It Finally Happened

[Scissors]

It took me more than an hour, I had to strop the razor three-quarters of the way through, I had to figure out two tangles of whisker growth that I'd taken for granted as simply center-out horizontal, and do multiple water pass touch ups, but I finally got a straight shave that's closer than anything I've gotten with a DE.

With no cuts or razor burn, either.

The dramatis personae:

Birck and Zamminer "Reliance" 11/16 Razor
Kent BLK4 Brush
Kent (aka Mitchell's Wool Fat) Shaving Soap
Merkur Shaving Bowl
​

I know I won't be able to do it the next time I shave because I'm simply not up to all the work it took. Now I've figured a few things out, especially the multiple directions that two patches of whiskers take, I can duplicate it.

 

[JPM]

Congrats! I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I get a good shave with a straight.

 

[Klarion]

Nice one, there. Hope you keep up the consistency on the amazingly close, comfortable shaves. Then it's just cutting the times down!

 

[Iakona]

Very nice...
Where did you get that bowl?

 

[SliceOfLife]

You should just say where ya got that bowl in your Sig.


Grats on the shave.

 

[rdeakle]

Congrats on the great shave! Nice looking setup too.

 

[Scissors]

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations. If I never heard of this board, I would never have even bothered trying straights, and I've benefited enormously from the knowledge here. In short, I couldn't have done it without y'all.

The bowl comes from Lee's Razors. It, and a bunch of other similar bowls, can be found on the page with the shaving mugs. I have a bunch of these now. Yes, they're a little spendy but I'd rather have my Fat (and Cade and Haslingers and my Tabac) in these rather than the manufacturer's bowls. I mean, L'Occitane wants $28 of my favorite dollars for their metal bowl. Because of the soap's strange shape, I need to use a large bowl for it, although since the bottom of the cake is rounded and not that deep, I suspect I could carve it up to fit in a small bowl. Even so, I'm willing to pay the premium for something I like better and think is priced fairly. $28 for what L'Occitane wants you to put their shave soap in is gouging AFAICT.

 

[whitebar]

Nice bowl and congrats on making progress with your straight shave!

 

[ccgnet]

Congratulations.