First straight shave after a few weeks with SR1 - some observations

I have been traveling, so I gave the SR1 another whirl. It really did not go too well today, I think my technique is still improving, but I'm starting to plateau. I also tried the C.O. Bigelow (rebranded proraso) cream today, but I think I made the lather too thick. Shave was pretty close since those Astra blades cut well - but I ended up nicking my upper lip (don't even remember how/when - I looked up and saw a little red line). Nothing stypic couldn't fix. Interested to get back to the real straight and see how it feels again after this attempt with the SR1.

Today's shave went well at the beginning, but my "lather" dried out and made things difficult. I was trying MWF for the first time (and love how it feels - didn't know what a blade gliding was until I tried it). No matter what soap or cream I use, I seem to mess up. I've narrowed it down to too much air - I think I'm trying so hard to get good lather that I end up with a bowl full of air. Really difficult for me to comment on the blade handling aspects except that things went extremely well until the foam dried out. Practice lathers are my next step.

I've been practicing my lathers and it really paid off. Went with MWF today and it left my face feeling well, even though the lather still wasn't great. Definitely little razor burn speak of. Otherwise, not much to say except that I'm very slowly improving with my left hand.

Today went not so great either. I went with Kell's Original Energy for the first time and after three attempts could not get great lather. I proceeded with the shave anyway and it was noticeably less slick than MWF and started drying and sticking quickly. I've decided to pick up a bottle of glycerin or start mixing with C.O. Bigelow for super/uber lather.

Today I picked up TOBS cream after staying away for a little while. I still only got foam out of it, but it was pretty creamy when mixing early on - as much as I don't like just pouring stuff down the drain, I think this warrants a practice lather. I may be using too much product after all. Definitely planning to get the glycerin. As far as the shave is concerned, I was getting a lot of resistance and I'm thinking the blade is getting dull or maybe the poor-quality lather I make is makiung things too hard for my every 2-3 day shaves. Either way, I'm sticking with it - but will try using the SR1 for the next shave to see how sharpness changes things. I ordered a new strop and will touch up the GD with some diamond spray when that all comes in.

Many folks find soaps, especially those with tallow, a bit better for straight shaving. Creams can work great too, but soaps seem superior to many. MWF is a tough one though. If you get the water right, it can be unbeatable. Miss it, and you get a sudsy mess that isn't so hot to shave with. Have you tried Tabac? Very easy, slick soap, enjoyed by many, reviled by a few with poor taste (imo). jk, kinda

Good luck, keep at it. It does get better.

Haven't tried Tabac yet, might hit up a sample shop for that - I know some here would disagree, but I feel I've bought far too many products already. Probably enough to last me for at least two years, probably longer with the less frequent shaves. That said, I actually found it somewhat "easier" to get a creamy lather with MWF than the creams. It took a lot more time, but I don't get a foamy mess as much. I don't think I've been doing this long enough to stand behind that statement as a solid conclusion, though

Another common tip is to just stick with one soap or cream. Nail it, then learn to shave with it. That will remove at least one variable which may be impacting your results.

Larry gave some good advice. I also found that I "felt" like I was loading a ton of product, but in the end I wasn't. Someone helped me out with my lathering - which I am still working on. You load until it almost looks dry on the top of the puck and the sound changes a bit. I then dip the tips of the brush in a little water, for no longer than like 2 seconds, and then load some more until that same dry sound happens again.

Maybe it will help...

Cool, thanks so much! I will have to try that trick, since my current method is to swirl on the puck for 4-5 minutes - but that obviously stops working after a bit. I've added drops of water to the puck, but it probably makes more sense to wet the brush. Will need to learn to recognize that sound. Thanks again! I think I will stick with MWF, it has been the best so far and will probably be the most rewarding.

I shaved tonight with the SR1 and it was one of my worst shaves yet (in terms of lather frustration, shaving technique was fine - no nicks). I needed to do a lot of cleanup with the Fusion. I also really noticed the difference in shave angle between shavette and straight. I am quite pleased with how the SR1 handles, and am currently awaiting a shorty from Larry at whippedog since I still prefer the feel of a real straight (hopefully that will be a nice balance between weight and handling).


I decided to keep pushing forward with MWF, but could only get foam as usual (I've found this is true of all products, MWF just takes longer for me to build my useless foam ). I may make another post in the cream forum, but I definitely agree that it is at least partially issue of not enough product - I did some practice lathers with much less product and it had the same result, just got to it much quicker. I do load up the center of the brush quite a bit - not sure if it's recommened to try and load the sides as well or not. I should mention that I'm loading with a very dry brush, as I've seen recommened many places. I'm wondering if there's something else wrong with my technique, though.

I'm debating going back to distilled water, but I would like to get things working with my tap water and I didn't noticed a massive different with the distilled water. I will definitely pick up glycerin as well since I haven't tried it yet. For what it's worth, my skin still feels nice after even poor-lather MWF.

I got the the SRD modular paddle yesterday, glycerin from Meijer last night, and a shorty from Larry at whipped dog today. Lots of new things to play with here

Either I'm not used to the really light weight or I think I may have harmed the edge when cleaning off Vaseline, but I had a fairly hard time shaving with the shorty. It's a little shorter than the GD, but a lot thinner. It was still fairly long (around 2.25inches), but I got a great deal on it, so no complaints there. After the shave, I gave it 20 laps on the 12K SS as well as 20 laps on 0.5µm diamond spray. I will shave with it next time to see if it does better. Also, I did not strop before shaving so I will try stropping before the next shave.

Back to the shave: I used MWF with three drops of glycerin. The lather worked amazingly well. It felt so good that after my not-so-great shave with the shorty I relathered and grabbed the GD. I had touched it up on the diamond spray earlier and it shaved extremely well with the near-uber lather. As much as I hate wielding the GD in tricky areas, its hefty weight does seem to make things much much easier.

Tonight, I actually shaved two days in a row for the first time since I started SR shaving! I feel that my post-shave routine of razorock+witch hazel+nivea allowed my skin to heal sufficiently. Today I continued with the shorty + glycerin-laced MWF. I definitely think the glycerin makes a huge difference, though now that I know what I'm looking for I may be able to achieve some good lather without it. I'm still struggling to make the shorty work. I feel that the reduced weight makes it too challenging for not enough reduction in length (it is 1/2-3/4" or so shorter). I don't feel I've gained any mobility vs. the GD. I am starting to eyeball my dremel and thinking about what I can do. This razor was reduced once, could a second time really hurt? However, I like the weight of the GD, so maybe it's better to get another one of those and chop it up... Either way, I've decided that my next shave will be SR1 w/C. O. Bigelow cream. I'm traveling soon and want to get more experience with that setup before I take it with me.

zje4,

You experiences are much like mine. The jaw line and upper neck area are a real challenge. Hope all goes well for us both. Thx for the post and the good replays to it.

I am thinking of changing to MWF myself as my face needs a rest in-between.

pejay66 said:

I am thinking of changing to MWF myself as my face needs a rest in-between.

Click to expand...

I'm definitely taking today off. After my attempt yesterday at two days in a row, I realized it still was a little much for my neck. I really like MWF, but even with the glycerin it still takes a bunch of work. When I try the other cream tomorrow, I'll have a better idea of whether I think it's worth it or not (right now, I suspect it is - I'm a huge fan, hopefully I don't go in with too much bias).

Giving your face a "rest" is a great idea. No need to make this uncomfortable. One of the things that helped me get ready for the next day's shave when I was starting was my evening wash, believe it or not. I use a soap that I don't enjoy shaving with (Cella, usually), followed by a witch hazel splash and some 100% aloe moisturizer. Witch hazel and aloe may be two of the nicest things you can do for your skin, and they're dirt cheap available in the supermarket.

Re: lmarkow - I've started doing the witch hazel + nivea every night and morning, will need to try the aloe (will probably use it instead of the nivea tomorrow morning).


Today I went with the SR1 and the C.O. Bigelow as planned. I was really missing the weight of the gold dollar - I really couldn't get my chin close at all. I also managed to get a small nick on my neck (adam's apple + bad angle = trouble), but it's already disappeared, so that's good. Overall, not a great shave - had to do a ton of cleanup with the Fusion. However, the lather was excellent (didn't even need to cheat with glycerin on this one) I'm going to keep with this configuration probably throughout the next two weeks or so...

Yesterday's shave went pretty well, especially considering that I went to the barber

I definitely think it will help a lot for my next straight shave, knowing what it's supposed to feel like and the different stretches he used. Also, he used Stephan's brushless cream as a preshave - I was a huge fan and plan on picking that up when I finish off the proraso. He did keep commenting that I have unsually tough whiskers and he isn't surprised that I normally get razor burn. He said i had pretty tough skin though, so that's good. I realize that many folks here comment that they have thick hair and sensitive skin, but I suppose i have a second opinion to back me up on the first one...

I was traveling on Monday, so that was an M3 shave - really did not go well. Definitely recomitted to learning straight shaving.

Last night, I used the SR1 with an Astra SP again, and I'm finding that my hair just may be too tough for the Astra. It could be that my prep was sloppy as well. I am tempted to try a feather in that blade, but still somewhat hesitant.