So I've been Method Shaving for about 5 months now. Got into it after years of ingrown hairs, irritation and countless dollars spent on marketed shave products, electric razors, pre-shave/post-shave paraphernalia, you name it.
Wet shaving I stumbled onto via ArtofManliness.com (which I found via StumbleUpon.com). I researched everything, from Mantic's videos to Kyle's prep to Shaving101.com and in between. Bought a simple starter kit, some Crabtree and Evelyn soap and cream. Here I was thinking Method Shaving was for the elite. Swapped to derby's, bought a very expensive brush....Still burning and performing microsurgery on my neck for those pesky ingrowns.
Saw Charles' 30min video from Start to Finish and read some of the reviews on Shaving101. Bought the starter kit with cloth, (there goes that chubby 2 brush, well spent). Gave that a few weeks to get used to that, because my face was on fire, until I bought the whole kit-n-kaboodle. Cutting balm, finishing balm, paste, tonic, conditioner, you name it.
Now with this all burning a whole in my pocket, I was fresh out of college and not too heavy on cash, I thought I'd be all set to go. In fact, I could barely make it through the forms without my face and neck reaching thermonuclear temperatures. I had to retreat to only cutting the first form once or twice and if I were brave cutting the 2nd form. What to do?
Here I am, reading everything I can; online here, hydrolast forum. Almost to the point of going back to my Architect electric lawnmower I got a while back. Felt like the Derbys, like the Merkurs before, were dragging and pulling quite a bit. I think my cutting style has improved...Let me try the famous Feathers, and the cube. Which, if you're using the cloth gentlemen, if I even have to mention, get the pre-cut version; not so easy to cut yourself.
By this time Charles' new videos began hitting youtube. Tried incorporating these with the new blades and mix. It went a little better. Obviously with swapping blades my face was more raw than a tenderized porterhouse, but that slowly improved. About 6 weeks later though and I'm still burning on the neck and still some ingrowns. My face did alright, but my neck looked like a war zone. I was only cutting the first form and I'd have to wait 2-3 days between shaves to heal up. Weeping cuts, bumps, redness, pain, irritation and at the 3rd/4th region line terrible ingrowns. Good thing I have a thin beard because I wear a uniform and badge on the truck and need to look clean shaven. If I were to shave within 48hrs, might as well've lathered tobasco sauce instead of wet mix, it was that much irritation.
I was out of options. I did not want to go back to Gillette, even though I'm a Bostonian, and Barbasol just always seemed like that antiseptic foam to me. God love all you guys and your insight, but nothing was working. I called Charles.
Let me tell you, I did not want to bother the man and I was embarrassed, but I had a great conversation with him for over an hour and a half. Very down to earth guy. He didn't try to sell me anything, he told me how even in Method Shaving there are different factions of shavers who are completely in disagreement with eachother. He gave me his side of a solution, and then told me what Mike Sandborn might tell me which could be the complete opposite.
Here's what we discussed:
-I have a thin beard. Like very thin. 3 days growth for me could be one day for most of you gents, but I have a thick grain. What this means is I need a slow mix. Thicker the beard, faster the mix.
=Couple ways to fix this: Drop the Feather's. They are a very fast blade. Cuts like a ninja sword, but is non-discriminatory. Cuts skin just as well as beard. Instead, try Bic platinum blades. Still sharp, just a smoother edge. Charles said he will often use Bics when he shaves at home and loves them.
=No more activator. I was following the video and making my initial mix with the cube (pre-cut this time), cutting balm and activator. Activator speeds up the mix. So now we've hit about Mach 1 for cutting speed when I need slower.
=Paste. Paste is a buffer. Slows down the blade action and provides a bit of protection for the skin while I'm taking off the longer hairs. I'll throw a bit of paste on the initial first form, hand mix the remaining paste on my finger into the wet mix in my palm to use when I re-do the first form. I'll also throw some up on the 2nd form focusing on the neck.
=Cutting Balm. Charles said one thing about cutting balm. It fixes everything. I suppose $35 every 6 weeks to 2 month isn't all that bad. For the third form I'll do what he does in the video and hand slag with a little cutting balm.
=First form. I had been cutting the first form twice, thinking that was enough. Now, with all that mix I'm keeping in my non-razor hand, I've cut it three times, sometimes 4. It makes switching to the Second form so much easier. I guess that's the whole primary buttress thing. But the more I get rid of on the first form the easier everything else has been.
Now as we talked, or rather, as Charles talked, haha; he mentioned how humidity played into Method Shaving, and I'm glad he did. He asked, "do you shave after your roommate used the shower, because that changes the humidity and speeds up the shave." Now, I'm 24. I've been shaving for about 10 years. In that time, and in all my research I have always heard and read about the tried and true method of shaving either in or just after a shower. Especially in the wet-shave forums and Mantic's videos. I read all of Kyle's prep stuff, the Barber's hot towel, the hair conditioner and which ones leave the hair as supple, as wet, as noodle-ish as possible. That was the ideal way to shave, right?
According to Charles, by showering pre-shave, I took my already Mach 1 hot mix shave to super-sonic speeds. I was floored. Good thing I didn't buy that expensive fog-free shower mirror at brookstone, huh? This was pretty much a conversation to get to the bottom of it all, I don't know **** about shaving. I can't say that it's a golden rule not to shower, but with my beard I was apparently setting myself up for failure. Now I can either shave before a shower, or at opposite ends of the day, then hop out and tonic+conditioner. I was also ordered onto a 24 hour cutting schedule.
Charles sells bics, not on his order form but he has them, but before i could call him back I had already ordered a few through leessafetyrazors.com. First shave and wow. I was impressed. Next day, a little irritation. 3rd day added a bit more paste to break in the new blades on my skin, getting better. Everything was going pretty well. My neck was slowly healing from the years of past abuse it's been through. I swap blades every other shave, so a 25pack for 5 or 6 bucks will last almost two months. Almost all the redness was gone.
Now, I did a little experiment of my own, which, I should've called Charles to offer insight. I am preparing to leave for a 6 month state police academy this summer. I can only imagine what grooming products/ time I would have available to me. I read about cold water shaving, half for the academy, half because I'm a history buff and read about soldiers from the civil war right up to Vietnam shaving with cold water. That didn't work so badly. Instead of wet noodle I got wet hair. Felt a bit more refreshing in the morning. I've since gone back to warm water and feel better about it. Also, the slag/cutting balm mix that feels great on that third form, thick but soothing? I figure, this could work for the whole shave right? Minimalizing? Not so much. My face was as raw as before. I even threw in some paste but it didn't help. I'm guessing it was too dry and I was in too much of a hurry. Took a few days off to recover from that.
So for anyone with these trouble spots, I would definitely call Charles and ask his advice. I spoke to him once and he tore apart 10 years of shaving "know-how". But also if you're like me with a thinner beard, my new and improved system is:
Warm water, soak cloth and cube, or scented round for a minute. Open your jars of paste and conditioner now before your hands are too slick.
In cloth, like the video, pour enough cutting balm to just about cover the cube face, mix in cloth, flip, mix again, set cube down, roll mix a few times and take up your hand fill.
Hand rub good amount onto skin (this part is all in the videos). Take a small finger amount of paste and rub onto face, repeat for neck (hence extra paste), then put some more wet mix on. Rub remaining paste and mix together. Cut form 1 at least 3 times to really get it down, Relathering each time.
Squeeze the cloth dry for the 2nd Form and add a little paste up. After doing this I was immediately able to do the long drag cuts Charles raves about.
For 3rd form, hand slag with some cutting balm, pour it up, 2nd form down, 3rd form up on all quadrants (follow chart though, don't 3rd form your mustache, doesn't work out well).
I started doing a South to North cut after all this only beneath my chin to my adam's apple, but only there. Then I shower, but I don't wash my face with any soap or especially any acne wash or scrub, I want to keep that mix in my face as long as possible. Then I hop out for the tonic spray and conditioner. I'll let that dry a few and come back and throw on a neutrogena conditioner/SPF 15 now that the weather is getting better.
I love the bic razor blades. They don't drag like derbys or merkurs, but they aren't Ginzu knives like feather's. Finally, shaving is fun again. I've been doing it this way for about three weeks now. The Method in Method Shaving I've learned means the forms and the products. The actual method is purely individual, but the man who knows and I think spends a good amount of his day helping newbies like myself find it is Charles. I look forward to calling him again to let him know how I'm doing and ask some more advice. Over 90 minutes he kept me on the phone while taking customers in his shop as well. Super nice guy and the authority as far as I care to find out.
Best luck shavers!
Tim
Wet shaving I stumbled onto via ArtofManliness.com (which I found via StumbleUpon.com). I researched everything, from Mantic's videos to Kyle's prep to Shaving101.com and in between. Bought a simple starter kit, some Crabtree and Evelyn soap and cream. Here I was thinking Method Shaving was for the elite. Swapped to derby's, bought a very expensive brush....Still burning and performing microsurgery on my neck for those pesky ingrowns.
Saw Charles' 30min video from Start to Finish and read some of the reviews on Shaving101. Bought the starter kit with cloth, (there goes that chubby 2 brush, well spent). Gave that a few weeks to get used to that, because my face was on fire, until I bought the whole kit-n-kaboodle. Cutting balm, finishing balm, paste, tonic, conditioner, you name it.
Now with this all burning a whole in my pocket, I was fresh out of college and not too heavy on cash, I thought I'd be all set to go. In fact, I could barely make it through the forms without my face and neck reaching thermonuclear temperatures. I had to retreat to only cutting the first form once or twice and if I were brave cutting the 2nd form. What to do?
Here I am, reading everything I can; online here, hydrolast forum. Almost to the point of going back to my Architect electric lawnmower I got a while back. Felt like the Derbys, like the Merkurs before, were dragging and pulling quite a bit. I think my cutting style has improved...Let me try the famous Feathers, and the cube. Which, if you're using the cloth gentlemen, if I even have to mention, get the pre-cut version; not so easy to cut yourself.
By this time Charles' new videos began hitting youtube. Tried incorporating these with the new blades and mix. It went a little better. Obviously with swapping blades my face was more raw than a tenderized porterhouse, but that slowly improved. About 6 weeks later though and I'm still burning on the neck and still some ingrowns. My face did alright, but my neck looked like a war zone. I was only cutting the first form and I'd have to wait 2-3 days between shaves to heal up. Weeping cuts, bumps, redness, pain, irritation and at the 3rd/4th region line terrible ingrowns. Good thing I have a thin beard because I wear a uniform and badge on the truck and need to look clean shaven. If I were to shave within 48hrs, might as well've lathered tobasco sauce instead of wet mix, it was that much irritation.
I was out of options. I did not want to go back to Gillette, even though I'm a Bostonian, and Barbasol just always seemed like that antiseptic foam to me. God love all you guys and your insight, but nothing was working. I called Charles.
Let me tell you, I did not want to bother the man and I was embarrassed, but I had a great conversation with him for over an hour and a half. Very down to earth guy. He didn't try to sell me anything, he told me how even in Method Shaving there are different factions of shavers who are completely in disagreement with eachother. He gave me his side of a solution, and then told me what Mike Sandborn might tell me which could be the complete opposite.
Here's what we discussed:
-I have a thin beard. Like very thin. 3 days growth for me could be one day for most of you gents, but I have a thick grain. What this means is I need a slow mix. Thicker the beard, faster the mix.
=Couple ways to fix this: Drop the Feather's. They are a very fast blade. Cuts like a ninja sword, but is non-discriminatory. Cuts skin just as well as beard. Instead, try Bic platinum blades. Still sharp, just a smoother edge. Charles said he will often use Bics when he shaves at home and loves them.
=No more activator. I was following the video and making my initial mix with the cube (pre-cut this time), cutting balm and activator. Activator speeds up the mix. So now we've hit about Mach 1 for cutting speed when I need slower.
=Paste. Paste is a buffer. Slows down the blade action and provides a bit of protection for the skin while I'm taking off the longer hairs. I'll throw a bit of paste on the initial first form, hand mix the remaining paste on my finger into the wet mix in my palm to use when I re-do the first form. I'll also throw some up on the 2nd form focusing on the neck.
=Cutting Balm. Charles said one thing about cutting balm. It fixes everything. I suppose $35 every 6 weeks to 2 month isn't all that bad. For the third form I'll do what he does in the video and hand slag with a little cutting balm.
=First form. I had been cutting the first form twice, thinking that was enough. Now, with all that mix I'm keeping in my non-razor hand, I've cut it three times, sometimes 4. It makes switching to the Second form so much easier. I guess that's the whole primary buttress thing. But the more I get rid of on the first form the easier everything else has been.
Now as we talked, or rather, as Charles talked, haha; he mentioned how humidity played into Method Shaving, and I'm glad he did. He asked, "do you shave after your roommate used the shower, because that changes the humidity and speeds up the shave." Now, I'm 24. I've been shaving for about 10 years. In that time, and in all my research I have always heard and read about the tried and true method of shaving either in or just after a shower. Especially in the wet-shave forums and Mantic's videos. I read all of Kyle's prep stuff, the Barber's hot towel, the hair conditioner and which ones leave the hair as supple, as wet, as noodle-ish as possible. That was the ideal way to shave, right?
According to Charles, by showering pre-shave, I took my already Mach 1 hot mix shave to super-sonic speeds. I was floored. Good thing I didn't buy that expensive fog-free shower mirror at brookstone, huh? This was pretty much a conversation to get to the bottom of it all, I don't know **** about shaving. I can't say that it's a golden rule not to shower, but with my beard I was apparently setting myself up for failure. Now I can either shave before a shower, or at opposite ends of the day, then hop out and tonic+conditioner. I was also ordered onto a 24 hour cutting schedule.
Charles sells bics, not on his order form but he has them, but before i could call him back I had already ordered a few through leessafetyrazors.com. First shave and wow. I was impressed. Next day, a little irritation. 3rd day added a bit more paste to break in the new blades on my skin, getting better. Everything was going pretty well. My neck was slowly healing from the years of past abuse it's been through. I swap blades every other shave, so a 25pack for 5 or 6 bucks will last almost two months. Almost all the redness was gone.
Now, I did a little experiment of my own, which, I should've called Charles to offer insight. I am preparing to leave for a 6 month state police academy this summer. I can only imagine what grooming products/ time I would have available to me. I read about cold water shaving, half for the academy, half because I'm a history buff and read about soldiers from the civil war right up to Vietnam shaving with cold water. That didn't work so badly. Instead of wet noodle I got wet hair. Felt a bit more refreshing in the morning. I've since gone back to warm water and feel better about it. Also, the slag/cutting balm mix that feels great on that third form, thick but soothing? I figure, this could work for the whole shave right? Minimalizing? Not so much. My face was as raw as before. I even threw in some paste but it didn't help. I'm guessing it was too dry and I was in too much of a hurry. Took a few days off to recover from that.
So for anyone with these trouble spots, I would definitely call Charles and ask his advice. I spoke to him once and he tore apart 10 years of shaving "know-how". But also if you're like me with a thinner beard, my new and improved system is:
Warm water, soak cloth and cube, or scented round for a minute. Open your jars of paste and conditioner now before your hands are too slick.
In cloth, like the video, pour enough cutting balm to just about cover the cube face, mix in cloth, flip, mix again, set cube down, roll mix a few times and take up your hand fill.
Hand rub good amount onto skin (this part is all in the videos). Take a small finger amount of paste and rub onto face, repeat for neck (hence extra paste), then put some more wet mix on. Rub remaining paste and mix together. Cut form 1 at least 3 times to really get it down, Relathering each time.
Squeeze the cloth dry for the 2nd Form and add a little paste up. After doing this I was immediately able to do the long drag cuts Charles raves about.
For 3rd form, hand slag with some cutting balm, pour it up, 2nd form down, 3rd form up on all quadrants (follow chart though, don't 3rd form your mustache, doesn't work out well).
I started doing a South to North cut after all this only beneath my chin to my adam's apple, but only there. Then I shower, but I don't wash my face with any soap or especially any acne wash or scrub, I want to keep that mix in my face as long as possible. Then I hop out for the tonic spray and conditioner. I'll let that dry a few and come back and throw on a neutrogena conditioner/SPF 15 now that the weather is getting better.
I love the bic razor blades. They don't drag like derbys or merkurs, but they aren't Ginzu knives like feather's. Finally, shaving is fun again. I've been doing it this way for about three weeks now. The Method in Method Shaving I've learned means the forms and the products. The actual method is purely individual, but the man who knows and I think spends a good amount of his day helping newbies like myself find it is Charles. I look forward to calling him again to let him know how I'm doing and ask some more advice. Over 90 minutes he kept me on the phone while taking customers in his shop as well. Super nice guy and the authority as far as I care to find out.
Best luck shavers!
Tim
