The Anticipation
With the busy time over the holidays, continued work on getting our still relatively new apartment squared away and a fair amount of time spent playing games and doing puzzles with SWMBO Jr., my plan to hone my two JaNorton razors had not yet come to fruition by this evening, prompting me to opt for another shave test: my Yama-Masa kamisori, which I had from Ebay last week and which I hadn't had the chance to try yet. The seller said it had been honed to shave-ready, but I found it wasn't quite where I'd like it to be. I chose T&H Trafalgar for my products, alongside the beautiful Bryce C Ironwood 24mm Silvertip, which is easily my most luxurious brush. While I have stated my love for my boar brushes many times, there's no denying the performance or the feel of these silvertip brushes I've used the past couple of days. They really do well with creams and I can have no complaints.
The Prep
I had done my best to ensure my ingrowns were, at the very least, not still buried under my skin. In some cases, I need to resort to picking them out with the tip of a needle, which usually causes quite a bit of irritation, both to my skin and to me. So I headed into the shower, carefully scrubbed my neck with Real Shaving Exfoliating Scrub and made sure to soak the area well, hoping to soften and ease the tips of the ingrowns out so they could be shaved down. That done, I hopped out, dried off and took this new kamisori in hand, ready to try it on the 'roo strop. This Japanese razor is even smaller and more delicate than the Nagakichi kamisori I had used in the past, but it has great balance and still enough heft to feel comfortable in my hand. Before I could try the blade on my face, of course, I needed something to help with the glide. My Bryce C brush had been soaking in the reservoir of my scuttle, so I pulled it out, swapped out the water in the scuttle for fresh, piping hot tap water, then turned to the tub of T&H cream.
The Lather
What a great combination of brush and cream! The T&H Trafalgar continues to please with its scent and its ability to produce wonderful lather. The Bryce C brush did a superlative job, as it really is the best of my badger knots, holding tons of water and letting it out into the cream, which required no additional drops of water to achieve a great, creamy-smooth consistency that was a joy for my face. The only drawback I've found so far with the T&H creams is that, unfortunately, they seem to very slightly irritate my face, causing a bit of a burning sensation. I fear that, as much as I love their scent and performance, they might not work for me. I'll work my way through the rest of my samples and this Trafalgar tub, just to be sure, but if that is the case, I might have to swear off them, which would be a shame. I'll still love their balms and colognes and aftershaves, as well as the wonderful soap, but the creams I've tried so far have all felt like they just sting a bit. At first I thought it was my shaving technique, but today I felt the sting before the blade had touched my face, so I'm going to have to start looking at the cream. There are still several samples left from my two packs, so I'm going to give them all a good test run to see if they all do the same thing. It really sucks because, after my first run through the testers, I went ahead and bought a nearly-full tub of Trafalgar, which is my preferred T&H, right up there with their Spanish Leather.
The Shave
This was a bit of a disaster for me today. The Yama-Masa kamisori was not, in my humble opinion, shave-ready, contrary to the declarations of the Ebay seller. I am going to have to figure out how to hone this thing with the stones in my collection because, as of right now, it's not getting any further action until it has a better edge on it. The first pass with this razor went as far as my jawline before I realized the pulling was not normal and acceptable, at which point I drafted the Nagakichi kamisori into service. In retrospect, I probably should have pulled out
The Beast (8/8 Friodur) or my active Bow Razor, because in the end I had nicks, scrapes and only a passable shave. The neck area, already tender due to the ingrown assault, only received two very tentative WTG passes, while the rest of my face got the usual three with some touch-ups. But even that did not get me to the level I've been getting from my Western razors. There is definitely a difference to kamisori shaving which I have not learned. Given this was only my third go, I'm not surprised, considering I've had many times that number of shaves with a regular straight.
The Post
Desperate to soothe my irritated face, I opted for a very cold water rinse, which was easy on this day thanks to the extreme cold alert in Toronto. That done, I took a moment to rinse my brush and scuttle, both of which had performed their jobs with aplomb, then I proceeded to apply alum. That was certainly a reminder that I am not yet proficient with the kamisori, let me tell you! The alum took effect, which prompted me to quickly rinse again with cold water, then pat my face dry ever so lightly before slapping on some witch hazel, hoping to soothe some more. While I let the WH settle, I cleaned up the rest of my sink area, then applied a generous amount of the T&H Trafalgar balm, which felt wonderful after the beating my face had taken during the shave. That done, I dried off and stropped the two razors, laid them aside and dabbed on some Trafalgar cologne from my dwindling sample bottle. That might be on my shopping list soon! Then it was out to greet the recently-arrived SWMBO, who gave the scent a stamp of approval, though she soon asked me what the heck I'd done to my neck!
The Verdict
There are a few things I can take from today's shave as learning points. First of all, kamisori are not the same as regular straights and will have their own learning curve for me. I am considering laying the aside until such time in the future as I feel comfortable taking on a new challenge. Secondly, T&H creams are acting suspicious with my face and, lamentably, may have to be scratched from my list. Finally, I realized that my neck ingrowns are not a thing of the past and might have something to do with the type of blade I use, as opposed to the DE vs. Straight issue I had originally suspected. The Le Canadien razors are very hollow ground C135 steel, so they might not agree with my neck as much as the heavier, softer W&B Bow Razor, or the heavier stainless Friodur. Then again, it could have been any number of factors, so I suppose more tests are in order.
All in all, it was a day of lessons on The Straight Road!