A newbie’s journey into DE shaving

[Ligeti]

That started when I got a new brush stand and the handle did not fit easily. I used some force in the wrong way and it popped loose.
Guido.

Couldn't help laughing. You made my morning!

 

[Guido75]

What can I say - the force is strong in me

Couldn't help laughing. You made my morning!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Butch Waxx]

03.06.22

• 3/30 days in GRUME June (10% completed and still in)
• 3/30 days High Efficiency Razors in June
• 153/154 days of shaving (99.34%)

View attachment 1466205

Third run with the Dorco Titan. Paired this time with the Originale baseplate. Slightly rougher shaving than before so for tomorrow I will shift to the Gentile again. Couple of minor weepers and light irritation on the neck. I completed my usual four passes with a nice BBS as a result.

TGS Pino Alpestre is a great soap with lovely scent. Good and slick lather with excellent gliding support. This will be on my list together with the aftershave.

Prep:	Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave
Razor:	Fatip Piccolo Special Edition Originale
Blade:	Dorco Titan (3)
Brush:	Omega Proraso Boar
Cream:	TGS Pino Alpestre
Bowl:	Proraso
Passes:	WTG - Gillette Slide (NE-SW and E-W horizontal on the neck) and CB slide W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NW-SE and S-N on the neck) X/ATG - Slightly slanted (SW-NE) ATG - Slightly slanted (S-N and W-E horizontal on the neck).
Aftershave:	Proraso Green
Balm:	Proraso Green
Rating:	8.0/10 BBS

Have a Great day everyone.

Guido, I really appreciate your reports. Very neat, to the point, descriptive, and enjoyable. Please continue the good work!

 

[Guido75]

Guido, I really appreciate your reports. Very neat, to the point, descriptive, and enjoyable. Please continue the good work!

Why thanks! Always nice to know these are actually being read . And I will!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Guido75]

04.06.22

• 4/30 days in GRUME June (13% completed and still in)
• 4/30 days High Efficiency Razors in June
• 154/155 days of 365 days of shaving (99.34%)

Basically the same setup as yesterday, only different baseplate reverting back to the Gentile/Safety Bar. Fourth run with the Dorco Titan. Shave was good. No tugging as far as I can tell. I did have one or two nicks. Nothing major and by the end of the shave during clean up they had already sorted themselves out. I completed my usual four passes with a nice DFS as a result - had no real need to pursue BBS today.

The sample of TGS Pino Alpestre I am unsing is 10ml and my local supply shop stated that 3 shaves could be obtained, but this is the third shave and I am not even halfway through the little container (I use a small teaspoon to scoop my creams). At the rate this is going I think I can get at least 8-10 shaves out of each container (the sample package contained 14 - you do the math on how long I will be using TGS!). And paired with the Razorock a small amount gives me heaps of lather. Excellent gliding support and cushioning from the blade. Onwards to shave #4.

Prep:	Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave
Razor:	Fatip Piccolo Special Edition Gentile
Blade:	Dorco Titan (4)
Brush:	Razorock 400 Plissoft Aluminium
Cream:	TGS Pino Alpestre
Bowl:	Proraso
Passes:	WTG - Gillette Slide (NE-SW and E-W horizontal on the neck) and CB slide W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NW-SE and S-N on the neck) X/ATG - Slightly slanted (SW-NE) ATG - Slightly slanted (S-N and W-E horizontal on the neck).
Aftershave:	Proraso Green
Balm:	Proraso Green
Rating:	9.0/10 DFS

Have a Great day everyone.

 

[Guido75]

05.06.22

• 5/30 days in GRUME June (16.67% completed and still in)
• 5/30 days High Efficiency Razors in June
• 155/156 days of 365 days of shaving (99.34%)
• Steep Angle Shaving Alliance (SASA)

I went back to the Tiger Platinum today for its 7th shave. I have never used a Tiger passed 6 shaves, so this is a first. Shave was good. Rougher on the first pass, but all other passes were smooth again. I have had that feeling before when switching blades from one day to the other as if my skin needs to adjust. A very small nick in the moustache area, but that was my prize for going ATG too soon. The usual four passes lead to a fine BBS. Great shave!

Prep:	Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave
Razor:	Fatip Piccolo Nickel Open Comb
Blade:	Tiger Platinum (7)
Brush:	Omega Proraso Boar
Cream:	TGS Pino Alpestre
Bowl:	Proraso
Passes:	W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NE-SW and E-W horizontal on the neck) W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NW-SE and S-N on the neck) A/XTG - Slightly slanted (SW-NE) A/XTG - Slightly slanted (S-N and W-E horizontal on the neck).
Aftershave:	Proraso Green
Balm:	Proraso Green
Rating:	9.0/10 DFS

Have a Great day everyone.

 

[Guido75]

06.06.22​

• 6/30 days in GRUME June (20% completed and still in)
• 6/30 days High Efficiency Razors in June
• 156/157 days of 365 days of shaving (99.34%)
• Steep Angle Shaving Alliance (SASA)

Excellent shave today with the Dorco going on its fifth run. We have a discussion going on in another thread about defining and measuring effectiveness and efficiency (I'm curious - how do you personally measure razor efficiency? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/im-curious-how-do-you-personally-measure-razor-efficiency.625279). And I would say that this shave meets my definition (although I had a couple of weepers on the last pass).

New soap today: TGS Chronos. Nice manly scent but not too musky. Reminds me of Davidoff Cool Water (If I remember correctly). Funny thing is that ingredients-wise this soap is the same as Pino Alpestre according to the description. Must be the fragrance then. Lathering qualities are excellent and the gliding is amazing even after passing and thereby removing lather.

Prep:	Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave
Razor:	Fatip Piccolo Special Edition Gentile
Blade:	Dorco Titan (5)
Brush:	Razorock 400 Plissoft Aluminium
Cream:	TGS Chronos
Bowl:	Proraso
Passes:	W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NE-SW and E-W horizontal on the neck) W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NW-SE and S-N on the neck) A/XTG - Slightly slanted (SW-NE) A/XTG - Slightly slanted (S-N and W-E horizontal on the neck).
Aftershave:	Proraso Green
Balm:	Proraso Green
Rating:	9.0/10 DFS

Have a Great day everyone.

 

[Guido75]

07.06.22​

Buddy of mine has his birthday today. We have know each other literally our entire lives living in the same street. Our birthdays are each other's mirror image datewise.

• 7/30 days in GRUME June (23.33% completed and still in)
• 7/30 days High Efficiency Razors in June
• 157/158 days of 365 days of shaving (99.34%)
• Steep Angle Shaving Alliance (SASA)

It was experimentation time again. I read something about a standard one-pass shave from the old days and decided to give it a go (also given the efficiency debate we have going on). Stroking is done vertically (N-S) and slanted or oblique. Stroking is done slowly but surely. The goal is to get as much stubble on the first pass as you can and to get to SAS/CCS levels. BBS is unobtainable unless you go ATG on the first pass maybe. Left cheek felt indeed smooth, but the right jaw line no so much. I am used to slanted strokes as I perform my shaves using mostly Gillette Slides anyway. Going slow made me somehow use more pressure (even when I reminded myself at the beginning - hmmm let's watch that pressure) and obviously the Fatip let me know I did. So a couple of weepers. It did work, but no fun to me at all.

I realised that I am more of a DFS/BBS kind of guy if I can. So I relathered and continued using my normal routine. Got the usual results as well. Meanwhile this was the 6th run with the Dorco and that went by hardly unnoticed. Excellent shave. Comfortable and smooth. No hassle whatsoever.

TGS Chronos performed very well on a very small amount. Scent is staying longer than Pino Alpestre. Very nice aftershave slickness.

Prep:	Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave
Razor:	Fatip Piccolo Special Edition Gentile
Blade:	Dorco Titan (6)
Brush:	Omega Black Badger
Cream:	TGS Chronos
Bowl:	Proraso
Passes:	W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NE-SW and E-W horizontal on the neck) W/XTG - Gillette Slide (NW-SE and S-N on the neck) A/XTG - Slightly slanted (SW-NE) A/XTG - Slightly slanted (S-N and W-E horizontal on the neck).
Aftershave:	Proraso Green
Balm:	Proraso Green
Rating:	9.5/10 BBS

Have a Great day everyone.

 

[thombrogan]

Happy birthday to your slightly older than you friend!

Those almost-entirely WTG passes can make one feel invincible halfway through, but reality comes back at the end. Please heal soon.

 

[Guido75]

Happy birthday to your slightly older than you friend!

Those almost-entirely WTG passes can make one feel invincible halfway through, but reality comes back at the end. Please heal soon.

Thanks Thom! He and I had a lovely conversation this morning and will meet next month after my birthday to catch up in person again.

And with you on the ATG passes. Even after my W/XTG reduction passes those ATG can still feel harsh if I do it straight on rather than slanted. So I prefer smooth and comfortable over efficiency anyday. Healing wise all is well my friend - usually after aftershave and balm I am ready for the next morning.

Best,

Guido.

 

[thombrogan]

Nice. I do most of my ATG strokes with the Gillette Slide. Even at a steep angle, it makes it more comfortable. I didn’t use a steep angle last night and it ate that precious commodity known as ‘time’ or ‘tijd’ if Google Translate was right.

 

[Guido75]

Nice. I do most of my ATG strokes with the Gillette Slide. Even at a steep angle, it makes it more comfortable. I didn’t use a steep angle last night and it ate that precious commodity known as ‘time’ or ‘tijd’ if Google Translate was right.

That will be my biggest challenge should I ever get a slant (most likely the Lo Storto Piccolo): NOT doing Gillette Slides. WTG, XTG and ATG are all slanted strokes for me to increase the comfort even further. And yes, you were right - time is the most precious we have (spending it shaving is of course well invested ). That is my personal challenge: doing it in less time and be ok with the result. I am currently too addicted to DFS/BBS levels, also because they last to freaking long since I started DE shaving!

Best,

Guido.

 

[thombrogan]

Though I am a hypocrite with a pile of safety razors, I try to not encourage people to buy more once they have a really effective razor. There is a rush in getting them and claiming to have found “the unicorn” or “the Holy Grail,” but consistency is the key to improvements in comfort and efficiency. Those changes that are usually too small to consciously articulate that develop as the result of relentless repetition are the “key.”

Aside from the noted hypocrisy (I still have two, unused razors I want to use), the rest is my opinion borne from my personal experiences and from reading volumes of material on this forum.

 

[Guido75]

Though I am a hypocrite with a pile of safety razors, I try to not encourage people to buy more once they have a really effective razor. There is a rush in getting them and claiming to have found “the unicorn” or “the Holy Grail,” but consistency is the key to improvements in comfort and efficiency. Those changes that are usually too small to consciously articulate that develop as the result of relentless repetition are the “key.”

Aside from the noted hypocrisy (I still have two, unused razors I want to use), the rest is my opinion borne from my personal experiences and from reading volumes of material on this forum.

You may find my wife to be your fan! And I feel the same - great minds think alike. I really want to learn all I can about my Fatips. There is still more efficiency to be gained with them. I just know it.

Best,

Guido

 

[Rosseforp]

Though I am a hypocrite with a pile of safety razors, I try to not encourage people to buy more once they have a really effective razor. There is a rush in getting them and claiming to have found “the unicorn” or “the Holy Grail,” but consistency is the key to improvements in comfort and efficiency. Those changes that are usually too small to consciously articulate that develop as the result of relentless repetition are the “key.”

Aside from the noted hypocrisy (I still have two, unused razors I want to use), the rest is my opinion borne from my personal experiences and from reading volumes of material on this forum.

 

[thombrogan]

Is the Father and Son barber shop experience scheduled near your birthday?

 

[Guido75]

Is the Father and Son barber shop experience scheduled near your birthday?

Give or take a week. I am aiming for the end of June, because actually...my daughter's birthday is one week after mine!

And my dad hinted of getting me a birth quarter Gillette. I have sort of talked him out of it as it being way too much for one birthday. I did tell him that I may be getting him a DE for Father's Day so he can get rid of that beard finally

 

[thombrogan]

All the birthdays! Excellent!

I don’t know any tactful ways of talking my father out of his beard. I wonder if my mother hates the beard and that’s why he won’t shave it. I’ve given him beard balms instead of razors recently. If the beard is staying, maybe the individual hairs will be softer for the birds and squirrels that call it home.

 

[Rosseforp]

I wonder if my mother hates the beard and that’s why he won’t shave it.

Now there's a man I can identify with.

 

[Guido75]

08.06.22​

• 8/30 days in GRUME June (26.67% completed and still in)
• 8/30 days High Efficiency Razors in June
• 158/159 days of 365 days of shaving (99.34%)
• Steep Angle Shaving Alliance (SASA)

I felt like some more experimenting today inspired by the latest video by Geofatboy on daily shaving. Today is an office day so I wanted to see if I could shave off (pun intended) some time from my morning shave routine. I did my usual prep, made my lather and then performed a two pass shave using WTG (N-S) and XTG (W-E) - so no Gillette Slide or slanted strokes initally. I thought it went very well and in 7-10 minutes I could have easily left for the office with a CCS level shave. But because I was really efficient and I had lather to the max, I continued my shave for the last two usual passes until I reached a DFS level. But still - all things considering from prep to finish (cleaning my razor and gear) it took approximately 15 minutes which is a full 5-10 minutes less than usual. So very efficient for me at least! Feels great! I will experiment some more using my Gillette Slides tomorrow. And it dawned on me that maybe this is also a sign my technique is improving.

The Dorco was on its 7th run and still feels amazing. Had two nicks around my windpipe - on me. Excellent shave. Comfortable and smooth. No hassle whatsoever.

TGS Chronos performed very well on a very small amount.

Prep:	Cold splash KCG Face Wash Proraso Green preshave
Razor:	Fatip Piccolo Special Edition Gentile
Blade:	Dorco Titan (7)
Brush:	Razorock 400 Plissoft Aluminium
Cream:	TGS Chronos
Bowl:	Proraso
Passes:	WTG (N-S and NE-SW on the neck) XTG (W-E) ATG (S-N) on the cheeks at first A/XTG - Slightly slanted (S-N and W-E horizontal on the neck).
Aftershave:	Proraso Green
Balm:	Proraso Green
Rating:	10/10 - SAS/CCS/DFS/BBS

Have a Great day everyone.