Success!...ish And revelations

[Dave41079]

So about a month ago I inherited my great grandfathers straight razor. It is in unusable, non-restorable condition, but it got me thinking. I searched and read and thought and read and eventually ended up here. I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a VDH Premium Shave Set with the green handled boar brush, green bowl, and puck of soap. I used that for a couple of weeks with my Mach 3 while trying to decide on what I wanted in a razor. In the interim I purchased three more pucks of soap from Pirates Cove. I just wanted to give something else a try, and they got decent reviews and were cheap enough. I ordered the lime, sandalwood, and lavender scents. I used them all with my Mach 3 over the next week, and they seemed to be decent to me. I was getting a decent lather in the bowl, but nothing great. It was also fairly inconsistent, sometimes it was really good, and others a little lackluster. It was always good enough that when I applied my Aqua Velva Ice Blue, I never got a burn. I'd usually then apply some Nivea balm because my skin tends to dry out. Things were going really well, and I was enjoying wet shaving. The bowl that came with the shave set slipped out of my hands a couple times, so I replaced it with a thrift store stoneware coffee mug so I had a handle to hold onto. Three days ago I tried face lathering and like it a lot better. I get a more consistent lather, and it just seems easier to me. After reading reviews on here, and seeing results, I ordered a Whipped Dog sight unseen and poor mans strop. It arrived today. Being the excitable individual that I am, I couldn't wait to try it. I ran a sink full of hot water, put a little water on top of the lime soap, and put my brush in the sink. I then took a nice hot shower. I got out, drained the water off the soap, squeezed the excess out of my brush, and began to load up. I spent a minute or so working a good lather onto my face, picked up the straight, and it was time to get to it. I'm terrible with my left hand, so I do all my shaving with my right, and that works fine for me. That worked fine for me with the straight too. I made a full WTG pass and rinsed my face. I noticed a couple of places that needed a little attention, so I lathered up and went ahead and made another full WTG pass. I noticed as I was shaving that I was getting a burning sensation from the lather. I think the lime might be out for me. Problem areas were the usual, around my jawline, adams apple, and upper lip. Up until 2 days ago I had a rather large mustache, so I knew the upper lip was going to be a problem anyways. Splashed on the AS, and my cheeks had a little burn, but my lip was on FIRE. It also had a couple of weepers that I rubbed a styptic over. I usually shave every 2 days, so we'll see how things go on Wednesday.

Items used:

VDH Boar Brush
Pirates Cove Lime Soap
Whipped Dog Straight
Aqua Velva Ice Blue AS
Nivea Balm

Things learned so far:

I prefer face lathering to bowl lathering.
The lime soap is out for my face...oh the burn.
Longer strokes worked better for me than shorter strokes.
My upper lip is on fire! Hopefully it will adjust soon.

 

[global_dev]

interesting experience that i am sure will change with some practice. as for long vs short strokes... depends on the area of the beard for me and how i feel at that moment. the chin will likely get a short stroke when N-S or s-N, but on an E-W, or W-E it's a nice long one...

even on the cheeks, sometimes it's nice quick short bursts, and sometimes a long one.


good luck!

 

[Dave41079]

Thanks! Yeah I tried short quick strokes on one side, and longer strokes on the other side. Now when I say long, I obviously don't mean the whole length of my face, just longer than the little short strokes I was taken. I do understand that the difference could have been a number of things, so I'll keep trying it both ways to see what works better for me. I think i'm going to melt the lime soap into a bar and use it as hand soap. Some of my friends think I'm crazy, and others are envious. I had one friends wife tell me I was going through a midlife crisis. My friend, her husband, looked at her about as oddly as I did, because he gets it.

 

[global_dev]

Thanks! Yeah I tried short quick strokes on one side, and longer strokes on the other side. Now when I say long, I obviously don't mean the whole length of my face, just longer than the little short strokes I was taken. I do understand that the difference could have been a number of things, so I'll keep trying it both ways to see what works better for me. I think i'm going to melt the lime soap into a bar and use it as hand soap. Some of my friends think I'm crazy, and others are envious. I had one friends wife tell me I was going through a midlife crisis. My friend, her husband, looked at her about as oddly as I did, because he gets it.

when you eventually do a whole length of the face, you'll wonder if it was worse or better than short and if you should keep trying it.

mid-life crisis? hah... i thought about that too for me when i bought my Xth straight, but when I thought about it, it totally was! seriously, it wasn't the depression stereotype, dump your wife buy a sportscar, quit your job way, but a period of growth, a transition of bettering myself in other ways, learning things that enhance certain parts of my life. it's a normal stage of life.

i think you already confirmed it yourself.

My friend, her husband, looked at her about as oddly as I did, because he gets it.

people often reevaluate their priorities and goals... I think your friend's wife bought into the negative aspect rather than the opportunity..

sorry for the psychology, it just seems most on the outside look at only one side of the coin.

 

[Dave41079]

Yeah I definitely agree with you. I consider it an opportunity to learn about something I didn't know, and to grow as a person. It also is going to become one of my random hobbies, obviously!