Quote Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider View Post
Hello Sirwazzles, welcome. It seems everything has been covered, i.e. blade shave readiness, stropping, pressure, cream, etc, though if you're getting red blotchy marks I'd say you're pressing too hard. You really shouldn't press at all, really. Well, maybe a TAD, but only just. It also sounds like your prep may be not quite right. Make the lather straight after the shower; and make sure it's nice and 'spongy', too much water and it won't provide the cushion you need. Also, short strokes, don't try and shave the whole face in like 5 strokes or anything, the short strokes should overlap slightly.
BTW, in one of your posts you mention a job interview. On a personal advice note, it may be a good idea to shave with your 'normal' method prior to attending an interview; you don't want to sit there bleeding or looking splotchy or anything :-)
Carl
Thank you kindly. I tried these things out today. As far as lather goes, wasn't great. Wasn't awful though. I was able to play around more adding water or soap here and there since I had more time. However, I used Williams (by itself). So much probably couldn't be expected anyway, especially from a novice lather conjurer. I am quite glad to report however that today's shave was much better than the last two. Not great by any means. But definitely a step up. Might actually be passable as a bad shave rather than a scientific experiment.

The neck is like impossible though. I'm a weightlifter, so my neck isn't round per se. I have those valleys created between the esophagus and the thicker outsides of the neck on either side, if any of that makes sense. Advice from anyone with prominent neck features?

Lulz at the job interview. I weighed the cost/benefits in my mind beforehand but I couldn't resist using the razor again. Luckily it's one of those jobs where you know the people and there's a good chance you're gonna get the job but have to do the interview formality anyway. Plus I just did a little on the cheeks and finished with the normal method (electric), so everything turned out alright.