What's new

canus's straight razor shave journal

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Nice gear and sounds like it's going well. Don't worry too much about the nick, I still have some sometimes...
 
I got my first nick just above my upper lip

Nicks will happen, nothing to worry about. The great thing is that the blade is so sharp, you really don't even feel pain from the good ones. It's an interesting sensation when the blade sinks in though!

Keep at it, nice looking gear that you have there!:thumbup:
 
Got a nick just this morning actually...was admiring another Richmondesi honed beauty when I let the blade linger on my face too long in one spot....oops!

The great thing about a properly honed razor is that its wicked sharp....the danger of a properly honed razor is...that its wicked sharp!
 
Thanks to everyone for the kind words.

I became ill the week before my shave and on that monday I felt a little better and wanted to have a shave (I never "wanted" to shave). Knowing my body was dehydrated, I was just getting better, but the last thing on my mind was my dry face (I noticed it when I went to the shower, but didn't connect the dots until later).

Did everything as usual. I got the annoying patch of hair on my left side I kept missing and everything seemed fine until I washed off and noticed the red patched (they seemed to conglomerate around my mouth, one of the locations I find difficult to shave). Then I remembered a forum discussion about pre-shaving and deduced I got razor burns from the dry skin of my face. So I will wait until tomorrow to shave again.

In the mean time two packages arrived. One containing my new scuttle (a Steve Woodhead Scuttle) and the other where samples from Geo. F. Trumper. I am not sure when I am going to use them. But I now know I don't like the smell of almonds (maybe one of my roommates will like it). I chose the scuttle because the reviews where positive and due to the close geographical distance for postage. The postage over the atlantic is unbelievable high. And I will time my shave tomorrow and use the scuttle for the first time.
 
@ Defend Tacoma

Cool. I looked at the DirtyBird, but the shipping from the USA is too expensive and the chance that the pottery would brake too big. I honestly have no clue what you mean by "Got any pitch as of your new scuttle?". I looked up pitch, but all the 8 meanings didn't help me. I can guess wat you want to ask (I think).

I didn't try the scuttle yet (don't know If I know how). But I will try it tomorrow and will note my expercience (with the new experience as wel as the scuttle). Due too the high shipping cost I could chose between Schwarzweisskeramik scuttle and the Steve Woodhead Pottery scuttle. I found the last one more aesthetically pleasing than the first.
 
I remembered to time my shave. Due to the use of the scuttle I changed a few things.

  1. I stropt my razor.
  2. I filled the inner and outer pot of the scuttle with water of a temperature of 60 °C. I put my brush in the inner pot and I went to take a shower.
  3. I came out of the shower emptied the scuttle and went to the kitchen to fill the inner pot with 80 °C went to the bathroom and made my lather.
  4. I did a hot wet towel over my face (because it dried in the mean time).
  5. I lathered my face and shaved 2 times.
  6. I applied some aftershave on my face
  7. I did a cold towel over my face
  8. cleaning up

I timed my shave from point 3.[making the lather] until the end of point 7. I am quit slow I think. But my shave was fine. I think this shave has proven the thesis i proposed last time about dehydrated skin. No nicks or blood and my face only shows the irritation from monday. So I will check after an illness if my skin is dehydrated or not before shaving.
The lather was different, in a positive way, from the shaves before (it seemed thicker). The lather seemed to come quicker than before (I think it has something to do with the swirl pattern in the inner bowl of the scuttle). I am getting better at shaving the left side of my face. The only place I haven't been with my razor is under my chin and the my neck (I also see I have to go further down my neck on left and right side (my bathroom has poor lighting). My shaving still needs a lot of work (I miss hairs around my mouth and the pressure I use is not very balanced). But I will get there eventually.

I also noticed when I was cleaning the scuttle that parts of the left over lather was brittle at some places. Could It be that 80 °C is too hot for the shaving cream? I didn't notice during the shave.
 
I forget where I read it but in an article I found it warned not to get your water to hot. The result of to hot of water was dried up lather.
 
@Wid Thanks. I didn't know that. I will use cooler water and will try to find the article.

@Muscles Thanks for the compliment and the encouragement.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I remembered to time my shave. Due to the use of the scuttle I changed a few things.

  1. I stropt my razor.
  2. I filled the inner and outer pot of the scuttle with water of a temperature of 60 °C. I put my brush in the inner pot and I went to take a shower.
  3. I came out of the shower emptied the scuttle and went to the kitchen to fill the inner pot with 80 °C went to the bathroom and made my lather.
  4. I did a hot wet towel over my face (because it dried in the mean time).
  5. I lathered my face and shaved 2 times.
  6. I applied some aftershave on my face
  7. I did a cold towel over my face
  8. cleaning up

I timed my shave from point 3.[making the lather] until the end of point 7. I am quit slow I think. But my shave was fine. I think this shave has proven the thesis i proposed last time about dehydrated skin. No nicks or blood and my face only shows the irritation from monday. So I will check after an illness if my skin is dehydrated or not before shaving.
The lather was different, in a positive way, from the shaves before (it seemed thicker). The lather seemed to come quicker than before (I think it has something to do with the swirl pattern in the inner bowl of the scuttle). I am getting better at shaving the left side of my face. The only place I haven't been with my razor is under my chin and the my neck (I also see I have to go further down my neck on left and right side (my bathroom has poor lighting). My shaving still needs a lot of work (I miss hairs around my mouth and the pressure I use is not very balanced). But I will get there eventually.

I also noticed when I was cleaning the scuttle that parts of the left over lather was brittle at some places. Could It be that 80 °C is too hot for the shaving cream? I didn't notice during the shave.

That's pretty good, I don't think I was going that quickly at that stage myself! :thumbup1:
 
For what its worth...I had the worst cut I've ever had of any shave regimen at 6 months in of straight shaving.

Wife was talking
Baby was crying
Wasn't paying attention...had the blade on my face and barely...and I mean BARELY looked to the left...

I found out just how sharp a coti-honed ERN really is! :lol:
 
@Wid Thanks for the link. It seems a valuable source in itself.

@Luc Thank you for the compliment. I don't have a very dense hair growth on my face, so maybe that helps speed things up.

@Ru4scuba? Hmm, so I have to stay on my tows for at least six months :) I live in student housing so I share my bathroom and almost every time I want to shave someone walks in to wash their hands, brush their teeth, use the shower or use the washing machine. I am hoping I am building a tolerance for when I have a wife and child and want to shave.
 
Just wait til one of your lads walks in and starts chatting about this or that...a topic you're interested in naturally...and so you look his way to emphasize a point and....

swish...off goes an ear :lol:
 
@ Ru4scuba? I will try to remember your advice (don't start an interesting conversation while shaving).
 
I did the same as before and because I needed a mugshot for my university sports card I decided it was time to try and shave my neck and chin. Due to a bit of dry skin I decided to pay special attention to the pressure of the razor and the angle of the blade. It went very well. I did not cut myself (I didn't get all the hairs, but at least I tried). I think I breached the psychological barrier of shaving my entire face.

  1. I stropt my razor.
  2. I filled the inner and outer pot of the scuttle with water of a temperature of 60 °C. I put my brush in the inner pot and I went to take a shower.
  3. I came out of the shower emptied the scuttle and I filled the inner pot with hot tap water from the bathroom and made my lather.
  4. I did a hot wet towel over my face (because it dried in the mean time).
  5. I lathered my face and shaved 2 times.
  6. I applied some aftershave on my face
  7. I did a cold towel over my face
  8. cleaning up

I took the advice of Wid and changed the water temperature in my routine and the lather did not dry out, but next time I will use water of 60 °C for the second fill and 80 °C for the first.

I timed my shave from point 3.[making the lather] until the end of point 7. I timed it at 40 min. I really was quit slow on my neck and I did an extra pass because there was this one little hair I missed the three passes before (and that one really bothered me). All in all a great shave for the first time shaving my neck I think.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I did the same as before and because I needed a mugshot for my university sports card I decided it was time to try and shave my neck and chin. Due to a bit of dry skin I decided to pay special attention to the pressure of the razor and the angle of the blade. It went very well. I did not cut myself (I didn't get all the hairs, but at least I tried). I think I breached the psychological barrier of shaving my entire face.

  1. I stropt my razor.
  2. I filled the inner and outer pot of the scuttle with water of a temperature of 60 °C. I put my brush in the inner pot and I went to take a shower.
  3. I came out of the shower emptied the scuttle and I filled the inner pot with hot tap water from the bathroom and made my lather.
  4. I did a hot wet towel over my face (because it dried in the mean time).
  5. I lathered my face and shaved 2 times.
  6. I applied some aftershave on my face
  7. I did a cold towel over my face
  8. cleaning up

I took the advice of Wid and changed the water temperature in my routine and the lather did not dry out, but next time I will use water of 60 °C for the second fill and 80 °C for the first.

I timed my shave from point 3.[making the lather] until the end of point 7. I timed it at 40 min. I really was quit slow on my neck and I did an extra pass because there was this one little hair I missed the three passes before (and that one really bothered me). All in all a great shave for the first time shaving my neck I think.

40 minutes is very good at this stage. :thumbup1:
 
Congratulations on your progress, it seems as though you are doing very well. One thing that springs to mind which made me progress with leaps and bounds is skin stretching. It takes a bit of time to figure out the grips that are effective for this but it is well worth it because it allows you to shave really close.
 
Top Bottom