Howdy Guys -
This is my second time around this bend in the road. I had 20 or so shaves on a straight when I put it down a year ago. Too much bad health news in the family disturbed my mind. The journey is a challenge and I did not have the mental energy to expend on shaving. We now live with those health challenges and take it a day at a time. I had my first vacation in a long time this past week. Out of the blue the desire to pickup where I left off came to me. I wished that I had brought my straight kit with me to Florida... I had an inkling before we left to bring it. I decided to see if it was a passing thought. It wasn't, so I spent some of the evening down time looking over the current blogs and visiting some videos to refresh my knowledge of the craft.
One new (to me) and most important piece of guidance I picked up from reading was that I had been shaving at too steep an angle. Someone recently posted pictures of what the angle of the blade should look like on the skin. I am a commercial photographer by trade - so visuals speak louder than words sometimes. The light went off in my head and I was encouraged to try again. I am sure I was giving myself a rash and dulling my blade most of the time.
Returning home last night I retrieved my kit from storage. I saddle soaped the poor mans strop and put it aside. I had put vaseline on all 3 of the blades I own before storing them. I carefully wiped and dunked the GD and the Bengal in alcohol. I stropped the Bengal 50 times this morning. It had just been honed by Alfredo before I put it away. It did not even have one shave on it. I tested both blades with the HHT test to make sure there was no degradation of the edges while they sat. They both passed just fine. Here in New Hampshire it is pretty dry most of the year. Good for electronics and storing things.
This morning I took my time. I always shave after the shower. I was a bit nervous. One thing I had never dealt with was shaving left handed. I was determined to give it a try.
The routine essentials;
50 passes on the leather strop
Shower
Pre-shave oil - Taconic organic unscented oil
Brush - Saville Row silver tip
Cella shave soap
Razor - Bengal (honed by Alfredo) shave #1
post-shave
Jason's vitamin E moisturizing cream
Cologne; Creed Original Vetiver
25 passes on the leather strop
One of my strengths and weaknesses is diving in with both feet. A weakness if I am not totally prepared. I decided up-front to only shave my cheeks. The challenge would be doing the left side with my left hand which I had never attempted before.
I was very conscious of using a much shallower blade angle and this made all the difference to me. I had some muscle memory with my right hand so I just kept going. Everything went smoothly with the right cheek so I decided to do a bit of my neck, then the lip area, then the chin... you know where I am going with this.
The left hand part of the journey was much slower. I had to figure out how to hold it, what it looked like in the mirror for visual reference, and how to get the angles I needed to reach everything. I succeeded for the most part. I went slowly and only placed the blade to my face when I was 100% sure of what I was doing and where I was going to make a pass.
All in all, it was a success. I shaved my entire face, missing a couple small areas which I decided to clean up with my DE. I gave myself a patch of razor rash about the size of a nickel on the left hand side of the mustache area. My left hand does not yet have a good feel so I am sure I applied some pressure or too much angle here without realizing it.
Thanks to everyone on this board who keep the journals and questions rolling. I did a lot of reading which helped me remember all the essential steps and procedures.
My next steps are to get the left hand coordinated. Then comes some edge maintenance tools. But that is down the road.
As an aside, I saw several barbers down in the Delray Beach, Florida area who advertised as giving straight razor shaves. I would have liked to have gone and had that done but not without good references from someone here on the board. I would like to have the experience someday of a nice haircut and a proper shave. I start to relax just thinking about it.
This is my second time around this bend in the road. I had 20 or so shaves on a straight when I put it down a year ago. Too much bad health news in the family disturbed my mind. The journey is a challenge and I did not have the mental energy to expend on shaving. We now live with those health challenges and take it a day at a time. I had my first vacation in a long time this past week. Out of the blue the desire to pickup where I left off came to me. I wished that I had brought my straight kit with me to Florida... I had an inkling before we left to bring it. I decided to see if it was a passing thought. It wasn't, so I spent some of the evening down time looking over the current blogs and visiting some videos to refresh my knowledge of the craft.
One new (to me) and most important piece of guidance I picked up from reading was that I had been shaving at too steep an angle. Someone recently posted pictures of what the angle of the blade should look like on the skin. I am a commercial photographer by trade - so visuals speak louder than words sometimes. The light went off in my head and I was encouraged to try again. I am sure I was giving myself a rash and dulling my blade most of the time.
Returning home last night I retrieved my kit from storage. I saddle soaped the poor mans strop and put it aside. I had put vaseline on all 3 of the blades I own before storing them. I carefully wiped and dunked the GD and the Bengal in alcohol. I stropped the Bengal 50 times this morning. It had just been honed by Alfredo before I put it away. It did not even have one shave on it. I tested both blades with the HHT test to make sure there was no degradation of the edges while they sat. They both passed just fine. Here in New Hampshire it is pretty dry most of the year. Good for electronics and storing things.
This morning I took my time. I always shave after the shower. I was a bit nervous. One thing I had never dealt with was shaving left handed. I was determined to give it a try.
The routine essentials;
50 passes on the leather strop
Shower
Pre-shave oil - Taconic organic unscented oil
Brush - Saville Row silver tip
Cella shave soap
Razor - Bengal (honed by Alfredo) shave #1
post-shave
Jason's vitamin E moisturizing cream
Cologne; Creed Original Vetiver
25 passes on the leather strop
One of my strengths and weaknesses is diving in with both feet. A weakness if I am not totally prepared. I decided up-front to only shave my cheeks. The challenge would be doing the left side with my left hand which I had never attempted before.
I was very conscious of using a much shallower blade angle and this made all the difference to me. I had some muscle memory with my right hand so I just kept going. Everything went smoothly with the right cheek so I decided to do a bit of my neck, then the lip area, then the chin... you know where I am going with this.
The left hand part of the journey was much slower. I had to figure out how to hold it, what it looked like in the mirror for visual reference, and how to get the angles I needed to reach everything. I succeeded for the most part. I went slowly and only placed the blade to my face when I was 100% sure of what I was doing and where I was going to make a pass.
All in all, it was a success. I shaved my entire face, missing a couple small areas which I decided to clean up with my DE. I gave myself a patch of razor rash about the size of a nickel on the left hand side of the mustache area. My left hand does not yet have a good feel so I am sure I applied some pressure or too much angle here without realizing it.
Thanks to everyone on this board who keep the journals and questions rolling. I did a lot of reading which helped me remember all the essential steps and procedures.
My next steps are to get the left hand coordinated. Then comes some edge maintenance tools. But that is down the road.
As an aside, I saw several barbers down in the Delray Beach, Florida area who advertised as giving straight razor shaves. I would have liked to have gone and had that done but not without good references from someone here on the board. I would like to have the experience someday of a nice haircut and a proper shave. I start to relax just thinking about it.