Thread: Chreees's Shaving Journey

I had the best shave yesterday! I tried mixing things up and had some great results, here is what I tried.

1. Hot shower prep, cold water shave, cold water in the scuttle too. I'm totally hooked on this cold water shaving thing now. My lather doesn't dry quickly, my face is less prone to little cuts, hairs stand up better, huge time saver.

2. Bought myself some proraso soap tub and pre shave cream. It's really glorious fool proof stuff, great protection and glide and gives a nice fresh barber shop smell.

3. Stropped with the strop lower at my body's end and did one lap at a time rather than continuously counting. Kept it light and moving across rather than through the strop, quick enough to hear something. Felt better than my usual routine. I feel like I really struggle in the stropping technique dept. I also tried to pay less attention to the counting and more attention to the actual stropping.

4. I really got right in there with my exfoliation in the shower too and I did not use my normal cleanser. I even had the kent shower brush scrubbing up against my cheeks and neck, possibly making it as smooth as possible pre shave. That brush is amazing.

5. I stood a little bit closer to the mirror, I got right in there so I could examine each hair follicle and see exactly what's on my face, the exact angles of my face, the angle of the razor and where my razor is going. I'm near sighted too so it helped me heaps, YMMV.

6. Stretching. I made myself not shave anywhere more than 2 inches from where my anchor point of my stretch was. Combined with the close look in the mirror this worked well.

These are by no means secrets or masterclass tips but I hope other learners can benefit.

Originally Posted by fuddstar

I had the best shave yesterday! I tried mixing things up and had some great results, here is what I tried.

1. Hot shower prep, cold water shave, cold water in the scuttle too. I'm totally hooked on this cold water shaving thing now. My lather doesn't dry quickly, my face is less prone to little cuts, hairs stand up better, huge time saver.

2. Bought myself some proraso soap tub and pre shave cream. It's really glorious fool proof stuff, great protection and glide and gives a nice fresh barber shop smell.

3. Stropped with the strop lower at my body's end and did one lap at a time rather than continuously counting. Keep it light and moving across rather than through the strop, quick enough to hear something. Felt better than my usual routine. I feel like I really struggle in the stropping technique dept. I also tried to pay less attention to the counting and more attention to the actual stropping.

4. I really got right on there with my exfoliation in the shower too and I did not use my normal cleanser. I even had the kent shower brush scrubbing up against my cheeks and neck, possibly making it as smooth as possible pre shave. That brush is amazing.

5. I stood a little bit closer to the mirror, I got right in there do I could examine each hair follicle and see exactly what's on my face, the exact angles of my face, the angle of the razor and where my razor is going. I'm near sighted too so it helped me heaps, YMMV.

6. Stretching. I made myself not shave anywhere more than 2 inches from where my anchor point of my stretch was. Combined with the close look in the mirror this worked well.

These are by no means secrets or masterclass tips but I hope other learners can benefit.

Awesome! Glad you found some new things that worked out great for you. The Proraso products are a dream, aren't they?

My current problem right now is that I just moved, and I gotta figure out my new strop location...

Originally Posted by Chreees

Awesome! Glad you found some new things that worked out great for you. The Proraso products are a dream, aren't they?

My current problem right now is that I just moved, and I gotta figure out my new strop location...

May Just be a temp fix for you but when I travel I take a shoe lace that I can choke a door knob with or wrap a towel rack with.

It may not be Ideal but it is more than functional.

Originally Posted by pfries

May Just be a temp fix for you but when I travel I take a shoe lace that I can choke a door knob with or wrap a towel rack with.

It may not be Ideal but it is more than functional.

Actually, I solved it rather quickly once I found the little hook I got with the poorman's strop. Attached it to the bottom of the bathroom cabinets- now I'm good to go in the morning.

Thank you for the recommendations, though. I will keep those in mind if I'm ever in a bind.

Some of you may have already seen these in my thread titled "Need Info," but wanted to say here that I picked up these three 6/8 razors from a guy on Craigslist for a pretty good deal:

Wade and Butcher:


Sheaf Works:


Frederick Reynolds:


Shaved with the W&B one today and it was awesome. I LOVE the barber's notch. I dunno why, but it seems like it allows me to get in tight spots better (under my nose, around my sideburns/ears). Typical prep and everything, as I've been doing. Excellent shave. Honing is thanks to Larry at Whipped Dog. I just paid for them via Paypal and had them sent straight to Larry, then he sent them to me. I am EXTREMELY happy with this purchase. Now I'm at 6 razors.