First Traditional Wet Shave

**Chadtheguru** · 12-21-2010, 12:23 PM

I received TThunder's awesomely, fabulously superlative PIF package in the mail yesterday. Up until now, I've been limited to a PIF'd Gillette Flair Tip, Dollar General blades, and aerosol-cheese canned goo due to a ban on shaving purchases until Christmas. The PIF made an satisfyingly appropriate loophole.

To make a short story shorter, I slapped an Astra into the Merkur HD, lathered up some of the Trumpers Violet (in a rose tub) and man, oh man. I was thrilled with the smooth glide of the HD and the Astra blade. Only a couple little weepers which is pretty good considering that I was vibrating with giddiness. The lather left a little to be desired as I left the soap too wet before I loaded my brush. I've since corrected that and practice-lathered a beauty of a brush-full of lather.

Starting with the HD was a no brainer. The Trumper's I've been dying to try someday just because it's old and kind of expensive for a soap. The Astra won a coin-toss. I was utterly amazed at the ease of the blade over the trouble-spots on my face. Did I pick the perfect blade by chance? I am definitely going to try all the other blades eventually, but its hard to believe that it can get better. Is this what I can expect from now on?

**73mountaineer** · 12-21-2010, 12:37 PM

Astras are my favorite blade so I would have to say that you made a good choice. I seem to get the best combination of sharpness, smoothness and consistency from blade to blade with them, regardless of which razor I load one in to. That said, be sure to try the others that you have as well, as there may be another that is perfect for you. I still use others just for variety, but I always have at least one razor loaded up with an Astra

**Luc** · 12-21-2010, 01:53 PM

Nice!

You can try other blades and see if the shave is easier, closer but if that blade works for you, I'd recommend sticking to it for as long as you can!

**vitaman** · 12-21-2010, 01:57 PM

Sounds good, I also really like Astra's. Welcome to B&B and Happy Holidays!

**T.Ryan** · 12-21-2010, 01:59 PM

Welcome to B&B.

**Go West Young Man** · 12-21-2010, 02:02 PM

Loopholes are clutch!

**Chadtheguru** · 12-21-2010, 09:39 PM

Okay, what's the deal? Last night was awesome, tonight was disastrous. Same handle, same blade, decent lather (P.160 instead of Trumpers), same prep, awful shave. Tug, tug, tug. Weep, weep, weep. I concentrated on applying no pressure. I still got mauled. What happened?

One observation: Yesterday, I had a couple days growth to cut. Today, I only had a slight stubble in patches. Could it be that I'm an every-other-day shaver?

Any ideas? Help!

**Vlad** · 12-21-2010, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by Chadtheguru

Okay, what's the deal? Last night was awesome, tonight was disastrous. Same handle, same blade, decent lather (P.160 instead of Trumpers), same prep, awful shave. Tug, tug, tug. Weep, weep, weep. I concentrated on applying no pressure. I still got mauled. What happened?

One observation: Yesterday, I had a couple days growth to cut. Today, I only had a slight stubble in patches. Could it be that I'm an every-other-day shaver?

Any ideas? Help!

If I had to guess, you rushed it. Probably too excited to really take your time scrubbing that beard (longer than you need to to have good lather and full coverage), which I find gives the whiskers time to soften, and probably rushed the actual shave because you got a bit over confident. Don't personally think the number of days growth has anything to do with it.

**JMcMurry** · 12-21-2010, 11:11 PM

Im inclined to agree with Vlad. I get a little jittery at times when new equipment comes around. lol. Use the oil of speed wisely!

**Luc** · 12-21-2010, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by Vlad

If I had to guess, you rushed it. Probably too excited to really take your time scrubbing that beard (longer than you need to to have good lather and full coverage), which I find gives the whiskers time to soften, and probably rushed the actual shave because you got a bit over confident. Don't personally think the number of days growth has anything to do with it.

+1

Something changed somewhere... If it tugs too much, change the blade right away and see how it goes.

**josephfrye** · 12-22-2010, 02:54 AM

I'll have to try the Astra blades!!

**Chadtheguru** · 12-22-2010, 05:27 AM

Originally Posted by Vlad

If I had to guess, you rushed it. Probably too excited to really take your time scrubbing that beard (longer than you need to to have good lather and full coverage), which I find gives the whiskers time to soften, and probably rushed the actual shave because you got a bit over confident. Don't personally think the number of days growth has anything to do with it.

That's good news. Rather than being overconfident, I know I was pretty upset last night (I'll spare you the details

) and decided to have a shower and a shave. I rushed the prep and surely rushed the shave. Am I correct in thinking that tugging sometimes can be caused by blade angle, scraping the whiskers instead of cutting them?

I'm sure I was distracted. Thanks for the encouragement, guys.

**nrdoty** · 12-22-2010, 06:53 AM

Originally Posted by Chadtheguru

Okay, what's the deal? Last night was awesome, tonight was disastrous. Same handle, same blade, decent lather (P.160 instead of Trumpers), same prep, awful shave. Tug, tug, tug. Weep, weep, weep. I concentrated on applying no pressure. I still got mauled. What happened?

One observation: Yesterday, I had a couple days growth to cut. Today, I only had a slight stubble in patches. Could it be that I'm an every-other-day shaver?

Any ideas? Help!

I seem to have this same problem. I'm still learning so no BBS shaves yet, but I seem to go from a decent shave (more stubble than I'd like though), to razor burn the next day, another ok shave followed by bloodletting the next day. Maybe we are just getting a bit overconfident after a decent shave?