- Thread starter
- #21
So my Merkur 1904 came in yesterday, so I got to use it for the first time this morning. The feel of the razor added to the whole 'pleasure' vs. 'chore' transformation that I'm going through. I didn't bother with the Merkur blade that came with the razor and loaded up the Feather Platinum that I purchased.
I took a nice hot shower while my boars hair brush, williams mug soap and razor all soaked in hot water. I made sure to scrub my face well to remove the dead skin and get my stubble to wake up. Since I'd been using the wet shave technique now for a couple weeks, I'm pretty good at getting consistent lathers, so this isn't an issue I have to worry about.
I lathered up my face and took careful hold of my new precision instrument. I remember all the warnings about putting too much pressure on the blade and just using the weight of the razor. I used two fingers and my thumb on the handle and then rested my ring finger on the end of the handle. I did three passes - first with the grain, second one was against the grain, and the third was for touch ups. Finished with a cold water rinse and some Nivea sensitive shave balm.
Overall, I think I may have been a bit too cautious and forgot that these are called safety razors for a reason. I think I went a bit too slow in my strokes for fear of cutting myself. It did a nice job on my cheeks, but I missed a bunch of areas on my neck. Only one tiny little nick on a raised chicken pox scar on my neck.
Tomorrow, I plan on setting my fear aside and using my standard speed strokes (maybe a touch slower so I can concentrate on blade angle). I'll also take my time on the neck area and be careful around my chicken pox scars.
I took a nice hot shower while my boars hair brush, williams mug soap and razor all soaked in hot water. I made sure to scrub my face well to remove the dead skin and get my stubble to wake up. Since I'd been using the wet shave technique now for a couple weeks, I'm pretty good at getting consistent lathers, so this isn't an issue I have to worry about.
I lathered up my face and took careful hold of my new precision instrument. I remember all the warnings about putting too much pressure on the blade and just using the weight of the razor. I used two fingers and my thumb on the handle and then rested my ring finger on the end of the handle. I did three passes - first with the grain, second one was against the grain, and the third was for touch ups. Finished with a cold water rinse and some Nivea sensitive shave balm.
Overall, I think I may have been a bit too cautious and forgot that these are called safety razors for a reason. I think I went a bit too slow in my strokes for fear of cutting myself. It did a nice job on my cheeks, but I missed a bunch of areas on my neck. Only one tiny little nick on a raised chicken pox scar on my neck.
Tomorrow, I plan on setting my fear aside and using my standard speed strokes (maybe a touch slower so I can concentrate on blade angle). I'll also take my time on the neck area and be careful around my chicken pox scars.
