What did you learn from your last shave?
- Thread starter tmartin89
- Start date
After adding a squirt of j&j baby oil (with shea butter!) to two days of IK lather and a squirt this morning to some KMF lather, I'm hooked. Enhances the lather, a bit more slippery, and much better face-moisturizing.
Shampoo the beard in the shower. Breaks those hairs right down, and hey shave off like nothin'.
Someone already posted this recently (my apologies for not remembering the poster’s name)…..I learned that good technique isn’t enough to compensate for a poor lather. A good lather is really key to a comfortable shave.
Still learning, but so far the big points have been
1) take more time on my lather than I "think" I need.
2) Angle angle angle.
3) Pre-Shave is next to godliness for me, at least for now.
1) take more time on my lather than I "think" I need.
2) Angle angle angle.
3) Pre-Shave is next to godliness for me, at least for now.
Scent is an important part of my shave process. I have a tub of Khiel's Lite Flight cream. It's a pretty good performer, however it is "unscented". The natural scent of the ingredients smells like glue and milk, and not in a good way.
I get as good (or better) performance from my stashes of TOBS and Stirling, and enjoy the scents that waft from the lather.
I get as good (or better) performance from my stashes of TOBS and Stirling, and enjoy the scents that waft from the lather.
I learned that I'm not a big fan of the scent of regular Clubmans AS.
I learned that I missed Tabac and mustn't ignore it for so long again.
Cella may smell like marzipan and look like whipped cream, but...the taste, not so much! 
Learned to keep mouth shut whilst face-lathering with enthusiasm.
Learned to keep mouth shut whilst face-lathering with enthusiasm.
That I need to game my Mergress Progress more often.
At the risk of being drawn and quartered, I learned that with my full face prep, I can get a fantastic shave from a Proglide.
I realized that I don't love smaller knots...
That a Merkur safety bar razor gives a very nice 2 pass shave. Unlike my EJ de89, it doesn't irritate my skin. I think that the EJ has more blade exposure and thus isn't designed to shave the way I like to (I like to shave with both the safety bar and the cap on my skin). That's the only thing I can come up with as to why the EJ irritates my skin even on the first pass, while my Merkurs don't (safety bar and slant).
I learned that i am using too much water for my soap. What I thought was very little water was still too much. It worked for one soap but not for the soap I tried today. It was super frustrating but I think i will have a better result tomorrow. Hopefully.
I've learned that the way you hold the razor has a lot to do with how much pressure you use when you shave. I've learned to hold the razor with only 3 fingers, like throwing a dart, so the handle end of the razor is free to move around just a bit. A delicate balance indeed.
Lather is very important, but the feather blades are still beyond my skill level.
I learned that what may be acceptable "lather porn" is not necessarily hydrated enough for me. Two weeks into de shaving and still learning the rough basics but I very much enjoy this thread.
If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have told you that I would never enjoy soaps with "food" scents. In the last two weeks I have been alternating two chocolate based scents, Mickey Lee Cocoa Maya (chocolate/coffee) and Mickey Lee Drunken Goat (chocolate macaroon cookie). Mickey Lee makes a great soap and these scents are addictive. Good enough to eat!!
The curve is more powerful than the sword.
― Mae West
The curve is more powerful than the sword.
― Mae West
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