Chumbah
05-21-2012, 02:17 PM
So, having lurked long enough I'm posting up.
By way of a little history, my first "razor" was an electric Braun my grandmother bought me after realising that her grandson was becoming manly enough to start trimming some of the facial fluff.
Try as I might, and contrary to the ad's I could never get as smooth a shave as I had been lead to believe (Damn you mighty Ad Men!)
So I then followed in my fathers footsteps with a fixed head Gillette II, followed by the swivel head version. Tins of canned foam and tubes of soap could not contain a young man's adolescent pursuit for that smooth manly shave, ultimately resulting in blood loss, a new found respect for Styptic and associated pain threshold.
I then discovered shaving blind in the shower. Wow, what a difference that made! I'm still not sure if it was the heat of the water that dulled the razor burn, or the fact that the water rinsed the accumulating blood flow, but it worked, allowing for an ATG shave every 3rd day, just in time for the weekend's female pursuits.
I naturally migrated to the triple's, then quattro's over the years, still shaving blind in the shower, with an ATG every 2nd or third day, unless I wanted my face to look like a slapped 4rse with nappy rash.
So that took care of the first 30 years of shaving, until I discovered The Art of Manliness.
Wow, did that throw the doors of fate open.
I first tried a Shavette. Oops. I can't remember the last time my face lost so much blood, felt so raw, and took so long to recover. A valuable lesson indeed.
I have come to the conclusion, that clearly for some, a Straight works. For me, it will be my first choice when I decide that I want to die a slow and painful bloody death and leave the mortal earth looking like Sam Neill towards the end of Event Horizon.
Now DE shaving........I say to myself.
I picked up a Gillette Slim Adj, a sample pack of blades, some Proraso pre & post Prep, a tube of Palmolive Original, and my Dad's Floris of London brush and set about reading the B & B forums, watching Mantic59's video's and associated contributors vids, and dial the slim to 5 and crack on with a Derby blade.
Now, the first week is a learning curve or angles and pressure, or to be more precise, correct angles and virtually no pressure. Oh, and correct stemming of blood flow. Double oh, and *memo to self - must get Alum Block ***
Week two, same again, but this time with Astra's. S'OK. Nothing to write home about. The previous weeks scars are healing nicely.
So I'm re-reading about the WTG, AGT, oh hang on what about this 3 way pass and including XTG? Best to throw that into the mix, and sure enough, the skin feels smoother to the touch, and the ability to nick the lips increases 10 fold [insert word(s) of choice when you nick your lip HERE]
By now I'm onto Personna's. 2nd favourite of choice these days. I thought to hell with this manly blade exposure! Congrats to those that can shave dialled up to 9, or with a stone sharpened butter knife!! I can't. It's not about defeat, it should be about the ride, and the sense of pleasure on gets. And there's been scant supply of that.
2 months have gone by with very mixed results. I check my angle. I take my time. My prep is hot shower, whilst drying, hot water in bowl, soak brush and ceramic scuttle, continue to dry myself, apply Proraso P & P, and then proceed to whip up a decent lather. Dialled down to 4, then 3, with improved success, both to finish, and the shaving routine, although weepers are the abomination of life.
For the last month, I have discovered shaving nivarna.
Dialled down to 2, yes 2 on my collection of 4 replated G-slims and Fatboy (hey, I couldn't help myself, they were calling out to me).
Whip up a nice loose and moist lather (too soapy and it dry's my skin out, and doesn't allow for good final buffing) and apply on each pass. WTG, XTG (E to W), XTG (W to E) and then ATG, resuling in a BBS DFS! All with a Feather!
Gadzooks! I've got it! I've finally got it! No more nicks, very very occasional weeper (which will close with cold water), and the ability to do a 3 or 4 way pass inclusive of a WTG daily.
In this age where virtually everyone sports the lazy designer stubble, I arrive at work looking clean and buffed, wafting of my scent of the day.
After months of trial and error, I have discovered that my face is still sensitive to whatever lands on it. That's just that way I turned out. TF, for the adjustablility of "Adjustables" otherwise I'd have been up the great river Kaa Kaa.
Shaving is now a pleasure I look forward to each and every morning.
So now, it's a Feather at 2, and I'm a happy chappy.
But as always, YMMV.
My thanks to all here at B & B for the wisdom and advice shown. At some point if you have a shaving issues, if no one else can help, read the Forums. The answers most likely out there.
Regards
Andy
PS to all fathers. It's great to introduce your sons to shaving at an early age, and buttering up their faces with lather. But do remember that the handle of their tooth brush whilst great for removing the soap, will never remove their whiskers. When they are old enough, give them a proper razor so they may find their way in the world of men. Now THAT is the best a man can get.
By way of a little history, my first "razor" was an electric Braun my grandmother bought me after realising that her grandson was becoming manly enough to start trimming some of the facial fluff.
Try as I might, and contrary to the ad's I could never get as smooth a shave as I had been lead to believe (Damn you mighty Ad Men!)
So I then followed in my fathers footsteps with a fixed head Gillette II, followed by the swivel head version. Tins of canned foam and tubes of soap could not contain a young man's adolescent pursuit for that smooth manly shave, ultimately resulting in blood loss, a new found respect for Styptic and associated pain threshold.
I then discovered shaving blind in the shower. Wow, what a difference that made! I'm still not sure if it was the heat of the water that dulled the razor burn, or the fact that the water rinsed the accumulating blood flow, but it worked, allowing for an ATG shave every 3rd day, just in time for the weekend's female pursuits.
I naturally migrated to the triple's, then quattro's over the years, still shaving blind in the shower, with an ATG every 2nd or third day, unless I wanted my face to look like a slapped 4rse with nappy rash.
So that took care of the first 30 years of shaving, until I discovered The Art of Manliness.
Wow, did that throw the doors of fate open.
I first tried a Shavette. Oops. I can't remember the last time my face lost so much blood, felt so raw, and took so long to recover. A valuable lesson indeed.
I have come to the conclusion, that clearly for some, a Straight works. For me, it will be my first choice when I decide that I want to die a slow and painful bloody death and leave the mortal earth looking like Sam Neill towards the end of Event Horizon.
Now DE shaving........I say to myself.
I picked up a Gillette Slim Adj, a sample pack of blades, some Proraso pre & post Prep, a tube of Palmolive Original, and my Dad's Floris of London brush and set about reading the B & B forums, watching Mantic59's video's and associated contributors vids, and dial the slim to 5 and crack on with a Derby blade.
Now, the first week is a learning curve or angles and pressure, or to be more precise, correct angles and virtually no pressure. Oh, and correct stemming of blood flow. Double oh, and *memo to self - must get Alum Block ***
Week two, same again, but this time with Astra's. S'OK. Nothing to write home about. The previous weeks scars are healing nicely.
So I'm re-reading about the WTG, AGT, oh hang on what about this 3 way pass and including XTG? Best to throw that into the mix, and sure enough, the skin feels smoother to the touch, and the ability to nick the lips increases 10 fold [insert word(s) of choice when you nick your lip HERE]
By now I'm onto Personna's. 2nd favourite of choice these days. I thought to hell with this manly blade exposure! Congrats to those that can shave dialled up to 9, or with a stone sharpened butter knife!! I can't. It's not about defeat, it should be about the ride, and the sense of pleasure on gets. And there's been scant supply of that.
2 months have gone by with very mixed results. I check my angle. I take my time. My prep is hot shower, whilst drying, hot water in bowl, soak brush and ceramic scuttle, continue to dry myself, apply Proraso P & P, and then proceed to whip up a decent lather. Dialled down to 4, then 3, with improved success, both to finish, and the shaving routine, although weepers are the abomination of life.
For the last month, I have discovered shaving nivarna.
Dialled down to 2, yes 2 on my collection of 4 replated G-slims and Fatboy (hey, I couldn't help myself, they were calling out to me).
Whip up a nice loose and moist lather (too soapy and it dry's my skin out, and doesn't allow for good final buffing) and apply on each pass. WTG, XTG (E to W), XTG (W to E) and then ATG, resuling in a BBS DFS! All with a Feather!
Gadzooks! I've got it! I've finally got it! No more nicks, very very occasional weeper (which will close with cold water), and the ability to do a 3 or 4 way pass inclusive of a WTG daily.
In this age where virtually everyone sports the lazy designer stubble, I arrive at work looking clean and buffed, wafting of my scent of the day.
After months of trial and error, I have discovered that my face is still sensitive to whatever lands on it. That's just that way I turned out. TF, for the adjustablility of "Adjustables" otherwise I'd have been up the great river Kaa Kaa.
Shaving is now a pleasure I look forward to each and every morning.
So now, it's a Feather at 2, and I'm a happy chappy.
But as always, YMMV.
My thanks to all here at B & B for the wisdom and advice shown. At some point if you have a shaving issues, if no one else can help, read the Forums. The answers most likely out there.
Regards
Andy
PS to all fathers. It's great to introduce your sons to shaving at an early age, and buttering up their faces with lather. But do remember that the handle of their tooth brush whilst great for removing the soap, will never remove their whiskers. When they are old enough, give them a proper razor so they may find their way in the world of men. Now THAT is the best a man can get.