First off I would like to say I have been wetshaving with a de for about 6 months and I dont think its my technique. I use to get bbs quite easily with van der hagen soap, but the aos sandalwood is kinda like barbasol because it lets you shave close but never bbs. My setup is a lord l6 with derby blades (they worked for me before). Am I just using the aos cream wrong or what is it?
I think you may be overstating the influence of your cream/soap in regards to closeness of shave.... for me the closeness has more to do with the razor, and how many passes maybe, but not the cream or soap.... AOS Sandalwood is one of the best I have.... all I could think is that maybe you're not using the right water/soap ratio.... all soaps are not the same... some I have to use far more water with... (I find I need to use more water with creams than soaps)
Sorry, no idea what the problem may be, all I can say is the AOS lavender cream works for me to get a BBS with a DE or straight.
Bob
Quite honestly I don't think any shave cream will make the difference between BBS or not. You can shave with water only and get great shaves. In your case you say you get BBS with VDH which is one of the lowest performing soaps out there.
I guess ill try to tweak my water/cream ratio and see what happens. Do you guys face lather or bowl?
Face lather and I guess all you can really do is play around with more or less water like ecomier said. It should work with a little tuning.
Bob
I'm not good enough for face lathering yet.... it still takes me 20-25 for a shave, so I generally use a scuttle (heated bowl), and lather a 'section' of my face to shave so that I can take my time (no nicks in a long time). I see a lot of 'experienced' guys on here sing the virtues of face lathering (exfoliation, making the hairs stand out better, shorter prep time) but I'm just not there yet
Geez - guess I never gave this much thought...I've always "face lathered", whether it was with the old cartridge razors and canned goo, or when I got into straights. Started simply swirling the brush in a tub of Proraso until it looked right, then lathered it on my face, no problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by ecormier
Scuttle is nice for some nice warm/hot lather once in awhile....
Hmm I see im thinking my lather is just bad
I lather in a bowl, but I also agree that it is not your soap.* I recently switched soaps and did not put enough water in so when I took my second pass it came off sorta powdery, however I still got just as good of a shave as I did with my other soap.
Look at the video on shaving there are several on you tube ,sometimes you need more or less water to get it right. At first i had it wrong untill i watched the prep video when the guy sooked his brush in water an pick it up all he did was dip his hand to get rid of some water and used the remaining water to later the soap and it lathered great ,when i did the same pow perfecto. Now i get bbs most of the time. Prepping your face sofens up your wiskers and is nesesary for bbs for most people. Check out the videos they help put in the browser on youtube shaving for beginers. Some are better than others but they will give you a better idea on what you need to change to achieve bbs good luck and remember everyones face is different and different things work for diferent people
I'm going to disagree with the crowd a bit. I'm also not much a fan of the AOS sandalwood cream. I find it less protective for my face than my other creams (Prorasso, Palmolive, and KMF). I find that going atg with my AOS cream is just less comfortable.
cjw208,
What gives BBS is technique, quality double edge razor and sharp and smooth blades. Quality soap or cream help in the process by providing cushion and glide, but the other elements are mostly responsible for BBS.
What's more, you can still get a BBS with a lower grade soap or cream as long as you have a good technique and use proper tools.
It is grossly unfair to equate The Art of Shaving soaps or creams to Barbasol. They are not even in the same neighborhood. The Art of Shaving soaps and creams, especially the older versions, are quality products. The older soaps were produced by Valobra of Italy, one of the top names in shave soaps.
I have used both Van der Hagen and The Art of Shaving sandalwood and find it difficult to accept Van der Hagen surpassing The Art of Shaving in quality.
If I may suggest, load your brush well with The Art of Shaving soap or cream and adjust the water ratio.
IMO it's the Derby blades. They are okay, nothing more. The razors I use that respond well to Derby's deliver comfortable shaves (they are very forgiving blades) but are lacking in the closeness department. Try using the AoS with a sharper blade brand and I can almost guarantee better results.
Don't know about the issue you are having with the DE but thanks for reminding me I hadn't used my AOS sandalwood in a looooooong time, broke it out this morning for a shave...
I have already got bbs with derby blades I tried astra platinum blade for a while but they dont feel comfortable on my faceQuote:
Originally Posted by Ryan82
You and I must have similar beards and faces. I also find that derbies work quite well.Quote:
Originally Posted by cjw208
Thanks for the advice everyone I got bbs by adding more water