I've been getting a good DFS doing 3 passes (WTG/XTG/ATG) with my Henson mild using just Cremo, but I also get weepers nearly every shave, which I don't like. The B&B advice was that I really need to use a brush and better cream or soap, so I ordered a PAA Starcraft and some Speick cream, and loaded a GSB (current #1 in the Mass Appeal Blade thread) into my Henson.
So now I'm returning to the Shave Clinic. I'm 50 but I feel like a teenager trying to do this for the first time, and there's surprisingly little in the way of basic instructions (at least not that I could find), so I'm hoping y'all can provide some feedback here!
First, I wet my Starcraft. I'm not sure, should it be soaking wet, should the water drip out, or should I shake or squeeze it out? I thought I read somewhere here to shake it, but I couldn't find where I saw that. Still, it seemed a happy medium between drip and squeeze, so I shook.
Then I wet my face and took this much Speick...
...and smeared it on my face and neck.
Then I swirled and painted with the brush for I don't know, probably 30 seconds? Maybe a minute?
I'm not sure how it should be, but that seems kinda dry. Is that dry? Or did I not swirl and paint enough? I think it's dry. Sprinkled some more water on the brush and swirled and painted a bit more. Still dry I think, so I did it again, now it looks like this:
I'm not sure that's still all that much better, but I don't want to overdo the water either, so I went with it. That GSB is smooth! This is the first time I've used a GSB too, maybe I should have used a blade I'm more familiar with so I'd know if any difference is the blade or the cream. Anyway, I wet my face again after the first pass - not trying to rinse off any residual cream, but just to get it wet again. Was I supposed to do that? Then I swirled/painted on some more from the brush. Same after the XTG pass. There was still plenty on the brush to go around:
ATG I got a weeper at one corner of my mustache and one on my neck. Feeling my face, I still needed some cleanup on both jawlines and both sides of my adam's apple. There's still more than plenty cream on the brush, which makes me think that little smidge of cream was still way more than I needed! Unfortunately, cleaning up the neck produced a good dozen weepers on the right side. I'll spare you all that picture. Happily, the bleeding stopped rinsing with cold water before even applying alum. Alum feedback was strong on the mustache and (predictably) on the neck, but pretty mild everywhere else.
Thanks anyone who read this far. In the end, it was a DFS, and 3 hours later I can feel just a couple spots I could have done better. I do wish I could quit with the weepers. And this took a full 30 minutes, which is entirely more time than I have most days, though I don't expect to be taking pics most of the time either. Any feedback would be appreciated - either general feedback or answers to specific questions above. Hopefully not too bad for a middle aged 18-year-old!
So now I'm returning to the Shave Clinic. I'm 50 but I feel like a teenager trying to do this for the first time, and there's surprisingly little in the way of basic instructions (at least not that I could find), so I'm hoping y'all can provide some feedback here!
First, I wet my Starcraft. I'm not sure, should it be soaking wet, should the water drip out, or should I shake or squeeze it out? I thought I read somewhere here to shake it, but I couldn't find where I saw that. Still, it seemed a happy medium between drip and squeeze, so I shook.
Then I wet my face and took this much Speick...
...and smeared it on my face and neck.
Then I swirled and painted with the brush for I don't know, probably 30 seconds? Maybe a minute?
I'm not sure how it should be, but that seems kinda dry. Is that dry? Or did I not swirl and paint enough? I think it's dry. Sprinkled some more water on the brush and swirled and painted a bit more. Still dry I think, so I did it again, now it looks like this:
I'm not sure that's still all that much better, but I don't want to overdo the water either, so I went with it. That GSB is smooth! This is the first time I've used a GSB too, maybe I should have used a blade I'm more familiar with so I'd know if any difference is the blade or the cream. Anyway, I wet my face again after the first pass - not trying to rinse off any residual cream, but just to get it wet again. Was I supposed to do that? Then I swirled/painted on some more from the brush. Same after the XTG pass. There was still plenty on the brush to go around:
ATG I got a weeper at one corner of my mustache and one on my neck. Feeling my face, I still needed some cleanup on both jawlines and both sides of my adam's apple. There's still more than plenty cream on the brush, which makes me think that little smidge of cream was still way more than I needed! Unfortunately, cleaning up the neck produced a good dozen weepers on the right side. I'll spare you all that picture. Happily, the bleeding stopped rinsing with cold water before even applying alum. Alum feedback was strong on the mustache and (predictably) on the neck, but pretty mild everywhere else.
Thanks anyone who read this far. In the end, it was a DFS, and 3 hours later I can feel just a couple spots I could have done better. I do wish I could quit with the weepers. And this took a full 30 minutes, which is entirely more time than I have most days, though I don't expect to be taking pics most of the time either. Any feedback would be appreciated - either general feedback or answers to specific questions above. Hopefully not too bad for a middle aged 18-year-old!