Best shave experience yet, I am hooked.

[HColl]

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...