nwk's shave journal

[nwk]

Hi everyone,

I joined a number of months ago and have gotten tons of great advice and help from people so far. Now I can almost always get a passable shave, although it still takes me a while to do so.

I want to continue improving and to form a habit of reading this forum and shaving every day, so I'm starting this journal. I hope to post a little about my morning schedules as well if you'll indulge me. I work from home, so I'll often trade shaving for an extra hour of sleep. I need a little social pressure to keep me shaving on time every day.

Looking forward to making some progress!

Nick

 

[nwk]

Today went pretty well; I seem to have progressed to the point where I can shave without much irritation. Advice about using a smaller angle, and "wiping away" whiskers has really helped in this regard. The one place where I still have trouble is on my chin area (right underneath as well) and the areas on the lower-left and lower-right sides of my mouth, right above and below the jaw line.

My shaves currently consist of two WTG passes and then touch-ups, although I'm still trying to learn exactly what WTG means on different parts of my face. Perhaps this is my problem with the chin area.

My stropping technique has improved a good bit recently. Today was very consistent and it's beginning to feel right. I should still probably approach it a little more objectively and read up on what to look, feel, and listen for.

I'm usually able to get a very good consistency with lather at this point, although I think I tend to run out pretty quickly and feel that I might be wasting a good bit. This would be a good area for me to look into as well. I can apply it well enough, but it tends to get pretty messy and I don't have very precise control, even when trying to use a couple of fingers to direct it. Perhaps it's my brush? More likely my technique!

 

[8thWVInfantry]

Sounds like you're getting used to the straight PROCESS, so the ART part will come with continued practice. On your chin, you may wish to just concentrate on small strokes instead of trying to swipe off the whiskers in two or three large strokes. That always helps me, especially when I shave ATG on my chin.

Good luck!!

 

[nwk]

8thWVInfantry: Thanks! That's good advice about the smaller strokes. I'll give that a try.

Yesterday was a pretty bad shave. I think I've been getting more irritation than I realized, because it was a little painful trying to shave two days in a row. I found myself trying to avoid certain areas. So I'll have to continue to focus on being gentle to my skin. I've noticed that I frequently shave over the same spot two or three times, even if I've already wiped away the lather. I'm guessing this has a lot to do with it.

I also experimented with the lather a little bit and it ended up too watery, which really seemed to negatively affect things.

I read up on stropping technique on Saturday which gave me some new confidence there. I should look at a good tutorial on lathering soon so I can start to eliminate that as a variable.

I'm skipping today to give my face a chance to recover.

 

[Tkocloser]

nwk, welcome! You are correct that using your blade on the same place multiple times can be a huge problem. Might I recommend multiple light passes (with fresh lather each time) vs. a focus on getting smooth on a few passes? I almost visualize that I'm wiping the cream off of my face and taking a few whiskers with it each pass. With whisker reduction on each pass (vs. whisker elimination) and proper lather/face prep you will mind a lot of irritation subsides. Plus you get a very nice shave this way. It is easy for me to dispense this advice since I obsessed over getting BBS on my neck that last 2 shaves and am taking 2-3 days off!

 

[nwk]

Pretty bad shave today. Worst in a long time. Maybe my razors need to be honed/sharpened? It seemed like my whiskers wouldn't come off no matter what I tried.

 

[nwk]

Well I've had a few good shaves since my last post. I think previously it was a combination of bad lather, perhaps an improperly stropped razor, and maybe even just feeling rushed. I'm finding that giving myself a lot of time is very critical.

I think that I've been making my lather too thick. Often, by the time I do a second pass, it seems to go on a lot better. Maybe because there's some more water on the brush at this point?

I'm still trying to improve my stropping technique. I'm probably due for some more reading here.

 

[nwk]

Yesterday's shave went pretty well. The lather turned out a lot better, and I got a lot more of it. I only gave the brush one quick shake instead of a few after letting it soak.

Getting better at making smaller, more precise strokes with the blade. It seems to come down to learning the shape of your face and also being very patient and focused on the area you're shaving. I think I still have this "drag device across face until finished" mentality from my Mach 3 days, which has not translated very well!