What's new

Beginner tips & guidance… From a beginner!

Excellent intro. Welcome!

I noticed you said you normally shave then shower. You may want to switch that, I find the shower before the shave to be a hugely important part of my preshave routine.

Sincerely glad you're enjoying your shave.

Cheers,
Looch
 
Thank you @MrSeaMonkey! What a great first post!

Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it. :001_smile



Nubian Goat's Milk and Chai with Rose Extracts sounds like a must try. I've been using a stash of Terlingua Soap Company's Goat's Milk Soap with carrot and cloves. But I believe they might be out of business and I'm down to my last bar. I might have found a replacement. Thanks.

Fas est et ab hoste docari

Hi Sergio,

Thought that I'd give a quick update on the goat's milk soap now that I've been using it for about a week and a half: It's fine. But I'm not wowed. I like it for something different in terms of scent and feel. Although I am not convinced that it has influenced my shaves any. Shaving is certainly not any worse. Just seems to be about the same as before. The different razor has made a major impact. The soap not so much. With the soap being kind of an amber color, the sink is becoming colored a bit as a result.

Oh, and I don't think that I look any younger from the soap. It must be that I was already looking so young despite my years, from all of that clean living- no drinking, no partying hard, and no chasing women. Oh wait… :001_tt2:

Glad that I tried the soap and I will use it to the end. Just one guy's opinion.
 
Excellent intro. Welcome!

I noticed you said you normally shave then shower. You may want to switch that, I find the shower before the shave to be a hugely important part of my preshave routine.

Sincerely glad you're enjoying your shave.

Cheers,
Looch


Hi Looch,

That’s a good suggestion. It makes perfect sense in terms of softening up the beard and such. But I am pretty well set in my morning routine with regard to needing to shave before the shower. I like using the shower to wash all the creams and such off my face. It’s probably not necessary and just me being set in my ways. But there are just certain things that have to happen each morning: first shave, then shower, then put on clothes (OK maybe optional! :blushing: ) and then have a coffee. It’s part of how I wake up and feel good to go out and face the world. You know what I mean? :001_smile


Thanks for posting that I am looking at getting a Rockwell 6A too.

Yeah, I’m quite impressed. So far, I’ve got 3 shaves on it with the #3 plate. A definite improvement over the EJ DE89 in terms of lack of irritation (big deal there) and getting a closer shave (a little bit less of a big deal here).

Today was my first shot at using the #4 plate. It’s definitely more aggressive. I got an incredibly close shave, possibly my closest. It still took some work, especially under the chin. And I had more irritation as a results, especially noticeable when splashing on the alcohol aftershave. But no more irritation than the EJ DE89, probably a little less, actually.

Not sure what the plan is here. Maybe give the #4 plate another try tomorrow and then try the #5? That might be too much. But there is also the possibility that the more aggressive plate requires less work and might yield less irritation, in the end? We’ll have to see. Overall, though, I'm impressed with this razor and, so far, would recommend it strongly. It looks like they are coming out with a cheaper version, essentially the same system, but in cheaper zinc pot metal. So the price is less than half. Could be a super way to go for beginners if it's the same shave experience, just with metal that will last merely a few years instead of several lifetimes.
 
Not sure what the plan is here. Maybe give the #4 plate another try tomorrow and then try the #5? That might be too much. But there is also the possibility that the more aggressive plate requires less work and might yield less irritation, in the end? We’ll have to see.

Give the #4 plate a few weeks before jumping up and giving the 5 a run. Doing this will give you more time to dial in the required technique (pressure and angle, as well as maybe fewer passes) for the more agressive stance of the blade in relation to your face. You might also find that it might just be too agressive for your face, and the #3 plate is the best combination of comfort and closeness for you. Just my $.02...but I know that for me, proper technique trumps just about everything for a comfortable and close shave.

This is a great thread, love to read the updates as you continue your journey!
 
Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it. :001_smile





Hi Sergio,

Thought that I'd give a quick update on the goat's milk soap now that I've been using it for about a week and a half: It's fine. But I'm not wowed. I like it for something different in terms of scent and feel. Although I am not convinced that it has influenced my shaves any. Shaving is certainly not any worse. Just seems to be about the same as before. The different razor has made a major impact. The soap not so much. With the soap being kind of an amber color, the sink is becoming colored a bit as a result.

Oh, and I don't think that I look any younger from the soap. It must be that I was already looking so young despite my years, from all of that clean living- no drinking, no partying hard, and no chasing women. Oh wait… :001_tt2:

Glad that I tried the soap and I will use it to the end. Just one guy's opinion.
As they say around here YMMV. I guess I'm just a young 59. I couldn't find that Nubian soap here, although the GNC website says they have it. My son picked up some French soaps on clearance for $2.00 a bar. Two of which are Lavender which I really like. My favorite cream is TOBS Lavender, and if I could only find a good Lavender aftershave I would be all set.

Fas est et ab hoste docari
 
As they say around here YMMV. I guess I'm just a young 59. I couldn't find that Nubian soap here, although the GNC website says they have it. My son picked up some French soaps on clearance for $2.00 a bar. Two of which are Lavender which I really like. My favorite cream is TOBS Lavender, and if I could only find a good Lavender aftershave I would be all set.

Fas est et ab hoste docari

Fine Lavender Pour Homme is a great lavender AS if you haven't tried it yet.
 
As they say around here YMMV. I guess I'm just a young 59. I couldn't find that Nubian soap here, although the GNC website says they have it. My son picked up some French soaps on clearance for $2.00 a bar. Two of which are Lavender which I really like. My favorite cream is TOBS Lavender, and if I could only find a good Lavender aftershave I would be all set.


Fas est et ab hoste docari


Fine Lavender Pour Homme is a great lavender AS if you haven't tried it yet.


Right, I was going to mention Fine Lavender! I have a sample of it and just tried it this morning for the first time. It’s nice although I’m not sure how to describe it. I think that I know what a lavender flower smells like or I could be off in my expectations. This aftershave is not quite what I had in my mind (or nose?) in advance. A little earthy, a little lavendery. Generally not a strong scent. Pleasant, for sure. It has the very nice menthol cooling feel. If you are looking for a clear, strong lavender scent, perhaps this is not the one. I guess that the “Pour Homme” part of the product name is accurate in that it’s not a strong, flowery lavender scent for the ladies. I did like it and will need to try it out some more before deciding whether or not I’d buy a whole bottle. It is nice. Get opinions from others. I will say, though, that I really like the Fine L’Orange Noir. Orange rind + earthy scent, which is wonderful and then the cooling menthol feel.
 
Give the #4 plate a few weeks before jumping up and giving the 5 a run. Doing this will give you more time to dial in the required technique (pressure and angle, as well as maybe fewer passes) for the more agressive stance of the blade in relation to your face. You might also find that it might just be too agressive for your face, and the #3 plate is the best combination of comfort and closeness for you. Just my $.02...but I know that for me, proper technique trumps just about everything for a comfortable and close shave.


This is a great thread, love to read the updates as you continue your journey!


Excellent idea! Maybe work at it for a while and see where I end up. Thanks.

Today was shave #2 with the #4 plate. It was a little bit better than yesterday in that I had a better idea of what to expect from the razor and then how to handle it. Just like you say. Wow, that was an incredibly close shave. As if the razor is intimidating whiskers from next week, telling them not to even bother growing. :w00t: But it was fairly irritating, noticed mostly from the aftershave sting, which was significant. No blood, though, which is impressive. So #4 may be too aggressive for me. I’ll try #4 a little more and then go back to #3 to see what impressions I have then. The #5 may be beyond me although I might give it a shot. We’ll see.
 
Dispatch from the bathroom this morning…


Had shave #3 with the #4 razor plate. Working on my technique even more and trying to be careful. Man, that thing is aggressive. Got my first, single drop of blood from the razor. Impressive that it took 6 shaves before seeing any. An incredibly close shave. But that aftershave stung, even with my trying hard to be good on technique. Tomorrow, I think that I’ll go back to the #3 plate and see how it feels.


I wanted to give the Fine Lavender Pour Homme aftershave another shot. It’s a bit refreshing and might be really good for the summer. (Even though it’s winter here, at the moment.) I put it on and went over to my wife.
“I’m trying a new aftershave. Can you smell any lavender?”
Sniff sniff. “A little… But you smell like an old lady.”
Huh?
She then told me about how she associates lavender and soap scents with old ladies. A memory from her childhood.
So I pointed out to her that this is lavender for men. “Look right here at the label. It says ‘Pour Homme!’”
She just rolled her eyes at me. :lol:
 
Almost 4 months in and I’m still learning. The shaves are still improving.

Pretty much every shave, I have been striving for a super smooth result. That usually means many passes and irritation noted especially by the alcohol sting from the after shave. I’m getting better though, with close shaves requiring less effort and the irritation being much less than the earliest of days. I guess that there is no real need to have a super smooth shave every day. It’s just a nice thing and probably part of why we are all here at B&B. And once the razor is in hand, it’s hard to stop from trying to get there. :001_smile

Anyways, yesterday was Sunday and I tried something different. Just a simple shave without trying to get super close. Just a few passes enough to get the whiskers down to the point that I felt fine to go out into the world. I used the #3 plate on the Rockwell razor. Everything went well and there was little sting from the alcohol. Then this morning I put in the #4 plate, which is more aggressive. The idea was to just do 4 simple passes- with the grain, across the grain one way, across the grain the other way, and then against the grain. Then stop. No touching up or trying to mow things down to the baby’s butt level of smoothness. And no pressure. Really. I’m using a more aggressive razor (plate) this time. So go easy, 4 simple passes, no pressure, no need to get so close. See what happens. Well, it was a great result! Not the closest shave I have ever had. But pretty close, indeed. And when it came time to splash on the aftershave it felt almost like water. Only a little sting. A super shave! :001_smile It’s nice to see that improvements continue.

By the way, right after shaving, I am using Thayers witch hazel aftershave. It stings more than a lot of the others that I have tried. (Captain’s Choice has the least sting, to the point that I wonder if they even have alcohol in there.) But it’s a great indicator of how irritating your shave was. After a shower I then put on some other aftershaves. Proraso green and Fine Orange Noir are my two favorites so far.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
what is B.O.T.O.C? from your signature. Nick
All is revealed here:
 
Top Bottom