Wanna get this right
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- Thread starter
- #122
2.5 days of growth. Feather on day 2.
Shave
Shaved today putting the TOBS on my face while I made lather and that seems to make a huge difference. That or I just had more water yesterday. Either way, great shave with only three passes and a few touch-ups. I did slow down, but dang good. Normal DE89, Feather, TOBS, Conk Brush (lather wasn't perfect and I'm not certain why - too little water, I think - certainly passable though). For XTG I only lathered half my face at a time and for ATG I did 1/4 at a time to be sure it didn't dry out and so I could go nice and slow. Only put alum on my cheeks to the jaw line. WH and Nivea ASB to finish. No burn from the Alum, but didn't dare put it on my neck. And, it didn't turn red - sweet. May give up on alum all together.
Outcome and Time
DFS+. 37 minutes (ugh)
By about noon I could feel a bit of stubble ATG, but dang was that a good shave. Had two tiny bleeders that nearly closed up during the cold rinse. light styptic and good to go.
Takeaways
- Think I'll try without alum. My neck didn't turn red at all today and I'm certain the Alum is the reason it usually does.
- This is my last feather. I'm going to try the Gillette Greens, Blues, and Blacks I have as well as the Polsilvers when they arrive. I'll then switch back to the Astras until I break down and buy more Feathers and get some blades from the bank. (going to get med preps, labs, and a few others.)
- I CAN get a DFS+ shave from 3 passes plus touch ups if I go slowly, have decent lather, prep well and am hydrated.
- No alum and I didn't get those red splotches. Going to continue to do without it.
Shave
Shaved today putting the TOBS on my face while I made lather and that seems to make a huge difference. That or I just had more water yesterday. Either way, great shave with only three passes and a few touch-ups. I did slow down, but dang good. Normal DE89, Feather, TOBS, Conk Brush (lather wasn't perfect and I'm not certain why - too little water, I think - certainly passable though). For XTG I only lathered half my face at a time and for ATG I did 1/4 at a time to be sure it didn't dry out and so I could go nice and slow. Only put alum on my cheeks to the jaw line. WH and Nivea ASB to finish. No burn from the Alum, but didn't dare put it on my neck. And, it didn't turn red - sweet. May give up on alum all together.
Outcome and Time
DFS+. 37 minutes (ugh)
By about noon I could feel a bit of stubble ATG, but dang was that a good shave. Had two tiny bleeders that nearly closed up during the cold rinse. light styptic and good to go.
Takeaways
- Think I'll try without alum. My neck didn't turn red at all today and I'm certain the Alum is the reason it usually does.
- This is my last feather. I'm going to try the Gillette Greens, Blues, and Blacks I have as well as the Polsilvers when they arrive. I'll then switch back to the Astras until I break down and buy more Feathers and get some blades from the bank. (going to get med preps, labs, and a few others.)
- I CAN get a DFS+ shave from 3 passes plus touch ups if I go slowly, have decent lather, prep well and am hydrated.
- No alum and I didn't get those red splotches. Going to continue to do without it.
- Thread starter
- #123
Feather day 3. only 24 hour growth.
Shave
Shower, wash, conditioner rubbed into beard and let set for a few minutes. TOBS sandalwood spread on face while making lather (just a small dab). WTG, XTG, ATG, some touch-ups. Not looking for perfection, but ~DFS was the goal. Think my blade was dulling as I finished, but worked. I'll stretch it one more day if I can to know if I can get a 4th day out of a feather. Cut myself two places on my chin. One was due to a small slip-up and ended up about 1/4" with light bleeding. Styptic fixed it up nicely. Not sure how second happened and was only about 1/8" - might be due to feather dulling, we'll see. Finished with warm rinse, cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB. No alum.
Outcome and Time
About 30 minutes. DFS. Pretty comfortable, but light irritation in a couple areas.
Takeaways
- Need to try feather one more day to see if can get 4th day. Seems unlikely.
- didn't notice redness right away, but didn't check 30 minutes later.
Shave
Shower, wash, conditioner rubbed into beard and let set for a few minutes. TOBS sandalwood spread on face while making lather (just a small dab). WTG, XTG, ATG, some touch-ups. Not looking for perfection, but ~DFS was the goal. Think my blade was dulling as I finished, but worked. I'll stretch it one more day if I can to know if I can get a 4th day out of a feather. Cut myself two places on my chin. One was due to a small slip-up and ended up about 1/4" with light bleeding. Styptic fixed it up nicely. Not sure how second happened and was only about 1/8" - might be due to feather dulling, we'll see. Finished with warm rinse, cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB. No alum.
Outcome and Time
About 30 minutes. DFS. Pretty comfortable, but light irritation in a couple areas.
Takeaways
- Need to try feather one more day to see if can get 4th day. Seems unlikely.
- didn't notice redness right away, but didn't check 30 minutes later.
Welcome to B&B! You'll love the 89
- Thread starter
- #125
Timing, right? I asked a mod if we could make a journal section so a 2-month-old thread doesn't pop to the top of the Newbie section all the time, but no response...Thanks for the late welcome
- Thread starter
- #126
Day 4 on Feather and there wont be another day 4 on a feather. 24 hour's growth.
Shave
conditioner on hair in shower, TOBS cream on face while making lather, Finest brush, EJ DE89 w/day 4 feather. WTG, XTG, ATG, touch-ups. Cut OK on WTG and started to give me a few bleeders on XTG and ATG. By the end I had about 8 bleeders, all of which closed up well enough by the cold rinse. WH, Nivea ASB. THe blade didn't really pull, but also didn't feel very sharp and gave me all these bleeders.
Outcome and Time
Didn't time, but took longer than normal - I was slow today. DFS+ with a bit of irritation, especially all those bleeders.
UPDATE: burned pretty bad playing ball at lunch and was still a bit irritated at the end of the day. No more 4 days with Feathers.
Takeaways
- Out of Feathers for now and will try some new blades and go back to some of the other blades I've tried now that I'm sure my technique is solid. Don't expect much from any of them, but should be able to get by with the Astras and Gillettes. WIll order more of whatever works and will trade at the exchange bank to try some more.
- Feathers give me 2 great shaves and a third alright shave. 4th is pushing it.
- No alum is great for me.
- The TOBS isn't burning as much. I think my face is getting used to it.
Shave
conditioner on hair in shower, TOBS cream on face while making lather, Finest brush, EJ DE89 w/day 4 feather. WTG, XTG, ATG, touch-ups. Cut OK on WTG and started to give me a few bleeders on XTG and ATG. By the end I had about 8 bleeders, all of which closed up well enough by the cold rinse. WH, Nivea ASB. THe blade didn't really pull, but also didn't feel very sharp and gave me all these bleeders.
Outcome and Time
Didn't time, but took longer than normal - I was slow today. DFS+ with a bit of irritation, especially all those bleeders.
UPDATE: burned pretty bad playing ball at lunch and was still a bit irritated at the end of the day. No more 4 days with Feathers.
Takeaways
- Out of Feathers for now and will try some new blades and go back to some of the other blades I've tried now that I'm sure my technique is solid. Don't expect much from any of them, but should be able to get by with the Astras and Gillettes. WIll order more of whatever works and will trade at the exchange bank to try some more.
- Feathers give me 2 great shaves and a third alright shave. 4th is pushing it.
- No alum is great for me.
- The TOBS isn't burning as much. I think my face is getting used to it.
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- Thread starter
- #128
Two day's growth. New blades today. Yes, had two switch. Started with Gillette 7 O'Clock Blue, but finished with Green. Wanted to try the TOBS sw soap, but didn't want to change two variables.
Shave
Normal prep: Warm shower, conditioner for a few minutes, TOBS cream rubbed on face. TOBS Sandalwood cream lathered using finest brush, DE89 loaded with Gillette 7OC Blue (had to rinse the blade as it smelled like oil, just like my Yellows did. Also, one of the glue dots was so large it actually ran out onto the blade edge. I rinsed and wiped it well so that wouldn't affect the cutting) This time I didn't rinse my face as fully to get off the prep cream, and the lather just exploded. Man, I really like this cream.
Started WTG on sideburn/cheek area. This blade tugged and pulled badly. I gave it a flip to be certain it wasn't the extra glue and did the other side of my face WTG. This was just as bad. Stopped and loaded a 7OC Green. Much, much better. I'd compare it to a yellow, but seemed more smooth. It still pulled a tiny bit, but was certainly acceptable. Did my XTG and noticed it pull a bit more in my thick areas. Since the WTG/XTG hadn't done enough, I did another XTG. Still caught a bit in the thick areas, but cut without a single bleeder. Next was an ATG pass. This blade wasn't up to ATG in my thick areas and medium-thick areas. The feather can't do ATG directly on my thick areas and has to go oblique ATG. The green had to to oblique ATG even in the medium-thick areas. Ended up with about three bleeders during the ATG. Did touch-ups and they weren't as good as the Feather. I just couldn't get a few areas clean and it started to irritate during the blade buffing in a couple areas - time to stop. All bleeders bled through the warm rinse, but stopped at the cold rinse, so no styptic today. WH, Nivea ASB. Did second ASB as it's winter and my face seemed to drink the first time.
Outcome and Time
BBS in many areas, but only SAS in my tough areas: point of my chin, under the chin, and on both sides of my Adam's apple. This was an acceptable shave. Didn't time it at all, but took forever with the new blades, etc.
Takeaways
- Gillette 7 O'C Blues are out - not even up to the task of WTG
- Gillette 7 O'C Greens are good enough, around the Yellows, but cannot do ATG even in medium-thick areas
- Feathers are still king, but want to know if these Greens hold up on shaves 2 and 3.
- Need to continue working on my trouble areas and see if I can get a system down that works even without a Feather.
Questions
Is my experience with the Blues common? Greens?
Shave
Normal prep: Warm shower, conditioner for a few minutes, TOBS cream rubbed on face. TOBS Sandalwood cream lathered using finest brush, DE89 loaded with Gillette 7OC Blue (had to rinse the blade as it smelled like oil, just like my Yellows did. Also, one of the glue dots was so large it actually ran out onto the blade edge. I rinsed and wiped it well so that wouldn't affect the cutting) This time I didn't rinse my face as fully to get off the prep cream, and the lather just exploded. Man, I really like this cream.
Started WTG on sideburn/cheek area. This blade tugged and pulled badly. I gave it a flip to be certain it wasn't the extra glue and did the other side of my face WTG. This was just as bad. Stopped and loaded a 7OC Green. Much, much better. I'd compare it to a yellow, but seemed more smooth. It still pulled a tiny bit, but was certainly acceptable. Did my XTG and noticed it pull a bit more in my thick areas. Since the WTG/XTG hadn't done enough, I did another XTG. Still caught a bit in the thick areas, but cut without a single bleeder. Next was an ATG pass. This blade wasn't up to ATG in my thick areas and medium-thick areas. The feather can't do ATG directly on my thick areas and has to go oblique ATG. The green had to to oblique ATG even in the medium-thick areas. Ended up with about three bleeders during the ATG. Did touch-ups and they weren't as good as the Feather. I just couldn't get a few areas clean and it started to irritate during the blade buffing in a couple areas - time to stop. All bleeders bled through the warm rinse, but stopped at the cold rinse, so no styptic today. WH, Nivea ASB. Did second ASB as it's winter and my face seemed to drink the first time.
Outcome and Time
BBS in many areas, but only SAS in my tough areas: point of my chin, under the chin, and on both sides of my Adam's apple. This was an acceptable shave. Didn't time it at all, but took forever with the new blades, etc.
Takeaways
- Gillette 7 O'C Blues are out - not even up to the task of WTG
- Gillette 7 O'C Greens are good enough, around the Yellows, but cannot do ATG even in medium-thick areas
- Feathers are still king, but want to know if these Greens hold up on shaves 2 and 3.
- Need to continue working on my trouble areas and see if I can get a system down that works even without a Feather.
Questions
Is my experience with the Blues common? Greens?
- Thread starter
- #129
Day 2 on 7OC Green. 1 1/2 day's growth. Ordered 4 packs of Feathers last night from shaveabuck.com (here in NJ, so shipping was $1.95). I just updated my spreadsheet to include all my shaving purchases. Sadly, I'm up to $226. Including all my gear and soaps. Good news is I have enough stuff minus blades to last me through the year and won't have to make many purchases ongoing.
Shave
shower including conditioner on my face for 3+ minutes. Rub TOBS cream on my face while making my lather. Lathered, WTG. 7OC Green felt as good as yesterday. Lather, XTG with only light pulls, perfectly acceptable. Good pass, no need for second XTG. No blood so far. Lather, ATG. It cut well - at least as well as yesterday - with only a few tugs in the medium-thick and thick areas where I do oblique-ATG. Ended up with about 8 weepers again, all but three closed up by the cold rinse. Touch-ups (blade buffing). Used styptic on the three open weepers. WH, Nivea ASB. Very light tingle from the balm on my neck, but not bad for as much as I focused on it.
Outcome and Time
DFS+. Really, a good shave from this blade. Love that it only took me three passes again. Didn't time it. No redness around base of my neck after 10 minutes, so really good shave.
Takeaways
- 7OC Greens are good enough if no Feathers around, but do cut me a bit more. I'll try a third day on it and try to cut down on weepers if possible.
- Need to stretch my skin more on my AA and around my neck to see if I can get better results without as many touch-ups. Being creative each time and am getting better.
- My skin is getting very used to being shaved with a DE.
- I'm not getting the light burn from my TOBS cream any more - at least not often. I'm getting used to it too and am VERY glad for that.
- This has gotten expensive ($216), but I realized I don't use some of the items (Alum, Proraso pre/post, Conk soaps), second razor. I may sell/give away some of this in the future.
- I will try the Proraso pre/post sometime when I use the soaps to see if it works as well or better than the TOBS cream as a pre-shave. I'll try it with the TOBS cream too, but can't do either of these until I'm sticking with one blade again.
- Still want to try PIF Polsilvers, Med Preps, Lab Preps (and maybe a Wilkinson, Gillette 7OC Black, Kai, Lord Plat, Schick Plus Plat)
- I should finish out both my first ASB and my first tub of cream next month and have a good feel for a per-shave and per-month ongoing cost.
Questions
None, unless someone really wants to send me the blades listed above.
Shave
shower including conditioner on my face for 3+ minutes. Rub TOBS cream on my face while making my lather. Lathered, WTG. 7OC Green felt as good as yesterday. Lather, XTG with only light pulls, perfectly acceptable. Good pass, no need for second XTG. No blood so far. Lather, ATG. It cut well - at least as well as yesterday - with only a few tugs in the medium-thick and thick areas where I do oblique-ATG. Ended up with about 8 weepers again, all but three closed up by the cold rinse. Touch-ups (blade buffing). Used styptic on the three open weepers. WH, Nivea ASB. Very light tingle from the balm on my neck, but not bad for as much as I focused on it.
Outcome and Time
DFS+. Really, a good shave from this blade. Love that it only took me three passes again. Didn't time it. No redness around base of my neck after 10 minutes, so really good shave.
Takeaways
- 7OC Greens are good enough if no Feathers around, but do cut me a bit more. I'll try a third day on it and try to cut down on weepers if possible.
- Need to stretch my skin more on my AA and around my neck to see if I can get better results without as many touch-ups. Being creative each time and am getting better.
- My skin is getting very used to being shaved with a DE.
- I'm not getting the light burn from my TOBS cream any more - at least not often. I'm getting used to it too and am VERY glad for that.
- This has gotten expensive ($216), but I realized I don't use some of the items (Alum, Proraso pre/post, Conk soaps), second razor. I may sell/give away some of this in the future.
- I will try the Proraso pre/post sometime when I use the soaps to see if it works as well or better than the TOBS cream as a pre-shave. I'll try it with the TOBS cream too, but can't do either of these until I'm sticking with one blade again.
- Still want to try PIF Polsilvers, Med Preps, Lab Preps (and maybe a Wilkinson, Gillette 7OC Black, Kai, Lord Plat, Schick Plus Plat)
- I should finish out both my first ASB and my first tub of cream next month and have a good feel for a per-shave and per-month ongoing cost.
Questions
None, unless someone really wants to send me the blades listed above.
- Thread starter
- #130
About to round 40 shaves with a DE and have come a long way. Today was not very heavy growth at all. I considered going without a shave today, but changed my mind. Day 3 on Gillette 7OC Green.
Shave
DE89, TOBS sandalwood cream, Finest brush
Shower with conditioner rubbed into beard 3+ minutes. TOBS cream rubbed in while I made my lather. Lightly rinsed it and lathered. Since I didn't have a whole lot of growth, I did XTG as first pass on cheeks/sideburn area and the rest WTG. This worked well. Next was XTG, but ended up with a few weepers. I wasn't going for BBS, an SAS/DFS would have been fine today, so I went easy on the ATG. The ATG went alright, with 2-3 more weepers. Odd thing is the blade seemed to be dulling or changing somehow, but not as I'd expect. It would cut in the thickest parts without binding, but wasn't actually cutting much in medium growth areas. Even while blade buffing I'd hear it against the whiskers, but they didn't get very close. It did rather poorly around my neck and I ended up with some mild razor burn at the base of my neck while still having the thinner hairs hanging out. All weepers closed up on their own by the end of the warm rinse. Cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB. The ASB burned pretty good on my neck - worse than I've had in weeks. My face seemed to drink the stuff, so I put on a second application a little later with less burn.
Outcome and Time
SAS. Still working on perfecting AA and base of neck, but couldn't even do much today due to the blade binding.
Didn't time, but it took forever. These lighter growth shaves are always the hardest because I know I have to pay more attention.
UPDATE: This shave sucked worse than I realized. Playing basketball at lunch it burned pretty bad - about like I was used to when using my carts/disposables. Razor burn worse than I've had in a good, long time. No more stretching a blade I'm not sure of.
Takeaways
- Seems only the sharpest blades cut well at the base of my neck.
- 3 Days was the limit for the Gillette 7OC Green
- Will try a Blue Bird tomorrow, expecting nothing. If it fails, I'll load up a feather if they arrive in time or maybe circle back to an Astra if not.
Shave
DE89, TOBS sandalwood cream, Finest brush
Shower with conditioner rubbed into beard 3+ minutes. TOBS cream rubbed in while I made my lather. Lightly rinsed it and lathered. Since I didn't have a whole lot of growth, I did XTG as first pass on cheeks/sideburn area and the rest WTG. This worked well. Next was XTG, but ended up with a few weepers. I wasn't going for BBS, an SAS/DFS would have been fine today, so I went easy on the ATG. The ATG went alright, with 2-3 more weepers. Odd thing is the blade seemed to be dulling or changing somehow, but not as I'd expect. It would cut in the thickest parts without binding, but wasn't actually cutting much in medium growth areas. Even while blade buffing I'd hear it against the whiskers, but they didn't get very close. It did rather poorly around my neck and I ended up with some mild razor burn at the base of my neck while still having the thinner hairs hanging out. All weepers closed up on their own by the end of the warm rinse. Cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB. The ASB burned pretty good on my neck - worse than I've had in weeks. My face seemed to drink the stuff, so I put on a second application a little later with less burn.
Outcome and Time
SAS. Still working on perfecting AA and base of neck, but couldn't even do much today due to the blade binding.
Didn't time, but it took forever. These lighter growth shaves are always the hardest because I know I have to pay more attention.
UPDATE: This shave sucked worse than I realized. Playing basketball at lunch it burned pretty bad - about like I was used to when using my carts/disposables. Razor burn worse than I've had in a good, long time. No more stretching a blade I'm not sure of.
Takeaways
- Seems only the sharpest blades cut well at the base of my neck.
- 3 Days was the limit for the Gillette 7OC Green
- Will try a Blue Bird tomorrow, expecting nothing. If it fails, I'll load up a feather if they arrive in time or maybe circle back to an Astra if not.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #131
Fortieth DE shave. I should celebrate somehow. 48 hours growth as I gave it a break after the razor burn Tuesday. Tomorrow are family portraits in the AM, so I didn't want to chance any irritation at all. That meant mediocre shave (ending with XTG). Thankfully, my Feathers haven't arrived yet, so I don't have a blade in my stash that can do ATG. That took care of any temptation. Those Feathers better arrive today though or I'm in trouble tomorrow AM. Was going to try Blue Bird next, but I don't want to chance anything. Went with what used to be my favorite before I tried Feathers: Astra SP. Also shaved the back of my neck for the first time. Not easy at all using multiple mirrors. Cut myself once really well - about 1", but not deep as I wasn't actually moving the blade to shave. I was just moving it what I thought was away from my skin and to the side. Styptic stopped it up nicely so I don't have a bloody collar.
Oh, and I bought glycerin last night, so I added a few drops of it today.
Shave
Normal prep: shower, conditioner 3+ minutes, TOBS cream directly on beard while making lather and loading Astra SP in the DE89. Added ~3 drops of glycerin to the bowl and lathered my TOBS. I started using a tongue depressor so I'm not dripping water directly into my cream (I have the new-and-improved, reformulated stuff that's rather fluffy) and so I can control amounts a little better. Did a light wring on my finest badger brush and a light shake. This left more water to go along with a little more cream than usual. I had to add more water to my lather. Lightly rinsed face and lathered. WTG. Realize again why I liked the Astras so much. Too bad they can't do ATG for me. Good, clean pass and went to XTG. This pass was good except in the really thick/coarse areas where it pulled a tiny bit. That pass didn't clean enough so I did a second XTG the other direction. Two spots cleaned up after and good enough. No blood at all.
Warm rinse, cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB.
Outcome and Time
Shave took about 30 minutes. I then cleaned up the back of my neck and eyebrows. Total time in the bathroom was 57 minutes.
SAS+. No burn anywhere whatsoever. I won't settle for SAS most times, but had to shave today but can't risk any issues that could jeopardize a great shave tomorrow. Plus, without a Feather I'm stuck with DFS tops.
Takeaways
- Astra SPs are unbelievably smooth. Still can't do ATG with them though since they're not sharp enough.
- I need to practice shaving the back of my neck a little more, but it worked pretty well.
- Not sure how much difference the glycerin makes, but I have it and will use it. Can't hurt, right?
Questions
Could anyone shoot me 1-2 Polsilvers, Lab Preps and Med Preps? If not, I'll try to see if I have any blades (and 2 of them) to send to the exchange bank for some.
Oh, and I bought glycerin last night, so I added a few drops of it today.
Shave
Normal prep: shower, conditioner 3+ minutes, TOBS cream directly on beard while making lather and loading Astra SP in the DE89. Added ~3 drops of glycerin to the bowl and lathered my TOBS. I started using a tongue depressor so I'm not dripping water directly into my cream (I have the new-and-improved, reformulated stuff that's rather fluffy) and so I can control amounts a little better. Did a light wring on my finest badger brush and a light shake. This left more water to go along with a little more cream than usual. I had to add more water to my lather. Lightly rinsed face and lathered. WTG. Realize again why I liked the Astras so much. Too bad they can't do ATG for me. Good, clean pass and went to XTG. This pass was good except in the really thick/coarse areas where it pulled a tiny bit. That pass didn't clean enough so I did a second XTG the other direction. Two spots cleaned up after and good enough. No blood at all.
Warm rinse, cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB.
Outcome and Time
Shave took about 30 minutes. I then cleaned up the back of my neck and eyebrows. Total time in the bathroom was 57 minutes.
SAS+. No burn anywhere whatsoever. I won't settle for SAS most times, but had to shave today but can't risk any issues that could jeopardize a great shave tomorrow. Plus, without a Feather I'm stuck with DFS tops.
Takeaways
- Astra SPs are unbelievably smooth. Still can't do ATG with them though since they're not sharp enough.
- I need to practice shaving the back of my neck a little more, but it worked pretty well.
- Not sure how much difference the glycerin makes, but I have it and will use it. Can't hurt, right?
Questions
Could anyone shoot me 1-2 Polsilvers, Lab Preps and Med Preps? If not, I'll try to see if I have any blades (and 2 of them) to send to the exchange bank for some.
- Thread starter
- #132
Family pictures day and my Feathers have yet to show up. That left me with deciding between using a Gillette 7OC Yellow or the Astra from Yesterday. Tough call as the Yellows seem a bit sharper, but not as smooth. I opted for the Astra. 24 hours of growth with yesterday's shave being not very close (SAS+).
Shave
Shower leaving conditioner on my face 3+ minutes. TOBS rubbed into my face and left while making lather. 2 drops glycerin with TOBS cream. EJ DE89 with Astra SP on day 2. WTG was smooth, not as close as with a Feather, but smooth. XTG went pretty well, but not very close. XTG opposite way was good and quite close. But, picture day. So, I decided to try the Astra ATG where I could and oblique-ATG where I had to. That went pretty well, better than expected. Still had to blade buff quite a few areas. Ended up with about 5 bleeders/weepers and only one lasted through the cold rinse. Warm rinse, styptic on one spot, cold rinse, WH, ASB. Added a second coat of ASB about 30 minutes later as it's winter and my face felt a touch dry. I think I added a hair too much as it's now a tiny bit tacky.
Outcome and Time
Didn't time at all. Wasn't all that long, but I was being extra careful. DFS+ with a little irritation due to the extra blade buffing and blade.
Takeaways
- Astras are certainly passable on day 2 if I don't want BBS or DFS+. Can get SAS pretty easily with them.
Shave
Shower leaving conditioner on my face 3+ minutes. TOBS rubbed into my face and left while making lather. 2 drops glycerin with TOBS cream. EJ DE89 with Astra SP on day 2. WTG was smooth, not as close as with a Feather, but smooth. XTG went pretty well, but not very close. XTG opposite way was good and quite close. But, picture day. So, I decided to try the Astra ATG where I could and oblique-ATG where I had to. That went pretty well, better than expected. Still had to blade buff quite a few areas. Ended up with about 5 bleeders/weepers and only one lasted through the cold rinse. Warm rinse, styptic on one spot, cold rinse, WH, ASB. Added a second coat of ASB about 30 minutes later as it's winter and my face felt a touch dry. I think I added a hair too much as it's now a tiny bit tacky.
Outcome and Time
Didn't time at all. Wasn't all that long, but I was being extra careful. DFS+ with a little irritation due to the extra blade buffing and blade.
Takeaways
- Astras are certainly passable on day 2 if I don't want BBS or DFS+. Can get SAS pretty easily with them.
- Thread starter
- #133
24 hours of growth after alright shave. Feathers arrived yesterday right after family pictures. Tried face lathering with my finest brush and Palmolive - not good.
Shave
Switched it up today. Since the Feathers were back and it's a Saturday, I decided to load a Feather as I'm accustomed to and get great shaves from and try a new soap. I face lathered with my finest badger brush (soaked while in shower) since my last attempt proved my pure was too harsh on my face. So, shower with conditioner on beard for ~5 minutes. After getting out I immediately splashed my face with warm water, dipped the Palmolive stick in some water and rubbed it on my face. Lightly shook out my brush a few times and started lathering. The lather took right off and I thought it was going well. I noticed it was a bit dry, so I put a few drops on the tip of the brush and went over my face a little again. It seemed to look good, so I started the WTG pass. It didn't glide that well, so I put some lather between my finger and thumb and noticed it was still just a bit dry. Added a bit more water to the brush and went back over my face again. This time it was hydrated enough, but still wasn't very slippery. I tried continuing my pass and was able to do so, but just barely. I ended up with the first bleeders form a WTG in a very long while.
Knowing this stuff has a good reputation, I rinsed my face and rubbed on more Palmolive. Wet brush a little more leaving the lather from the first pass still in it, and lathered again. This irritated my face and I still couldn't get a slick lather. I tried the XTG pass with it thinking it has to be just me and that maybe my finger and thumb were having an off-day (not really, but I wanted to like this soap). I checked it between my thumb and finger multiple times from too dry, to just right, to obviously too wet and runny. I never had a slick feel from it. So, with lots of lather on my brush I rinsed my face, rubbed on two drops of glycerin and spread from the brush. No extra irritation because I wasn't really rubbing as much as lightly brushing. The lather still wasn't up to snuff, so I added a bit of water and spread some lather across my face to keep it hydrated while I switched things up. By this time I'd finished WTB and 1x XTG. By now I had about 5x bleeders and they were bleeding more than I've had in a long while.
With no success with the Palmolive and a really miserable shave result, so I lathered some of my TOBS cream in a bowl. Good, slick lather, so no problem with my thumb and finger. Rinsed all the soap off my face and lathered. Did as much of a second XTG pass as I dared, but that wasn't much. My face hurt all over, even in areas where I haven't had trouble since my start.
Warm rinse and blood stopped. Cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB burned all over - bad, bad sign.
Outcome and Time
Didn't time. Outcome is maybe an SAS-. Quite a bit of irritation and redness. Not a ton and I'm glad I stopped that final pass and called it good.
Takeaways
- I'm going to read up again on face lathering and be sure I didn't miss something obvious, but I'm pretty sure I'm set there.
- I have some Arko on the way from a trade and will give it a run. Hopefully it's better.
- I may try shaving some of that Palmolive and bowl lathering it just to be sure, but I don't think this stuff works for me/my water.
- TOBS reigns king still.
Shave
Switched it up today. Since the Feathers were back and it's a Saturday, I decided to load a Feather as I'm accustomed to and get great shaves from and try a new soap. I face lathered with my finest badger brush (soaked while in shower) since my last attempt proved my pure was too harsh on my face. So, shower with conditioner on beard for ~5 minutes. After getting out I immediately splashed my face with warm water, dipped the Palmolive stick in some water and rubbed it on my face. Lightly shook out my brush a few times and started lathering. The lather took right off and I thought it was going well. I noticed it was a bit dry, so I put a few drops on the tip of the brush and went over my face a little again. It seemed to look good, so I started the WTG pass. It didn't glide that well, so I put some lather between my finger and thumb and noticed it was still just a bit dry. Added a bit more water to the brush and went back over my face again. This time it was hydrated enough, but still wasn't very slippery. I tried continuing my pass and was able to do so, but just barely. I ended up with the first bleeders form a WTG in a very long while.
Knowing this stuff has a good reputation, I rinsed my face and rubbed on more Palmolive. Wet brush a little more leaving the lather from the first pass still in it, and lathered again. This irritated my face and I still couldn't get a slick lather. I tried the XTG pass with it thinking it has to be just me and that maybe my finger and thumb were having an off-day (not really, but I wanted to like this soap). I checked it between my thumb and finger multiple times from too dry, to just right, to obviously too wet and runny. I never had a slick feel from it. So, with lots of lather on my brush I rinsed my face, rubbed on two drops of glycerin and spread from the brush. No extra irritation because I wasn't really rubbing as much as lightly brushing. The lather still wasn't up to snuff, so I added a bit of water and spread some lather across my face to keep it hydrated while I switched things up. By this time I'd finished WTB and 1x XTG. By now I had about 5x bleeders and they were bleeding more than I've had in a long while.
With no success with the Palmolive and a really miserable shave result, so I lathered some of my TOBS cream in a bowl. Good, slick lather, so no problem with my thumb and finger. Rinsed all the soap off my face and lathered. Did as much of a second XTG pass as I dared, but that wasn't much. My face hurt all over, even in areas where I haven't had trouble since my start.
Warm rinse and blood stopped. Cold rinse, WH, Nivea ASB burned all over - bad, bad sign.
Outcome and Time
Didn't time. Outcome is maybe an SAS-. Quite a bit of irritation and redness. Not a ton and I'm glad I stopped that final pass and called it good.
Takeaways
- I'm going to read up again on face lathering and be sure I didn't miss something obvious, but I'm pretty sure I'm set there.
- I have some Arko on the way from a trade and will give it a run. Hopefully it's better.
- I may try shaving some of that Palmolive and bowl lathering it just to be sure, but I don't think this stuff works for me/my water.
- TOBS reigns king still.
Take a cheese grater and shred up that Palmolive stick and press it into a small cup/bowl. The little covered Pyrex one-cup containers from the super market work great. It will harden up nicely in a day or so. For shaving, while you soak your brush, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of hot water onto the soap and let it soften up for a few minutes (I do this while I shower). Pour off the water and then load your shaken-out, damp brush with the soap...make sure the brush has a thick load of soap on it..and then apply it to your face. It should be very thick and somewhat dry. Dip the tips of your brush into hot water and start building the lather on your face. Add more water as needed until you have a wet, creamy opaque coating of lather. It should be the consistency and appearance of yogurt. I can promise you that if you do this right, the lather will be the equal...or better...of your TOBS cream.
- Thread starter
- #135
I'm going to give that a try. I ended up with what looked like good lather on my face - about the consistency of my TOBS. The only thing I might have screwed up would be too little soap on my face. I'll try it from a bowl, but my reason for this is I want to travel with only a stick, brush, and razor. Either way, I have to get a feel for how much and this will do it. I'm going to grate it now and try making good lather.
- Thread starter
- #136
Alright. I had a quick bit of time just now and went ahead. Grated about 1/3 of the stick into a bowl. I happen to use the same Pyrex bowls and had one extra one empty in the bathroom just waiting for soap. I have a pretty fine grater, so I used that and pressed it down in the bowl. I wish I had done that instead of shaving it with my knife the other day to make a travel stick. Superb. So, I soaked my brush for a while as well as put some water on top of the soap just like I do with my other soaps. I made test lather in a bowl and it turned out well. I think I didn't put enough on my face when I used the stick earlier.
In fact, the lather is very similar in slipperiness and may even have a bit more cushion. The scent is doable, but no sandalwood. I'll give this a try again soon.
Thanks for the help!
In fact, the lather is very similar in slipperiness and may even have a bit more cushion. The scent is doable, but no sandalwood. I'll give this a try again soon.
Thanks for the help!
- Thread starter
- #137
THANKS FOR THE HELP, SNARGLE.
Getting to be one long shave journal. I hope to someday take the time to move it over to the wiki. Anyway, my face was healed well enough from yesterday to try it again. Day 2 on Feather and time to try out the face lathering again
Shave
Quick shower - running late for church. Conditioner for a couple minutes, finest brush soaking all the while as well as the Palmolive in my bowl sitting with some water on top. Dumped water off the soap, a couple light shakes of the brush and a-swirling I went. I swirled it a while until I started getting lather in the dish (in hindsight, I need to load it a lot longer). I splashed my face again and lathered on it. When it looked really good - though not a thick coating - I swiped at it and gave it the thumb-finger test. VERY slippery - clearly yesterday's mishap was my fault. I shaved and my blade glided better than I've had yet. That makes me sad as I like my sandalwood scent better, but this was such good lather. WTG was fantastic with my EJ DE89.
Splashed my face again, but didn't have enough on the brush to lather again. put a little water on the soap again and loaded the brush. This time my face felt a little irritated as I made lather on it. Not terrible, but enough to make me back way off on pressure. First pass I pressed in on the brush to where the bristles were spreading out - I probably put the knot/handle halfway to my face. In other words, if the bristles are 3" long, the handle would be 1 1/2" from my face. This second pass I only put the brush as I had to to get most of the bristles to touch it. I just re-watched Mantic's video and my brush was about the distance of his on my first pass and much further (therefore softer on my face) the second. XTG pass. Again, fantastic glide, although it was a bit dry by the end of the pass, so I dipped the brush and hydrated the lather before finishing. Great pass for comfort, but not as close as I expected.
Still not enough on the brush for a whole other pass. A little more loading in the bowl and onto my face. Not more irritation than the last pass with the brush, but enough to know I wasn't helping anything. I did XTG everywhere that could do a bit more good and ATG a few areas that were close enough from the last pass. I chose well and was rewarded with comfort for the most part, but had to settle for my neck being a little scratchy. I did a couple quick touch-ups, but was irritated from the brush. I also went a little too fast in one area on my jaw line, but nothing major. Ended up with 3 small bleeders. Warm rinse, cold rinse. Styptic on the bleeders. WH, ASB. The Nivea I use burned on most of my face from the brush.
Outcome and Time
DFS above the jaw line. SAS under jaw. SAS- on lower neck. I didn't want to push it on my lower neck at all. Quite a lot of irritation, but not too strong and no razor burn.
Didn't time, but was much faster than normal. Probably 25 minutes.
Takeaways
- Need to try face lathering a few more times and see if my face gets used to it. Need to find out if this brush is a problem or if it's me.
- Palmolive does work great. Really great. but I need to load more of it than I expected.
- I'll bowl lather tomorrow and face lather a day after an irritation-free shave.
- I may have to get a softer brush if I want to continue face lathering.
Getting to be one long shave journal. I hope to someday take the time to move it over to the wiki. Anyway, my face was healed well enough from yesterday to try it again. Day 2 on Feather and time to try out the face lathering again
Shave
Quick shower - running late for church. Conditioner for a couple minutes, finest brush soaking all the while as well as the Palmolive in my bowl sitting with some water on top. Dumped water off the soap, a couple light shakes of the brush and a-swirling I went. I swirled it a while until I started getting lather in the dish (in hindsight, I need to load it a lot longer). I splashed my face again and lathered on it. When it looked really good - though not a thick coating - I swiped at it and gave it the thumb-finger test. VERY slippery - clearly yesterday's mishap was my fault. I shaved and my blade glided better than I've had yet. That makes me sad as I like my sandalwood scent better, but this was such good lather. WTG was fantastic with my EJ DE89.
Splashed my face again, but didn't have enough on the brush to lather again. put a little water on the soap again and loaded the brush. This time my face felt a little irritated as I made lather on it. Not terrible, but enough to make me back way off on pressure. First pass I pressed in on the brush to where the bristles were spreading out - I probably put the knot/handle halfway to my face. In other words, if the bristles are 3" long, the handle would be 1 1/2" from my face. This second pass I only put the brush as I had to to get most of the bristles to touch it. I just re-watched Mantic's video and my brush was about the distance of his on my first pass and much further (therefore softer on my face) the second. XTG pass. Again, fantastic glide, although it was a bit dry by the end of the pass, so I dipped the brush and hydrated the lather before finishing. Great pass for comfort, but not as close as I expected.
Still not enough on the brush for a whole other pass. A little more loading in the bowl and onto my face. Not more irritation than the last pass with the brush, but enough to know I wasn't helping anything. I did XTG everywhere that could do a bit more good and ATG a few areas that were close enough from the last pass. I chose well and was rewarded with comfort for the most part, but had to settle for my neck being a little scratchy. I did a couple quick touch-ups, but was irritated from the brush. I also went a little too fast in one area on my jaw line, but nothing major. Ended up with 3 small bleeders. Warm rinse, cold rinse. Styptic on the bleeders. WH, ASB. The Nivea I use burned on most of my face from the brush.
Outcome and Time
DFS above the jaw line. SAS under jaw. SAS- on lower neck. I didn't want to push it on my lower neck at all. Quite a lot of irritation, but not too strong and no razor burn.
Didn't time, but was much faster than normal. Probably 25 minutes.
Takeaways
- Need to try face lathering a few more times and see if my face gets used to it. Need to find out if this brush is a problem or if it's me.
- Palmolive does work great. Really great. but I need to load more of it than I expected.
- I'll bowl lather tomorrow and face lather a day after an irritation-free shave.
- I may have to get a softer brush if I want to continue face lathering.
- Thread starter
- #138
Having worse lather trouble. New Feather, 24 hours growth
I won't bore through the shave - I have the basics down and will only list special items.
Shave
Bowl lathered the Palmolive I transferred to a bowl. I think I need to load my brush longer because I'm not getting enough for multiple passes. It was nice and slick for my first pass, but started to dry out on my face. I'm pretty sure I just have to load more - the coating I get on my face isn't very thick and dries quickly. But, a little more water makes it runny. I think my problem is just a matter of not enough product. I'll test that more next time I shave - probably 2 days from now because it's going to be a late night tonight and my face needs a longer rest.
Overall, a close shave for the most part, but rather irritated due to the poor lather on my XTG passes.
Takeaways
- Use more product and be sure to get a lot of lather.
Outcome and Time
Took forever: 1:05 in the bathroom. For closeness, it's a DFS, but I'm irritated pretty badly.
Questions
As described above, I'm getting worse lather as I go along. Does it sound like I'm just not loading the brush long enough? I loaded more today than in the past. I get a really slick, cushiony lather that just hold peaks in the bowl. But, when I put it on my face it's rather a thin coating. It's superb as far as glide and cushion goes - most comfortable I can imagine. But, it dries before I finish a single, rather fast, pass. I just plain can't get a good volume of lather on my face. But, if I add any more water it turns less slick and won't hold a peak. A tiny bit more water and it's runny. Am I right that I'm just not getting enough product or did I somehow forget how to make lather? Re-watching the Mantic lather video, he mentions just swirling for about three seconds on a wet puck. I'm doing WAY more than that until I get a good lather going in the soap bowl, then I transfer to my empty bowl.
I'm going to practice making lather with this stuff some more and see if I can get it to hold moisture and get better volume. Any more tips would be great.
I won't bore through the shave - I have the basics down and will only list special items.
Shave
Bowl lathered the Palmolive I transferred to a bowl. I think I need to load my brush longer because I'm not getting enough for multiple passes. It was nice and slick for my first pass, but started to dry out on my face. I'm pretty sure I just have to load more - the coating I get on my face isn't very thick and dries quickly. But, a little more water makes it runny. I think my problem is just a matter of not enough product. I'll test that more next time I shave - probably 2 days from now because it's going to be a late night tonight and my face needs a longer rest.
Overall, a close shave for the most part, but rather irritated due to the poor lather on my XTG passes.
Takeaways
- Use more product and be sure to get a lot of lather.
Outcome and Time
Took forever: 1:05 in the bathroom. For closeness, it's a DFS, but I'm irritated pretty badly.
Questions
As described above, I'm getting worse lather as I go along. Does it sound like I'm just not loading the brush long enough? I loaded more today than in the past. I get a really slick, cushiony lather that just hold peaks in the bowl. But, when I put it on my face it's rather a thin coating. It's superb as far as glide and cushion goes - most comfortable I can imagine. But, it dries before I finish a single, rather fast, pass. I just plain can't get a good volume of lather on my face. But, if I add any more water it turns less slick and won't hold a peak. A tiny bit more water and it's runny. Am I right that I'm just not getting enough product or did I somehow forget how to make lather? Re-watching the Mantic lather video, he mentions just swirling for about three seconds on a wet puck. I'm doing WAY more than that until I get a good lather going in the soap bowl, then I transfer to my empty bowl.
I'm going to practice making lather with this stuff some more and see if I can get it to hold moisture and get better volume. Any more tips would be great.
Three seconds...? No way! 30 seconds of loading would be the minimum and a minute wouldn't be too long!
You probably mentioned this earlier, but what brush are you using?
You probably mentioned this earlier, but what brush are you using?
- Thread starter
- #140
Im doing a lot of loading- all the way until I start getting actual lather on the soap.
The brush is a finest restored. I'm going to use my pure next time. I like the finest, but have never had as good of luck with lather. What are your thoughts?
The brush is a finest restored. I'm going to use my pure next time. I like the finest, but have never had as good of luck with lather. What are your thoughts?
