Time for a break from the SR?
As for the lather... I was having trouble lathering my soap too. I was using a pure badger. I tried a boar and noticed a huge difference. I guess my soap needed a little more back bone. Boar brushes are very inexpensive so it may be worth a try
Time for a break from the SR?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
griff199
Wow, thanks so much guys, tons of great advice. I'm pretty sure that I'm applying too much pressure. I think there is an expectation or muscle memory type thing around scratching the beard off. Re: sharpness, I *think* I'm ok on that front. After stropping, a gentle test stroke on my arm has hair effortless coming off - I'm just not able at this point to do that to my face (I mean the gentleness), but will try on the next go for sure.
Re: lather, I have used the VDH boar brush with the VDH soap. I have used my Tweezerman brush with Proraso red (tube cream) and with VDH soap. Tomorrow morning - I will be giving TOBS cream a go. I tried 3 different cups and face lathering. I tried filtered water, not a huge improvement. I came to the conclusion that I was far too gentle with that brush in the mug after playing with all other variables. That has helped. Still, I'm not able to generate the giant mug of lather I see some youtube videos on with an "almond sized" dollop. Mine is more like enough for 2 passes - and that's with squeezing out the brush.
FYI our water here is hard, local water report is anywhere from 150-400ppm. I believe anything over 80ppm is considered "hard".
Out of curiosity. Do you put a little hot water on your soap puck and let it sit so it can soften before loading your brush? I use the VDH brush and love it but I personally am not a fan of the VDH soap. Can you describe your lather. Is it dry? Or watery? Have you tried playing with the amount of water you add? Keep playing around with it I'm sure you'll get it. It's part of the fun.
Re: Time for a break from the SR?
Griff,
I know where you are my friend, I have about 10 shaves with a str8 done now. Take it easy. It's going to take - and I'm speaking for myself too - a couple of dozen shaves before it starts to feel right. Most experienced str8 shavers say that it takes about 100 shaves before things get comfortable enough. As for myself, my best shaves so far have been the ones when I took my time, not trying to beat the clock or build up speed; stretch the skin, and making sure I was keeping my face wet and relathered regularly.
Keep it up and don't get discouraged because results aren't there yet. They will come in due time with perseverance and dedication.