Thread: 1st SR shave in 15 years

Fifteen years ago I thought I was honing my blade properly. Moments later was looking at a disintegrated razor and have not touched one until my new kit arrived today. I was ecstatic that I got pretty much a bbs but ran into some questions/problems.

3-day old sparse, but very thick beard.

1) My lather (badger brush, Col soap), seemed poor to me. There were notable bubbles on the face when brushing on and it seemed "thin".

My Technique: Beard wet after hot shower. Very warm water brush (not ouch hot) - shaken, swirled on soap until coated tips, swirled into teaspoon warm water mug to whip ~ 1 minutes, spread on wet face. Thin, thin thin.

What am I not doing right? I experienced a lot of "tugging" on my chin and sides of jaw halfway during the first pass.

Face is bbs but man, is my face warm to the touch - I did many passes (WTG, XTG, XTG, ATG, ATG, etc, until I felt no hair - wet face the whole time though). I will not need to shave for two days.

BTW, Thanks Lynn for the honing and to Vintage Blades for the great kit and service.

Thanks for any help,

Alpsman

Two things on the lather--

1. Load more soap onto the brush. Swirl it longer, and listen to how the sound of the swirling changes -- that's when you've got enough -- it'll sound sticky as you swirl the brush on the soap.
2. Build the lather for a couple of minutes on your face (or hand or bowl). Work at it until you get a "meringue" consistency. Add water as yooy're working to keep the lather hydrated.

As for the cutting performance. The two things I'd suspect are it's not sharp enough or it's technique. Since Lynn honed it, I'd lean towards your technique. That can only improve, as you continue to shave, and get more experience.

The stock answer is that your razor needs to be sharper, but if you are working with an undamaged Lynn honed blade I think we can set that aside for now. Beside, you said you ended up BBS, so it's cutting whiskers.

Sounds to me like your lather needs a little work, maybe a bit less water. A good slick lather should help smooth out your shave.

You might also try a flatter blade angle (spine closer to the skin) with the heel or toe leading slightly. That usually helps me get a nice comfy shave if I have a couple days growth.

you did a heck of a lot of passes for a first shave, your skin needs to get used to it slowly and that was sort of extreme, take it easy for the first week or two until your skin adjust by not doing as many passes, also your technique will get better just give it time.

Yeah, I kinda figured I overdid it on the passes - you are all correct. My enthusiasm, while perhaps commendable, was probably not the wisest way to go for the first shave.

I will work on lathering. I understand it is a learned skill - more of an art form really. Jocky's with his "Uber-Lather" . . . awesome goal to reach.

Bill, you are correct, I was actually WAY too steep . . ~ 70 - 90 degrees in some passes on the chin.

Thanks all.

I would suggest practicing making lather w/o a shave. If your concerned about cost of shave soap pick up a puck of Williams for a buck.

Shaving technique will improve w/ time. As mentioned above keep you angle at 30 degrees or less. I had CarrieM watch me several time and had he tell me when my angle got too steep. It's hard to 'see the angle at times. This helped a lot. Lastly, try to use as little pressure as possible at all times. This took me some time to get used to. Too much pressure results in razor burn and will get you on your toes when splashing alcohol based after shave on. When the after shave doesn't burn you will know your angle and pressure are correct. Good luck.

Another thought would be to try shaving cream (not out of a can) instead of the soap. I like the cream better and it gives a thicker lather than soap, at least for me. Castle Forbes lime really is my favorite but some of the ladies on line make very nice shaving creams in a variety of scents at a more reasonable price.

start with just a few drops of water versus a spoon to start, if it isn't whipping well ad a few drops at a time. too much water makes for a thin lather. I too prefer cream.

IMO that's a lot of different passes, if you haven't got your technique and angles down yet you should focus on simple strokes and get used to holding it at the right angles.

Red

Originally Posted by RichZ

Another thought would be to try shaving cream (not out of a can) instead of the soap. I like the cream better and it gives a thicker lather than soap, at least for me. Castle Forbes lime really is my favorite but some of the ladies on line make very nice shaving creams in a variety of scents at a more reasonable price.

another bonus with cream is if you're lather goes a little thin, you can compensate with cream - more difficult to do that with soap.

I use both, often mix them together.

You did not mention stropping before shaving. This can make a difference even a a newly sharpened razor after a few days of sitting idle. As others ahve said, you should start with less water. A tube of good cream is definitely easier when pressed for time.