What's new

global_dev straight journal

again, i have been either too busy/tired to shave.. i think about it, truly lament the fact that I won't be shaving and go do something else. that leave me without having shaved for a couple days (since sunday afternoon, so about 4 days). My beard comes in pretty full and dirty blonde and I begin to look like a mountain man. My wife says she enjoys the look ( i think she likes the fact that i don't spend 15-25 minutes shaving and whatnot)...

Yesterday i was debating whether or not to shave and lo an' behold a rooney 3/3 finest shows up... I gotta try it out... it's larger than i expected... much larger.. I love the handle (similarly i like the Vulfix 40 handle and the "victorian" handles also..) Interesting feel for the 3/3 finest. very luxurious but with plenty of backbone.. I have noticed many of the brushes i like have long hairs with soft tips and backbone... what a really nice brush... reflecting on this brush and others in my stash, not a doubt in my mind that the Semogue Caravela is worth way way more than it was sold for...

So it's around 9:30pm, i grab some AK1869 cream, the Toyo 777 ( i was debating on whether to grab something else, but it was late, and i went with convenience as it was right in front of me). The 3/3 knot is big, needs a bit more cream and water to get going. This blade is coming one shave off a jnat with water touch-up, IIRC...

stropped the blade on linen/leather 25/40 with a bit of slack and lathered up...

the first pass is interesting, everything comes off easy on the cheeks N-S, but the neck requires a bit more attention. it just feels more difficult with that much hair N-S, so i revert to S-N.. it's hard to tell at the moment whether it's the edge or the volume of hair... it comes off easy enough also.. a second pass all N-s and it's evident it's not the blade.. everything looks and feels great, just for good measure i do a water only quick last pass and "Damn, Thats a Fine Shave!!!" it's even better than that.. so comfortable and smooth...

I feel like i totally would want to go to a great barber for a nice shave to relax, if only there was one that could do it better for a reasonable price, and i don't see those things coming together though..

throw on some Proraso ASL and it's got me thinking that I have about 1/3 of the bottle left and i need some more. that 400ml bottle is looking pretty viable right now... a slight refreshing breeze...

what a great way to end the week and begin the weekend. yeah, i know it's Friday, but with a shave like that, my weekend feels like it already started.

IX
 
spent some time this week with the Shick powered hydro 5.. interesting experience .. last shave was Monday. Day/Night 0 was awesome BBS, Day 1 was okay a bit or redness on my neck, and Night 1 my neck wass all blotchy and itchy. the itchiness has only now subsided on Day 2... i think i'll pass on the hydro for a bit and get back to the straights...
 
decided to give the powered hydro a rest... wasn't a decision that i needed to think long and hard on and so the the first powered razor experiment was a huge flop, a letdown... not because the shave wasn't great, it was the after party...

it all came back to me as to why i went and bought a braun 8595 a couple years ago and then on to wetshaving as we know it here... i totally felt like not shaving, I wasn't even tired or out of time, I just was trying to avoid shaving. now the irritation wasn't all that bad, it was limited to a small part of ther lower part of my neck, but man, did that have an impact on my pysche... i even thought about leaving that part unshaven, but that immediately sounded like a foolish idea. I have seen those neck beards and i am not impressed.

seriously, all the memories of bad shaves past came back to haunt me... almost exactly 2 years ago, i was a totally ignorant as to how much I would love brushes, straights, cobra SE, slant D/E. how my preferences/tastes changed and evolved...

5-13-2010
I have been lurking on B&B for the past month and there's a great community feel here. lots of info also. almost too much for someone new to the experience.

...grew up on sensor excels (and a bit of mach 3) with gels/foam/cremes for the most part (some years spent in Russia turned me on to Nivea Europe products that aren't available in the states) and spent the last 4-5 years between shaving with a braun 8595 Activator electric and barely shaving (using a trimmer to get to a short beard on weekends and eventually into the week). The irritation on my neck and jawline was what moved me to the electric...

Last month my brother and I were talking about shaving and I stumbled on B&B while do some wetshaving searches.

While discussing real basic concepts with my bro, I opted to really think about using some DE razors, and while I was in Target I saw the Shea Moisture brush and the Shave butter, knowing that it wasn't going to foam at all (which i have seen here referred to as a bad shave cream) ....

The shave butter has a decent ingredient list: African Black Soap, Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Black Seed Oil, Willow Bark Extract, Juniper Oil, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Essential Oil Blend. Doesn't smell so great, but not too bad. I think it has helped cut down on the irritation. I am still using a sensor while deciding what razor & blade, cream, oil combo I want to try first.

coincidentally, i just used that same pot of shave butter with the hydro (no brush).. and my brother, while not exactly losing interest, doesn't share the same enthusiasm for the hobby. He's got his barber pole merkur, some AOS cream, and an AOS pure brush. I given and lent him a few new and "exciting" brushes and soaps over the past 2 years, but while he enjoyed it, his lifestyle, priorities and mine differ... when I realized that, i gave him some AD breathing room, gave him a half a pot of my MdC and called it a day. i think he still enjoys seeing pics of my kit, though, but isn't interested in "investing".

I did totally noticed that my shaves with the Hydro left a very different skin sensation vs DE/SE/Straights... my skin felt odd, like i had done nothing to it, immediately after the shave... just no hair... i was missing that certain, slight "exfoliation" feeling. It's totally not a negative for me, but a refreshing, clean feel and last night when i used the cobra SE with a feather pro, i immediately felt it. It was a lost friend who had returned, peter pan getting back his shadow, jelly to peanut butter (no intentions of using PB to shave)...

i had planned on having a regal and glorious straight shave yesterday evening, but when it came down to action, i opted for the SOC boar, some cella, and the cobra... while not a shabby kit or shave, i just wanted a quick and easy wet shave as it was already 11;15PM when i finally got around to starting to end my day.

so the neck has pretty much healed up since my detour back into the "mainstream"... and looking forward to cleaning up and honing a new true 7 day set of 13/16 heavy "newer" vintage sheffields... i was totally psyched when these arrived.. i believe the scales are bone and in great shape.
 
i was feeling pretty good last evening and decided to get in an early shave around 10pm.. that's life with young kids, a lot of friday evenings hanging out watching family movies...

i have been using the semogue SOC boar a decent amount.. cant tell if it's broken in optimally yet, but it's getting there.. can't say i understand the hype about this brush...

I had some time to myself and took a nice shower and decided to keep on with the Toyo 777. It hasn't let me down yet, so i didn't do any touch up but stropping on linen/leather 40/60 and grabbed my bulb thater silvertip... debated on whether or not to use cella again, and figured why not...

lathered up and hot damn... there is no contest, that thater is ridiculous, i don't care if i could have 5 or 10 boars for the price of one of these.. no friggin contest if you have the means IMHO...

the lather was fantastic, the tips so soft, the shave - 2 passes and outstanding... like eating a piece of tuna or salmon sashimi, it just feels so good... the flesh/fat combination, cool, refreshing, not heavy, but very satisfying.

my skin feels great, looks great, no post shave day irritation and I can't wait for the next one... although i have given my IRL friends brushes, proraso, AOS samples, and bic metals they just don't get that feeling from a nice de, se or straight and i can't persuade them to spend $20-40 or spend a month or so learning how to shave...

i find that although I feel like I am taking my good old time, it's a quick shave... i still don't think i can do it in the morning before work (5:30am), i am just not coherent enough and i can't imagine it'll be the satisfying feeling like a late morning (9am) weekend shave or evening shave.

it's truly amazing that I am now shaving with straights in a capacity that is a the level that it is.. i never would have imagined it in a million years, especially that my wife said that only 1 straight ever i could have.. :001_rolle , that was the deal... :blush: even with although the different straights, hones, strops, DEs, SEs, soaps, creams, brushes, blades, and AS's it still feels minimal.. not that i want more, but I feel good... maybe a change here or there, but I like the current choice...

I also keep reading that large full hollows are great, but probably aren't the best choice in the hands of a beginner... i can't take exception to that as I have no idea, all i can say is I appreciate the large full hollows very very much...

I finished off the shave with Proraso old formulation ASL, and was thinking i needed to load up still... maybe in June...

The 777 edge is still going strong, and it definitely is shaving well, but it feels a step down from that initial shave, i think i may finally invest in some crox after seeing Jim's Ipe hones...

I wanted to take a picture of the SOTD, but i heard evening whispers that the kids were asleep :blushing:

X
 
this shave may have been too late in the morning (i guess I should consider it afternoon being 1pm) for my beard growth schedule ... but i had the time and was wanting a shave.. wish i had shave last night, but it didn't happen...

proxy.php

i was thinking i was gonna do a one pass, but while my first pass was good, the neck stands out as an area that requires more than one pass... the face not so much.. that's good with one, but i did a second anyway...

haven't used tabac soap in a while, it was good, i enjoy the scent and performance... the caravela never fails to perform well, and the 777 is still pretty sharp. after post-shave stropping it was a high positive HHT against my wife's sample hair in both directions... however the edge feels like it could use a slight smoothing. It's that compromise between let it ride until it's "dull" accomplishment or feel a great edge right now... i am gonna let it ride a bit more...

rr alum followed by Proraso ASL to finish it off and sweet shave...

XI
 
so i decided to touch the 777 up considering most seem to describe a full honing when talking about how many shaves they get between bevel resets.

couple months ago i picked up a ozuku san, but have barely touched it because i hadn't "finished" the tomanagura that had come with it and didn't want to scratch up the awaseda after having lapped. I know smoothing a tomanagura should be simple, but in it's mailed form were a lot of superficial fissures and what not that did not look like it would be contribution to the process... so they got toned down (rubbed away) on a DMT 120.

proxy.php

the slurry was nice and a couple strokes felt like a very light velvet.. definitely not super glass smooth... diluted once for a couple strokes, and a couple strokes on water, where i moved both the stone and razor with the lightest of touches..

the bevel is so small that it's almost impossible to see without help... but oh man, that edge... like a hero returning to get revenge on Mr. Big!

proxy.php


make that... one... rib... to go!
 
Last edited:
so Monday night's shave, i grabbed the vintage slant.. 1, 2 and done... there was a reason and i think it was because it was close to midnight, can't be sure.. i do remember that i used the SOC board and AOS lavender and i think anyone not finding the performance of AOS cream satisfactory isn't using enough product...

Tuesday night i had all the time in the world (since it was closer to 10PM.. ) SOC boar and AOS lavender cream again.. not sure I love either of these products... I probably should part with them now rather than later..

grabbed the 777 which had been refreshed in the post above and really got into the stropping... sometimes i enjoy stropping, sometimes i just want to get through it.. many times, the muscle memory doesn't stop after stropping and i need to do some wrist movements to change the action.

man, i am very happy i refreshed that edge.. while i am sure the edge could have gone on for a bit longer, that's the shave edge i love... smooth, clean, and quick.. barely need to do a second pass... i am quite content with a DFS++..

I think I am going to put the 777 away for a while and move on to another blade...

XII
 
decided to give the powered hydro a rest...


It looks like you haven't set yourself on straights at the expense of all other methods, modern or otherwise. You appear to be focused on a quality shave, by whatever means. ..... Props for that. It's good to keep our eyes open.
 
i haven't, but the bias is becoming apparent as i used a slant this long holiday weekend on a trip and then a cobra last night, and the slant is way outdone by the cobra... and i have a feeling that the cobra, while at the top of my non-straights, just doesn't offer the same experience...

i got 3 new straights in the mail around this weekend, another palmera, a boker, and a tungsten steel something or other..
 
last night i used the slant again w/ feather blade. great shave... RR cumba cheech soap, smells great.. definitely subtle citrus on the orange side...

so cameraflier readily observed what i was plotting out as a course of action..

I am currently reevaluating a lot of my shave crap. and i use crap in the most endearing way... like the value of keeping any of my safety razors, based on how much i enjoy the straights... I just have a lot of stuff, perhaps even too much... I think i currently have 4 DEs (feather portable, tech traveler, aristocrat, 40s SS) and for all intents and purposes 1 SE (cobra). here are my thoughts as I try to think about consolidation hardware...

- Bakerbarber gave me a cool wooden handle that I planned to sub out the sensor piece for the tech or a shick hydro head, but haven't gotten around to yet...
- the tech traveler works fine, i had no issues with getting a decent shave regardless of the handle size... maybe a bulldog replacement handle might be an option...
- the 40s SS has been on a whirlwind tour at my place of work for a handful of guys to try out...
- the aristocrat is in 95% great condition, just a small middle blade bar plating issue, but i don't love the feel of the shave
- the slant is cool, but the shave is OK compared to the cobra, but is more blade cheap/versatile
- the cobra is a sweet shaver, but it is kinda pricey and blade choice is limited and pricier compared to DE, but that's kind of minor

I love the feel of the edge of a straight. For me it's no comparison to the DEs. They just can't match the comfort and shave (for me) of a well honed straight.... but I do enjoy a backup for times i need a quick comfortable shave or perhaps on travel... but i think i can get away with using a disposable for travel, considering, i no longer do as much as i used to... it's just more convenient to stock 100 DE blades than remember to go out and grab a couple cartridges or bic metals at the last minute.

If i was to reduce the DEs down to 1, it would probably be the feather portable or tech traveler... and I say that as really like the slant, but it's 3rd on my list of go-to's when it comes to a shave. straight -> cobra -> DE

Keeping the cobra was gonna be great, because it shares the same blades as the Feather AC/DX straights, of which I now have 3 and all which are definitely collecting dust. I thought I would use them more, but I am just not. Of the three I prefer the non-folding to the folding and can't decide if want to keep the DX or AC SS because I barely use either.

tough decisions... I don't even want to think about the soaps and creams, and straights that languish unused... perhaps someone wants a $1000 mystery box? let me know :tongue_sm
 
I've never had a spanish point like this 7/8s Boker. the spine work was very interesting. This was an interesting shave... hadn't shaved since Thurs around 11PM. late morning shave just before noon after a late breakfast.

The blade felt pretty heavy, don't know exactly why, maybe it's the balance..

proxy.php

On the Semogue Finest LEs... sz 1 badger (quickly got rid of the sz1 boar) feels a bit too skritchy for me, but i like the density and softness, but when i feel the skritch it makes me long for a bit less of it.

Lathered up the RR Cumba Cheech, I like the citrus scents, other than candy lime scent... lathers nicely and for $4 is awesome...

this edge was not of my hones, and I am always curious of what other people's edges feel like and what they enjoy. I know my skin, hair, and expectations are different so it's always nice to be able to compare...

the edge was plenty sharp and while smooth, it was different. after 2 passes it was a great close shave... i don't know what to attribute the different feel to, given all variables... at least that was my perception...

I
 
Last edited:
yesterday was an odd day.. Sundays usually are, since as much as I want to shave in the morning, it messes up my schedule, so I can shave in the evening.. sometimes that meamns I am going 48 hours without shaving if I shave Saturday morning.. so yesterday i decided a 1 pass WTG with the cobra should be sufficient to feel great in the morning and give me enough growth to shave in the evening..

For the one pass, i grabbed some non-lathering shave cream and it was decent.. felt pretty good, but not great...

soon after, I decided it couldn't hurt much to refinish the edge on the boker to something i am used to and did a magic marker test to see what was going on with the angles and after a couple rolling x-strokes (about 15-20) with the nakayama maruka kiita, it looked pretty good and tested well... put it aside for later..

last night felt like a tabac soap night, after having used this scent for a while, i am still not sure if it's a re-order or even a keeper. I enjoy it, but don't get to it much recently... performance is always great though.

Lathered up the Rooney 3/3 finest, holy crap, what a brush..love the handle and knot, what more could someone want... perhaps a bit shorter loft might be even better, but this thing is still sweet. what a pleasure...

grabbed the boker spanish point 7/8s and started... the edge was there, a bit smoother and still cutting really really well. got through a second pass and decided to do a 3rd "ATG" which i don't normally do, except on occassion to keep the skills up. Nice result, but don't know if i care too much about the 3rd pass, it's easy to do, and feels really nice to be BBS, but i think i am good with 2 great passes... followed up with some alum, then AS, then a nice cut balm and from what i can tell looks like a great shave... this morning it's still a pretty tight shave and glad I can do an ATG without issue, but upon reflection, i still need to tweak the edge, perhaps i'll take it down to 5K or so and see if that helps reconcile...

All in all, the edge is fine, the shave is great, but something's awry...

wanted to grab a pic of this awesome SOTD, but recently got a hp touchpad and installed all the ICS nightly roms and been tweaking away and time slipped away from me. It's very interesting to see once how big the nexus galaxy felt compared to the original droid, but once you go from a 10" tablet to a 4" phone, the phone feels like a perfect mobile size... everything about using a tablet appears exactly what i expected, sitting on the coach surfiing the web, reading emails, and the occasional purchase.


II
 
last night, grabbed the Semogue Caravela, the RR chumba cheech, and a Palmera 14 round point.

i don't know what to say... i seem to always really enjoy the shave with a model "14", i don't even think about other things while I am using this steel lately... not much more to say 2 fantastic passes...

proxy.php

I
 
Last edited:
I was wondering how many straight shaves I can more or less account for and on average how many days it took me to get there. I think I have done a decent amount of recording the minimum number of shaves on this journal and more or less think i do more straight shaves than other shaves, but I was curious as to what the numbers say... so i went back through the journal and tallied up some numbers and dates

7/17/2010#1
1/16/2011#50
4/16/2011#100
2/10/2012#150
~6/15/2012#200

So it's roughly taken me 2 years to get through 200 shaves... by my records, I am at no less than at around 192 or 193 right now, but i think i may not have recorded some, not that it was my intention to record all past 100... but i thought i was catching most...

200.. huh.. feels like a lot more... it took me 6 months to get to 50, 3 months to get to 100, 10 months to get to 150?, and 4 months to get to 200? that sounds off... i wonder what i was doing in during the mid/end of 2011? perhaps that's when i went through a quick phase with some DEs and the cobra.. sounds like it could be right...

so 200 out of 700 days is about 1:3.5.. not a terrible ratio, considering i skip shaving around 1-2 days a week, which brings me to ~550 days, which is right around at average 2 straight shaves a week,.. given some of the non-straight distractions, travel and weeks of no shaving a couple times.

very strange, based on my numbers, it took me longer to get from 100 to 200 than it did 0 to 100. I would have guessed the opposite.

what a downer! let this be a lesson to all keeping track, I was feeling really good about myself pre-analysis. obviously, the only thing to do is more analysis to find out what the hell i was doing over the past year considering the exponential increase in straights to use... more analysis... month by month, week by week, day by day...
 
Hi Jon,

I think 1:3.5 is a very respectable ratio! Myself, being a family man with a toddler and a baby on the way, 1-3 straight shaves a week is realistically where I personally am right now without compromising family or work. Gosh, I'd love to straight shave every day! Perhaps later in life...for now, my DE still gets a fair amount of play, more play than affection for certain. Congratulations on your persistence and your dedication as evidenced by your copious journal.
 
Hi Jon,

I think 1:3.5 is a very respectable ratio! Myself, being a family man with a toddler and a baby on the way, 1-3 straight shaves a week is realistically where I personally am right now without compromising family or work. Gosh, I'd love to straight shave every day! Perhaps later in life...for now, my DE still gets a fair amount of play, more play than affection for certain. Congratulations on your persistence and your dedication as evidenced by your copious journal.

thanks, 2-3 times a week isn't that bad , i agree ... I started with straights when my kids were 1 and 5, and trying to get a shave in was an affair for the late late evening so that everything else gets done. now they are 3 and 7 and demand even more attention than before.. I am going to try to up the number to perhaps a regular 4x a week.

Many times i thought i would just give this up, but i am still enjoying the learning/experimentation process... i'd truly forget if i didn't write it down...

Nice razor and picture!

thanks... i am definitely enjoying the palmeras so much so I got an 8 day set of the hollow bellied 14s... i am still thinking about how to rescale them as they definitely need it.
 
So I killed the getting to 200 because I dislocated and broke my knee on Tuesday night and have been in the hospital trying to stabilize the leg from swelling, pulse loss, etc. Came from zigging and then zagging and hearing a tear/crunch. Holy crap it hurts. I should be going back to surgery this week to put some plates and pins on the tibia. Not cool at all. I am laid up for a while.

My beard is getting kind of thick since I haven't shaved in a while...

Got a new blade while I was in recovery room and hope to use it to wipe away the beard. I can barely get out of bed because of the pain and external fixator on my leg but maybe I will get a chance this week.
 
You have time now to work up an appropriately awe inspiring story. I’m sure you were rescuing a puppy from a burning building, or giving emergency CPR to a Swedish supermodel when the idiot EMT backed over your leg with the ambulance. Or was is shaving related?

Either way, I hope you heal-up soon. If you’re in the hospital, let us know which one. I can swing by with some BBQ and a travel strop. “pardon nurse, these are essential items….”
 
Top Bottom