Nurse Dave's journey

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #97 (DE:14 SE:38 Str:47 Cart:2)

Asylum “The Doctor” RX w/ Feather Proguard (5)
CBL Damascus
Plisson L'Occitane synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & alum
Nivea balm
Penhaligon’s Clandestine Clara

Last shave in paradise and the weather is finally beautiful and we’re packing :/

I added more water as Chad had suggested. It might have helped with the cushion, or my face is just healing in increments. Just a touch of neck clean-up for the BBS. We have another trip in a few weeks and this all makes me think I’ll probably bring a DE with a mild blade on that one just to be safe.

 

[NurseDave]

Great couple of shaves, Dave, especially for an away game! I am lucky in that I get good shaves with no irritation from cold to room temp water, so I never have to tag in the ice water. Brrrrrrrrrr!

Heh, I thought the fridge water might be a bit shocking, but I guess since I’m used to shaving with cold it was just more soothing than anything.

 

[bahomebrew]

Last shave in paradise and the weather is finally beautiful and we’re packing :/

I've heard this time of year is hit or miss at the end of the rainy season. Bummer about the weather. Still beautiful, but you can't get out and enjoy it the same way.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #98 (DE:14 SE:38 Str:48 Cart:2)

CBL’s Frameback
SV 70th
Plisson L'Occitane synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & alum
Nivea balm
SV 70th AS

I started this man spa episode with SV 70th bath soap. Have to say it is enjoyable, but GTB soap is better for a wake me up scent.

I’m a touch out of practice with the straights, but things went ok with the frameback. Thanks again Chris for all the work that went into it.

The shave was more similar to the weck than the SS. I couldn’t get it to slide smoothly the whole time, but it got a little better when I added more water to the lather. I thought I was doing pretty well, but just barely got BBS on the cheeks and had to reach for the Q-Shave to clean up the neck enough for a DFS.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #99 (DE:15 SE:38 Str:48 Cart:2)

Q-Shave w/ Wilkinson Sword (1)
Lisa’s Natural Amber and Tobacco
Plisson L'Occitane synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & alum
Soap Commander Courage balm

An unconventional shave for me today. I got a new video game yesterday, so got some time in on that in the morning before kids would be returning and then did some yard work. My wife ask me to go to the store with her when she got back, so it was a tired and quick shave. I went mild since I’ll be shaving again in less than 24hrs. A mild 2-pass DFS.

I had some balm samples nicely PIFed to me by @Mullen88, so I’ll be working through those. I was a touch worried about this one after applying because me face started to tingle like there was menthol in it. But it didn’t progress to burn and went away in about 5 min. The balm spread easily, wasn’t greasy at all and was totally absorbed in shortly. I’d say this is at least as good as the Nivea I’ve been using.

 

[Mullen88]

Great shave and Journal Dave. I’ll have to stop in more often. Glad you enjoyed it and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the others. Cheers.

 

[bahomebrew]

I got a new video game yesterday, so got some time in on that in the morning before kids would be returning and then did some yard work.

What's the new game? I've been playing the new Mario Odyssey on the Switch a bit. I tend to play one at a time, as I don't like to give a ton of time to gaming anymore, but I do enjoy me some electronic fun.

 

[NurseDave]

What's the new game? I've been playing the new Mario Odyssey on the Switch a bit. I tend to play one at a time, as I don't like to give a ton of time to gaming anymore, but I do enjoy me some electronic fun.

Far Cry 5. Same here with little time to play. I get the new CoD every year and probably one other game.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #100 (DE:15 SE:38 Str:49 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (4)
B&M Cheshire
Plisson L'Occitane synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea balm
B&M Cheshire

Well, this isn't the shave I had planned. I was going to use the frameback, but my morning was a little out of kilter and I realized I'm not set-up for full straight shaving in the bathroom yet. I need to get something to mount my strop so I can use it after the shave. I'll also need a touch more time to take care of maintenance after. My wife has already nixed putting a hook into our new cabinet, so I'm going to look for a strong suction cup I can mount to the glass shower wall. Maybe one with a level so it's easy to detach and put away.

I wanted to get back into my straight practice though so grabbed the SS. Back to my typical straight shave. BBS on cheeks, DFS on neck that turned to BBS with some DE clean-up. I started to mess around with my neck passes, but smartly backed off on that because my routine was just not sync and I didn't want to hurt myself.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #101 (DE:15 SE:38 Str:50 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (5)
CBL Damascus
Plisson L'Occitane synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & Alum
Lather Bros Flora Colossus balm
Calvin Klein Euphoria

Straight shave #50. This is when I'm supposed to have gotten the hang of this right?

Went for CBL's masterpiece of soap to give it a try with home water. Yep, like everyone is reporting this has a great, easy to obtain lather that has great cushion and slickness. It's not a slippery slickness, it's creamy. Or I didn't use enough water to thin it to straight shaving levels. It was another out of whack feeling morning, but I sent for the SS anyway. I took my time and made sure I was skin stretching and making overlapping strokes. I tell ya, I swear with as good as I think I do the 1st pass, I have no idea how much hair can still remain, especially on my neck. I mean, I hear the stuff being cut! Well, a few passes later and I'm finishing my last pass on my neck and still end with those trouble spots left. Well, things have been feeling pretty well, no stinging with rinsing, so I go for it with the SS. Somehow I luck into my weird, twisted arm sideways neck stroke and BAM!! We have a BBS folks. And bonus, no alum sting!

I have to say I credit much of the ability to get BBS with the straight to CBL's soap. Without the ability to go over areas several times it wouldn't have happened, and certainly not without the alum sting.

This balm is another from my samples. It's a very thick balm, but does spread well. There was a faint floral scent that didn't last long. And from the tingling I'm sure it had menthol in it as well. I looked it up, but it's not on their website now. I'm not sure if it's seasonal or unobtainium.

 

[Mullen88]

There was a faint floral scent that didn't last long. And from the tingling I'm sure it had menthol in it as well. I looked it up, but it's not on their website now. I'm not sure if it's seasonal or unobtainium.

Nice shave Dave. Glad you’re using the samples. I believe FC is unobtanium but I could be wrong. It has Groot on the soap tub from Guardians of the Galaxy and the scent notes are Lavender, Asian Pear, Cedar. Enjoy.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #102 (DE:15 SE:38 Str:51 Cart:2)

CBL frame back
Chiseled Face Cinnawood Boroka
Stirling 26mm synthetic pro
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave blam
Chiseled Face Cinnawood Boroka AS

Well, like Randall, I was unable to duplicates yesterday's results which caused much frustration. I went thinking This would be the one. But it wasn't. During the first pass I started to admire the nice rich lather on my face. Then remembered Dave suggesting my blade stalling could be because of lather. So I thinned it down more than I thought I should and I did have less blade stalling than previous Weck shaves and my other shave with this razor. I thought things were going well, until rinsing after the 2nd pass and my neck felt like it hadn't been shaved at all. I kept going and I didn't have stinging on the rinse after the 3rd pass, so I went for BBS on the neck with the frame back. I even found that crazy angle I need to use. I swear, I would go over and over the same area and the hair was still there.

I ended with what I would call a DE BBS on the cheeks and a DFS on the neck. Decent alum sting, not terrible, but I was expecting that. While I want to see that what I'm learning on the SS translates to full straights, IF I were smart, I'd get some more good SS shaves under my belt to refine the technique.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #103 (DE:15 SE:38 Str:52 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (6)
PdP 63
Stirling 26mm synthetic pro
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave blam
Penhaligon's Malabah

This was a better shave. I was able to get to what I'm sure would have been a BBS after dry down, but then used a few swipes of the Q-Shave to make it a wet and slippery BBS. I found that weird angle again. I guess yesterday I was only close to it, but today I ended up with my arm crossing over right in front of my face, so I must have nailed it. So I'm telling myself to continue with the SS for a while to get consistent. We'll see how well my patience holds up.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #104 (DE:15 SE:38 Str:53 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (7)
GTB
Stirling 26mm synthetic pro
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave blam
GTB AS
GTB EdP

Another pretty successful run. Even did a 2nd XTG pass on the cheeks to get that extra DSBBS up there. Next was pretty decent. We has some stuff happen to the house last night (more on that later) and part way through my shave I hear a chirping. Like a low smoke alarm battery, but not the same. My wife wasn't getting out of bed to investigate, so I just did three passes on my neck and then a quick Q-Shave clean-up to end with BBS.



Last night out power started wavering. Not ever off, but lights getting dim, then bright, then dim. Hear some poppings. Then things stabilized with some lights in the house dim and some staying very bight. Power company came out and did work on a pole and things seemed fine after. But I still smelled ozone in the house. Found it blew two of the wine fridges and have no power to the furnace. So back home I go to wait for the power folks and fill out a claim for some wine chillers.

 

[kingfisher]

Sounds like a series of pretty good shaves. Congrats. Sorry about the power issue. Hopefully it gets fixed up pretty quickly.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #107 (DE:16 SE:38 Str:55 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (2)
Scheermonnik Soek
Plisson synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
Missoni

Things are coming along with the SS. Pretty good shave today. The 1st pass is almost without thought now. I had to realize I was zipping along and slow myself down to thing about what I was doing. Did okay with the 3rd neck pass. Better than before with less clean up needed. I think I'd pass the cotton ball test, but if I really search I can find a few strays so I'll give this a DFS+. My plan is to continue with the SS or DE this week. We have vacation next week, and then try full straights again when we get back

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #108 (DE:16 SE:38 Str:56 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (3)
A&E Grecian Horse
Plisson synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
A&E Grecian Horse AS

I would like to title this shave....
Breakfast at Penhaligon's

So with high expectations I open the tub. I don't know what Josh was smoking, but this is NOTHING like Endymion. Ah well, it doesn't smell bad, just not distinctive. I couldn't really tell what it smelled like. I lathered it up, and got more of a sweet note than I got from the tub. It doesn't explode into lather. Rather it starts as a dense rich creamy lather and slowly expands as you add water. It took quite a bit of water to get it to my straight shaving consistency and I might should have added a bit more.

Then I lathered my face. THERE IT IS!!! The heavenly scent of Endymion swept over me. The choirs began to sing and Josh was very much redeemed. I will have to get a few more shaves in with it, but this could easily secure a spot in my top 5 favorite soaps to use. The shave itself was good. Without thinking about it I used a different grip for the 2nd pass on my cheeks and I think it will work out better than what I've been doing with a little practice. The neck was still awkward, but I pulled a BBS out of it with just the SS. The cheeks reached a three pass DSBBS bordering on DSBBS-G. I didn't think I was aggressive with the shave, but the outcome was reflected in the alum sting all over. I'll take it. And I could still smell the soap after all my post-shave routine.

The AS was another story. When I splashed it on, I got pancake syrup 100%. Not earthy maple syrup, but the sugary, glass bottle that looks like a woman. I've experienced this before. Well, not the syrup smell, but AS that needs a moment to dry down to get to its actual smell. Well, slowly the Endymion emerged. It took about an hour, but the syrup smell is very faint and maybe just imprinted on me more than actually still present. I only have one use left of my Endymion sample, so I'm saving that for travel, but this is very nice by itself and I'm hoping it will last.

 

[NurseDave]

2018 shave #109 (DE:16 SE:38 Str:57 Cart:2)

Feather SS w/ Feather Proguard (4)
PannaCrema Nuavia Rossa
Plisson synthetic in Shave Revolution 24mm handle
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
Bleu de Chanel

Well, I still really like Rossa, but I have to say scent wise, I still give the nod to Grecian Horse. But performance is rock star level with the Nuavia soaps. This shave was again pretty good with a DFS+ finish and DSBBS G on the cheeks again. Just going to be slow progress on the neck now I'm sure. Yesterday and today I did what I think is buffing on the neck. I remembered seeing on videos from Jammin' GI James that he did quick tiny strokes in some areas. This seems to be helpful in curved areas where long sweeping strokes will miss parts unless pressure is applied. Talking about pressure, I did get the allover alum sting again. But again I'll take it as I know I can concentrate on pressure once my passes become more routine.