Best shave experience yet, I am hooked.

Ok, so those who may have read my previous thread on irritation issues(thx again for the help) know I've been getting some irritation on my last couple of shaves. One of the suggestions was that maybe my COLC glycerin soap could be causing said irritation. Note: I'm using a Dovo Shavette with Feather blades, used Personna single edge on the shaves that caused irritation, but I think more and more the blades weren't the cause, or at least not the whole cause.

Well today I did two things. First I used olive oil as pre shave right after showering, which seemed to have worked well. Secondly I didn't use the soap, just the Derby cream. At first I had to fiddle with the water to cream ratio(had to add more cream than I thought). The soap definitely makes a big difference when it came to creating a lather and how easy it was to get it nice and slick. This cream is rather thick and not so moisturizing, takes a lot of cream to get two or three passes worth too, about the size of two large almonds. In the end though I got a nice lather going.

I told myself "You got this, be confident in your strokes", and as cheesy as it sounds it did help. I was as mindful as ever regarding pressure and angle though. I successfully did a WTG pass with zero nicks for the first time. Plus I felt no irritation anywhere. I was so excited I lathered up again and decided to try XTG and ATG strokes on my second(and final) pass. I did XTG on both my cheeks, jawline and chin. Went a lot better than expected, only hesitated on my right side using my left hand(I did fully horizontal strokes ear to chin) since I'm right handed, but I only nicked myself once on the right jawline.

Then came the hard part. I decided I wasn't gonna do ATG on the cheeks, but I did want to try it on my neck. Luckily I knew how to do it, with what grip, and at what angle; I just hadn't tried it. Right hand, left side; light grip and no pressure. As shallow and angle as the Shavette allowed me to use, I'd say it was between 7 and 10 degrees. I know it should be 5, but at that point the holder touched the skin and lifted the blade off the skin, so no cutting at all. I was pleasantly surprised, much easier and smoother than I thought it would have been, especially considering the sharpness of the Feather blades, those ****ers are scary. Didn't cut myself either. Until I got to the are below the chin that is...

On that part I couldn't control the angle as well and managed to get two small nicks very close to each other below the chin. Bugger. Time to tackle the right side(my most sensitive) with my left hand. That pass didn't go so well. Had trouble getting the blade position and angle right, somewhat hesitant strokes. Plus I have a so called "trench" on that side which I can only get to by stretching the are sideways, which was a lot harder to do on this pass as opposed to the WTG one. Didn't cut myself, but I definitely gotta practice that one...

Overall, pleasing experience. Ended up with my closest shave yet using my Shavette. BBW on most of the cheeks, closest I've gotten on the chin. Finished up with some Alum block, Pinaud Clubman(love it) and some Nivea AS balm. Next shave I'm gonna try the same but use the soap again, to see if it is a cause of the irritation or if it was a combination of the Personna blades and bad technique(probably due to unfamiliarity with said blades). Now I can't wait to shave again. I'm gonna give my face a few days to rest though.

How do I always end up making these so long...

It's okay to post long, the learning process is exciting and it's nice to document your own particular shaving life story. I'm glad you're making progress. I'm a righty but played basketball (two handed dribbling enhances ambidexterity) and piano, guitar, a little violin, etc. Now I seem to be good at left-hand doing XTG from ear to chin on the right side, even pseudo-ATG with left hand.. now it's more comfortable doing the most aggressive strokes with the left than with the right... go figure. So you'll develop your own fully customized skill set particular to your face.

That does sound like a lot of cream to use for a single shave though...

Perhaps. I guess either I like a looooot of lather on my beard or I suck at making it :p

You have made a good case for the importance of prep for sure. If you think you are hooked now, imagine how it will be as your shaving skills grow, it only gets better! Good for you!

I can imagine. Just from the short experience I've had with wetshaving like this I can definitely say good prep is imperative for a pleasing experience. I can't to get my first straight and strop now. I also want to order a Castles Forbes cream sampler, and they're aftershave sampler as well, but those will have to wait; they're $42 and $48 respectively. I also want to try MWF, another $50. I figure if I go straight to the best, or what is considered among the best rather, and they work well for me i'll be less tempted to try everything out there and end up purchasing hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of soaps, creams, brushes(want to get a Heinrich L. Thater), colognes(if I really like one of the CF AS smells I may get the matching cologne for example), etc. Here's to hoping that works...

My point is, I know how easily obsessed I can become with a hobby I really like, it's happened before. Heck my gf already says I'm obsessed with this whole shaving business. I did express my intent at figuring it out as best I could before outright buying a bunch of stuff and try to avoid that by researching and getting the best I can that I think I will enjoy and will last me, thus save a lot of money and time.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I'm very eager for my next shave, as in I'm fighting with myself because I know I should let my face rest for at least one more day or so, but I really want to shave again and try the XTG and ATG passes again. And I want to see if using the soap again changes anything. I'm also gonna try doing a wet towel treatment with lather after getting out of the shower. Either that or lather up and let it sit for a couple of minutes before starting the shave; I just think I should let the lather really work its magic a little more before starting the first stroke.

You are doing well and enjoy the learning curve! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Pabster

A trick that many of us use with lather prep...

Wet the face throughly first, I mean really wet, dripping hot water, then lather, now relax, strop the razor time, pet the dog time, get another cup of coffee time "whatever time" but at least 3 full minutes...
Take a hot steaming cloth and wrap it around your beard with the lather, wait until it cools..
Wet your face, again, really well, now re-lather, and shave

Tell me how that works :)

I have yet to experiment with the hot towel... That sounds like a delightful suggestion though g.

Prep can definitely make a huge difference. I'm still learning exactly what my routine is, but I'm sure you'll find that it is a ton of fun to experiment!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

A trick that many of us use with lather prep...

Wet the face throughly first, I mean really wet, dripping hot water, then lather, now relax, strop the razor time, pet the dog time, get another cup of coffee time "whatever time" but at least 3 full minutes...
Take a hot steaming cloth and wrap it around your beard with the lather, wait until it cools..
Wet your face, again, really well, now re-lather, and shave

Tell me how that works :)

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Yep, that's pretty much what I was planning to do :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HColl

My point is, I know how easily obsessed I can become with a hobby I really like, it's happened before. Heck my gf already says I'm obsessed with this whole shaving business.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I'm very eager for my next shave, as in I'm fighting with myself because I know I should let my face rest for at least one more day or so, but I really want to shave again and try the XTG and ATG passes again. And I want to see if using the soap again changes anything. I'm also gonna try doing a wet towel treatment with lather after getting out of the shower. Either that or lather up and let it sit for a couple of minutes before starting the shave; I just think I should let the lather really work its magic a little more before starting the first stroke.

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Your not obsessed, your passionate :)

When I first started shaving, I use to go ATG quite a bit, now it is a rare event. As you progress in shaving you may find out that you don't need it anymore to get BBS. Having said that all of our faces, beard types are different, the learning curve is quite exciting, we become our own personal barbers with the tools and the skills.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kingfish

Your not obsessed, your passionate :)

When I first started shaving, I use to go ATG quite a bit, now it is a rare event. As you progress in shaving you may find out that you don't need it anymore to get BBS. Having said that all of our faces, beard types are different, the learning curve is quite exciting, we become our own personal barbers with the tools and the skills.

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Hopefully I can become proficient enough at WTG and XTG to not need ATG. I'm just trying them out till I find what works best for me I guess :)