Successful Shave 4.0

Ok, no need for congrats. Just want to continue to pay back those that helped me when I was a newbie. Now in my 4th year of shaving with a straight I thought I'd spend a few minutes discussing why this mornings shave was so successful.

I have honed the razor properly on a high grit hone, a critical component in a smooth comfy shave. Additionally, the razor is not overhoned. This is a hard spot to find unless you have some experience or a microscope. I had taken the time to work one razor and I had been patient with it. If I sensed it was overhoned, or even suspected it, I back honed then forward honed again a few strokes at a time and test shaved often. Now, if you have a course beard, no doubt the pyramid method would get me a good edge I suppose, but for me its lots and lots of strokes on high grit, 8K minimum. Say about 40 passes.

I stropped with a touch of pressure on a taught strop. I find that the razor needs about 2 shaves to start shaving perfectly. This ofcourse makes finding the sweet spot honing even more difficult, but with patience I got it. Essentially, I think the razor should shave smoothly prior to lots of stropping and let the blade smooth out over the course of a shave or two. Why a touch of pressure. It might just be me but I need it to smooth out the edge. I look at it this way. I'm trying to smooth out a piece of steel with a piece of leather. Maybe a touch of pressure and a baby butt smooth shave as a result isn't so bad.

In the end, in my opinion, a smooth shaving edge is much more valuable than a sharp edge. One or two extra swipes with the blade to clean off whiskers is better than a poor shave from an overhoned edge.

I applied the cream this morning, twice. Once for soaking and once again pre-shave. Given a little extra time for soaking helps a lot.

I shaved with a low angle to make the process easier. I raised the angle slightly on the second pass but made sure I was stretching the skin and supporting it in a stationary position while shaving. I used a little pressure while shaving the skin, not much, just enough to shave. I took note though of how drastically different the pressure needed with a straight is so different than a DE. Shockingly different needs from the DE actually.

I finished with a little dab of aftershave. What the heck, a shave this good deserves a nice ending.