First Shave with Hydrolast

[Manco]

I've been waiting in anticipation all week and the package arrived this morning, opened it up and was hit by the scent of the round (Green Tea) which smelt nice. The second thing thing that struck me was the shave cloth, it was like an oversized cheese cloth! Had the activator, cutting balm and the red shave paste (For humid England??) and the conditioner. Did normal prep and let the shave cloth and round soak for five minutes. When I took the cloth out it was a lot more like the shave cloth in Charles' videos and the round had kind of a thin film around it. I placed the round in the shave cloth, added a few pumps of activator and cutting balm and mixed away. The mix didn't explode as I expected until I added a good deal more of activator and cutting balm, I think generosity is necessary . Applied the mix to my face and wow, it was a better consistency than I had ever had with MWF, it was thick, wet and creamy. Rubbed in a small amount of shave paste (I think I should have added more?) Went WTG twice, XTG and finally ATG with some stretching and more mix. Washed face with warm water and added the conditioner, WOW that stuff is good. Had some irritation but after I added the conditioner I could hardly feel it. The shave was great, and things can only get better. Any feedback will be appreciated. I will post a full review after a week or so. I advise anyone thinking about Method shaving to take the dive and try it. I may have just been converted.

Sorry if my english isn't too great, im exhausted

 

[MaxJ]

I've been waiting in anticipation all week and the package arrived this morning, opened it up and was hit by the scent of the round (Green Tea) which smelt nice. The second thing thing that struck me was the shave cloth, it was like an oversized cheese cloth! Had the activator, cutting balm and the red shave paste (For humid England??) and the conditioner. Did normal prep and let the shave cloth and round soak for five minutes. When I took the cloth out it was a lot more like the shave cloth in Charles' videos and the round had kind of a thin film around it. I placed the round in the shave cloth, added a few pumps of activator and cutting balm and mixed away. The mix didn't explode as I expected until I added a good deal more of activator and cutting balm, I think generosity is necessary . Applied the mix to my face and wow, it was a better consistency than I had ever had with MWF, it was thick, wet and creamy. Rubbed in a small amount of shave paste (I think I should have added more?) Went WTG twice, XTG and finally ATG with some stretching and more mix. Washed face with warm water and added the conditioner, WOW that stuff is good. Had some irritation but after I added the conditioner I could hardly feel it. The shave was great, and things can only get better. Any feedback will be appreciated. I will post a full review after a week or so. I advise anyone thinking about Method shaving to take the dive and try it. I may have just been converted.

Sorry if my english isn't too great, im exhausted

Great to see another RMWS newbie here! We'll have to compare notes as things progress, it sounds like your first shave was miles ahead of mine. I actually emailed Charles yesterday re: my first shave and he offered the following advice on irritation:

"If you happen to overblade--which you probably will for a couple of days until you start to get the hang of "floating steel,"--simply get a small amount of cutting balm in your hand; spread it across your shaving terrain; massage and repeatedly irrigate with warm to hot water using the fingertips only. It will produce instantly relief"

Thought I'd pass that on.

 

[Manco]

Thanks for the advice, I will try that tommorow. When you started did your shave cloth have a 'break in' period?

 

[MaxJ]

Thanks for the advice, I will try that tommorow. When you started did your shave cloth have a 'break in' period?

I've only used it twice. Yesterday it was kind of subpar, today was better. Apparently there is definitely an improvement the more you use it.

 

[global_dev]

i have used the cloth about 4 times. i noticed after priming the cloth generously, as I started to add a bit more water each time I used thr cloth , the mix kept getting way more volume and the activator definitely helped. A pump would be better than the bottle to better determine activator quantity though...

 

[Manco]

Quick update - 2nd shave, primed shaving terrain with cutting balm, round & paste. Helped amazingly. Built the mix, more generous than last time. Cutting balm is excellent! 4 passes and overbladed, 2 weepers, added cutting balm and face felt MUCH better. Warm water rinse followed by very cold water. Patted dry, added small amount of conditioner. No pain from overblading. Patted small amount of water ontop. Skin feels great and it's the closest shave to date. +1 to MS.

 

[Manco]

Great to see another RMWS newbie here! We'll have to compare notes as things progress, it sounds like your first shave was miles ahead of mine. I actually emailed Charles yesterday re: my first shave and he offered the following advice on irritation:

"If you happen to overblade--which you probably will for a couple of days until you start to get the hang of "floating steel,"--simply get a small amount of cutting balm in your hand; spread it across your shaving terrain; massage and repeatedly irrigate with warm to hot water using the fingertips only. It will produce instantly relief"

Thought I'd pass that on.

This advice helped ALOT. Thanks. Btw how do you prime your face? I added cutting balm with hand made lather from the round then some shave paste. Shave went very well. I don't know if this was the reason as it's too early to know. I suggest you try it and tell me how it goes! Good luck

 

[MaxJ]

This advice helped ALOT. Thanks. Btw how do you prime your face? I added cutting balm with hand made lather from the round then some shave paste. Shave went very well. I don't know if this was the reason as it's too early to know. I suggest you try it and tell me how it goes! Good luck

I've actually just been getting some suds off of the primer and rubbing into my beard, then letting it sit while I build my mix. A quick hot water rinse and then I apply the mix and start shaving. That's the procedure I got in my clinic and it gets me by; I'm sure the cutting balm only adds to it, but I don't like how fast I'm going through my bottle of it and I'm trying to cut back on usage. Glad to see you're getting good results! My shaves are definitely getting better, not terribly close but the irritation is all but gone.

 

[global_dev]

so neither of you add the paste to the mix after the mix is on the face? you add teh paste to teh mix in the cloth?

 

[Manco]

1st shave I added the paste to my face after the mix was on my face, 2nd shave I primed my face with cutting balm and the paste THEN put the mix on my face. I read in Charles Hydrolast forum both ways work. i've never actually put the paste in the mix.

 

[Bright (Satin) Futur]

Much of Method Shaving is Free Form, allowing you to do what it takes to get the best shave for your face, using your razor in your environment. Amen?

 

[Manco]

Much of Method Shaving is Free Form, allowing you to do what it takes to get the best shave for your face, using your razor in your environment. Amen?

Amen!

 

[MaxJ]

This advice helped ALOT. Thanks. Btw how do you prime your face? I added cutting balm with hand made lather from the round then some shave paste. Shave went very well. I don't know if this was the reason as it's too early to know. I suggest you try it and tell me how it goes! Good luck

So I finally tried the cutting balm on my face today and had a really lovely shave! I did my usual thing using some slag from the soap, but then rinsed and rubbed in a couple of drops of cutting balm with some water. I don't know if that was the decisive factor in the shave; I'd been getting some really bad results so I switched from Feather to Astra, cut down on the number of passes, and have been using a LOT of paste. But whatever it was, very comfortable and much closer than I expected, very much a DFS+!

 

[Bright (Satin) Futur]

So I finally tried the cutting balm on my face today and had a really lovely shave! I did my usual thing using some slag from the soap, but then rinsed and rubbed in a couple of drops of cutting balm with some water. I don't know if that was the decisive factor in the shave; I'd been getting some really bad results so I switched from Feather to Astra, cut down on the number of passes, and have been using a LOT of paste. But whatever it was, very comfortable and much closer than I expected, very much a DFS+!

I too found that I need a 'smoother' blade than Feathers so my most recent experience finds me using the humble Personnas from WalMart, a bit more paste than in the past and getting really good results with just three passes!

DFS / BBS no irritation is the key!

 

[Bright (Satin) Futur]

I too found that I need a 'smoother' blade than Feathers . . . .

Since I've been using the Slant, my experience and opinion of Feathers has changed substantially. I like them just fine! I have no irritation or redness and no nics too! Although I believe the slant has encouraged my technique to improve.

DFS / BBS with no irritation- The key is blade angle and no pressure!

 

[mars]

So, are you still using Hydrolast?

 

[Manco]

So, are you still using Hydrolast?

Yes, exclusively. The best shaving stuff I've ever come across.