Did you change your routine recently?

[Roedeer]

... and was it a success?

Since it was a new month, I thought I'd review my shave preparation.

My question was "Do you really need to use that shave oil prep, every time? What would happen, if you didn't bother with that?"

Everything else was the same, and the blade was a good Personna in a Rockwell 6C.

What happened was that I finally got to use my styptic pencil. Ouch. Under the nose.

What have you changed recently? I hope you got a better result than I did.

 

[FarmerTan]

... and was it a success?

Since it was a new month, I thought I'd review my shave preparation.

My question was "Do you really need to use that shave oil prep, every time? What would happen, if you didn't bother with that?"

Everything else was the same, and the blade was a good Personna in a Rockwell 6C.

What happened was that I finally got to use my styptic pencil. Ouch. Under the nose.

What have you changed recently? I hope you got a better result than I did.

Perfect! No change will go unpunished! Just today I shaved in the shower for maybe the second time in a year with a disposable. Very lucky to have no nicks, etc.

May do it more often now.

 

[Steinmetzify]

No, actually cut it down awhile back and have stuck to it.

Massive soap load, superior badgers, two passes daily.

Working out great, I’m on a string of 9s or better.

 

[FarmerTan]

No, actually cut it down awhile back and have stuck to it.

Massive soap load, superior badgers, two passes daily.

Working out great, I’m on a string of 9s or better.

Awesome.

 

[Roedeer]

Perfect! No change will go unpunished! Just today I shaved in the shower for maybe the second time in a year with a disposable. Very lucky to have no nicks, etc.

May do it more often now.

Most routine change ought to be good. I was just amused by how badly my attempt worked out.

Nobody told me that styptic stung that bad (although elementary science should have given me a clue).

Hey, after my post-1980 lapse, I have been using a DE since late Dec 2018, and not nicked myself, so I was about due for some grounding.

 

[BigJ]

I added some ‘skin stretching’ to improve my mustache area!

 

[Jim99]

I’ve just started face lathering instead of bowl lathering. I think I like the switch.

 

[weekly]

I did two things different
1) I bowl lathered for the first time
In at least 3yrs.
2)with my usual VDH Luxury puck,
I mixed in some of The Real Shaving Co.
Shaving cream and the experiment
Went very well.

 

[Whilliam]

Shaving the left side of my face first instead of the right; bowl lathering in lieu of face lathering. Time to shake things up a little, as change for its own sake is sometimes a good thing.

 

[Tallships]

Instead of shaving the right side of face first, I've changed the pattern to doing all the neck area first then jaw, chin, lower lip then sides, upper lip last. No change in shaving ATG

 

[njpaddy]

Being retired, the only changes I make in my routine are frequency (usually 2-3 days), the time of day I shave and how much gin I've downed before I decide to shave. As long as I stick with 1 DE, rotate only two different blades, use my longtime favorite soaps and brushes, and stick to my same WTG, ATG and touchup pattern, it doesn't matter how much gin I down beforehand. I may not be fit to drive, but I can still get a great shave.

 

[FarmerTan]

Being retired, the only changes I make in my routine are frequency (usually 2-3 days), the time of day I shave and how much gin I've downed before I decide to shave. As long as I stick with 1 DE, rotate only two different blades, use my longtime favorite soaps and brushes, and stick to my same WTG, ATG and touchup pattern, it doesn't matter how much gin I down beforehand. I may not be fit to drive, but I can still get a great shave.

Post of the decade!

 

[sharktown]

Being retired, the only changes I make in my routine are frequency (usually 2-3 days), the time of day I shave and how much gin I've downed before I decide to shave. As long as I stick with 1 DE, rotate only two different blades, use my longtime favorite soaps and brushes, and stick to my same WTG, ATG and touchup pattern, it doesn't matter how much gin I down beforehand. I may not be fit to drive, but I can still get a great shave.

+1 - haha, I just loved that post!
One of the best I've read in a while.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[Johniem]

I've been using Astra SP's and Personna Reds in my new Rockwell S using plate 5. Everything was going well so I decided to go for broke. Used plate 6 with both blades. Yesterday I put a feather blade in with plate 5 and got a fantastic shave. Today I used the same feather blade with plate 6. Fantastic shave...I never thought I would like Feather blades after my first encounter with them months ago. But I'm sold. Now what do I do with 95 Reds and a bunch of Astra SPs?

John

 

[EL Alamein]

In the last month or two I went from two passes to one with a steeper angle on the blade. And I'm more of a bowl latherer than a face latherer.

Works a treat so far with shaves as close or nearly as close as before but no irritation (which I was getting mostly from a second ATG pass).

Chris

 

[Earcutter]

I concocted a “Frankensoap” and milled it into a shave stick dispenser. And I’ve been using it! Never thought I’d ever mix a couple three soaps, never mind use it a shaving stick. Turns out it’s perfect. Who knew?

 

[John Rose]

1. I used to fill the sink with hot water, throw my gear into it (bowl, brush, razor), and have my prep shower. When I got out of the shower I'd drain it and refill it with fresh hot water, to float my lather bowl and to rinse my razor. Works like a giant modern scuttle.
Now I don't drain and refill, I just use the same water. It's warm enough.
I might go back to refilling in the winter though, to keep the brush warmer.

2. I'm using a potassium alum "Crystal Deodorant" stick for post-shave, instead of an alum block.
It's 120 g, about the same mass as a Shavex block, but it seems to cover much faster, even though it's about as wide as a block. It has a convenient handle, and the clear plastic cover is flattened at the top so I can park it upside down and not have water drip into the handle end (which would dissolve enough of the alum to make it loose in the handle).

Much cheaper than a shaving alum block, too.

3. I am going to change my blades sooner than 50-100 shaves. I'm using a D20 to keep count on the Astra SP that I'm currently using. I would normally switch to percentile dice (0-99) after 20, but I think 20 is enough.

Astra SP Blade - 100 shaves

• John Rose
• Aug 14, 2018

This after is the 100th and final shave for this Astra SP blade. It had cracked on #96 but was...

Nobody told me that styptic stung that bad (although elementary science should have given me a clue).

But by golly, it works like a charm, doesn't it?
Way better to stop bleeding than an alum block.

 

[Roedeer]

The styptic worked like a charm. I stuck it right back on, and admired the red colour, after the initial sting.

I am locked into the idea of "use the Rockwell (or anything else) for a while, and develop your technique" view , and it's working. I didn't hate R5, or R6, but R4 seems to be what works for 24 hours of whiskers.

I like the plastic Wilkinson Classic as lower neck scraper, though, because I can't be bothered with a plate swap in the middle of a shave.

 

[Sotiris_A]

I am experimenting with prep for the last month or so. Early on, I found out that the skin on my face would be too dry to shave after a shower and that would lead to irritation. So, normally, I would wash the face with warm water and a bar of soap, rinse and repeat once more. Then, I would just face lather. Unfortunately, I found that my stubble wouldn't soften up to a maximum degree. Adding pre-shaves (either cream, oil or butter) wasn't making any significant difference. @Boar Fighter suggested in a thread using moisturizing cream as a pre-shave. That was a step in the right direction and I am still experimenting with that. However, I seem to be getting better results using a reduced version of Kyle's prep (How to pre-shave prep):

1. Wash my face with a bar of soap (usually a glycerin one, but I have used normal ones with good results), work the soap in the stubble and rinse.
2. Apply a small amount of shaving cream and hand lather adding water and working the cream in the stubble once more. The cream I use is the cheapest one found in the local supermarkets. I could do that with the bar of soap from step 1, but the cream creates a more stable "lather" and the stubble feels softer afterwards. I leave it on for a couple of minutes.
3. Load the brush, rinse the shaving cream thoroughly with warm water and finally lather up.

At step 2, I am obviously wasting a bit of time if I choose to face lather. Therefore, sometimes I am using this time to bowl lather. Switching between the two techniques doesn't make any difference in the quality of the shave.

This is an ongoing process, but so far, my shaves are consistent and more comfortable, I can use a wider variety of blades with excellent results and all of them last considerably longer. Not tossing the blade after 3-4 shaves to avoid irritation is another change.

 

[Seminolefan]

I’ve made two changes recently that have been working well for my shaves.

I used to rotate between shaving before and after the shower, and as of about a month ago decided to stick with shaving first then showering. Results have been excellent, with good prep I feel much more refreshed shaving before showering.

The other change I made is reducing to just 2 passes and minor touch ups. A WTG pass followed by an XTG pass not matter the razor has left my skin feeling much better and I’ve been getting CCS/DFS shaves consistently (which is good enough for me). I’ve never chased BBS, but sometimes got a little aggressive and my face would pay the price.

I’ve been happy with the results of these two tweaks to my routine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk