Tuesday, 4.20.10

I'm stoked about today's shave...

Kell's Original Pre Shave Soap
Semogue #830
Real Shaving Company Sensitive SC
6 drops of pure Glycerine
Genco Master Barber straight razor
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
A healthy splash of Pinaud's Lilac Vegetal in honor of the occasion


Well, this morning was the long anticipated first straight razor shave... and it went off (nearly) without a hitch!
The Genco Master Barber Straight came in the mail yesterday. Another find that cost me all of $10.50. I spent a few hours yesterday scrubbing and polishing, honing and stropping. It was reasonably sharp as it came, but I spent some time with it on the 8K and 12K Naniwa SuperStones. It subsequently felt "sticky" on the thumb, and passed a HHT (still not sure if these tests are really conclusive, but i'm learning).
So.. today was to be the day. I added 6 drops of glycerine to the SC for safety's sake, and had at it! It went perfectly smoothly... and I was amazed by how well it all came together. I've been preparing and adding pieces of the puzzle in preparation for some time, and it all came together for me!
I can honestly say that i got as close a shave as I ever got with a DE, and some spots a little closer, but (we knew there had to be a "but") the spike point did catch me under my right ear, and i knew it immediately, but there was nearly no blood.
I used the trick of wiping the soap off the razor on a sponge that I picked up from "Chinensh" on another forum.

So, all in all, I'm still stoked. I used a razor cleaned, honed and stropped by myself. And at the moment, I'm pretty pleased with myself... I'm on my way to self sufficient shaving.