I think I've found my new home forum on the Badger....!
I'm very new to wet shaving, like...4 days new. Actually, I haven't shaved with anything but a pair of clippers with no guard for years and years, as cartridge razors break out my neck area badly. A friend overseas gifted me a Kikuboshi 24, so I quickly went out and bought a Gold Dollar to learn on while it was shipping. Wonder of wonders...I can get a 10x closer shave with zero skin irritation and NO BREAKOUT after with a straight razor.
Unfortunately I only shave the difficult areas of my face as well it seems:
My head isn't shaven btw...still use the clippers with no guard there, lol.
Anyhow, I'm still learning to navigate the topography of my face with a literal razor blade. But!...the hair is gone each night, there's no blood, and my skin is more or less intact...so I'm consistently giving myself a mark in the win column.
Handlebar mustache. I sometimes get bored and take the handlebars off, but The mustache stays. I've been sporting an upper lip cardigan for almost 5 yrs now and it's as much an identifier as my own name at the fire department.
Van Dyke. Although I keep toying with the idea of shaving it off just too what all the fuss about shaving the chin and the moustache area is all about. Then I'd immediately grow it back. I've only been without it for a week since 1994, for my wedding fourteen years ago, so I'm kind of attached to it.
I have had a mustache since October 1981. Except for about 3 days in the 1980's. (my wife had never seen me without it. Her reaction? "Grow it back!") I stopped keeping a goatee/Van Dyke when it turned snow white. I first grew it in the late 90's or early 2000's. It was an off and on thing.
I've had good luck with Petal Pusher Fancies Dandy Candy, but it's been discontinued. I've tried a couple of others, but they haven't been stiff enough for me. I just ordered some Wacky Tacky from Firehouse Moustache Wax. It has a reputation for very strong hold. Hopefully it will work out better.
The sideburns always creep down on me, even though I try to trim them every time I shave. Eventually, they get to a point where they are wild and overgrown, and that usually coincides with the time when I need to get a haircut. So I let the stylist trim them up and make them level with the middle of my ear. They also trim my eyebrows and ear hair at the same time and its included in the price of the haircut.
Having them trim the goatee and moustache is an added charge, and a rather expensive one at that. So I do it myself at home. First, I take a pair of electric clippers and cut down the bulk by going against the grain. Then, I use a comb and scissors to define the edges.