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- #41
Dry? Shaving Journal
- Thread starter Gman9537
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More importantly, what kind of blade is in there?
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- #43
What's an iKon SB please Glenn?
I've been trawling the iKon website, but can't find SB. Do you mean the B1 Standard Head?
Great Shave Glenn! Sounds like it worked out for you!
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- #46
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- #47
@dangerousdon Thanks Don! Yeah it did. I'm still rubbing a mostly smooth chin here at about 3:00. Good stuff!
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- #48
The Gear: Shavette/Astra SP #3 + Merkur 34C/Astra SP #2
Towel Used: Yes
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
First & Second Pass: Good thick lather
Third & Cleanup Pass: thin but effective lather
Results: BBS/DFS. A little more DFS today than yesterday. And a little uncomfortable. I had to use some RazoRock 888 ASW following the WH.
Notes: So, MWF... If I were only allowed to buy one brand of soap for the rest of my life, it would be MWF. Love the stuff. Which is why I'm going to say today was a terrible shave haha... I'm kidding, it wasn't that bad. But the amount of irritation I had post-shave was unprecedented for the product. Which, after considering the first shave with the shavette was similar in results, I'm going to conclude that, as @1Cal advised originally, it's not a good method for a shavette.
At that, I'm kind of tossed. Taking the method to an extreme, (1) the Personna Lab/OSS combo being about as mild as I can get without buying a Feather AS-D2 and the blade being less than ideal, and then now (2) with the shavette being pretty much as aggressive as a shaver can get. It seems that while it does maintain lather quality pretty effectively, that's not totally relevant, in that the shave is not as comfortable.
If I apply the method to my favorite hardware, I have great results, actually somewhat favorable over the conventional method. But then in the process of testing, I figured out that I can load 2-3x the soap if I keep the brush a little wet when I start swirling, which alleviated the issue of dissipating lather in the later passes using the conventional method.
All to say, I think I'm done... I think it's taught me perhaps something I wasn't looking to find. That being (1) it took five years to learn how to load soap
and (2) that I'm blessed in that I can shave comfortably with my preferred razors and blades even when the conditions are perhaps not ideal. And then of course all the observations posted about the differences between the two resulting shaves.
And like I said some days ago, there may be a way to modify it for a more pampered process of shaving. But for daily shaving, that might be a tad impractical.
Towel Used: Yes
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
First & Second Pass: Good thick lather
Third & Cleanup Pass: thin but effective lather
Results: BBS/DFS. A little more DFS today than yesterday. And a little uncomfortable. I had to use some RazoRock 888 ASW following the WH.
Notes: So, MWF... If I were only allowed to buy one brand of soap for the rest of my life, it would be MWF. Love the stuff. Which is why I'm going to say today was a terrible shave haha... I'm kidding, it wasn't that bad. But the amount of irritation I had post-shave was unprecedented for the product. Which, after considering the first shave with the shavette was similar in results, I'm going to conclude that, as @1Cal advised originally, it's not a good method for a shavette.
At that, I'm kind of tossed. Taking the method to an extreme, (1) the Personna Lab/OSS combo being about as mild as I can get without buying a Feather AS-D2 and the blade being less than ideal, and then now (2) with the shavette being pretty much as aggressive as a shaver can get. It seems that while it does maintain lather quality pretty effectively, that's not totally relevant, in that the shave is not as comfortable.
If I apply the method to my favorite hardware, I have great results, actually somewhat favorable over the conventional method. But then in the process of testing, I figured out that I can load 2-3x the soap if I keep the brush a little wet when I start swirling, which alleviated the issue of dissipating lather in the later passes using the conventional method.
All to say, I think I'm done... I think it's taught me perhaps something I wasn't looking to find. That being (1) it took five years to learn how to load soap
and (2) that I'm blessed in that I can shave comfortably with my preferred razors and blades even when the conditions are perhaps not ideal. And then of course all the observations posted about the differences between the two resulting shaves. And like I said some days ago, there may be a way to modify it for a more pampered process of shaving. But for daily shaving, that might be a tad impractical.
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- #49
Oh and just for the sake of posterity, I didn't have any weepers today. I did have a couple of the little micro-nicks around my chin, and one on my cheek, but nothing that's visible after the rinse. The big nick from yesterday is pretty much healed. It's just a fine pink line this morning. It's a bit raised still, but I shaved right over it in both directions and had no issue in spite of the less than ideal shave.
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- #50
Well, I got to thinking about it, and I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater... 1) I need to test different blades with the shavette. That's a separate issue, I'll probably do a separate journal for the shavette from now on. I will however, do this last shavette shave post here, because yesterday wasn't such a hot shave and today was kind of similar in spite of using the wet method.
Gear: Shavette/Astra SP #4 + Merkur 34C Astra SP #3
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Towel Used: No
All Passes: Thick consistent lather, super slick stuff.
Results: 95% BBS/5% DFS
Notes: I think my expectations on myself are a little on the demanding side, reflecting on yesterday. Today I had no blood, but I could visually see extensive patches of roughed up skin after the second pass with the shavette. This isn't too different than my results with highly aggressive DE razors on a blade that's past it's prime. So, realizing this is only my 4th shave with the shavette, there's a lot I still need to learn about it before I ascribe blame to any one aspect.
Mitchell's Wool Fat: To its credit, and maybe detriment in the case of SR shaving, is like shaving with gorilla snot. Where I started stretching skin by pulling up on my sideburn, as I moved down to my cheek, I found my fingers slipping. With the other two soaps I used, wherever the blade had been, lather was absolutely removed, leaving my skin somewhat tacky feeling and easy to stretch. I experienced this same thing (slickness) yesterday with the dry method as well. If you've ever drove a stick shift and slammed the brakes with the same force you mash the clutch, I was being very careful to make sure I didn't do that with the razor haha.
So all told, after a third pass and a cleanup with DE I had some mild irritation, but no major issues, and a pretty smooth shave. Tomorrow I'm going to reserve the shavette while I go back to the DE to continue testing the differences between wet and dry. Tomorrow is definitely going to be a Feather blade. I have some newer razors that I'm not as familiar with, so I'll probably restrict my rotation to ones I'm more familiar with.
I'll probably do one soap, one razor, two shaves to get a side-by-side. Then rotate either the soap or the razor, but not both, to carry some perspective from one setup to the next.
Gear: Shavette/Astra SP #4 + Merkur 34C Astra SP #3
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Towel Used: No
All Passes: Thick consistent lather, super slick stuff.
Results: 95% BBS/5% DFS
Notes: I think my expectations on myself are a little on the demanding side, reflecting on yesterday. Today I had no blood, but I could visually see extensive patches of roughed up skin after the second pass with the shavette. This isn't too different than my results with highly aggressive DE razors on a blade that's past it's prime. So, realizing this is only my 4th shave with the shavette, there's a lot I still need to learn about it before I ascribe blame to any one aspect.
Mitchell's Wool Fat: To its credit, and maybe detriment in the case of SR shaving, is like shaving with gorilla snot. Where I started stretching skin by pulling up on my sideburn, as I moved down to my cheek, I found my fingers slipping. With the other two soaps I used, wherever the blade had been, lather was absolutely removed, leaving my skin somewhat tacky feeling and easy to stretch. I experienced this same thing (slickness) yesterday with the dry method as well. If you've ever drove a stick shift and slammed the brakes with the same force you mash the clutch, I was being very careful to make sure I didn't do that with the razor haha.
So all told, after a third pass and a cleanup with DE I had some mild irritation, but no major issues, and a pretty smooth shave. Tomorrow I'm going to reserve the shavette while I go back to the DE to continue testing the differences between wet and dry. Tomorrow is definitely going to be a Feather blade. I have some newer razors that I'm not as familiar with, so I'll probably restrict my rotation to ones I'm more familiar with.
I'll probably do one soap, one razor, two shaves to get a side-by-side. Then rotate either the soap or the razor, but not both, to carry some perspective from one setup to the next.
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- #51
Towel Used: Yes
Hardware: Muhle R41/Feather Hi Stainless #1
Software: MWF
All passes: Consistent good quality lather
Results: BBS/DFS. DFS areas are much closer to BBS than with just about any other razor for me.
Notes: I was surprised by the Feather blade today. It was a pretty rough shave. It felt like a much milder blade; it did not slice effortlessly through my whiskers. I'll know tomorrow if it's a bad blade. Usually my second shave with Feather is the best.
I had several small nicks today, but oddly nothing around my chin. My chin was pretty comfortable after the shave. One felt like maybe I took off a shaving bump. And then a couple more small little nicks on my cheeks. Apart from those, I had no irritation. WH tingled a bit on the shaving bump, but felt very comfortable everywhere else.
Hardware: Muhle R41/Feather Hi Stainless #1
Software: MWF
All passes: Consistent good quality lather
Results: BBS/DFS. DFS areas are much closer to BBS than with just about any other razor for me.
Notes: I was surprised by the Feather blade today. It was a pretty rough shave. It felt like a much milder blade; it did not slice effortlessly through my whiskers. I'll know tomorrow if it's a bad blade. Usually my second shave with Feather is the best.
I had several small nicks today, but oddly nothing around my chin. My chin was pretty comfortable after the shave. One felt like maybe I took off a shaving bump. And then a couple more small little nicks on my cheeks. Apart from those, I had no irritation. WH tingled a bit on the shaving bump, but felt very comfortable everywhere else.
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- #52
Towel Used: Yes (Hot)
Hardware: Muhle R41/Feather HS #2
Soap: WCS Citrus Basil
All Passes: Good consistency lather. Thicker on the first pass than the last, but qualities were good across the board. No cleanup pass today, no need for it.
Results: 99.9% BBS. Very close shave today. I had quite a few little nicks though.
Notes: After today, I'm thinking I just pulled a bad blade.
So last night I was thinking, the first loss is the best loss. An old boss of mine used to tell me, "Fail forward fast." In other words, if what you're doing isn't working out, change it. Yesterday's shave actually had me doubting myself. Usually I get a good comfortable shave on the R41. I find I have to keep the blade angle right, but barring that, I can pretty much just zip through a shave. I do some skin stretching to protect my adams apple, chin and jaw and make the shave more comfortable, but that's all second nature at this point. So that left me wondering if I was missing something. If a new Feather blade is hanging up in the chin area and tugging, maybe my prep is off?
So today, I wanted to make a concerted effort to really prep the beard well. I massaged lather into the beard for about 2 minutes. Followed by about a minute of hot towel. Then another quick massage-in of lather while properly loaded the brush. Then another hot towel to remove the prep lather. My skin was tingly at this point, so I'm thinking there's probably not much else I could do to ready the whiskers.
The blade, same blade from yesterday, went through the whiskers marginally easier, but still didn't go easily through the chin area. And today the nicks were all on the chin. So, I'm thinking bad blade. That's honestly a first for me with Feather.
The whole experience yesterday got me thinking. Fail forward fast. I'm going to stop rotating with the wet method. Every day from here on will be a towel day. And I'm going to alter my method just a tad. Part of the failing forward. There's not a lot more that I can do to prep my beard. But the razor did seem to cut a bit easier today. On my cheek, for instance, on the ATG pass, the razor glided up my cheek with just minimal grab, which caught my attention.
So I'll carry my method from today forward in a general sense.
Hardware: Muhle R41/Feather HS #2
Soap: WCS Citrus Basil
All Passes: Good consistency lather. Thicker on the first pass than the last, but qualities were good across the board. No cleanup pass today, no need for it.
Results: 99.9% BBS. Very close shave today. I had quite a few little nicks though.
Notes: After today, I'm thinking I just pulled a bad blade.
So last night I was thinking, the first loss is the best loss. An old boss of mine used to tell me, "Fail forward fast." In other words, if what you're doing isn't working out, change it. Yesterday's shave actually had me doubting myself. Usually I get a good comfortable shave on the R41. I find I have to keep the blade angle right, but barring that, I can pretty much just zip through a shave. I do some skin stretching to protect my adams apple, chin and jaw and make the shave more comfortable, but that's all second nature at this point. So that left me wondering if I was missing something. If a new Feather blade is hanging up in the chin area and tugging, maybe my prep is off?
So today, I wanted to make a concerted effort to really prep the beard well. I massaged lather into the beard for about 2 minutes. Followed by about a minute of hot towel. Then another quick massage-in of lather while properly loaded the brush. Then another hot towel to remove the prep lather. My skin was tingly at this point, so I'm thinking there's probably not much else I could do to ready the whiskers.
The blade, same blade from yesterday, went through the whiskers marginally easier, but still didn't go easily through the chin area. And today the nicks were all on the chin. So, I'm thinking bad blade. That's honestly a first for me with Feather.
The whole experience yesterday got me thinking. Fail forward fast. I'm going to stop rotating with the wet method. Every day from here on will be a towel day. And I'm going to alter my method just a tad. Part of the failing forward. There's not a lot more that I can do to prep my beard. But the razor did seem to cut a bit easier today. On my cheek, for instance, on the ATG pass, the razor glided up my cheek with just minimal grab, which caught my attention.
So I'll carry my method from today forward in a general sense.
- Massage lather into the beard (~2 minutes)
- Hot towel (~1 minute)
- Lather and shave
- Hot towel "rinse"
- Repeat for 3 passes (and cleanup if necessary)
- Thread starter
- #53
Towel Used: Yes
Hardware: iKon Deluxe OC/Astra SP #1
Soap: Sterling Soap Co. Sharp Dressed Man
Method:
Results: Easy BBS shave. I have one little spot I seem to have missed on the last pass, but other than that, it's a nice smooth ending. And comfortable too; applying the WH was slightly tingly, but no issues arose from yesterday's fallout.
Notes: This prep routine worked really well today. The Astra SP, which I typically find to be a bit tuggy, gave a smooth easy shave. It went through the whiskers like I typically only get from a Feather.
I used the Cremo today; I was thinking about it yesterday: It clearly has citrus oil in it, from the scent, probably d-limonene, probably lab grade (It'd be nice if they used food grade, but I digress). Pre-shave soaps (which I don't own) tend to have lime oil which would probably also essentially boil down to d-limonene, or some cousin to it. D-limonene is an interesting chemical, it does some things that are unique. It's penetrating, it'll actually work its way into the structure of hardened silicone and disrupt its surface bonds, which is something no other solvent that I know of is able to do. So I was counting on that to really work into the whiskers and soften them.
Tomorrow I'll leave the Cremo off and see the difference. Yesterday, I didn't notice any significant difference in the beard after the increased prep. But there were other complications that may have skewed my perception. I really am not a fan of Cremo, I think there are much better brushless products out there. But if it turns out to be a winner for prep, at least I have a good use for the rest of the tube. If I determine that it's the Cremo that makes the difference, when I run out, I'll splurge on a good lime oil soap.
Hardware: iKon Deluxe OC/Astra SP #1
Soap: Sterling Soap Co. Sharp Dressed Man
Method:
- In the shower, applied Cremo cream to the beard and allowed that to rest while I washed.
- After showering, I loaded the brush briefly and then immediately squeezed the soap out of the brush before returning the brush to the mug to re-soak.
- I applied the soap directly to the shave area and massaged it in for about 2 minutes.
- I let the soap rest on my beard for approx. another minute while I loaded the brush a second time (properly).
- I gently applied a hot towel for approx. 30 seconds and wiped off all the prep lather. In applying the hot towel, I was careful to be gentle so as not to staunch circulation in the skin.
- Lathered for the first pass, then shaved.
- Hot towel to remove remnants of lather
- Repeat for subsequent passes
- Final hot rinse, followed by a cold rinse, followed by WH
Results: Easy BBS shave. I have one little spot I seem to have missed on the last pass, but other than that, it's a nice smooth ending. And comfortable too; applying the WH was slightly tingly, but no issues arose from yesterday's fallout.
Notes: This prep routine worked really well today. The Astra SP, which I typically find to be a bit tuggy, gave a smooth easy shave. It went through the whiskers like I typically only get from a Feather.
I used the Cremo today; I was thinking about it yesterday: It clearly has citrus oil in it, from the scent, probably d-limonene, probably lab grade (It'd be nice if they used food grade, but I digress). Pre-shave soaps (which I don't own) tend to have lime oil which would probably also essentially boil down to d-limonene, or some cousin to it. D-limonene is an interesting chemical, it does some things that are unique. It's penetrating, it'll actually work its way into the structure of hardened silicone and disrupt its surface bonds, which is something no other solvent that I know of is able to do. So I was counting on that to really work into the whiskers and soften them.
Tomorrow I'll leave the Cremo off and see the difference. Yesterday, I didn't notice any significant difference in the beard after the increased prep. But there were other complications that may have skewed my perception. I really am not a fan of Cremo, I think there are much better brushless products out there. But if it turns out to be a winner for prep, at least I have a good use for the rest of the tube. If I determine that it's the Cremo that makes the difference, when I run out, I'll splurge on a good lime oil soap.
I would say you need to give Haslinger Schalfmich or Sudsy Soapery as a contender against the MWF. 
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- #55
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- #56
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- #57
Method:
Hardware/Software: iKon Deluxe OC/Astra SP #2 + Stirling Soap Co. Sharp Dressed Man
Results: Another easy BBS shave. No issues whatsoever. No missed spots today.
Notes: So the Cremo yesterday had nothing to do with it. Today's routine provided the exact same prep results. The blade sliced effortlessly through the whiskers and provided an easy and comfortable shave.
An interesting effect of the routine, while the WH splash went on with just a tingle, it wasn't unpleasant, more stimulating. And now I'm about 30 minutes out from my shave and I still feel the tingle. I know what you may be thinking, but I get the first hints of the feeling while I'm doing the prep. Namely when the hot towel meets the skin, I immediately feel it. It seems to go away during the shave, or maybe I'm just focused on the shave and not paying attention to it. And then after the cold rinse and WH, it comes back. I don't know if it's good or bad, but it feels pleasant enough...
- Massage lather into beard for 2 minutes
- Allow lather to rest while loading the brush
- Hot towel, 30-60 seconds
- Clean off prep lather
- Lather and shave
- Apply hot towel to clean up after each pass
- Warm rinse, cold rinse, WH splash
Hardware/Software: iKon Deluxe OC/Astra SP #2 + Stirling Soap Co. Sharp Dressed Man
Results: Another easy BBS shave. No issues whatsoever. No missed spots today.
Notes: So the Cremo yesterday had nothing to do with it. Today's routine provided the exact same prep results. The blade sliced effortlessly through the whiskers and provided an easy and comfortable shave.
An interesting effect of the routine, while the WH splash went on with just a tingle, it wasn't unpleasant, more stimulating. And now I'm about 30 minutes out from my shave and I still feel the tingle. I know what you may be thinking, but I get the first hints of the feeling while I'm doing the prep. Namely when the hot towel meets the skin, I immediately feel it. It seems to go away during the shave, or maybe I'm just focused on the shave and not paying attention to it. And then after the cold rinse and WH, it comes back. I don't know if it's good or bad, but it feels pleasant enough...
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- #58
Method:
- Massage lather into beard for 2 minutes
- Allow lather to rest while loading the brush
- Hot towel, 30-60 seconds
- Clean off prep lather
- Lather and shave
- Apply hot towel to clean up after each pass
- Warm rinse, cold rinse, WH splash
- Thread starter
- #59
The Method
Hardware: Merkur 37C/Astra SP #3
Software: Mitchells Wool Fat
All Passes: Thick, consistent lather
Results: BBS/DFS: Not as close today as with other razors, but an impressively comfortable shave.
Notes: This was my first shave with the 37C. I'll do a write up on it later today. The prep method, again, was highly effective. Third shave on this blade and I can't actually tell any difference from the first. Very smooth, very effective. And the modified toweling method still seems to be very effective at regulating the amount of water added with each subsequent pass, but without overly drying the skin.
I'll keep running with it (journaling) for a while, but at this point, I'm satisfied. I really enjoy the shaves I'm getting.
Hardware: Merkur 37C/Astra SP #3
Software: Mitchells Wool Fat
All Passes: Thick, consistent lather
Results: BBS/DFS: Not as close today as with other razors, but an impressively comfortable shave.
Notes: This was my first shave with the 37C. I'll do a write up on it later today. The prep method, again, was highly effective. Third shave on this blade and I can't actually tell any difference from the first. Very smooth, very effective. And the modified toweling method still seems to be very effective at regulating the amount of water added with each subsequent pass, but without overly drying the skin.
I'll keep running with it (journaling) for a while, but at this point, I'm satisfied. I really enjoy the shaves I'm getting.
Nice stuff. Glad things are coming along well. Well if you ever need a new challenge and things get boring, go get a real straight razor.
