Cantujm's shave journal

Good morning and Happy New Year! I received a Thiers-Issard #69 Medaille Argi from lmarkow yesterday and today was my first shave with a straight. I have been wanting to try str8 shaving for awhile now and was really excited to receive the razor, strop, and shave stick. The razor was sent to Doc for blade prep before I received it.

Looking at the razor for the first time, I was excited but I had already shaved yesterday morning, so I had to wait until today.

I did my usual pre-shave prep and took about a seven minute shower. My soap for today was Cella in the red tub and I used my AOS finest badger brush to get the lather perfect.

Holding the razor in my right (dominant) hand was easy. I kept the razor about a spine width away from my face. It is a different angle than what I am used to. I started at the sideburns and slid the razor down towards the jaw line. Very nice glide and I was happy that my ear was still attached. I completed the right side of my face with ease.

Holding the razor in my left hand felt weird. I started at the sideburn on the left side also and worked my way down to the jaw line. Shaving the left side took more concentration and a lot more time that the right.

The second pass on the right was smoother than the first. When I placed the razor on my cheek for the second pass, my angle was wrong and I received a nice slice at the top of my cheek bone. No blood, but I could feel it and see it there. I reminded myself to slow down and pay attention to detail. The second pass on both sides went well and I had smooth cheeks.

I then shaved just below my lower lip. I did not shave my chin or my neck. I am going to follow everyone's advice and save those areas until I get more experience. I finished off the rest of my shave with a GSB in my 2011 R41.

Thanks to lmarkow and Doc for the razor and the prep work. I am going to continue with straight shaving, but will not be shaving with it again until Thursday morning. I am going to take New Year's day off from shaving and see how the shave goes with one day's growth. I have very thick facial hair and can only get two days worth of shaves out of a DE blade.

I joined the 2014 GRUC and was wondering if I will need any more items for strop or razor maintenance. I have one day to order anything that I may need. I received the rich man's strop along with the razor. I plan on sending out the razor for honing when it is necessary, so I don't need a hone at this time.

Well, I am off to LA to drop my daughter off at the airport. I wish everyone a good day!

great start. no real other things needed other than razor, strop, and maybe some crox to try to get an edge back to shape if it's not too far along.

you might want to use some alum for skin stretching help.. otherwise it's all pretty straight-forward!

I do have an alum block. It really makes a difference when stretching my skin. I will post my second shave results sometime on Thursday.

Awesome, no major blood letting, cut some hair-success.

This sounds like a great first shave. Congrats!

Shave #2

Today was my second shave with a straight. My pre-shave prep was a shower. I used Tabac soap with an AOS finest badger brush.

After face lathering, I started my first pass on my right side. Holding the razor was easier than my first shave. I started at the top of my cheeks and moved down to my jaw line. Everything was good the first pass. My first pass for my left was also a little easier than my first shave. Holding the razor in my left hand still felt a little weird, but I think I am getting used to it.

On to the second pass. Just like my first shave a few days ago, I cut my cheek on the second pass on my right side. For some reason I have started my second pass at the wrong angle and have sliced my cheek both times. I am going to have to really pay more attention for my second passes. I have yet to nick myself with my non-dominant hand.

I also shaved my chin today. I was a little nervous shaving my chin because of the different angles that I had to use. It was a success and I had zero cuts on my chin. I am going to wait a little while longer before shaving my chin again. I believe I got lucky today.

I finished my shave with my R41 loaded with a GSB, 36 laps on the strop,and Old Spice aftershave. Tomorrow will be shave #3 for me. I am looking forward to each day's shave with this new tool. I have been reading all the shave journals here and I am finding all kinds of great advice.

Well gentleman, until tomorrow. I wish you all a great day!!

Right soap, what could go wrong? Sounds like another good go, despite the line.

Do you have a cat? They make excellent scapegoats, fyi.

No cats here. I just need to slow it down on the second pass. Definitely learning though.

Shave #3

Today I used Stirling barbershop with my rubberset 400 restore with an Omega knot. Pre-shave was a shower and 12 laps on the strop.

I completed two passes N/S on my cheeks and the outside area of my neck. This was my first shave with no nicks. I wanted to just dive in and go for a complete shave of my neck and entire face, but I received a text from work saying to be in early. Since I felt a little rushed for time, I will hold off on the full shave until tomorrow.

The Stirling soap performed great as usual. I did use more water than normal to ensure the glide was there.

Post shave was 16 laps on the strop and Clubman SR. I think I am getting the hang of this and I hope I am not jumping the gun with performing a full shave on my fourth attempt.

I am sure the full shave, if you attempt it, will go well. You use quality products and seem to pay attention to what you are doing.

Keep us updated!

Sorry I was late to this party.

Sounds like you had a great couple of first shaves. The left hand thing felt a bit weird at first for me as well. The funny thing is I have found that any major, or even minor, nick I have gotten has been from my dominant hand. I think that when it moves over to the left, which is really only attached to my body for balance, I go into hyper concentration mode so I don't remove an ear, nose, or lip

Shave #4

I am a man of routine. My normal Saturday routine is to awake before anyone in the house and shower/shave before everyone else is up. It's my quiet time. I have three children living here and once they are up, the fun begins. Today I was not able to get in my shave and shower until everyone was up so my routine was off. Since I was the last one to shower today, I had a lot more time to prep and shave. I kind of liked it. I did not have to worry about making too much noise and waking someone. All I had to do was focus on my shave.

Todays equipment:
TI straight
Mike's Barbershop
Semogue 1305
Clubman VIBR aftershave

Yesterday I learned that the lather I make for straight shaving needs to be watered down a bit more than when I use a DE. This provides just about the same cushion, but a lot more glide for the razor. I was able to get a very slick and protective lather today from Mike's soap. I face lather 99% of the time and considered bowl lathering today, but decided just to face lather to maintain a little bit of my routine.

I had not shaved my entire face and neck with a straight until today. After the first WTG pass I had no nicks or weepers. I did find that the direction used for stretching my skin on my neck varies due to what hand I was using. On my left side I had to pull my skin down and to the left to ensure that the razor glided easily. But on my right side I could not use the same technique. I had to pull my skin straight up to get a good shave.

After my first pass with no cuts or weepers, my confidence grew. I lathered up for a second pass. My second pass went just as good and did not take as much time as the first. My attention to detail was still there, but I realized that I could go a little faster and I didn't have to think about my blade angle as much. When I raised the razor to my face, it just settled at the proper angle. I believe my muscle memory took over.

I finished the shave with a rinse, a rub of the alum block, and Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum aftershave. I did get a little sting from the alum on the left side of my neck. That will be where I focus my technique more on Monday's shave. I always take Sunday's off from shaving.

So, what I learned today:
Skin stretching will vary depending on the side of my neck that I am shaving.
Muscle memory is starting to take over.
I don't have to go XTG or ATG to get a DFS. The two WTG passes worked very good and I will continue WTG until a later date.

I do have a question though. I have been stropping my razor anywhere from 12-36 times before and after each shave. I take my time and go very slow when stropping and the razor still feels as sharp as the day I got it. Am I stropping the razor too much or too little? I am just curious and want to ensure that I am not doing anything unintentional to degrade the sharpness of my razor.

I don't think the number of laps on the strop will degrade your edge, if you're stropping correctly. Which mean keeping he spine on the leather. I strop the evening before my shave about 30 times on the leather. After the shave I'll strop about 20 times on the webbing (in your strop's case) and then 30 times on the leather. So I'm actually doing about 60 laps on leather before each shave.

Sounds like things continue to go well.

Shave #5

Today Equipment:
TI Straight
Rudy Vey Beehive Boar
Stirling Clubman
Clubman Aftershave

Completed 18 laps on the strop before getting started with this mornings shave. Today was my first full day back at work and getting up this morning was a little rough. I knew I had to wake up and get my mind going before shaving so I took an extra long shower.

Lathered up with Stirling Clubman and completed two WTG passes. Today was the first day that my lather dried and I needed to re-lather every time I completed a large portion of my shave. I kept adding more water to the brush and lather, but the results didn't change.

I am having trouble getting a decent shave on my upper lip. The razor feels like it is tugging a lot. Because of the tugging, I keep shaving only the outside areas of my upper lip.

The chin area is still a little rough. This is the area of my face that my beard is the thickest and I can go XTG here only,but there is still a lot of stubble left over. I am having pretty good luck on my neck though. I know the direction of my neck beard growth very well, so this helps with the shave.

After my shave I did 16 laps on the nylon backing and 40 laps on the leather.

I am contemplating shaving every other day with a straight since I only have one. I don't want to dull the blade too fast and have to send it out to be honed soon. I think I have an ok stropping technique because the blade does not seem to be dulling fast. I am only five shaves in but I am really enjoying my shaves with a straight. I would have already ordered another straight if I hadn't signed up for the 2014 sabbatical. If I fail at the sabbatical it will be because of me adding another straight. I have been browsing websites and researching other razors and it has been hard not to just say the hell with it and buy a backup razor. If I do decide to alternate from the straight to a DE, I will most likely be using the trusty R41.

Shave #6

Today Equipment:
TI Straight
Rubberset 400 Boar
Tabac soap
Old Spice Aftershave
Pre-shave stropping: 40 on leather
Post shave stropping: 20 on nylon backing and 40 on leather

Today I am a little disappointed with my results. I completed two WTG passes and I had a large amount of stubble left behind, especially on my neck. The razor felt very dull today as compared to yesterday's shave. I know I am new at straight shaving and most likely have not developed a great stropping technique, but today's shave was very different than yesterday's.

I reached for my DE after two passes and finished off the shave that way. I was frustrated and didn't want my emotions guiding my straight across my face.

Toady I will think about what I could have done that slowed my progress and tonight I will especially pay attention to how I am stropping.

Hopefully tomorrow I am back to progressing with my shaves!

I'm also late to the party... lol You are definitely starting out stronger than I did, from the sounds of it. Getting disappointed when the shave doesn't come out like you hoped, or like the day before is normal, but don't let it discourage you too much. It took many/most of use at least 65-70 shaves to really get the full groove of it, and some of us hit over 100 before it all seemed to click in a consistent basis. The learning curve on this is definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

Thanks. I understand that it takes time to learn any new skill. I guess I was just excited since everything was going so well.

Back at it again tomorrow!

cantujm said:

Thanks. I understand that it takes time to learn any new skill. I guess I was just excited since everything was going so well.

Back at it again tomorrow!

Click to expand...

It's those moments that keep us going.

Shave_Rat said:

It's those moments that keep us going.

Click to expand...

Sounds like parenthood.

Shave #7

Today's shave consisted of TI straight, RV boar brush, Stirling soap, and Clubman aftershave.

I completed two WTG passes with better results than what I had yesterday. The WTG passes are getting easier to complete and I am thinking of trying a XTG pass next shave.

The razor cut the hair with ease, but I am seeing an ingrown hair develop on my neck. I believe that ingrown is a result of yesterday's poor shave.

My problem areas are my chin and upper lip still. Today I received a small nick at the base of my chin. Nothing serious and you can barely see it.

After my shave I ran the razor on the nylon webbing about ten times followed up with 40 on the leather.

I am going to shave with a straight every other day to slow the dulling of the edge. I only have one straight so when I send it off to be honed I will have to use a DE. I will pick up another straight after the 2014 sabbatical (if I can make it to the end).