Thread: Chreees's Shaving Journey

Got my Henckels back from being rehoned. I do believe it will shave well now. Larry also threw in a sample of Clubman aftershave, which I have been wanting to try actually. Huge props to Larry for throwing that in, as well as rehoning the razor free of charge.

Shave #9:

This one happened the morning of 3/22, but I'm just now getting time to type this at 3AM on 3/23. Been a long day, but got to visit my sister-in-law, niece, and nephews, and now I am working the night shift.

Anyway, used the freshly-honed Henckels. Per Larry's instructions, I did not strop the razor prior to shaving. It shaved pretty well, but I think I am going to do 10 x-strokes on the hone, like I did with the Wade and Butcher. Should dial it in just perfect. Either way, I love the look and feel of the razor. Perfectly balanced, easy to hold, and perfectly sized blade on it.

I was also rushed, since my wife was eager to leave to see the kids. Definitely not a good thing. I had to tell her to chill out and go away. Which is hard, since we're living in a small hotel room at the moment. Finally she left me alone long enough to finish up my second WTG/XTG pass and I walked away cut-free.

All in all, nothing much to report. I'm really enjoying the witch hazel and feel like it helps my skin a lot, along with the Nivea balm. I will continue using these products.

Shave #10:

Shaved using my Dovo before my third shift tonight. Everything went well. I need to watch my pressure, though... My Dovo requires a much lighter touch and is less forgiving than my Wade and Butcher or Henckels. I ended up with some light razor burn on my neck tonight because I was just simply applying too much pressure.

Did the typical WTG/XTG two passes. Still working well for me. Cold water only, Proraso soap, witch hazel, and Nivea sensitive balm. All good.

I plan on giving the Henckels 10 x-strokes on my barbers hone and shaving with it next time, which should be Monday before work. I hope it will result in it shaving better, like what happened with the Wade and Butcher.

Waiting for a day where the wife isn't around to use the Clubman aftershave sample Larry sent me... She smelled the little baggie and was NOT impressed whatsoever. She told me it smelled like a baby! Lol. I think it smells like the old barber shop my dad used to take me to waaaaay back in the day, when I was around 5 years old. Very faint memory, but I do remember it. It's been long gone, which is a shame.

First time listener and first time caller here. Fantastic thread. Really informative. I'm about to take the plunge with my first straight razor. Just talking through a couple of things with a local online store here in New Zealand before I make my purchase. Hope to be carefully shaving by the end of the coming week.

Originally Posted by stephenfieldnz

First time listener and first time caller here. Fantastic thread. Really informative. I'm about to take the plunge with my first straight razor. Just talking through a couple of things with a local online store here in New Zealand before I make my purchase. Hope to be carefully shaving by the end of the coming week.

I'm glad my thread could help someone! I was starting to wonder if many people were even reading it, haha. Either way, I hope your experience is as smooth has mine has been overall. No doubt there will be some hangups, but the more research you do, the smoother things will go, IMO. Best of luck! Hopefully you will start a thread and share your experiences as well. I'd love to read them.

Hey now,
I have been following it.

I've been following every post :-) I took my first razor road trip on the weekend for a wedding and took a 3 pass shave in around 30 min, perfectly smooth. I found the touch up hone post really useful.

Originally Posted by pfries

Hey now,
I have been following it.

I know you have, hence why I put "many people were even reading it," not "any." Thank you for following.

Originally Posted by fuddstar

I've been following every post :-) I took my first razor road trip on the weekend for a wedding and took a 3 pass shave in around 30 min, perfectly smooth. I found the touch up hone post really useful.

Thanks for following, too! Sounds like you had an excellent shave there. What razor did you use? I love hearing about old vintage straights, but like seeing the brand new ones that are still made today.

The touch-up hone seems so simple I don't understand why it isn't promoted more on here. I see so many posts talking about having to send off your razors to have them professionally honed every once in a while... Why? I watched Glen's video using the barbers hone and followed it exactly (I did 10 x-strokes using just water, no lather), and it worked like a charm on my brother's Dovo. Then it gave the perfect edge that I wanted on my Wade and Butcher that I had just gotten back from getting honed but wasn't quite sharp enough to my liking (it shaved well, just not well enough). In my personal opinion, although I am still very much a noob, I think every straight razor owner should also own a barbers hone to do simple touch-up honings on their own, as long as they follow Glen's barber hone video. I think the main deterrent for new folks is that they think they have to get some expensive hone like a 4k/8k Norton to get the job done, when that really isn't the case. At least that's what I thought at first, until I dug a bit deeper and found out that for my intents and purposes, a simple barbers hone would do the job just fine. Now, of course I would need something a bit more expensive if I were to get into setting bevels, getting chips out, etc... But I don't plan on doing any of that, at least not any time soon. Yep, for maintaining edges on the three razors I currently own, a barbers hone will suit me just fine.

Thanks for reading guys. I will continue updating as I go. I plan on trying different techniques soon, branch out a bit. Right now I am working on getting consistently good shaves, which seems like I'm about there already.

I bought a white Dovo best quality and a Boker tree brand. Love them both. Can't wait to pick up more razors though.

Originally Posted by fuddstar

I bought a white Dovo best quality and a Boker tree brand. Love them both. Can't wait to pick up more razors though.

Nice! I'd love to see pics of them sometime. I think I want to pick up a Boker sometime in the future...