I did it. To record for posterity:
The First Shave
Took a hot shower, paying extra attention to my face. Put some conditioner in my beard. Got out of the shower. Would have liked to use a preshave oil, but didn't have any handy (any household oils good for this?). Did the hot-towel-on-face routine (I've read that this is unnecessary if you've showered, but I wasn't going to take a chance, and was thoroughly enjoying the routine anyway.) I'd been debating between face- or bowl-lathering and ended up doing kind of both- the scuttle worked beautifully (look up Doug Smith on Etsy: I already love my handmade scuttle), and I had lovely warm cream (the soap was awesome too.) Loaded up the brush, which despite being a synthetic, had been soaking in the sink during my shower. Spent a good 3-4 minutes swirling and then painting the cream on to my face.
Then the razor. For this maiden shave, I used my Fatboy loaded with the Merkur blade that came with my Futur (the Fatboy came with a vintage blade, but I was leery of using a 53-year old blade for my first shave.) Started with the razor set on 2 and did a WTG. I've heard that blade angle is the hardest thing to get right, but it came pretty easily to me- more intuitive than the research I did made it sound. The cream was great- not as fluffy or sticky as the canned stuff I'd been using, but that was a good point- the razor glided over the skin without being baffled by the cream, where as my multibladed razors would have to bite through the fluff of canned cream like scissors through a balloon filled with sand. I didn't do my neck on Pass 1. No cuts at all on Pass 1.
Pass 2 was XTG. Rinsed off from Pass 1, checked it out in the mirror and went ear-to-jaw (the beard and cheek hair grow downward.) Squeezed up the extra-rich lather from the base of the brush and chuckled, because it worked beautifully- creamy, meringuey, slick. The neck was a bit of a bother because the grain goes east-west on the right side, and a weird swirling from north to south on the left. I went with the grain for all of my neck, switching from side to side.
"Pass" 3 was just touchups. I missed a spot on my chin, and since I wasn't shaving stubble but a 3-month beard (with my sparseness, that's not as drastic as it sounds, but still a decent amount of growth was there) went back over against the grain on my chin. I wish I hadn't. I got burned a bit there (still, no nicks!).
Rinsed off with cool water. Splashed on the indie aftershave (Old Montgomery Black, handmade on Etsy.) Burned like acid for 2 seconds and then cooled off into bliss. Smells like sweetgum and sassafras.
This was fun. I feel accomplished, relieved (didn't slit my throat!) and amazed. No razor burn, except for a bit which was all my fault, and none on the neck. A burn-free neck. I haven't had that since I started shaving 10 years ago.
I feel great. Next time I shave, I'll take the Futur for a ride.
The First Shave
Took a hot shower, paying extra attention to my face. Put some conditioner in my beard. Got out of the shower. Would have liked to use a preshave oil, but didn't have any handy (any household oils good for this?). Did the hot-towel-on-face routine (I've read that this is unnecessary if you've showered, but I wasn't going to take a chance, and was thoroughly enjoying the routine anyway.) I'd been debating between face- or bowl-lathering and ended up doing kind of both- the scuttle worked beautifully (look up Doug Smith on Etsy: I already love my handmade scuttle), and I had lovely warm cream (the soap was awesome too.) Loaded up the brush, which despite being a synthetic, had been soaking in the sink during my shower. Spent a good 3-4 minutes swirling and then painting the cream on to my face.
Then the razor. For this maiden shave, I used my Fatboy loaded with the Merkur blade that came with my Futur (the Fatboy came with a vintage blade, but I was leery of using a 53-year old blade for my first shave.) Started with the razor set on 2 and did a WTG. I've heard that blade angle is the hardest thing to get right, but it came pretty easily to me- more intuitive than the research I did made it sound. The cream was great- not as fluffy or sticky as the canned stuff I'd been using, but that was a good point- the razor glided over the skin without being baffled by the cream, where as my multibladed razors would have to bite through the fluff of canned cream like scissors through a balloon filled with sand. I didn't do my neck on Pass 1. No cuts at all on Pass 1.
Pass 2 was XTG. Rinsed off from Pass 1, checked it out in the mirror and went ear-to-jaw (the beard and cheek hair grow downward.) Squeezed up the extra-rich lather from the base of the brush and chuckled, because it worked beautifully- creamy, meringuey, slick. The neck was a bit of a bother because the grain goes east-west on the right side, and a weird swirling from north to south on the left. I went with the grain for all of my neck, switching from side to side.
"Pass" 3 was just touchups. I missed a spot on my chin, and since I wasn't shaving stubble but a 3-month beard (with my sparseness, that's not as drastic as it sounds, but still a decent amount of growth was there) went back over against the grain on my chin. I wish I hadn't. I got burned a bit there (still, no nicks!).
Rinsed off with cool water. Splashed on the indie aftershave (Old Montgomery Black, handmade on Etsy.) Burned like acid for 2 seconds and then cooled off into bliss. Smells like sweetgum and sassafras.
This was fun. I feel accomplished, relieved (didn't slit my throat!) and amazed. No razor burn, except for a bit which was all my fault, and none on the neck. A burn-free neck. I haven't had that since I started shaving 10 years ago.
I feel great. Next time I shave, I'll take the Futur for a ride.
