Bird_Flu's straight razor journal

[Bird_Flu]

I should preface this by saying for almost the first 20 years of shaving, ever since I was 12 years old, I shaved with cartridges. Sometimes I would shave in the shower no canned goo, sometimes with canned goo, but never very often or comfortably. Fast forward to sometime last year and a work colleague recommended I try DE wet shaving. I bought Leisurguy's book, started lurking here, watching Mantic's videos, basically learning all I could before deciding that this was the life for me. I started a whole 8 weeks ago today after placing an order on amazon for some gear. It's been a great journey so far, my almost permanent razor burn and ingrown hairs at the base of my neck have all but cleared and I'm getting smoother and more comfortable shaves as my technique improves, and it has improved by reading this site and listening to everyone's advice. I now enjoy shaving immensely, drive SWMBO nuts by talking about it, and started to acquire some mild RAD.

This all brings me to today. Thanks to the immense generosity of otto76 and rockviper, I now have a custom scaled straight razor, a paddle strop, a new synthetic brush, some Mama Bear's soap and a small case of nerves. I overcame these nerves, and a wicked head cold, and shaved tonight with some of my new gear.

I didn't want to change too much about my shaving routine so I stuck with making a super lather and my usual prep, I was quite a bit more thorough than usual about it this time though.

Here's how my shave went tonight
I started with a shower and did a hot towel to the face for several minutes, I wanted to make sure my beard was as soft as it could be. I had a two day growth after a BBS shave for a wedding which is slightly more than a normal one day growth after my DFS's.

I then slapped on a generous amount of Proraso ultra sensitive pre-shave cream.

I whipped up a super lather of Proraso white soap and Proraso green cream using my Omega #10083 brush which is enormous. After lathering up I set to work of removing some whiskers and hopefully not visiting the ER. I completed two WTG passes on my cheeks and my neck, even used my left hand for the first time ever shaving. No nicks, no weepers, the only casualty is a small chunk out of my goatee. I finished with a XTG pass with my 1949(ish) Gillette Superspeed. I now have a DFS almost no irritation and I still have all of my face.

Thanks again to otto76 and rockviper for the gear, this is going to be fun learning. At first the straight shaves will have to be reserved for night shaving and weekends when I have some time, but I'm hoping to work it into my regular rotation and make each one a DFS even if I have to lean on my DE for some help.

Pictures coming up soon as soon as I upload them on my computer.

 

[Bird_Flu]

This is everything that came in the mail today. Thanks so very much to otto76 and rockviper!



This was after WTG pass number two tonight. It was an awesome shave. I finished up afterwards by stropping 50 laps.

 

[The Don]

Congrats, Jeff! It sounds like you had an excellent first shave. I'm only a few weeks ahead of you, but the experience has been amazing. If you're able, please do keep up with this journal. It's helpful to those who come after us, and I find it a good way to reflect on my progress.

Love your sig line, btw. I have 3 kids under the age of 4, so I can certainly relate. Congrats once again, and we're glad you've joined the group.

Don

 

[rockviper]

Well done! It sounds like you're off to a great start
No pink in the lather for shave #1 is bonus!

 

[Bird_Flu]

Congrats, Jeff! It sounds like you had an excellent first shave. I'm only a few weeks ahead of you, but the experience has been amazing. If you're able, please do keep up with this journal. It's helpful to those who come after us, and I find it a good way to reflect on my progress.

Love your sig line, btw. I have 3 kids under the age of 4, so I can certainly relate. Congrats once again, and we're glad you've joined the group.

Don

Thanks Gentlemen. I fully intend on keeping up with this journal as much as I can and post up my lessons learned. It was by reading Sam's journal that I got quite a few pointers that certainly helped tonight.

Don, you're a more patient man than I. My son is a handful I couldn't imagine 3 his age or younger. Too bad we can't ship liquor across state lines, because I would definitely send you a drink. Have any of your kids asked to shave with you yet? My son asks about once a week at this point and I'm more than happy to oblige.

 

[otto76]

Awesome! No ER visit!
Hope you enjoy it all, look forward to seeing how it goes for you.

 

[Bird_Flu]

Awesome! No ER visit!
Hope you enjoy it all, look forward to seeing how it goes for you.

Thanks Otto, the razor was awesome! You do very good work, the scales look even better in person. I'll definitely be contacting you at some point to commission another razor, I have a few ideas I would love to see come to fruition.

The skipped ER visit was a serious bonus for me, I'm pretty much ham fisted in all I do. I cut a finger wide open just cleaning one of my DE razors. I might have gotten one pinprick nick but I can't tell if its from the straight or my SS as I rushed a bit through my DE pass because it was teeth brushing time for my son. I need to seriously practice though, my technique was very sloppy and I couldn't get my grips figured out so it felt a bit awkward at times. If I have time I'll give it a go again tomorrow night, and hope I didn't screw up your edge stropping it. Practice makes perfect!

 

[otto76]

The skipped ER visit was a serious bonus for me, I'm pretty much ham fisted in all I do. I cut a finger wide open just cleaning one of my DE razors.......

I was in an antique store a while ago, looking through their shaving gear. They had an old Gillette 3 piece on a shelf, really cruddy, needed a cleaning.

I am looking at the top plate and see a lot of rust and corrosion where the blade would go. Little did I know I was looking at a rusty corroded blade. Without thinking I ran my thumb over the area pretty firmly to see if the crud would rub out and split my thumb wide open! Bled pretty good and was really embarrassing.

They had a really well stocked first aid kit fortunately.

 

[global_dev]

Go easy on the strop. Looks like a nice setup.

 

[The Don]

Don, you're a more patient man than I. My son is a handful I couldn't imagine 3 his age or younger. Too bad we can't ship liquor across state lines, because I would definitely send you a drink. Have any of your kids asked to shave with you yet? My son asks about once a week at this point and I'm more than happy to oblige.

My 3 year-old daughter and 2 year-old son both get a kick out of using the shaving brush & cream. They seem magnetically attracted to anything that seems remotely messy. My daughter is very eager to know the names of everything and what purposes they serve. The boy just wants to get some lather on his face and go rub it on mommy's walls. Too bad about the drink...how about sleep? Can you ship some sleep across state lines?? Enjoy your shaves in good health.

 

[oakeshott]

I whipped up a super lather of Proraso white soap and Proraso green cream using my Omega #10083 brush which is enormous. After lathering up I set to work of removing some whiskers and hopefully not visiting the ER. I completed two WTG passes on my cheeks and my neck, even used my left hand for the first time ever shaving. No nicks, no weepers, the only casualty is a small chunk out of my goatee. I finished with a XTG pass with my 1949(ish) Gillette Superspeed. I now have a DFS almost no irritation and I still have all of my face.

That is not a casualty, that is a message. Go for it!

Seriously though, welcome aboard.

 

[Bird_Flu]

I was in an antique store a while ago, looking through their shaving gear. They had an old Gillette 3 piece on a shelf, really cruddy, needed a cleaning.

I am looking at the top plate and see a lot of rust and corrosion where the blade would go. Little did I know I was looking at a rusty corroded blade. Without thinking I ran my thumb over the area pretty firmly to see if the crud would rub out and split my thumb wide open! Bled pretty good and was really embarrassing.

They had a really well stocked first aid kit fortunately.

OUCH! A rusty blade to boot! Did you at least get a good scar from it?

 

[Bird_Flu]

Shave number 2 in the books. I got ambitious and tried XTG on my cheeks after a WTG all over, I also went for a second WTG pass on my neck. This one was also all right handed. I'm still trying to figure out what grips work best for me. At any rate tonight while close had a little tugging, very slight, but did give me a little irritation. I think my angle was a little aggressive and I used a little too much pressure. I also wasn't as focused tonight, this head cold is a killer, the only thing clearing my sinuses is a VERY hot shower and my Nivea face scrub that has a healthy dose of menthol. My alum block is not defective, I was beginning to wonder, but my stropping technique was last night. I also gave myself another pinprick nick on my left cheek and a small weeper on my neck. Before finishing up with my SS it was a SAS, now DFS. I finished up with 50 laps on the strop for practice 15 on the black side 35 on the brown. I did a HHT with a long hair from SWMBO's brush. They popped just fine so looks like I didn't screw up Otto's edge. How do you rate the HHT test?

As long as this slight burn heals up I'll be giving it another go tomorrow.

 

[Bird_Flu]

I don't know where my head is tonight, I forgot to mention, I tried the synthetic brush tonight with Proraso white soap and it lathered up pretty darn well. It's a bit strange using a smaller brush after using my monster omega for two months but I like it. Solid backbone, decent scratchiness, all in all a solid brush, thanks again rockviper!

 

[otto76]

OUCH! A rusty blade to boot! Did you at least get a good scar from it?

LOL, no, I looked as I was typing that and couldn't find one. Even a rusty old razor blade still leaves a pretty clean cut!
Kind of surprised there is no scar at all though, it bled and bled.

Your second shave actually sounds like it went okay for a second shave, some of the early ones are just kind of rough. If it was still popping hair after you shaved and stropped my guess would be it's your angle and pressure that gave you the slight burn. Those things are very easy to do wrong and just take a little time and experience to get correct.

Get your skin tight, keep the spine almost against your skin but not quite, and take it very easily. Again, probably stuff you already know in your head but it takes time to implement in real life I know at first I watched a lot of youtube videos, I think it helped, especially with hand positions and angles which seemed so awkward at first.

Also, I like the HHT test for seeing if an edge is shave ready, I will mimic what others have said and say that while it may not be a tell all I have never had a good shave off a blade that didn't pass it.
I don't use a lot of grades (HHT 2, HHT 3 etc, not even sure what these are TBH), I just ask my wife for a hair (she has long hair and it's not too thin, perfect for the test) and pop it all along the edge seeing that it cuts cleanly from the heel to the toe.

 

[rockviper]

Sounds like you're doing just fine to me, Bird_Flu.
If you can figure out XTG passes, you're ahead of me

 

[Bird_Flu]

3rd shave in the books! Tonight went better than last night. I'm getting a more comfortable with the grips, it still feels strange because the angles and movements are completely different than DE shaving. I'm also having trouble stretching my skin which is leading to irritation on the neck. Cheeks and jawline are fine, my lower neck is on FIRE!



Tonight I built some super lather with Proraso white soap and Proraso Green cream using the jumbo Omega boar. One WTG pass, one XTG pass on the cheeks and quasi-XTG on the neck, it was like a NS pass that went to the east a bit. I knew as soon as I got to the base of my neck irritation was there and the Alum block shouted at me when I was done. I cleaned up with my SS XTG and have a DFS on the cheeks SAS on the neck. I used Nivea sensitive ASB and finished the shave with 65 laps on the strop, 15 black 50 brown. The razor is still passing the HHT so it's still ready to shave.

I need to give my neck a rest so I'll be taking tomorrow night off, and maybe just use my SS, Tech, or EJ DE89 on Friday and have another go on Saturday or Sunday. This is going better than expected though, now comes the hard part of not getting complacent. I could get used to a rotation of straight and DE shaving.

 

[otto76]

Ouch! The neck & upper lip can be kind of tricky and the alum block will let you know, won't it?

 

[global_dev]

The razor is still passing the HHT so it's still ready to shave.

those two aren't always a correlation of a shave ready edge. i've popped hairs on a 1K or so

 

[Bird_Flu]

those two aren't always a correlation of a shave ready edge. i've popped hairs on a 1K or so

Ah good to know. I guess I'll know how ready it is then in a day or two when I shave with it again.