So, nearly a month in to classical wetshaving here, and I can count the shaves that completely surpass my old technique on one hand. Now, most shaves these days are far better in a few key areas (cheeks, neck, jawline), but the chin and upper lip are still elusive.
Here's the gear:
mid-60s black-handled Gillette adjustable (American personna blades)
'47 SuperSpeed (used with Merkur and IP blades thus far)
Lee's Razors/Vulfix 1000 (Pure Badger intro brush)
Taylor's Avocado
Proraso
Proraso + Williams soap
QED Mocha Java
Nancy Boy Replenshing (yesterday)
Nancy Boy Signature (this morning)
Pre-shave:
This is pretty standard stuff for me -- shower, wash face with Neutrogena Razor Defense face wash, let face soak a bit. Dry self (not face), prep shave gear, make lather, re-soak face, apply lather, shave.
Post-shave:
alum block
rinse
one of the following:
Neutrogena Razor Defense lotion
Nivea Sensitive Skin Aftershave Balm
Nancy Boy Replenishing Aftershave (yesterday)
Nancy Boy Signature Aftershave (this morning)
I know that I need to work on lathering techniques, although that's getting better. Reading posts on using more cream (and a wetter brush: let drip, then two *light* shakes, plus a drib of water in the ramekin I'm using to lather in) has helped in that regard, and my one experiment at superlather was pretty successful. Still, the first application keeps on feeling too loose, while the second, third, and fourth applications start feeling right -- every time.
I used the adjustable for about 2 weeks, with the bulk US Personna blades, and farted around a lot with the adjustment. 5 is way the hell to high, I discovered one particularly ouchy morning, 3 seemed right early on, but I kept on winding up with noticeable stubble after 4 passes! (WTG, WTG or XTG, XTG, ATG and cleanup [seems most of my face can handle that])
Then the SuperSpeed showed up, along with the LetterK large sampler, so I switched immediately to Merkur blades to start off -- chalk up two shaves that start rivalling the closeness on the chin my old Panasonic gave me! I've been doing the shaving cream shuffle the whole time (the nancy Boy stuff arrived just two days ago, so that's new), juggling between Proraso -- especially on the hot days -- and the Avocado. Proraso seems to lather easier and give a more consistent shave for me, but the Avocado feels great and I love the smell ... yet the shaves were never as good.
I know one answer is probably true: geek out on blade angle and stick with one cream until stuff gets right -- then back to the shuffle. But is there anything else? Something in pre-shave to mess around with, too?
Trouble is, with a toddler to get ready in the morning and two of us with 8AM jobs, the time involved for Kyle's excellent-sounding towel-and-lather routine just isn't in the cards for the time being. Ought I just to be keeping the towel on my face from shower off to shave start?
Here's the gear:
mid-60s black-handled Gillette adjustable (American personna blades)
'47 SuperSpeed (used with Merkur and IP blades thus far)
Lee's Razors/Vulfix 1000 (Pure Badger intro brush)
Taylor's Avocado
Proraso
Proraso + Williams soap
QED Mocha Java
Nancy Boy Replenshing (yesterday)
Nancy Boy Signature (this morning)
Pre-shave:
This is pretty standard stuff for me -- shower, wash face with Neutrogena Razor Defense face wash, let face soak a bit. Dry self (not face), prep shave gear, make lather, re-soak face, apply lather, shave.
Post-shave:
alum block
rinse
one of the following:
Neutrogena Razor Defense lotion
Nivea Sensitive Skin Aftershave Balm
Nancy Boy Replenishing Aftershave (yesterday)
Nancy Boy Signature Aftershave (this morning)
I know that I need to work on lathering techniques, although that's getting better. Reading posts on using more cream (and a wetter brush: let drip, then two *light* shakes, plus a drib of water in the ramekin I'm using to lather in) has helped in that regard, and my one experiment at superlather was pretty successful. Still, the first application keeps on feeling too loose, while the second, third, and fourth applications start feeling right -- every time.
I used the adjustable for about 2 weeks, with the bulk US Personna blades, and farted around a lot with the adjustment. 5 is way the hell to high, I discovered one particularly ouchy morning, 3 seemed right early on, but I kept on winding up with noticeable stubble after 4 passes! (WTG, WTG or XTG, XTG, ATG and cleanup [seems most of my face can handle that])
Then the SuperSpeed showed up, along with the LetterK large sampler, so I switched immediately to Merkur blades to start off -- chalk up two shaves that start rivalling the closeness on the chin my old Panasonic gave me! I've been doing the shaving cream shuffle the whole time (the nancy Boy stuff arrived just two days ago, so that's new), juggling between Proraso -- especially on the hot days -- and the Avocado. Proraso seems to lather easier and give a more consistent shave for me, but the Avocado feels great and I love the smell ... yet the shaves were never as good.
I know one answer is probably true: geek out on blade angle and stick with one cream until stuff gets right -- then back to the shuffle. But is there anything else? Something in pre-shave to mess around with, too?
Trouble is, with a toddler to get ready in the morning and two of us with 8AM jobs, the time involved for Kyle's excellent-sounding towel-and-lather routine just isn't in the cards for the time being. Ought I just to be keeping the towel on my face from shower off to shave start?