Thread: Coming back to Jesus (SRP)

So it happened the other day... My shaves had been improving over the last couple months and I 'thought' I had it down. After all, I've been shaving with a SE, off and on, for the last 10 years. So I must be doing it right with my straight. I think I have been fooling myself into thinking my shaves were better than they really were.

Recently, I bought my daughter a very pristine Gillette Slim for her birthday at the end of June. Its just been sitting there so I figured i'd give it a go or six before I gave it to her so I could be sure to show her how to use it properly. I picked up a set of personna blades (I know from experience these are not the best, nor will be what I give her to use) just to try it out. I was expecting a decent shave (and decent irritation thanks to the blades, which didn't disappoint) but what I didn't expect was the immediate realization that my straight shaves have been absolute chit!

So I'm coming back to [s]Jesus[/s] SRP, so to speak. Not that I went anywhere, but I wasn't focusing in the right place. I think I've been spending a little too much time window shopping in the classifieds and galleries. No more RAD (except for that last thing I bid on at the bay), no more antique stores, strops, brushes, creams, soaps, lotions, ointments, butters or buiscuts. Well, I still need an alum block, but that doesn't count.

Does what I'm saying resinate? Were you ever lost, but now found? Have you ever danced with the Devil by the pale moon light? Forget that last one...Seriously though, if you had to step back and re-examine the quality of the shave you are getting what did you do to get back on course? What one piece of advice or technique helped get you the best shave you can get? How did you overcome the plateau of mediocrity and ascend to summit of smooth?

Whenever I have had bad shaves I've alway gone back and examined each aspect of the process. Is my lather good? Did I strop correctly? Is the razor still sharp? How was my pre shave prep?

Every time I found that one of these aspects was lacking and that was the source of the problem.

I'm really careful now to make sure everything is A1 and I'm definitely getting my best shaves ever. Totally smooth, no pulling and a BBS that lasts about 2 days...!

I very much recognize this

Whenever that has happened to me, I have gone back to using the same quality products, the same razor and the same well proven procedures until I could get a truly great shave.

That included making sure the razor was shave ready, that my lather was top notch, the stropping got extra attention and perhaps most importantly to me, the prep was scrutinized!

It is good to re visit the basics and go thru ones routines every so often.
I've found that what I thought was good shaves actually was pretty mediocre.
Each and every time I do go thru it, I come out a better shaver

There was about a year's time when I was unknowingly shavng with a rather dull blade. I was sharp enough to cut hair, but my bbs was mediocre, at best. One day I realized it had been a year since I had touched up the blade and that I should give it some TLC. Did so and for the first time, I got my razor to pass the hut, which apparently doesn't mean anything anymore, but still made me feel good. Also my shaves from there, on out, were wonderful.

Like any other manual skill, it's a learning process. Obviously the razor needs to be sharp and the lather good, but I think that over time you just get better at it. Some need to analyse every step of the process, others just 'do it'.
I found that watching a video of one the French guys from the Coupe-Chou Club doing a shaving demo was a big help, he has a very relaxed technique which I mostly copied.
My best shaver is a Non-XLL razor whch I bought for £3 at a fleamarket!

Welcome back to the right side of the Lord(so to speak)!

You can never go wrong coming back to Jesus, I pray that you never loose him again. There are two meanings in that statement & I mean both of them.

What aggravates me is that I sometimes don't set down a razor that needs to be touched up & grab another one, I try to push thru a bad shave anyways at times...my face never appreciates it & I kick myself.

It is a good practice to honestly evaluate where you are and where you want to be. It is a good habit to do this daily, I think, although there have been periods where I did not do this and the quality of my shaving/living standard diminished for a time. It would not be good to float along, expecting that everything is magically as it should be