The Aftermath! -- Round one. Ready, shave.

**Boris D** · 11-01-2010, 03:07 PM

Mmmk, so ignore the ridiculousness of the camera angle. The bathroom lights are above me so i had to do a matrix pose to get the lighting. Also, quality is a bit bad because it was taken with my camera phone, but I think you can get the gist of it.

I tried it with cream, and I may have not used enough cream or water, but it remained foamy with lots of air bubbles after a lot of spinning. I soaked the boar brush while I showered and squeezed out about half the water.

My "beard" was about... 7mm long hairs.

Pass one was to try to cut it up a bit, pass two to finish the job, pass 3 to try to do a close shave with the grain, and pass 4 was to finish off against the grain.

I didn't put on any pressure and let the blade do the work, used my hand near the end to touch the skin and feel the rough patches, so the shave at the moment is pretty smooth.

I applied about 6 droplets worth of witch hazel aftershave by putting the drops in my hand, rubbing my hands together, and rubbing my face.

It didn't burn, but as you can see, a few minutes after the shave there are still a bit of red bumps. No blood though. The red bumps could have already been there prior to the shave, a result of a "dirty beard" that just was growing out for about a week. Could be from the blade angle, since it was my first time, or from the foamy rather than creamy lather.

Feedback would be helpful! any questions that I didn't include, just ask.

**Luc** · 11-01-2010, 03:11 PM

That would be irritation. You probably applied a bit of pressure while shaving. Make sure it's no pressure. It doesn't take much to apply some pressure without noticing.

Your prep and lather could also be the cause. If the prep was not sufficient or if the lather wasn't slick enough.

For a first try, I'd say you did great! Practice is the bigger element that will help you!

**Boris D** · 11-01-2010, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by Luc

That would be irritation. You probably applied a bit of pressure while shaving. Make sure it's no pressure. It doesn't take much to apply some pressure without noticing.

Your prep and lather could also be the cause. If the prep was not sufficient or if the lather wasn't slick enough.

For a first try, I'd say you did great! Practice is the bigger element that will help you!

I used your lather guide here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=150737

My lather remained like stage 6 and never reached stage 7 even though I kept mixing.

**Luc** · 11-01-2010, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by Boris D

I used your lather guide here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=150737

My lather remained like stage 6 and never reached stage 7 even though I kept mixing.

It means that you didn't have enough water. I would recommend making a few bowls of lather before your next shave. Try adding a bit of water at stage 6 and see how you go. Dry lather is not good.

To add water, I have 2 different ways to do it. Only do this when you are at stage 6, not before. Making lather is not an exact science...

1-Wet your fingers and let the water drip from your finger in the bowl.
2-Dunk the tip of the bristles in water and then, continue to mix.

I usually use the second one. You might have to repeat one or the other a few time, that's possible.

**fisherbln** · 11-01-2010, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by Boris D

I used your lather guide here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=150737

My lather remained like stage 6 and never reached stage 7 even though I kept mixing.

If it looked like stage 6 then your water ratio was off. You still needed more water and more laps.

EDIT: Luc beat me to it!

**Boris D** · 11-01-2010, 03:26 PM

Well, looks like I'll have to keep trying. Like you said though, not bad for a first try.

Side note, which I forgot to mention. When I soaked the boar brush and went to shower, when I got out the water that it was soaking in turned slightly yellow. I didn't wash the brush before using it so I wonder if that had something to do with it. After I squeezed out the water and emptied the mug, I made the lather without soaking the brush in clean water, so maybe it was dirty in some way?

**Luc** · 11-01-2010, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Boris D

Well, looks like I'll have to keep trying. Like you said though, not bad for a first try.

Side note, which I forgot to mention. When I soaked the boar brush and went to shower, when I got out the water that it was soaking in turned slightly yellow. I didn't wash the brush before using it so I wonder if that had something to do with it. After I squeezed out the water and emptied the mug, I made the lather without soaking the brush in clean water, so maybe it was dirty in some way?

I didn't get that with any of my boar but it doesn't mean it doesn't exists. I would recommend washing the brush with shampoo a few times. You could do this: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index...es#Maintenance

Have a look at both threads that are link the maintenance section...

**Daedalus207** · 11-01-2010, 04:36 PM

I noticed that with my new Semogue boar brush the first 2 or 3 times I used it. The first time, it smelled slightly "animally" as well, enough to overpower the Tabac soap I was using. Once the brush got broken in the color and smell went away, and it makes much better lather, too.

Looks like you are getting good advice from Luc. When I finally read the lathering how-tos here on B&B, I was amazed at how much water I had to add in order to get a good lather. I use the "dribble water off your fingers" method, and I usually have to do it twice at ~30 second intervals to get optimal lather with the TOBS I'm using at the moment.

**JohnnyC** · 11-01-2010, 06:41 PM

6 drops of witch hazel? suggest you try splashing a 1/2 tablespoon on your hands, rub together and hit your face.

**Blaser0217** · 11-01-2010, 06:48 PM

Looks a heck of a lot better than my first DE shave! Good work, keep at it and it will only get better!

**Boris D** · 11-01-2010, 07:33 PM

Much of the irritation seems to have gone down after a few hours. We'll see how it looks in the morning.

**ackvil** · 11-02-2010, 05:04 AM

Welcome. You did a nice job for the first DE shave. With practice you will get better - and your skin will toughen up.

In addition to WH you may want to try skin moisturizer to provide relief. I like GFT’s skin food products and also a moisturizer I borrow from my wife. My wife’s moisturizer always provides me with relief (it contains something called hyaluronic acid) almost instantly.