Update

[Kyle Stoner]

Here is a status update of my shaving progress, in case anyone wants to live vicariously (just wait till I take the pictures) or in case anyone wants to advise :wink:

I am about midway through week #2 of DE shaving. My setup can be found on my Hall of Fame entry. My shaves have, with a little bit of variation, generally been getting better. It is certainly an enjoyable experience (except the part about walking into work 10 minutes late every day :biggrin: - just cant seem to plan ahead), and I am still working towards being totally comfortable. every day I learn to enhance my techniques or habits to increase the effectiveness and pleasure I glean from my shaves.

I received my sampler from Letterk (wow, fast shipping, thanks!!!), and boy was I excited. I used them in this order, 1 a day: Gillette Super Stainless, Personna Israeli, Merkur, and today Derby. Tomorrow is Feather...I am excited about that :tongue: and a little nervous :wink:. I used them in the order in which I expected to like them, worst to best. I must say I was totally shocked with the Merkur blades - much better than I had expected! I figured that Derby would be my favorite, and so far I like them as much as the Merkur. I will use them probably once a day again until I am finished and have decided, or run out :biggrin:. Can't wait to get some pictures on here, you guys will love them :) my Mulberry brush is beautiful.

Anyways on to the difficulties. I dont really know where to start because I learn so much each day it might be easier to just make a video and have some critiquing! I didn't realize how crappy my lathering technique was until I watched that straight razor shaving vid from YouTube, by Lee whats-his-face. When I saw him 'painting' his face, I was like, 'Oh.' hahahahaha. Up until now I have basically been wetting the brush and heating the bowl, shaking the brush out and swirling on some cream, then a few swishes through the bowl to get some volume, then I would take th brush and kind of scratch my face with it, in circular motions, pushing the bristles against my face and getting the lather out this way. it never resulted in a very good lather, and see-through at best. The problem is that I love the sensation of the brush on my face and dont get that exfoliating feeling just 'painting'. is there a marraige of these 2 techniques?

Anyways my lather still is fairly poor i think...I upgraded to a larger bowl twice (bye bye Bauer) and now I think it is finally big enough. but despite the fact that my brush fills with lather and tons comes out when I squeeze it, it doesnt seem to stick around for more than one pass, and I find myself rinsing the brush and the bowl clean, and doing a whole second lathering process. If I do find myself feelin brave enough to stick the brush into the bown and try to whip up some more lather, it is always aound room temp, or cooler - not too pleasant.

Anyways, I have been using all the blades at the #1 setting on my adjustable, with very good results (can't wait till mytechnique allows me to move up without hurting myself :biggrin: ). I have been using the Nivea sensitive skin aftershave stuff, since I read some good reviews here and it is extremely easy to get ahold of. This is what I have been doing: shave, hot rinse, COLD COLD rinse, styptic pencil in between and afterwards if necessary :redface: , Nivea aftershave in very small amounts (wonderful how smooth it gets my face as compared to before), then styptic again if necessary. Then I rinse COLD again, and dry. then, i take some teatree oil, drip into fingertips, and rub fingertips together, then kind of lightly slap/rub onto my face. I then get some vitamin E oil and put that on my fingertips and rub that onto my face. In tiny amounts because that stuff is sticky. then maybe another cold rinse, and maybe some more tea tree oil. this usually makes my face feel pretty good afterwards. I would like to know if anyone can help me make this vitamin E oil/tea tree oil into a hydrosol aftershave spray thing. Any ideas?

I have some other questions about brush care, etc. but that is for a different time. Hope you all enjoyed my post, long as it may be!

:rolleyes: :tongue: :wink: :biggrin:

[Tinzien]

As a suggestion, you might want to give each blade it's full life run before moving onto the next one in the sample pack. You might find that blade X performs a certain way but then really rocks the world on the second or third shave, or vice versa. It would also serve as a consistant part of a shave while your skin adjusts to each blade type and give you a few more seconds to work on your lather.

[Jim]

Kyle
Until you get your lathering and lather making skills up to par you cannot really make a call about the blades-its like driving a sports car with a flat tire.

What soap/cream are you using?

[htownmmm]

If you are consistently running late, why not try shaving the night before?



Marty

[Christoph]

Good to heat that you are enjoying DE shaving. I have been at it only for a couple of months myself. Yes, shaving does take longer, and it can be difficult early on. Rememer to strive to learn what works best for you. Everyone's skin is different, so what workks great for someone here might not do all that well with you. But having said that, there is great advice, info, and wisdom here at B&B. I continually try things that I hear, and keep doing what ever works. My shaves are now slowly getting better and closer, and gradually taking less time. Although I have found that I don't really mind the extra time. A great shave is worth it.

[Kyle Stoner]

I don't mind the extra time at all either (as evidenced by my tardiness :) )...thank you for all the suggestions folks, here is my new plan: I will use the Feather blade today (had a dream about it last night, no kidding ;) ) and continue using it until it is dead, and then go backwards through my list in order of preference and that way my shaves will be of better quality and I will be able to tell what my preferences are more clearly.

I have been using Cyril L. Salter Almond cream. I love the smell so much I want to eat it. I am not kidding. It is a delicious scent (no I have not eaten any). I am going to pick up a tube of Tom's of Maine all natural Shave Cream, on the somewhat maniacal advice of the Other Kyle (I think that makes 4 Kyles and 2 Kyle S'!)...boy is he excited about that stuff...and so am I although I dont think I will use it until I have gotten my blade preferences figured out.

Thanks again everyone.

Still looking for ideas on that hydrosol thing, I will check around other threads for more info.

[vox_rox]

Up until now I have basically been wetting the brush and heating the bowl, shaking the brush out and swirling on some cream, then a few swishes through the bowl to get some volume, then I would take th brush and kind of scratch my face with it, in circular motions, pushing the bristles against my face and getting the lather out this way. it never resulted in a very good lather, and see-through at best. The problem is that I love the sensation of the brush on my face and dont get that exfoliating feeling just 'painting'. is there a marraige of these 2 techniques?

Okay, for me, I make sure I have a good bowl full of lather before I even get going, because that's key to my shaves. Then I swirl the whole area and, like you, I really appreciate the feel of the brush like his. Also, it tends to get the lather right into the pores and really gets a good coating. Then, just to get a thicker lather, I paint on top of that.

Then, after a pass, I rinse with water, then do the same thing again. I use more lather this way, but my shaves are as good as they get, so I'm sticking to this method.

I think this is the marriage of which you speak.

Congrats on the good results so far, just keep going and trying to improve your technique, and the rewards will be there, for sure.

Peace,

Pierre

[av8or234]

Anyways, I have been using all the blades at the #1 setting on my adjustable, with very good results (can't wait till mytechnique allows me to move up without hurting myself :biggrin: ).

I haven't been at this much longer than you but If a setting of 1 is working for you why change? Anyway, sounds like you're having a blast and getting good results! Best of luck! :badger:

[mrob]

This is what I have been doing: shave, hot rinse, COLD COLD rinse, styptic pencil in between and afterwards if necessary, Nivea aftershave in very small amounts (wonderful how smooth it gets my face as compared to before), then styptic again if necessary. Then I rinse COLD again, and dry. then, i take some teatree oil, drip into fingertips, and rub fingertips together, then kind of lightly slap/rub onto my face. I then get some vitamin E oil and put that on my fingertips and rub that onto my face. In tiny amounts because that stuff is sticky. then maybe another cold rinse, and maybe some more tea tree oil. this usually makes my face feel pretty good afterwards. I would like to know if anyone can help me make this vitamin E oil/tea tree oil into a hydrosol aftershave spray thing. Any ideas?

I think the above may explain why you're running a bit late to work.:tongue:

IMO, you can cut about 10 minutes off your routine and get equally good results if you'd pare down your aftershave procedure thusly:

--shave
--warm water rinse
--cold water rinse
--hydrosol/witch hazel/toner of your choice, or omit altogether
--Nivea aftershave, applied with damp hands

Done.

I really think that all of the extra steps are not doing you much good. Applying the tea tree oil, then rinsing, then reapplying the oil seems like a waste of time, energy and product. I'm not saying to get rid of the tea tree oil--perhaps make a little mixture of the tea tree oil and Nivea, or as you suggested, add some tea tree oil to some unscented or lightly scented toner, pour into an atomizer, and spritz.

In any event, I think you may be overdoing the post-shave experience without much benefit--less may be more!:biggrin:

[Leisureguy]

A few thoughts:

Lathering technique: for shaving cream (http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9) and for shaving soap (http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=439).

After the cold water rinse while your face is still wet, try a rub with an alum bar (http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/item/522960/1256432.htm). Very nice. Then go ahead and use your aftershave.

The lathering bowl is just to help you create the lather. If you lather right, the lather's in the brush, not in the bowl. This becomes more obvious if you lather in a cupped hand or directly on the face (which I find impossible with a large brush, but works great with a smaller brush): when you finish lathering, the brush contains all the lather you'll need.

[dustind]

Kyle Stoner,

I've run into a similar problem with lather. My issue is that I can get a great lather in the bowl, then work it in with my brush, polish off with a paint stroke to even it out, but by the time I get to my neck it's lost its concistancy. Is that similar to your problem?

[Kyle Stoner]

Hey dustind,
Sounds like your lather is suffering from lack of subsance. You mean its evaporating or dripping away? I dont have a problem with my lather quality, it stays put for a pretty long time wherever I slap it. I will try maing the lather on my face, although this really seems to 'suck up' more lather than it puts out. Can anyone advise about this?

My problem is basically the brush and bowl get cold by the time I go back for another lather, and I either have to start over again completely, to get everything hot again, or hope that I got cream far enough into the brush to stay warm. I never seem to be able to get the bristles fully engulfed in a flurry of lather like I see in some pictures. My brush really sucks up the lather if I 'pump' and I find i have to muse lighter pressure to whip up the lather. I will keep working at it.

[Leisureguy]

Once I've made the lather, I let the brush rest on its base between passes. It stays reasonably warm.

Re: making the lather on the face: easier with a cream, probably, but I had excellent success with the Simpson Major travel brush, which has a relatively small brush (that holds plenty of lather). Once I had worked up the lather, the brush easily took me through three more passes.

[Kyle Stoner]

Thanks Michael, Sounds like my technique is all that needs a little work. I tried lathering in the bowl AND on my face today - maybe I should just stick to one or the other every time ;) - and I ended up rinsing the brush and bowl with hot water to get things going for a second lather. It was pretty painless but I still am going to work on creating more continuity. I am using a cream, C. L. Salter Almond, not sure if it's a prolific latherer. I'm sure I can get it right in time!

[Leisureguy]

For a while I couldn't get a good lather with a soap, though I did fine with a cream. When I found that to be the case, I stopped using creams until I could get the soap going. The tutorial linked to above was a big help---one of my faults was that I simply wasn't whipping the lather long enough. Another fault was too much water (which produces large bubbles in the lather).

I got it right, and this morning used my Rooney #3 to whip up a very nice lather from one of Sue's Honeybee Spa shea butter shaving soaps. Terrific shave. My lathering bowl is now the soapstone bowl, BTW.

[Kyle Stoner]

My ceramic bowl doesnt seem to hold much heat, but a technique I haven't tried yet is floating the bowl partially submerged in a sink of hot water - that seems like a great idea and hopefully I'll have enough sink space to make it work.