot shower I made a nice lather form maca root cream(I made a nice Vergulde Hand lather yesterday to shave my girlfriend's legs, her request. That went perfectly) and lathered up. I took the Bismarck again because I like the smooth edge, the weight and the balance and stropped it 20 times on linen and 50 times on the leather.

I relathered and started, paying a lot of attention to the angles.

The shave
Using an even lighter stroke than before(as this razor is a lot heavier than the 5/8 I used before) the WTG pass was smooth sailing, beautiful sound and perfect cutting action.

Relathered and did an XTG pass. Again smooth sailing. Also on the neck there was no trouble to be felt. Just really short controlled strokes at about 10-15 degrees.

After this success I felt like I had to finish it really well. So I lathered up, quickly stropped(just in case) and lathered again to make a ATG pass on my cheeks and my neck(I still have a goatee so there was no shaving of the chin and upperlip). Again really taking the time to get the right angle and using very light short strokes.

Aftershave
Rinsed with hot water, then applied alum over the face(no stingy feeling). Kept it there while stropping the razor on canvas. Rinsed with cold water and applied aftershave balm.

The result
A really smooth shave, even on the problem areas like the left and right side of the neck and on the adams apple. The neck has a few rougher patches, but all in all it is really smooth.

Also there is no sign of irritation or bumps on the neck. The total time from(but not including) shower to cleaning up was 40 minutes while doing the whole routine in a controlled fashion. So that is improving as well.

Next time
Next time I will not try to change any variable except for the razor and see if I can get a nice, smooth shave using the 5/8 I used before.

Cheers!

Holy smokes !! You're well on your way !!

Sooooooooo, I've been a little too busy to post a full account of my latest shaving exploits. But I've done 2 shaves in the last week. One Thursday and one yesterday. The first one was the worst straight shave I ever had, the second one almost the best. I won't give a full report, but point out the differences and reasons for the better shave(as I see them).

The first shave
I used the W.M. Elliot razor after I showered and lathered. The lather wasn't up to par with the usual lather, but I've shaved with worse so I didn't think much of it.

As said before the W.M Elliot feels a lot rougher on the skin than the Bismarck(keep this in mind, it's important later). And it sure did feel rough, after a large stropping session(50 on canvas, 100 on leather) it shaved ok. But it felt like a cheese grater, it was sharp, but rough.

Because of this I restropped and relathered and tried again, totally losing my concentration. In doing so I cut myself twice.

I wanted to stop after that, but some rough spots made me grab the Bismarck to touch up. Big mistake! I cut myself again(but the blade didn't felt rough). I decided to call it for the day.

Now the cuts were fairly small and superficial(no more bleeding after using alum), my neck was fairly red and sensitive.

The touchup of the razor
I thought of giving the razor a round on my coticule before, but I didn't felt confident enough to do so. After I honed another razor I felt comfortable enough to touch up the W.M. Elliot.

I lathered up my coticule and did 15 laps on it. After which the razor was stropped on canvas(30 laps) and leather(50 laps).

The second shave
Because of the sensitive skin I waited till yesterday(Monday) to shave again.

I prepped with a hot shower and some conditioner in the beard. Made a lather(which was awesome this time ), lathered up and stropped the razor. The sound of the razor on the strop was different from last time. It had a nice ziiiiing to it.

After stropping 20 times on canvas and 40 times on leather I relathered and started the shave. Taking my time and watching the angle.

The blade cut hair like it used to, but without the grating feeling. There was 0 discomfort and I managed to do 3 passes(WTG, XTG, ATG) without any irritation. And BBS on the cheeks(hell yeah, smooth in all directions )

Aftershave was rinse cold => alum => short stropping => rinse cold => balm. No stinging on any of them.

Observations
- I can touch up a razor
- The coticule made the edge smoother(I probably blunted or otherwise destroyed it during my first attempts at stropping)
- The small 4/8-5/8 blade of the W.M. Elliot requires a steeper angle on all directions than the 6/8 Bismarck

Originally Posted by BrickBag

I wanted to stop after that, but some rough spots made me grab the Bismarck to touch up. Big mistake! I cut myself again(but the blade didn't felt rough). I decided to call it for the day.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away, know when to run

Congrats, both on the honing and the successful shaves..! It sounds like you're really well on your way with the hobby and are getting a lot out of it, which is great!

Coti edges are lovely and I go right from mine to the strop and then shave. Its always a really smooth comfortable edge.

Isn't it grand to be able to touch up your own razors? That's one of the biggest draws to straight razors for me.

(First off, thanks for all the encouragement! It's really appreciated)
A little update might be in place after a silence of 7 shaves....

Except for one all shave were really good, both the WM Elliot and the Bismarck give really good shaves. My technique has really improved, some observations:

Since 5 shaves my neck isn't sensitive at all, after trying to use even less pressure than before(I didn't thought it was possible). I now can shave my neck almost BBS without any irritation(which is way more important than BBS).

Cheeks are almost BBS every time(consistency yay!)

I also found out that stropping is easier when done on waist height instead of shoulder height. I can do it more smoothly and faster that way.

I still lather before stropping and that means that after stropping I can see if my lather is too dry or too runny.

Making the lather is also a little experiment now. Using palmolive cream and some Vergulde Hand soap plus 3 drops of glycerine I can whip up a really creamy lather .

So all in all I'm very satisfied with the progress.

Next times:
- I've gotten myself a shaving mirror, so I'll hang that up and watch from closer by.
- practice, practice, practice

Cheers!

I also found that stropping from waist height is much easier. I also find it sounds consistant on the up and down stroke, whereas if the strop is hanging at 45 degrees or so, I get different sounds on the up and down stroke.