Newbie Shaving Diary

Very interesting read, many thanks.

I have been wetshaving for a week, every day so far. I have a tough beard, and in some areas - annoyingly the sensitive bits - it seems to grow in all directions.

My first shaves were with a WS razor and blade, then a few with a merkur 38c and derby blades, which I found decent.

Todays was with a feather, best shave yet. Very quiet, more of a slice than a chop.

Looking forward to hearing what you think of them.

Well, I ate too much, drank too much, and didn't feel hungry until dinner time tonight!

As for the shave...

Ouch.

And Ouch again tonight.

This will be my last update until I get back to Melbourne. Next shave will be on Monday morning, I get on the Big Red Boat on Monday evening, and end up in Melbourne on Tuesday morning.

Week 9, Day 5
Christmas day shave, used a Feather blade. I'm really starting to get great lathers now.

First pass wasn't so bad.

Second pass, noticed a few weepers starting.

Third pass, all-out carnage. Weepers all over my neck and top lip.

Touch-up pass, razor burn along with the carnage.

It wasn't even a close shave either, there was a low stubble left where I normally get BBS, probably because of the massive irritation.

Notes for next time:
1. See how long the blade lasts.

Week 9, Day 6
See yesterday. Same results, but with a little less razor burn, but a bit more bleeding. Possibly a bit smoother on the 2nd shave, it at least lasted 2 shaves on my blade-killing beard, but I'm not game enough to see how long it will really last. By the end, the lather on the razor was pink, rather than white, and the alum block didn't stop all the bleeding. The Speick aftershave is very calming though, puts out the fires pretty well, but the alum block set my face on fire.

I think I'll put the Feather blades away for the time being...

Looks like I'm almost at the end of my sampler packs, only the Crystals and the Dorco ST-301's left.

Let's see what the coin-toss says, heads for Crystals, tails for Dorcos.

Crystals it is then.

Interesting reading. I've subscribed to this thread, but thought I'd comment just so know we're interested.

It's interesting that some days you get a good shave (or even a run of good shaves) then suddenly go back to a poor shave. This happens to me as well. I can only put it down to being a bit too confidant and starting to not concentrate as much.

Keep it going - thanks

Well, I'm back after the move (kind of, borrowing someone else's Internet account until mine is provisioned).

The new place is tiny (but cheap). The bathroom sink is one of those tiny half-depth ones with no side bench space at all. This changes the game for me again, as I can no longer use the Mitchells Wool Fat and a bowl for the lather

So, the new routine. Post-shower shave, no hot cloth. Face lather with whatever cream I have available (currently a "sample" pack of Anthony Logistics Shave Cream).

Anyway, back to the results

Week 10, Day 1 (moving day - old routine)
Can't remember much of the details, but the Crystal blades agree with my face pretty well.

Week 10, Day 5 (new year's day - new routine)
There was a lot of growth to mow through, and the blade travelled just in the razor with no other protection, but it held up pretty well. In fact, I was seriously considering only doing 2 passes, the new shave cream and face lathering seems to agree with me a bit more (oh no!).

Week 10, Day 7
Looks like I get 2 shaves out of these blades, the 3rd shave got pretty nasty. Oh well, now I know!

And is there some kind of trick to face lathering so the lather doesn't go all over the bathroom? More experimentation is required I think. It took about 2 months for me to get soap lathering right, so I'm prepared to wait it out.

Anyway, back to the regular updates!

I face lather, and I've never really had any issue with lather flying all over the bathroom. I just swirl the brush on my face, same as if I were lathering in my hand or in a bowl, maybe a bit slower than when in a bowl. I'm wondering - are you building lather on the face like one might whip up egg whites into a meringue?

Anyway, best of luck adjusting to face lathering! I'm pretty sure there's thread somewhere on B&B about getting an effective face lather, maybe in the stickies section?

Well, I think it's about time to call the end to the shaving diary. Thank you for your comments over this first few months, they kept me going with the updates.

I've been getting consistently good shaves with the Merkur HD and either Crystal or Personna Red blades. I have occasionally dropped to a 2-pass shave if I needed a quick shave, and ended up with a shave somewhere between SAS and DFS.

I will go back through my sample pack, and write reviews of all the blades I've used in this diary, look out for them soon!

I'm also going to start shaving with a straight razor. I ordered a Gold Dollar and strop from ruprazor.com, and attacked my face with it for the first time last night. Just a single pass, but all-over, with only 1 nick on my chin. I might have to start up a new shaving diary in the straight razor section...

You shouldn't end the journal now! What about the straight shaves??

Luc said:

You shouldn't end the journal now! What about the straight shaves??

Click to expand...

Sorted.

I think this journal can quietly end, now that I'm very comfortable with DE shaving, and a new journal is needed for starting with straight razor shaving.

It's been an interesting ride! Thanks for sharing.