Hello From Central Florida
I've been thinking about moving to SR shaving for about a year now. At one point I ordered some shaving soap to see what I thought and I wasn't overly impressed. Mind you I had no brush so I was just trying to work up some lather with my fingers to do a cartridge shave. I knew I was missing the mark by not having a brush, but never got around to ordering one. I continued on with my Mach III and gel. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and without having consulted this forum first I built an SR kit on Amazon and ordered it up. I ended up with the following...
- Gold Dollar Shave Ready Razor (6/8")
- Premier Strop Company Strop
- Escali Badger Hair Brush
- Proraso Pre-Shave Cream
- Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream
- Gentleman Jon Alum Block
- Clubman Styptic Pencil
…and I stuck with my Pinaud Clubman after shave that I had on hand.
I wear sideburns and a circle beard so my shaving is confined to cheeks and neck. Although I did get too close to my left sideburn yesterday and now it's narrower than the right for the next few days. I'm doing pretty good with the razor although I have some trouble when I switch to my left hand. And I keep getting irritation on the right side of my neck after I'm done shaving. I understand there's a learning curve and I feel I'm already making progress. I've done WTG, ATG, and XTG, as well as started mapping out my hair growth.
The Gold Dollar is working but I can't help but think that a quality blade will be much more satisfying. It seems to leave some uncut hairs behind and does a fair bit of tugging on the neck. I had planned to order a good one when I got through the learning phase, but decided tonight to just order it up now so it'll be under the tree come Christmas. I chose a Ralf Aust 5/8" round point from SRD. I also ordered up a scuttle from Dirty Bird and some Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap. I think I should be good to go for some time now.
Other interests…whiskey, I like bourbon and rye. Music, I play most anything with strings except the fiddle. Shooting, hunting, fishing.
So there you have it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for having me on the forum.