Thread: The zen of cuthroat , our second date !

Today was the long awaited second date with my TI. While a good shave it was not as good as the first . I had a few minor nic's, more importantly the shave was not as close even though I made 3 passes.
Keep in mind that my beard had substantially less growth. Just two days worth rather than the five before my first shave. It began much in the same way as my first but this time I stropped! I made 10 pases on the cloth and 20 on the leather. I realize that I probably could have waited a shave or two before doing so but The urge to start learning proper technique was overwhelming. My technique seemed correct but not confident and I believe that effected the end result greatly. My pre shave ritual was the same but I coud not resist trying to make my own uber lather. I started by shaving of a few leaves of unscented shave soap that I received from classic shaving, mixed it with a touch of the legendary proraso cream , a drop or two of glycerine and very hot water. It lathered up rather quickly rich and thick but I think a bit two thick for my taste (as my taste in shaving tools and accessories is just beginning to develop).
My first pass WTG went well but I immediately realized that my blade , while cutting well , was not preforming the same way it had during my first shave.I continued with the shave but never comming as close as I had before as I was half way through the third pass I decided that I should finish up before I made a mistake I might regret. I am not sure what effected it most. Was it the not quite uber lather? The Stropping? Or the shorter hair?
I am leaning towards the hair myself so I may give it a few more days till I make my third attempt. I will likely go back to the SRD shave soap that I began with it seemed to have a consistency that I liked. I will try the Proraso again at some point but I will keep it simple and use it on its own. A bigger concern is that of the one with less room for error... Stropping! As I said I believe my technique is fine. But my confidence is nillz! Having no prior experience in stropping I can only go with the video tutorials as far as technique but from the moment you make your first pass you become aware of what a finely detailed art this is. There is a correct sound and feel that must be achieved and I have no reference point. It is daunting to say the least.
All that said I have lost no love for the art of Wet shaving I will keep learning , listening and pushing until I can give myself the reward of a perfect shave. I will return in a few days with the story of my third date.
Any help or tips you may be able to offer me are greatly appreciated.

I bid you all good Shaving .

There are too many variables to analyze, especially during your first few shaves, to be able to say one particular thing or another prevented you from having the kind of great shave that takes weeks or months of practice

Keep practicing. If the shave quality continues to drop consistently over the course of several shaves, you'll probably want to look at getting the razor resharpened and taking a closer look at your stropping. Otherwise, you should trust the razor is doing what you are telling it to do, and work on improving your technique with it

"I started by shaving of a few leaves of unscented shave soap that I received from classic shaving."

Did you do that with your razor?

Absolutely not! lol! Im new but not that new.

The good news is, it gets better. The bad news is, it also gets worse

I'm only a half-dozen shaves ahead of you in the game and I've seen it go up and down quite radically from shave to shave. Consistency is probably harder to achieve as we newbies, flush with the advice and opinions we read on these forums, try as much and as many products as we can in order to find what works for us. The "too many variables" analysis is, in my experience, bang on. For now, I'm just enjoying the ride.

Thanks for sharing and keep shaving!