(Slaps link to thread) You Can Fit So Much Wrong In This Journal

[thombrogan]

I hope you are not overdoing it with the stretching.

I have no in-person tactile/visual point of reference, but I’m very apt to overdo or underdo every task. So probably overdid it since my facecloth makes it easy to grab my face even when it’s covered with lather.

overstretched skin gets goose bumps, which a blade will try to plane off.

It did a grate job. I mean great job.

 

[Sotiris_A]

I have no in-person tactile/visual point of reference, but I’m very apt to overdo or underdo every task. So probably overdid it since my facecloth makes it easy to grab my face even when it’s covered with lather.



It did a grate job. I mean great job.

I had a bad experience when I first tried it with a face cloth because of the extra grip that you mention, so I switched back to my fingers. Lately, due to the SR, I revisited it and I have to be very careful, despite the fact that skin stretching is important for SR shaving. On some spots, doing a funny face is enough. If it is something new for you, try with your fingers and when it gets difficult due to lather or the residual slickness left, apply some alum on the tips of your fingers.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I have no in-person tactile/visual point of reference, but I’m very apt to overdo or underdo every task. So probably overdid it since my facecloth makes it easy to grab my face even when it’s covered with lather.



It did a grate job. I mean great job.

Our dad's are mostly not with us in our shave dens, and there's no spellcheck for shaving.

I've been meaning for a long time to comment on the thread title. It's grate great. Learning to do all this, and enjoy juggling all the stuff most of us acquire is know no mean feet feat.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[TinyT]

spellcheck for shaving

 

[thombrogan]

@Sotiris_A - I’ve tried the alum in the past, but it destroys the lather. With ATG being the only way I use safety razors, the alum is too much. Like you mentioned, I just make faces for around the lips and chin and part of the cheeks.

Taking up the slack, rather than actual stretching

I will try to keep this mind and will take my time to reduce the chance of this advice going out the window.

Our dad's are mostly not with us in our shave dens

My dad looks more like Rev Billy F Gibbons than someone I’d go to for shaving advice.

I've been meaning for a long time to comment on the thread title. It's grate great.

Thank you, sir

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
GEM Micromatic Open Comb
Personna GEM (2)
Left hand and right hand
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Irish Spring for nape of neck; ARKO! for face
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block
Hydrocortisone cream

Missed my MMOC. Used my MMOC. Enjoyed my MMOC.

Irish Spring hand-lathered on nape of neck was ethereally slick and design-angle shave was a treat.

Overdid it on the face and front of neck with my MMOC. Didn’t use Irish Spring, a brush, or common sense. Quelle surprise… Got super duper slick hand lather with the ARKO! and added enough water this time. Used lower than design angle plus skin stretching and paid for it.

Next time, plans are to fight urge to use lower than design angle and keep using MMOC. Might use Irish Spring for entire lather. Self-conscious about the 12.19 remaining bars of ARKO! in my possession if Irish Spring outperforms on more than just the scent.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[Rosseforp]

@Sotiris_A - I’ve tried the alum in the past, but it destroys the lather.

I believe what @Sotiris_A means is to just rub your fingers on the alum to get added traction on the tips of your fingers. When I use an SR I always keep the alum handy, just for the added grip.

 

[TinyT]

Lather: Irish Spring for nape of neck; ARKO! for face

Is the scalp next?

 

[Sotiris_A]

I believe what @Sotiris_A means is to just rub your fingers on the alum to get added traction on the tips of your fingers. When I use an SR I always keep the alum handy, just for the added grip.

Exactly that! Sometimes I can't help but write simple things in a complicated manner...

 

[thombrogan]

just rub your fingers on the alum to get added traction on the tips of your fingers.

Exactly that!

That would work perfect for how I do WTG and XTG passes, but I have to put my fingers on lathered surfaces for ATG, so alum would ruin shaves I’m perfectly capable of ruining myself.

Is the scalp next?

Maybe partially. My widow’s peak is too rounded and not triangular like my childhood idol Count Chocula.

 

[thombrogan]

Last night’s shave
GEM Micromatic Open Comb
Personna GEM PTFE (3)
Left hand and right hand
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: Irish Spring
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block
Hydrocortisone cream

I had so much better luck with Irish Spring on the back of my neck. The shave felt very slick, but the soap was stinging before the shave.

Stayed design-shallow most places except the edge of my temples and one steep cleanup on the side of my bottom lip where I kept missing a teeny patch for days. Even with the design-shallow angle, comfort eluded me until the end when I remembered to feel or look for my skin moving in response to the blade. Wish I remembered earlier.

Back to the brush; back to a gentler soap (either ARKO! or my sample of Stirling Unscented with Beeswax); and on to making sure I don’t feel the blade pulling my skin.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[TinyT]

Hydrocortisone cream

Uh-oh.

 

[thombrogan]

Uh-oh.

Yes, but it works better than any balm or salve when my zeal gets excessive. About 14 hours later and I only look like a buffoon with fading razor burn, so it’s a big improvement.

 

[thombrogan]

Tonight’s shave
GEM Micromatic Open Comb
Personna GEM PTFE (4)
30mm Maggards Synthetic Brush
Damp washcloth aka “shave binky”
Pre-shave: hot shower
Lather: ARKO!
Post-shave face wash with shave binky
Post-shave alum block

The shave of Valentine’s Eve was one of two techniques. On the right, I tried low-angle shaving similar to Wes’s first WTG pass. I have the concept, but am not good on the execution so my results weren’t so comfortable. On the left, the loud angle was used. Missed a bit under the jawline, but higher level of comfort.

Alum feedback was about the same, but no weepers on loud angle side. Using design angle and leaving my skin stretching to what can happen with chin pointing and face making until I get the hang of it.

Happy shaves, everyone!

 

[Rosseforp]

but no weepers on loud angle side. Using design angle and leaving my skin stretching to what can happen with chin pointing and face making until I get the hang of it.

 

[thombrogan]

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have the concept, but am not good on the execution

 

[thombrogan]

Exactly!

 

[Dovo1695]

I have no in-person tactile/visual point of reference, but I’m very apt to overdo or underdo every task. So probably overdid it since my facecloth makes it easy to grab my face even when it’s covered with lather.

I'm a big fan of skin stretching. The best technique I've found is what I call "pneumatic stretching" (PS). Basically, you stretch the skin by inflating your cheeks while you shave. By adjusting the air pressure in your cheek, you can adjust the closeness of the shave. It offers more control, better repeatability, and a closer shave than anything else I've tried. "Baby bottom smooth" is for suckers; PS makes your skin smoother than the arse of a marble cherub.

If it sounds like nonsense, an easy test is to inflate you cheek after you finish a normal shave, and run your hand ATG. You'll feel every single follicle of hair standing straight up, and it will feel like you haven't shaved at all.

A word of caution though if you decide to try it: it will make a Gillette Tech shave closer than an R45, so use your mildest razor, a mild blade, and the wettest Arko you can muster. Do it on just one cheek and compare. I generally only inflate the cheek on the side I'm shaving; I find that this immensely increases proprioception. You don't have to inflate the cheek to much to start getting results. It's actually easier to shave this way, but it's going to smooth down all the tiny little bumps on your skin when you first start out. Don't overdo it...

 

[thombrogan]

Don't overdo it...

<< existential terror intensifies >>

I do a bit of what you mention for around my mouth and chin, but haven’t tried the whole inflatable area yet.