Shave outcome.

This is partly to journal my progress. I've seen others try it and liked the idea, so feel free to largely ignore this thread

Today was my third shave and things just didn't work out it seemed. I got a great shave on my face, very close and just shy of what I'd call BBS, but on my neck it's still a SAS and even that caused irritation.
The previous two days I've apparently been working up the later incorrectly but I was still able to get a moist smooth lather. Today I switched to the 'proper' method of bowl lathering and I just couldn't seem to get it. I practiced a few times last night and it seemed to work out great lots of thick yougurty lather. This morning I mixed and mixed and every time it looked right I'd start applying it to my face and it'd dry out/disappear. I even tried a bit of face lathering to no real avail. After about 7 mins of lathering I had at least a thin coat and moved on. The face passes went great, I think I'm starting to get the angle right and I could really hear the hairs popping. My neck it seems I could not keep a consistent angle and parts of it are incredibly smooth and parts have obvious room for improvement. I also got first blood today, two small weepers I didn't notice until I was rinsing off.
The face was far better than my two previous attempts but the neck bugged me, more the lack of consistency than anything else. I know three shaves in is still early so I guess I'll just keep practicing and see how it goes. It's a lot more fun than dry scraping with the Mach 3 at least.

Also I washed and left my brush lathered up over night and it did seem quite a bit less smelly and softer this morning. Yay for the Howtos on this site

Good start! Don't worry too much about weepers, it's normal at this stage.

It sounds like you're getting the hang of it. Most of the details of shaving and making lather tend to get figured out pretty quick which will give you a good shave. It's the fine details when looking for perfection that take a while to master.

Hang in there, friend. I was exactly where you are now about 3-4 weeks ago, and it just takes practice, practice, practice. You'll figure out what regimen and equipment works best for you through trial and error. I'm only barely further down the road than you are, and already I am enjoying closer shaves with less irritation. It just takes time. Good luck, and stick with it!

Keep at it! It gets easier, it really does. Don't fret to much about the neck I think "everyone" has problems with the neck in the beginning.

Todays shave was very nice. After experimenting a bit I figured out the lathering problem. I wasn't using enough product. The puck was spinning in the cup I have it in and wasn't really getting on the brush. With that fixed I got a great lather and applied it. Really took my time making sure I had the angle right and it paid off. The right side of my face is BBS. Its amazing. The left side and neck are just a little shy of that, shows I need to work with my off hand more I guess. Very little irritation on my neck today, It seems I was still trying the shave,shave,and shave again idea there. I caught myself making certain to only shave one area once between lathers. Resulted in much less irritation. Also I think I'm finally starting to get the grain angles figured out which is a plus too.
All in all my fourth shave was good, the best yet
I'll likely skip tomorrow and try 2-day growth Sunday morn.

I don't know how many different blades you've tried but I'm offering a PIF on the forum, you might want to sign up.

Kione said:

Todays shave was very nice. After experimenting a bit I figured out the lathering problem. I wasn't using enough product. The puck was spinning in the cup I have it in and wasn't really getting on the brush. With that fixed I got a great lather and applied it. Really took my time making sure I had the angle right and it paid off. The right side of my face is BBS. Its amazing. The left side and neck are just a little shy of that, shows I need to work with my off hand more I guess. Very little irritation on my neck today, It seems I was still trying the shave,shave,and shave again idea there. I caught myself making certain to only shave one area once between lathers. Resulted in much less irritation. Also I think I'm finally starting to get the grain angles figured out which is a plus too.
All in all my fourth shave was good, the best yet
I'll likely skip tomorrow and try 2-day growth Sunday morn.

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Awesome...getting the lather right is 80% of the battle. The rest comes in time. Keep practicing the lather until it becomes second nature

Keep at it and keep posting about your progress.

Using your off hand will balance your shaves on either side of your face. To make the process faster, make your lather with your off hand...it'll learn fast.

Things are looking up...great work.

Todays shave was great, BBS all over my face and a CCS+ on my neck!
Lathered up quickly and easily and was somewhat forced into experimentation. My wife was showering so I knew that I was a dead man if I stole the hot water So I barely used enough to warm up my lather bowl then filled the sink with cold. I really worked the lather into my face and started shaving, first pass went ok then did second XTG. My third pass I flipped another variable, trying to get a less irritating shave on my neck. I did the ATG pass with a light buffing action, first time I've tried that but it worked nicely, easily the best neck shave I've had and it went smooth with very little irritation. Skipped aftershave because I still don't have any wife approved stuff and washed my face with cold water then finished up with a warm soak (TWGW was out of the shower) It felt great all day, and I'd say its equal to any shave I've ever had with a cartridge. But it felt somehow nicer. Without the AS ther was a odd sensitivity lasting until around 1PM or so. No irritation or pain, just sensitive some how, although I guess it could be I'm just not used to such nice shaves.

All told, again, the best shave yet and I think I'm really starting to get the swing of it, Im hooked and theres no going back. I was talking to a guy at church about it and he looked at me like I was crazy then offered to buy me a fusion I just chuckled and went on, resisting the urge to feel my face all through service.

Thanks for the help guys.

I Did it!
Working far to long and far to hard I got a BBS shave today! Woohoo!

Shave went much like yesterday so I won't post a long ramble but just wanted to update that I finally got my neck! I won't say its as close as it could of been but it was close enough to be better around the grain eddies than a cartridge ever gave me!
I went once pass to many I think and got a little irritation so I'll back off and work on tecnique more, see how it goes, thanks for the continuing help guys!

Kione said:

I Did it!
Working far too long and far too hard I got a BBS shave today! Woohoo!

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Congrats! In no time you'll be able to do that in your sleep.

Kione said:

I Did it!
Working far to long and far to hard I got a BBS shave today! Woohoo!

Shave went much like yesterday so I won't post a long ramble but just wanted to update that I finally got my neck! I won't say its as close as it could of been but it was close enough to be better around the grain eddies than a cartridge ever gave me!
I went once pass to many I think and got a little irritation so I'll back off and work on tecnique more, see how it goes, thanks for the continuing help guys!

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Congrats!!

im there with you, the neck is a tricky area. I just have to remind myself


slow down, slow down and no pressure