So getting started I spent a fair bit on money just buying a couple new razors before I had enough confidence to sharpen up an ebay one and figured well hell if I can spend this on the razors I can spend a fraction of this on some gadgets to really do up the shaving experience.

The 3 things I purchased that might be a bit non standard are

shaving cream scuttle
small coffee maker
small microwave

The scuttle was $45 which I thought was pricey until I first used it. This is one of the most underrated and unsung inventions ever.

The coffee maker was like $14 and lets me have truly hot water for the scuttle and cream and lets me keep that water hot. This is really handy as it's pretty dry here and I'm having to add water to the lather fairly often.

The microwave was $50 and lets me do seriously hot towels. Hot enough so that I have to grab the tag just to be able to hold them while they are cooling off.

I basically follow GeoFatboy's face prep using the microwave to do up a hot towel for use after the first lather application.

Then oil, more lather, and start shaving.

I haven't really been doing 3 pass shaves as such. I'll do a WTG pass and then feel how things are and decide where I need to do a XTG pass if anywhere. I usually have to do under my jaw with an XTG. Then usually I'll do an ATG on my neck and chin.

A few of the vids I've seen show folks with technique that just scares the hell out of me, particularly with XTG strokes. If I tried some of those bold XTG strokes at the jawline I think I'd end up skinning myself. We won't even talk about that one guy that uses two hands and runs the razor down his entire face in one devastating pass. It works for him and that's great but that would leave me just a bloody skull.

Anyway, enough of my banter.
Good Shaving!
ml