Thread: Hi Everyone

Well USPS is a day late now.. I'm getting impatient! .. and itchy...

I'm impatient by nature and always lay the extra $10 for ups 2day.

Lynn can back that up if he felt like going back through the invoices

Originally Posted by KenWeir

I'm impatient by nature and always lay the extra $10 for ups 2day.

Lynn can back that up if he felt like going back through the invoices

Funny enough I went for USPS 2day as well! The standard post was USPS First Class, I went through westcoastshaving.com because Lynn was out of stock on the Shavette blades I wanted so I figured best to just get everything from one place right away - will be going with Lynn for the Dovo though!



So I came across this cold water shaving thread:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...st-ever-5.html

I'm wondering if I should give it a shot. I did a few cold water shaves out of necessity with the cartridge disposable and it sucked, but it was also with a cartridge disposable which is the whole reason why I'm here in the first place - that method was subpar! I think it will come down to the temperature of the day, August is always hit & miss but I definitely want to try everything as early as possible to see what works best for me.

As for trying everything as early as possible.. I do not have any pre-shave or after-shave products though, just some Bay Rum soaps and an Alum block. As I recall when I was a youngin (like 10 yrs ago haha) the after-shave wasn't my thing but I might have had one that didnt agree with me (Hugo Boss brand). My thinking this go around was that I do not want any other scents interfering with my cologne so I just have some scented soap.

Ups, not USPS. I figure a company in it for the profit wants repeat business, so they might be a little more reliable than a government agency.

The cold water is worth a shot. I tried it tonight but couldn't tell much difference. My chin is a little closer than normal and I was brave enough to try 2 passes on my upper lip. I was also using a new razor for the first time too though, so I'd hardly call that conclusive.

Have you considered adding a cream & glycerin for the uberlather? I've been using cs soap & t&h cream, works very well.

Edit: I'm also not using any aftershave products, mainly because I haven't got around to trying any yet and I enjoy the sandalwood scent of my soap too much to mask it.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

Ups, not USPS. I figure a company in it for the profit wants repeat business, so they might be a little more reliable than a government agency.

Ahh, yeah I'm with you there. This was my one and only time using USPS because the other option of FedEx Express was $2 more and also 2day. Lesson learned. I have a bunch of car parts coming on UPS at the moment and they're right on time! I'm in Canada, just 10mins from the border so I use a US mail drop service; my experience with government post services was restricted to Canada Post until now and I've only had positive experiences - except for one Christmas card to Italy which was probably botched on the Italian side.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

Have you considered adding a cream & glycerin for the uberlather? I've been using cs soap & t&h cream, works very well.

No, I was not even aware of such a thing! All I have is a ceramic lather bowl that I purchased from the site, a Vulfix Pure Badger brush, and Ogallala Bay Rum Orange & Sage and Cedar & non-scented soaps..... having purchased 3 soaps from this particular company I hope that the formulation agrees with my skin!

I'll have to try this method next, so instead of using a hard soap you're using a cream and then adding the glycerin before you whip into lather?

Also, where do you purchase the glycerin from? I did a quick search on SRD & WCS sites and did not find any pure glycerin products, just products with glycerin in them.

The glycerin is available at any store with a pharmacy, very cheap and worthwhile as it also helps keep your lather from drying out.

On the uberlather, there are several good YouTube videos showing how to do it, but basically you just load your brush with soap, then go to a mug/bowl in which you've added the cream, a few drops of glycerin and a small amount of water. The end result is extremely thick and creamy. I thought my soap lather was good until I started doing this and it feels great.

Ah ok thanks! I'll have to pick some up next time I'm running some errands.

Joining this forum seems to me to be a very solid first step... I wish I had started there anyway.

So! everything finally arrived and I jumped into my first shave, I provided photos for you guys so if anyone notices anything I'd love to hear some feedback.


My procedure was:
1) splash hot water
2) vigorously rub with hot barber towel & let towel sit
3) Apply Lather
4) WTG (ish) pass 1 then rinse & redo towel procedure
5) WTG (ish) pass 2 then rinse & redo towel procedure
6) XTG (ish) pass 3 - I did some scything on the cheeks to get the cheek bone as well, which made it partly XTG on my face and that worked really well, felt very smooth and natural, in fact I started scything before I realized what I was doing
7) Rinse and lightly pat with hot towel
8) apply alum - this stung, I manned up.
9) wash everything off

10) post to forum and wondering why I'm not already having a beer.



My kit



I didnt shave for a few days, maybe 6 or 7 days, to really jump in there and see how I do.



This is my 1st shot at making lather



I put the lather on my face and realized it doesnt look like the lightly fluffy lather that I saw in the youtube vidoes so I try again



Here is my second shot, I used this lather.

I figured my initial problems included insufficient water and difficulties gauging how much pressure I need to apply to the brush and what motions I need to do to build up and apply the lather. These problems are still not corrected, I noticed I had some pretty nice razor burn after (still feeling it actually) and figure the lack of fluffy lather is the culprit.



Here is my 1st pass, there is a little nick just under my lip.

I realized its bloody hard to figure out how a mirror works and I was amazed at just how many curves my face has! I tried to use both hands on their respective sides as per geofatboy's youtube suggestions. My left side isnt so great and everything feels awkward at the moment but I'm guessing this will pass with experience. My 2 subsequent passes felt better each time.



1st pass



Final Results


Final Results


Final Results, note the nick.. the only one that decided to stay.



So to recap:
- I have some razor burn and I figure this is due to inadequate lather
- I hate mirrors but better learn to live with it until I get the feel of the blade and can do it without the mirror (I havn't shaved in front of a mirror for about 8 years)
- holy shit my face has a lot of curves and holding this razor feels awkward
- THIS WAS MY CLOSEST SHAVE EVER... EVER. ... except for the little bit of stubble I left below my chin


On a side note, I'm a guy who likes walking around with stubble - so much so that when the firm I work for took professional photos I didn't shave for 2 days prior so the stubble was nice. Looks like I might only be shaving once a week or maybe every 5 or 6 days with how close this came!

Did some ATG shaving today, cut myself up really nicely but had a really close shave.

... this cut right under my nose is bothersome though

On the bright side the blades are sharp so the cuts dont hurt until afterwards!