Best Straight Shave Yet

[The National Razor]

The weekend experiment of the straight razor keeps on getting better. Today I had my most favorable experience to date.

I showered and threw on my wife's bathrobe, as mine is currently drying from the wash. Go ahead and laugh. I should note it's the same as mine excepting the initials monogrammed on it.

Anyway, I stropped the 6/8 Le Grelot 50 times on the canvas and 50 on the leather. I lathered up some Trumper Violet soap with a Merkur Silvertip. I got a great lather and set to work.

3 (1/2) passes later (the 1/2 pass was to touch up the trouble spots of jawline and neck), and I was greeted with a most excellent result. I splashed on some warm then cold water, added the alum block, and cleaned up the area. Then I followed with another cold rinse and applied Booster June Clover.

Finally, I rubbed on some Trumper Extract of Limes Skin Food and sprayed on some Guerlain Vetiver.

I'm very pleased with the result and my time wasn't horrible--about one hour from getting in the shower to finishing dressing--I could actually do this during the workweek without getting up way too early.

So the next step--straight shave before work!

 

[texbilly]

Well done, Ryan! I'm not at your level of efficiency yet, but every shave gets better.

P.S. TMI on your wife's bathrobe!

 

[The National Razor]

Well done, Ryan! I'm not at your level of efficiency yet, but every shave gets better.

P.S. TMI on your wife's bathrobe!

Thanks! Hang in there--my first attempt hardly even counted as a shave! I'm still not as good as I am with a DE--but it sure is fun to try!

Re: the Bathrobe Incident:

She never uses it so I didn't want it to feel unappreciated.

Although she prefers to walk around the bathroom naked, so I don't really mind that the bathrobe hangs unused...

 

[Lavaine]

Congrats on the great shave Ryan. I too had my best straight shave ever this weekend. Tabac face lathered with my Penworks finest brush. Lots of passes on the strop (I was in 'the zone' and didn't count my laps, just enjoyed the process.) 3 passes with my Joseph Allen and Sons wedge, alum, AV and RSC balm. Not quite BBS, but certainly DFS, and not a single nick. Even the hard-to-impress SWMBO was moved to let out an 'oooh' when she felt my face.
Th interesting thing for me was that I don't consider the wedge to be the sharpest of my blades, in fact I consider it the least sharp of my regular 3 razors, although a close second for smooth feel. The third pass made an amazing difference in the final product, as I usually only do two passes.

I sometimes waver on keeping the wedge, but after yesterday, it's not going anywhere! Besides, with its bone scales, it is my best looking razor, and has a place of honour on my vanity.

 

[Mr. Scruffy]

Well done, Ryan. My weekend straight shaves are getting better and better as well.

All I need to do now is make the commitment to daily straight shaving.