Very cool! I'll be watching this one. You and the other GD PIF guys all seem to be taking to the straights pretty well. It seems like an awesome way to shave. Also, looking forward to your impressions of the colgate. I've passed it up a few times, kind of wish I hadn't.
cvargo's Shaving Journal
- Thread starter cvargo
- Start date
Glad to hear the first straight shave went well for you. Have you attempted stropping yet?
- Thread starter
- #23
I did not have time to strop before heading to work. I plan on trying it when I get home on the strop I was sent. I hope that goes well. I will report back when home from work.
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- Thread starter
- #24
Did twenty on the strop when I got home. I didn't ruin the strop so I guess I did it right
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Congrats on your straight shave, sounds like a success and you are on your way. Being ambidextrous is going to be a plus for sure.
Regards,
Pete
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Regards,
Pete
Sent via Tapatalk from phone
- Thread starter
- #26
SOTD and some additional insights on the Straight shave yesterday
Razor: Muhle R41 Grande
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Soap: mystery cream 2
Brush: Seomogue OC in Capt choice bowl
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: Floid Blue
About today's shave. A couple of new items today! The Muhle this was first ever use of the R41... and wow this razor is so efficient. I did my standard two pass shave and got a bbs! I can't believe that I waited this long to get this razor. I hope my success continues. Also for the first time ever is Floid. I love this scent and the face feel. I wish the scent lasted longer however. It has already faded substantially.
Insights and questions from yeserday's straight shave.
First off [MENTION=92153]labrax[/MENTION] being ambidextrous has always come in handy. My favorite was when I played baseball in high school. I would start off batting right handed then move to the left side half way through the count and confuse the pitcher. Also came in handy at basketball. But for some reason whenever I have had to throw a ball such as a baseball or go bowling I can only do that with my left.
Anyways back to the shave. While stropping the razor last night on the paddle strop I was PIFed I noticed that the rolling of the razor is actually quite difficult and I found myself picking the razor up off the paddle and turning it. I later read this is a big no-no. I hope I didn't ruin anything. The strop looks just like it did when I took it out of the mail. But honestly I have no idea what I am doing.
Any tips on stropping? Also a lot of people talk about 'stretching' the skin. I do this when I DE shave my lower neck, I did this as well with the straight, is it necessary on the cheeks?
Also my 5 o'clock shadow came in WAY sooner than expected! Honestly this morning it felt like I was shaving two days growth. Is this common? I would think not! I assume that like DE the closeness will come, but it is definitely hard when I know that I can use a DE and get a very nice shave every time. I will stick to it, that I promise... but after comparing yesterday's shave to today's shave I am a little discouraged. But I just keep telling myself it was only 1 shave it will get better.
Thanks gents have a great day!
Razor: Muhle R41 Grande
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Soap: mystery cream 2
Brush: Seomogue OC in Capt choice bowl
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: Floid Blue
About today's shave. A couple of new items today! The Muhle this was first ever use of the R41... and wow this razor is so efficient. I did my standard two pass shave and got a bbs! I can't believe that I waited this long to get this razor. I hope my success continues. Also for the first time ever is Floid. I love this scent and the face feel. I wish the scent lasted longer however. It has already faded substantially.
Insights and questions from yeserday's straight shave.
First off [MENTION=92153]labrax[/MENTION] being ambidextrous has always come in handy. My favorite was when I played baseball in high school. I would start off batting right handed then move to the left side half way through the count and confuse the pitcher. Also came in handy at basketball. But for some reason whenever I have had to throw a ball such as a baseball or go bowling I can only do that with my left.
Anyways back to the shave. While stropping the razor last night on the paddle strop I was PIFed I noticed that the rolling of the razor is actually quite difficult and I found myself picking the razor up off the paddle and turning it. I later read this is a big no-no. I hope I didn't ruin anything. The strop looks just like it did when I took it out of the mail. But honestly I have no idea what I am doing.
Any tips on stropping? Also a lot of people talk about 'stretching' the skin. I do this when I DE shave my lower neck, I did this as well with the straight, is it necessary on the cheeks?
Also my 5 o'clock shadow came in WAY sooner than expected! Honestly this morning it felt like I was shaving two days growth. Is this common? I would think not! I assume that like DE the closeness will come, but it is definitely hard when I know that I can use a DE and get a very nice shave every time. I will stick to it, that I promise... but after comparing yesterday's shave to today's shave I am a little discouraged. But I just keep telling myself it was only 1 shave it will get better.
Thanks gents have a great day!
Congrats on your straight journey so far!
Also on the R41 - my favorite razor since I first got it. If it were made of more durable materials, my DE search would be over for good.
Enjoy those shaves!
Also on the R41 - my favorite razor since I first got it. If it were made of more durable materials, my DE search would be over for good.
Enjoy those shaves!
- Thread starter
- #28
SOTD:
Razor: Muhle R41 Grande
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Soap: B&M latha original
Brush: razorock plissoft 22mm face lather
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: B&M Latha original
Had a very nice BBS again shave today. Which was perfect since we baptized my nephew this morning and my wife and I are his godparents. I love the BBS feel! The R41 is phenomenal!
My fine soap and matching aftershave came in today. It is probably on the docket for my straight shave tomorrow.
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Razor: Muhle R41 Grande
Blade: Astra SP (2)
Soap: B&M latha original
Brush: razorock plissoft 22mm face lather
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: B&M Latha original
Had a very nice BBS again shave today. Which was perfect since we baptized my nephew this morning and my wife and I are his godparents. I love the BBS feel! The R41 is phenomenal!
My fine soap and matching aftershave came in today. It is probably on the docket for my straight shave tomorrow.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #29
SOTD
Razor: Piccolo OC
Blade: Personna lab blue (1)
Soap: Fine AB
Brush: Stirling Kong face lather
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: Fine AB
I used the fine soap for the first time. For reference I have 3017ed a puck of tabac. I treated the fine soap today like a shave stick. Still need to get a container. It lathered perfectly. Just as easy as tabac. The only thing lacking was not quite as much volume as I get with tabac. But I'm sure I can dial that in.
For my first pass I used the straight but I had some tugging. That was frustrating. So I put it away and did two passes with the Piccolo. I'm sure that means I need to strop better. Guess I better do some more reading to find out what I did wrong.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Razor: Piccolo OC
Blade: Personna lab blue (1)
Soap: Fine AB
Brush: Stirling Kong face lather
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: Fine AB
I used the fine soap for the first time. For reference I have 3017ed a puck of tabac. I treated the fine soap today like a shave stick. Still need to get a container. It lathered perfectly. Just as easy as tabac. The only thing lacking was not quite as much volume as I get with tabac. But I'm sure I can dial that in.
For my first pass I used the straight but I had some tugging. That was frustrating. So I put it away and did two passes with the Piccolo. I'm sure that means I need to strop better. Guess I better do some more reading to find out what I did wrong.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #30
No straight today. I need to do some research and haven't had time. I have no clue what I'm doing there. Ugh!
SOTD
Razor: Piccolo OC
Blade: Personna lab blue (2)
Soap: mystery cream 2
Brush: 24 mm plissoft face lather
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: Fine platinum
Got a nice dfs and was happy with the cream today.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
SOTD
Razor: Piccolo OC
Blade: Personna lab blue (2)
Soap: mystery cream 2
Brush: 24 mm plissoft face lather
Aftershave1: Thayer's witch hazel lemon
Aftershave2: Fine platinum
Got a nice dfs and was happy with the cream today.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Hope you can get your straight back in good shaving condition! 
- Thread starter
- #32
Hope you can get your straight back in good shaving condition!
Thank you. I am sure I will get the hang of it. But there is so much more to this than shaving with my DEs.
- Thread starter
- #33
So I have an idea that I'm going to introduce and see how it goes. Like many people on here I have a LOT of soaps and creams. I've tried the 3017 and I've tried the rotation. But I constantly feel like good product is being left out. So I'm going to put all of my soaps in a massive excel document then I will alphabetize the list. This way I can use a random number generator each morning to determine what soap I am going to use. I will only do this for the soap/cream because even though I do have alot of aftershaves most of my soaps have matching aftershaves. This should be fun. Obviously I am also going to continue trying the straight. We shall see how it goes.
Anyone else do this?
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Anyone else do this?
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #34
Here is my list of soaps/creams
#Soap
1Arko Stick
2Barrister and Mann Latha Limon
3Barrister and Mann Latha Oceana
4Barrister and Mann Latha Original
5Barrister and Mann Latha Sandalwood
6Barrister and Mann Latha Taiga
7C.O. Bigelow Cream
8Coates Lime
9Col. Conk Amber
10Colgate
11Fine American Blend
12Godrej Lemon Fresh
13Godrej Original
14Haslinger Aloe Vera
15Haslinger Coconut
16Haslinger Honig
17Haslinger Meeresalgen
18Haslinger Ringelblumen
19Haslinger Salbei
20Haslinger Sandelholz
21Haslinger Shafmilch
22I Colonali
23Kiss My Face Lime
24La Toja Shave Stick
25Locctaine Cade
26Mamma Bear Energy
27Mamma Bear Gucci for men
28Mickey Lee Drunken Goat
29Mitchell's Wool Fat
30Nivea Cream
31Palmolive Classic Cream
32Palmolive Lemon Cream
33Palmolive shave stick
34Proraso Blue Cream
35Proraso Green Tub
36Saponoficio Varesino 70th
37Soap Commander Drive
38Soap Commander Fortitude
39Soap Commander Green Spring 2016
40Soap Commander Gusto
41Soap Commander Reflection
42Soap Commander Refreshment
43Soap Commander Renewal
44Soap Commander Vision
45Soap Commander Wisdom
46Speick Shave Stick
47Stirling Barbershop
48Stirling Bay Lime
49Stirling Coconut Lime
50Stirling Executive Man
51Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill
52Stirling Green
53Stirling Iced Pineapple
54Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic
55Stirling Sharp Dressed Man
56Tabac
57TOBS Luxury
58Williams Tonsorial
59WSP Formula T Matterhorn
#Soap
1Arko Stick
2Barrister and Mann Latha Limon
3Barrister and Mann Latha Oceana
4Barrister and Mann Latha Original
5Barrister and Mann Latha Sandalwood
6Barrister and Mann Latha Taiga
7C.O. Bigelow Cream
8Coates Lime
9Col. Conk Amber
10Colgate
11Fine American Blend
12Godrej Lemon Fresh
13Godrej Original
14Haslinger Aloe Vera
15Haslinger Coconut
16Haslinger Honig
17Haslinger Meeresalgen
18Haslinger Ringelblumen
19Haslinger Salbei
20Haslinger Sandelholz
21Haslinger Shafmilch
22I Colonali
23Kiss My Face Lime
24La Toja Shave Stick
25Locctaine Cade
26Mamma Bear Energy
27Mamma Bear Gucci for men
28Mickey Lee Drunken Goat
29Mitchell's Wool Fat
30Nivea Cream
31Palmolive Classic Cream
32Palmolive Lemon Cream
33Palmolive shave stick
34Proraso Blue Cream
35Proraso Green Tub
36Saponoficio Varesino 70th
37Soap Commander Drive
38Soap Commander Fortitude
39Soap Commander Green Spring 2016
40Soap Commander Gusto
41Soap Commander Reflection
42Soap Commander Refreshment
43Soap Commander Renewal
44Soap Commander Vision
45Soap Commander Wisdom
46Speick Shave Stick
47Stirling Barbershop
48Stirling Bay Lime
49Stirling Coconut Lime
50Stirling Executive Man
51Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill
52Stirling Green
53Stirling Iced Pineapple
54Stirling Margaritas in the Arctic
55Stirling Sharp Dressed Man
56Tabac
57TOBS Luxury
58Williams Tonsorial
59WSP Formula T Matterhorn
Last edited:
Nice start with the soaps 
Don't get discouraged with the results of your straight razor shaves. In the early stages it often seems like one step forward, two steps back. It takes quite a bit of repetition to achieve good technique, and thus nice shave results. Technique is the key! Your goal at this juncture is SAS/CCS only - do not concern yourself with DFS yet, and completely banish the goal of BBS for now. One suggestion that was passed on to me when I started may sound counter-intuitive, but it really worked for me. And that is, do your first pass with a DE (not the R41, but a milder one) and then do the next pass with the straight. This way, you will be focused on technique, and not preoccupied with mowing down whiskers, per se.
Good luck!
Don't get discouraged with the results of your straight razor shaves. In the early stages it often seems like one step forward, two steps back. It takes quite a bit of repetition to achieve good technique, and thus nice shave results. Technique is the key! Your goal at this juncture is SAS/CCS only - do not concern yourself with DFS yet, and completely banish the goal of BBS for now. One suggestion that was passed on to me when I started may sound counter-intuitive, but it really worked for me. And that is, do your first pass with a DE (not the R41, but a milder one) and then do the next pass with the straight. This way, you will be focused on technique, and not preoccupied with mowing down whiskers, per se.
Good luck!
- Thread starter
- #36
Thanks for the advice. I will try thatNice start with the soaps
Don't get discouraged with the results of your straight razor shaves. In the early stages it often seems like one step forward, two steps back. It takes quite a bit of repetition to achieve good technique, and thus nice shave results. Technique is the key! Your goal at this juncture is SAS/CCS only - do not concern yourself with DFS yet, and completely banish the goal of BBS for now. One suggestion that was passed on to me when I started may sound counter-intuitive, but it really worked for me. And that is, do your first pass with a DE (not the R41, but a milder one) and then do the next pass with the straight. This way, you will be focused on technique, and not preoccupied with mowing down whiskers, per se.
Good luck!
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- Thread starter
- #37
I have been on the fence about the R41 but your thread just solidified my decision to pick one up, thank you.
I think its funny (in a good way) that back a few days ago you were afraid to straight shave above your lip and cut yourself with the DE. I have watched videos of older gentlemen shaving there and I am scared to try. Good luck, I'll be watching!
I think its funny (in a good way) that back a few days ago you were afraid to straight shave above your lip and cut yourself with the DE. I have watched videos of older gentlemen shaving there and I am scared to try. Good luck, I'll be watching!
- Thread starter
- #39
The straight is quite the journey. It is slow and it is going to take longer to master than the DE in my opinion.
For the R41 I recommend buying it from TVBshaving and using the Badger and Blade member discount. They do ship from overseas so it takes a little longer but the money you save is definitely worth it.
Chad,
Sounds a bit like the straight razor is a little frustrating at the moment. Lifting the razor to turn it on the strop CAN lead to a damaged edge but doesn't mean it happened. Turning the razor over edge first IS a guarantee that the edge is ruined. The tugging you felt may indeed mean the blade just wants to be stropped well.
I have some "advise" that might help and Slash McCoy posted something in the straight razor forum that was so concise, ill try to find and link them here.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...rned-from-100-SR-shaves?p=8158601#post8158601
Cant find the one im looking for that had Slash's great words, maybe search his posts, you'll find great advice in general from him, Lmarkow and Seraphim
Also take a quick look here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/486686-critique-my-technique?p=8142620#post8142620
Sounds a bit like the straight razor is a little frustrating at the moment. Lifting the razor to turn it on the strop CAN lead to a damaged edge but doesn't mean it happened. Turning the razor over edge first IS a guarantee that the edge is ruined. The tugging you felt may indeed mean the blade just wants to be stropped well.
I have some "advise" that might help and Slash McCoy posted something in the straight razor forum that was so concise, ill try to find and link them here.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...rned-from-100-SR-shaves?p=8158601#post8158601
Cant find the one im looking for that had Slash's great words, maybe search his posts, you'll find great advice in general from him, Lmarkow and Seraphim
Also take a quick look here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/486686-critique-my-technique?p=8142620#post8142620
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