Newbie's Journey

[Eric W. Ford]

Really been busy the last 2 days and was unable to post my daily shave.

The big lesson I learned in the past 2 days has been to never ever ever shave
angry, I tore my neck up. All kinds of cuts. But that was the only issue.

This morning to I used a Schick Quattro instead of my DE. Hopefully doing this will allow my neck to heal up.

Also I won some Razors on EBay and will probably wait until they come in before I pick up a DE again. Also I'm waiting on some Feathers and Israeli Personnas.

I'll let everyone know how shaving with a cartridge does for the neck issues that I have right now.

Honestly it wasn't a bad shave I would say a DFS today.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

9 July 2009

Shave Time 3:45am

PREP
Used Neutragena Razor Defense Facial Scrub and hot water rinse.

SHAVE
1st Pass- WTG pass.

2nd Pass- ATG pass.

POST SHAVE
L'Occitane ASB and cold water rinse.

Summary
Used the cartridge razor again. Neck looks good the redness is gone and the razor bumps have gone done. If I have to get up this early Im sticking to the cartridge. To tired to concentrate with a DE.

Any comments, suggestions, and recommendations is appreciated and encouraged.

 

[SiBurning]

Am I right in that BBS means no stubble can be felt at all. And with a DFS you might feel some stubble?

I wrote a long, kind of silly answer to this, but you should open a new thread and let everyone chime in. I'll post the answer there.

Don't blame you for not wanting to shave with a DE that early in the morning. I wait until after coffee, which means I've been awake 40 minutes or more. It does get easier with practise.

Seems like you're doing very little prep. Hot 120F water and shaving cream on the face for 2 minutes is a big help. Some people do both of these successively. I get best result by putting some shaving cream on the face after first wetting it and leaving it there while the hot towel's on for two minutes. The results are better if I shower and wash my face first, but I don't do that because it softens my face more than the hair, but that's not common.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

I'll try Kyle's Prep on Saturday as I'll have more time to prepare. That is mainly my biggest hold up is time. Normally I will get up at 4:30am and try to leave the house by 5:20am so I can be at work at 5:30am for PT.

I know I need to practice, practice, practice. I am waiting on a better razor and blades to arrive in the mail. Have not had much luck with Derby's Extra.

I know prep is the biggest thing that I am lacking but due to the time I need to wake up and shave its hard to do a full prep without waking up earlier than I already do.

Thanks for the tips.

SSG Eric W. Ford
U.S. Army

 

[Eric W. Ford]

21 July2009

04:20am

Yesterday I recieved some new kit from West Coast Shaving. Some Feathers, Israeli Personnas, Gilette 7o'clock yellows, and TOBS Mr. Taylor.

I took a shower and used Nuetragena Razor Defense Facial Scrub then a hair conditioner.

Never tried any TOBS before and when I went to go make lather it was in no time that I had mounds of lather. I only did 2 passes a with the grain then XTG. I tried the Feathers this morning and WOW what a difference over the Derby's. These definitely work better for me. A DFS today.

I'm going to stick to this combination for a lil while and seehow every thing goes.


Comments, suggestions, or recommendations are encouraged.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

1st truly BBS today. Same set up as yesterday just took more time and used Kyle's Prep.

Some knick's and cuts but I chalk that up to not paying attention during the whole shave. And there were some sore's from yesterday that were reopened today.

Otherwise a very nice and enjoyable shave. 2 full passes and a 3rd pass on trouble spots and viola BBS.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

This will be the final post from me on this thread.

I feel that my mistakes that I am making are due to technique or not paying enough attention during the shave.

I appreciate all the advice I have been given.

If anybody would like me to continue my "journal" let me know. If I get enough responses and people feel this is a worthwhile thread then I'll continue.

 

[michiganlover]

If anybody would like me to continue my "journal" let me know. If I get enough responses and people feel this is a worthwhile thread then I'll continue.

I think you should continue it, not for our sakes, but for your own. A couple months down the road, after your technique has greatly improved, you can revisit this thread, read from the beginning, and be floored by how much you have changed.

 

[SiBurning]

I think it's useful for newbies to see how someone else progresses. Makes them feel it's normal to have trouble for a while and learn slowly. If you don't think there's any need to post every day, then there isn't. But maybe you can continue adding when there's something interesting, or you've made progress, or learned something, for good or bad. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and, while we all say it a lot, it's different when people see one complete story.

Maybe more useful at this point would be if you could go back over your journal and highlight what things you did that finally got you to BBS. Also, not just things you did and learned, but those times when things finally started to come together. I've been learning to use a straight, and things just slowly fall into place, sometoimes so slowly that a week might go by before I notice a real improvement. Finally, it might be fun to see if you remember things differently now.

Thanks for keeping it up this far.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

SiBurning, I like your suggestion and will stick with that until another suggestion comes along.

In my own personnel journey the biggest factor's that led to my BBS was the following:

PREP
I've noticed that when I properly prep it's a much easier shave and not as rough. The prep I use now is a hot shower where I use a conditioner on the beard then after I finished I use Kyle's Prep routine.

SHAVE
Beard mapping, the right razor blade, and technique. I'm still learning in this department. I'm still experimenting with different blades. Right now I'm using Feathers. Next it'll be Israeli Personnas then Gillette 7 o'clock. More will follow.

AFTERSHAVE
A post shave routine is important. Finding the right aftershave balm. For me that is L'Occitane. I hopefully I'll find something that works just as good but cheaper.

 

[Eric W. Ford]

Due to my time constraints that I have before going to work I had to modify my pre shave routine. I wet my face with warm water and use a facial cleanser rinse it off with warm water then lather up with TOBS Mr. Taylor. So far it works alright nothing like my full blown prep I do on the weekends.

Also I switched to useing an M3, Trac II, or Sensor 3 disposable on workdays (M-F) and a DE on days when I have more time i.e. weekends and days where I don't have to get up at 04:30am.

I'm still experimenting with the three multi-blade razors and hopefully I'll be able to pick up a Sensor razor soon. I'll let everybody know which one I chose and why.

Until next time.

 

[SiBurning]

Have you tried another, gentler DE? On the wiki, there's a weishi that's pretty gentle, but maybe that's not the one you have. I find the black handle Gillette SA set on 1 to be a very gentle shave. Gentle enough that I don't have to watch what I'm doing. Thing is, you're not going to improve with a DE while you're not using it. And I do think you can get to the point where you can shave at 4:30 am. At least if you sip some coffee first.