my shaving notes from the Lone Star State

OK so its day 3 and I was able to only have one nick *a small one at that
on the underside of my chin - again using my left hand - considering that this is my 3rd shave that's pretty good.
I even re-lathered my face and went over it with WTG to catch some rough patches - again on my left side - i cant get a good view of what i am doing when i shave the left side using my right hand.

i am reading the thread on using both hands and I will continue to teach myself to use both hands so i guess I am just gonna have to slog on through.

the shave is nice and smooth - I am surprised that I was able to make the 2nd pass and NOT nick myself - but I am getting a lot more comfortable with keeping the blade at the right angle - and NOT leaving it on my face when I change directions OR hands.

I got some Every Man Jack post shave lotion and that soothed the minor burn - splashing some cold water helped a lot - a big thank you for the beginner WIKI on this site.

Regards

Good stuff! Sounds like you're off to a great start. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Day 4

I had been lathering up with Col Conk - I keep the puck in an antique ceramic bowl and lather it up in same.
today I used a 2nd bowl (stainless steel) after I got the tips of the brush going - I started swirling the brush in the 2nd bowl
and the lather built up - not as thick as it is when I keep lathering with the puck in the ceramic bowl.
when I put the lather on my face it dried up fast - I had to re-lather several times just to get the right side of my face shaved.

I had to do this for the left side as well - by the time I got to my neck I bailed on the whole 2nd bowl idea and went back to lathering up from the
same bowl that holds the puck.

the cheeks are smooth and I had a small nick on my left jaw (this time it was small and due to the angles of my jaw) but shaving the left side is getting easier.

so my experiment with using 2 bowls (1 to hold the soap, the other to lather up) turned out to be a shitty idea
or maybe I am not doing it right.

Regards

I primarily use an Old Spice mug to build my lather. With creams, I just dip my soaked brush into the cream and move over to the mug to build the lather.

With soaps, it is a little more complicated. If you are going to build the lather in a separate bowl, you have to ensure you are getting enough soap into your brush. When using soap, I sprinkle a teaspoon of hot water on the soap before I shower. After showering, I dump the excess water into the sink and take my soaked brush and load it with the softened soap before moving to the OS mug.

There is nothing wrong with building the lather in the bowl with the soap or building the lather in a separate bowl, both ways will work. However, in both cases, it is critical to properly load the brush with soap and I find pre-softening the soap really helps.

Good luck on your continuing journey and Happy Shaving!
:rock:

Thanks for your advice bother DLB;

I put some warm water on the Col Conk and took a shower; I put the brush under hot water for a bit and then poured the water off the puck and flicked the excess off the brush and swirled the brush on the soap to get the tips loaded with soap.

Then I put the brush into the 2nd bowl and started lathering – and I will say the lather built up quick and was thick.

So thinking I had a good thing I lathered up my face – but like the Robert Burns poem says “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray” :hmmm:– by the time I finished shaving my right cheek the soap on the rest of my face was gone – not that the lather was smaller – it was frickin gone! Just a residue was left to indicate I had lathered up at all.

Time to bail on the 2nd bowl – I rinsed off the brush and lathered up in the bowl with the puck and although the lather was not as quick to build or as thick when I applied it to my face it did not vanish after 5 min.

I did the left cheek *with my left hand – and my neck.
I rinsed off and had several patches – mostly on my neck and jaw line. I put the lather on the patchy areas (this was dumb :gaah:) I shaved those areas and got a nick under my chin. When I rinsed off again the patches were smooth but the rest of my face felt rough – did I mention that just putting the lather on the patches was dumb?

So I lathered up to shave (for the 3rd time – this is a first for me) and shaved my face WTG and got a small weeper just above my jaw on the left side.

I did a warm water rinse and rubbed the alum block - The alum stopped the cuts cold, there was a little sting but that passed quickly.
While my face dried off I cleaned up (brush, bowls, razor, and the counter), then did a cold rinse and patted my face dry and applied the EMJ lotion.

This was my best shave by far – almost got the BBS – took 3 shaves and 2 nicks but damn my face is smooth!

I think I will stick with lathering up in the soap bowl – the 2 bowl thing is just not working for me

Well I may have gotten close to a BBS shave the other day – but I paid for it this morning in the shower – when I soaped up my face and stood under the hot water a razor burn hit me like a Tyson left cross – yea it was frickin painful.

I tried to put some cold water on it but that did not help – I got out and grabbed the alum – this was worst mistake I have made this century cause that felt like I used gas for aftershave and struck a match – WHOOSH!! :overkill:

so stifling a scream I splashed cold water on my face for who know how long – when the pain subsided I put the EMJ lotion on and checked to see if I looked like the Red Skull.:cen

For the rest of the day the stubble itched like mad – the nicks & cuts that I had made during the previous attempts also became more visible.

So I did not shave last night – I thought (yea I know my thinking got me into this mess :hmmm:) maybe an extra day of stubble would help on the next shave.

This morning I wash my face – put some water on the puck and hop into the shower; after I get out I run the brush under the hot water to get it nice and soaked and lather from the puck.

This time instead of using bowl #2 I lather directly on my face. ;)

This worked great – the lather was thick and I was able to get the stubble well hydrated. I grabbed the SRW and went to work.

The right cheek has given me no trouble so it was the same this time; my skills on the left cheek is improving and I did not see a nick or a cut *I did after I rinsed off later.

My neck area is giving me grief – the hair on my neck is like a Chinese fire drill – everywhere all at once – so I have to switch hands on opposite sides e.g. use my left for my upper right neck so I don’t cut ATG. But even then I got a nick just under my chin – but I applied the alum and stopped that cold.

After I rinse off I feel rough areas on my jaw line again and my left cheek has some patches, my neck of course is mocking me.

So I lather up again and this time the shave went quick and I made it through without nicking myself.

I rinsed off with hot water and applied the alum – it stung but nothing like this morning, while that dried I did the clean up thing and then applied the EMJ.

Looking at my face I have 2 small nicks (kinda like a small mole) one high up on my left cheek – looks like I poked myself with the edge of the razor and the other on my right lip above the moustache – prbly caused by the same issue.

My cheeks are smooth but my neck while it looks clean shaved running my hand over the area tells me that I have patchy areas.

I don’t know what happened this morning but it is not something I want to experience again.

regards

IMO, ditch the Col Conk's soap. I used it for many, many years with regular shaving and it worked fine, smelled great too. But for straight shaving, it never worked for me. It dries out too quickly and it never really sets up a nice glide for the straight razor. Do a search on the forums for soaps or creams; there are much better alternatives. The secret is to find a soap or cream that will provide a nice glide and will keep your face hydrated. If the soap doesn't have either or both, then the blade tends to skip or drag - leads to nicks and cuts. A good soap or cream will give you a better shave and eliminate the burn.

Ok so I am shaving every other day to build up stubble - and to avoid the horrific razor burn I got the other day.

The stubble was itchy and I was good and ready to shave it when I got home - so I put some water on the puck, washed my face - dried off and got a new razor for the SRW.
Ran the hot water over the brush - lathered up the tips and worked it into my stubble.

The 1st pass went well - no nicks

After I rinsed off I again had patchy areas on my neck and jaw line - so re-lathered and got ready for pass #2

Again WTG - this time I poked myself on the left cheek - small no blood.

My neck is giving me a hell of a time getting it smooth - even when it looks smooth in the mirror I can feel the rough areas.

After rinsing off for the final time I ran the alum and the sting was there but bearable.
I rinsed off the alum I applied the EMJ and cleaned up.

Shaving is getting better - the awkward nicks are getting less and less with my left hand - practice makes perfect.

I think I will shave every other day for a while - kinda weird for me since I would shave every day with the electric - but I get a damn close shave and 2 days of stubble with the SRW looks like 1 day with the electric.

Regards

shaved this morning and it turned out pretty well for me- only had a very small nick on my jawline - prbly from the wrong angle on the blade.

I was able to shave the left cheek fairly well - in the sense that the patchy areas were smaller - still having issues with left handed shaving.

my neck is a place that I have to re-shave - this time though I made it through without a nick or a cut - but I still have to re-shave it and even then I have patchy areas.

after I rinsed off I did notice that outside of the small nick I had some red areas on my neck - I may have shaved ATG in those areas - as I posted before the hair on my neck grows in a weird ways.

I have gotten accustomed to the sting from the alum.
the EMJ feels good.

like I said today was a good shave.

Regards

Yesturday's shave was pretty good – I got 2 passes WTG and 1 XTG, and a partial ATG on my neck with no bleeding nicks or cuts – I did end up with what looks like a bit of road rash just above my left jaw – but it did not bleed so I’m good with calling it a nick/cut free shave.

Lathering on my face instead of using a 2nd bowl is working for me.

After the first pass my neck and left cheek – per usual – had patchy areas. So I re-lathered and went back over – this time though I used the XTG pass and that helped get the patchy areas – and did not give me razor burn to boot.

The neck was kinda sketchy in how I shaved it – some areas I was able to use the XTG pass to get it smooth, other areas I had to use ATG (this was the sketchy part) to get the patchy areas – I got to say moving the blade ATG on my neck was very nerve racking.

But in the end other than the road rash areas on my jaw I was ok.

The alum rub did not sting as much as I thought it would – esp in the neck area, the EMJ lotion felt good – and my face feels smooth; still have some rough areas on my nack but they look smooth – ahh well eventually it will feel as smooth as it looks.

Regards

Hello Dangermouse,

I think that it's great you're passing along your experiences like this. jdto has also been kind enough to do the same thing, and you are giving us a view from your own perspective. You will be able to look back on your own posts and see how far you have come. Thank you.

-Mark

Ok this evening’s shave went pretty good – got a small nick on my left jaw – I have gotten a lot better shaving with my left hand –.

While I took a shower I put a few drops in the Col Conks to soften it up – after I got out I ran hot water over the brush and got the tips lubed up with soap and applied to my face.

Working the lather on my face helps to hydrate the whisker – the blade in the SRW is on its 3rd shave – that’s about as far as I will push the blades.

The first pass went fast and when I rinsed off I again felt the patchy areas on my neck – the left cheek was not as rough but I had learned my lesson and re-lathered my whole face.

The 2nd pass was mostly WTG but I tried some XTG to see if I could pull it off – let me tell you the XTG was kinda scary but I took my time and went slow. The result was that my cheeks are BBS.

My neck being what it is required me to go ATG in some areas – after I did a pass I re-lathered and then went XTG on my neck.

The XTG pass on my neck gave me a smoother feel – there are some areas that feel rough but look BBS – not sure what that’s about.
The alum felt good – prbly cause there were no nicks – well except for that pinhole on my jaw.

The EMJ was a good way to end the shave.

So it seems that I will start using the XTG pass on my cheeks – it gave me the BBS feel.

I need to figure out how to shave my neck – the ATG passes while effective; is nerve racking :dropjaw:– I can just imagine the kind of cut that would leave if I screwed up. The XTG works well I just need to get better at it.

Regards

Good stuff. If you have a monday or tuesday available, you should come up and see me, maybe I could give you a pointer or two. Alum is a great indicator if you used improper form one way or another. I use it every shave before aftershave. Like mentioned above, try some other soap. A soap that works with about any water (this is the key to most soaps) is proraso in the green tub. It's about the best middle of the road soap that I know of. You now see that most of us say it takes an average of 30 days for it to ALL come together. I'm glad you are enjoying your experience.

Sorry for the lapse in posts but life and all.

Shave 11 with the new blade was a blood-bath; I think I was a bit sloppy with the new blade and moved it too fast and at too sharp an angle – both of my cheeks and my jaw had nicks – let me rephrase that ‘cuts’ not nicks.

On the 2nd pass I was more careful – but still the shave was not up to par with the ones I had been getting – hubris and all.

Shave 12 I was more careful and I even made it to the 2nd pass before I nicked my jaw – this time the shave was better but my neck is still the area that feels like it needs another pass but looks like a decent shave.

Shave 13 is where the blade gave me a nice kiss on my left cheek – it cut deep and left a scar – while moving the blade XTG I used too much pressure and viola I gouged myself.

The 2nd pass went well and I was able to get a closer shave on my neck – but that new scar on my left cheek will be reminding me that I MUST respect the blade and not get too ‘cheeky’ with it.

Shaving every other day helps as the stubble grows out I can get a better idea of how to move the blade with the grain and not make ATG mistakes.

Building the lather has gotten a lot easier – I get the tips of the brush started and then apply the lather to my face, using the alum to get a grip while I shave helps me stretch my skin and I am getting better with the left hand – although the left side of my neck gets a hell of a razor burn – I think I am using too much pressure with my left hand when I shave my neck.

Regards

Ok shave 14 was kinda rough - it was the 3rd shave on the blade which is where the sharpness drops off precipitously.
my lathering has improved - by using my goatee as a staging area I can get the lather built up really thick.
the shave it self was spotty - the 1st pass left large areas on both cheeks - I think that had a lot to do with the heavy drag the blade was having and I feared putting pressure on it (thanks to that kiss I got a few shaves ago)
the 2nd pass was better and I used XTG to get the rougher areas.
but I needed 3 passes on this blade to get a good shave - the alum stung prbly due to the 3 passes and having to go over some areas all 3 times.

shave 15 was with a new blade and it was gold!

I was able to get a pretty close shave the 1st pass - no nicks at all!!

the 2nd pass was also nick free - I did have to go over my area but it was minor and again no nicks.
my face looks BBS and it feels damn smooth - except for those damnable areas on my neck - but all in all a great shave!