First shave...I'm hooked!
My package from Larry at whippeddog.com came today. It felt like my birthday! In it was the poor man's strop kit and two shave ready razors. One is a Simmons hardware co. and the other is a Heckel Bros. I've already got a brush and some soap that I've been using with my disposable SE.
I let my brush soak in hot water while I showered and used conditioner on my beard. A first for both techniques learned here. Out of the shower I wiped the blade of the Simmons down an worked up a lather. I need to work on that. Also, I will be looking for ways to keep my lather warm for the whole shave.
With my face full of suds, I'm ready! I'm familiar with the motion and skin stretching from my experience with my SE. I am pretty overgrown and instead of using clippers or a safety razor to bring it down I decided to use the proper technique with my razor flat to my face. No problem! I whipped through my right side without a hitch. Left side was a little more difficult. Usually, I would reach across with my dominant right hand but I decided to do this proper and switch to my left. It took longer but came out of it unscathed and with a decent shave. I was very surprised how smooth the shave on my neck was but I had some difficulties with my chin. I had to relather quite a few times an it took a little longer than expected.
Post shave, I used a hot towel to wipe the excess lather, splashed on some witch hazel and cleaned my blade. Now the strop was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. I got through it. I found it a little difficult to get a good rhythm but I feel confident that I'll get there with practice. All in all, no cuts, scrapes, or nicks. The shave was quite good for going WTG only. I can forsee much better results in the near future. I am very pleased and can't wait for the next shave!!!!
