Hi everybody,

Some small backstory. I have a type of Alopecia Areata (patches of hair that randomly and temporarily go bald), and it seems to hover around the face area, the beard specifically. So my hopes of ever having a full beard are pretty much out the window, not that I'm lamenting the fact, I prefer clean shaven anyway. Genetics, right? But on the other side of the genetics coin, I am naturally an extremely tactile person, and it's made me very deft of hand. So the conclusion only seemed obvious, I suppose.

I got myself the whole set-up, and just immediately began shaving only with my straight razor, it takes a bit of practice, but success! I have pretty sensitive skin, so I typically stick to a one-pass with-the-grain shave. I've already fallen in love with it. It's a nice daily break from the "all things must promote the speed of greatest production" mentality and culture of Alberta.

One thing I noticed, with sensitive skin, that I hadn't seen mentioned when I researched. The first couple shaves went smooth (well... I've had a couple nicks in the first few weeks), but I noticed that after I applied the after-shave balm, there were a couple of spots that turned red. It's almost like your face is telling you where and when you were too rough or too insistent with the blade. Really cool.

Anyway, I'm dragging on, as I often tend to. Great to be a part of the community!