my shaving notes from the Lone Star State

[Dangermouse]

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

[jdto]

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

[Dangermouse]

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

[DLB]

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!

[Dangermouse]

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” – 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 ) 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

[Dangermouse]

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!!

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.

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 ) 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