A week of straight shaving

[barracudamagoo]

I'm making the commitment to straight shave everyday this week. I've been using the straight off and on, during weekends since the end of December, with okay'ish shaves.

Razor: Le Grelot 5/8 modified French Point
Soap: 'Da Fat
Aftershave: I'm no masochist, so I'm using Thayer's Lavendar Witchhazel

Today Day 1: Somehow I manage to take off more skin than whiskers. At the end of the shave I have a shave that is better than my 5'oclock shadow. Not great, but not too bad. Not to good with my left hand yet, so the left side isn't a good as the right. Pretty steep learning curve.

I need to work on keeping the razor angle pretty thin, and lighten up my grip a little. I think I focus too much on trying to the hair off, that I get lax with my technique.

 

[Gogo]

Keep at it. You'll be surprised how much progress you'll make this week!

 

[Alacrity59]

I think the biggest thing for me was keeping a light touch. The guy in a recent Mantic video has the best way of saying it. Something like . . . you want to shave beard not skin. I'm on week six of using only a straight and I'm loving it.

 

[barracudamagoo]

I think the biggest thing for me was keeping a light touch. The guy in a recent Mantic video has the best way of saying it. Something like . . . you want to shave beard not skin. I'm on week six of using only a straight and I'm loving it.

Ya, I'm thinking that is 90% of my problem. Lord knows I'm taking off enough face. I don't want to think about it would feel like trying to splash on some Pinaud Bay Rum!

 

[barracudamagoo]

Today was shave #3 (I skipped Tuesday). Went much better today, than the previous two. Got a little too comfortable and gave myself a nice cut; however, it didn't bleed too bad after a splash of cold water and a touch of the styptic. I was able to get 2 solid WTG passes, plus a third XTG pass just on the cheeks. Still not even close to what I can get with a DE, but not leaps over Monday's shave. The chin area is getting easier to shave, and with better reuslts. I don't really follow a pattern with it, once or twice WTG, and then two opposing XTG shaves (once from the left side, and once from the right side). I think tomorrow will bring an even better shave; and hopefully, without any cuts.

 

[DE Shaver]

I found that pre-shave is very important for straight razor shaving. If you do a good enough pre-shave, you can be surprisingly aggressive with your shave and still avoid cuts as well post shave discomfort.

 

[barracudamagoo]

Pretty decent shave today. No nicks or cuts, but it did feel like a got a little too close in a few spots. Did two WTG passes on cheeks and neck, as well as two XTG passes on the cheeks. I have no real pattern on the chin. The first pass is sort of WTG; however, the rest is kind of a mix and match of what feels comfortable, and appears to get a close shave.

I have also noticed, although it could be coincidence, that my skin feels…supple! Even though the shave itself is not close, my skin has been feeling very soft. It could be the MWF; but, I have been using that for close to 2 months now, and never really noticed it before. Either way, ‘da Fat is awesome stuff, it’s like shaving with Cool h’Whip! The shave have been getting progressively better, and I think I will drag this out to two weeks of straight straight shaving.