SOTD "FREE WEEK" March 4th - March 10th, 2019

[Yo-Wan]

That would certainly force you to focus on your technique! Interesting.
Do you know if he was born blind or lost his sight later? Let us know if he decides to stick with straight shaving or not.

So he was born with sight but lost it at age of 4.
I let him first discover the sbape of different blades and scales, try different grips on a straight with a neutralised threaded (duct tape on it), marketing a Proraso lather in a bowl .
Finally, hé made a first shave under my supervision (note that word!) with a quarter hollow SR. Not cuts, some nicks ...
The main difficulties are the angle, the correct grip and the fact he forgets to wipe the blade when he reverses the movement.
But hé made it!.

 

[Joshua223]

So he was born with sight but lost it at age of 4.
I let him first discover the sbape of different blades and scales, try different grips on a straight with a neutralised threaded (duct tape on it), marketing a Proraso lather in a bowl .
Finally, hé made a first shave under my supervision (note that word!) with a quarter hollow SR. Not cuts, some nicks ...
The main difficulties are the angle, the correct grip and the fact he forgets to wipe the blade when he reverses the movement.
But hé made it!.

That is great it went well. For ME, straights are not as bad about nicking like safety razors and especially cartridges. Maybe I'm a lot more cautious with them? I wonder if he would prefer the design of a razor with things like file work, textured scales, deep blade, etching (things that can be felt) more than a standard razor.
A lot of people are too intimidated by straight razors, so that is great he still wants to give them a try!
How old is he? I know some pick up straights after retiring, others start earlier.

 

[KeenDogg]

Reminds me of that guy on YouTube but he was blind drunk when he did it![emoji16]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[jaro 101969]

just got the shavette today and had to use it.
not pictured i used VDH glycerine shave soap.

 

[Jgreenepa]

My son, who introduced me to this forum and has the same interest many of his fellow millenials have in wet shaving, gave me a few gifts yesterday: the Grooming Dept's Pre-Shave creme, and an Omnishaver for my head. I've been shaving my head with my Krona for many years and it takes sometimes up to three to five minutes to get it right. Normally I just wet my head in the shower, apply my homemade preshave oil, and then rub in my Cremo shave cream and brush it up into a nice lather. I then proceed to shave my head with my Krona, as I've done for the last decade or so. When I'm finished, there is generally a weeper or two which I've grown used to. Fetch Alum block and that's that.

This morning, I applied the new preshave and rubbed it into my scalp as the instructions said for about a minute. The only difference in my routine this morning was the preshave and the use of this new Omnishaver for my head. Wow! My head shave was finished in less than a minute, and closer than I think I've ever done with no need for the Alum block. For those of you who are headshavers, this is the only way to go! I received a true BBS for the head. I then used my Cremo moisturizer and the result was a velveteen scalp. My wife was amazed, and even suggested I use a scented aftershave. She usually complains about them. Go figure!

My face shave was great as usual, but incorporated the new preshave and seems closer. I still love my new Karve, and that relationship looks like its going to deepen over time. What can I say, just a great shave this morning!

 

[calishere]

Today’s shave consisted of a captains choice bowl, proraso with menthol and aqua velva after shave. Using a 37c

 

[MrBeez]

@Ratty I know this is an old post but the 25C caught my eye. I've not quite mastered using this razor. It's got such a narrow blade gap. Any tips you'd recommend? I'm always struggling to get the right angle. Thanks for any insight!

 

[Ratty]

@Ratty I know this is an old post but the 25C caught my eye. I've not quite mastered using this razor. It's got such a narrow blade gap. Any tips you'd recommend? I'm always struggling to get the right angle. Thanks for any insight!

Yo Mr Beez - I am far from an experienced DE shaver that would be able to recommend any tips. In my experience over the past 3 years, and specifically from a head and neck shaver point of view, I found that I never got a irritation free, or burn free shave from the 25C. It may have been because it was my first DE and I hadn’t got technique down correctly as i’m Sure many other have had no issues with it, I haven’t picked it up again to try. I did use to get BBS shaves from it, but would require a bit of buffing.

One thing that I never quite appreciated as much as I do now (regarding all my razors) is the light pressure and optimum different angle approach.

You mentioned angle, definitely important. I used to line it up against a price of paper and change the angle and visualise what would be good, but ultimately, for me, the best angle comes when I can feel/hear the hair being cut

Try less pressure? That has helped me in the past

The best DE I have is the Blackbird or the Chris Karve. My best overall razor is the Paradigm SE - they were a lot more expensive than the 25C, but I wouldn’t go back to getting a 25C category razor.

Maybe I should go back and try it out again now that I have better experience. But I would dread the build up, and then getting the alum block out post shave

Sorry if it is not much help (and for the long reply)

 

[MrBeez]

Hey @Ratty - Thanks for the follow up! Yes, I totally hear you about the pressure and angle. Especially with the 25C. Since it's so mild I tend to apply more pressure which is the exact opposite of what I should be doing. It's just a tricky razor for me to dial in but I do manage to get good shaves out of it, it just requires more attention. Was wondering if others found the same thing.

The Karve razors do look beautiful and I'm sure are great performers but on the pricey side. If you do revisit the old Merkur lemme know how it goes. I bet with more DE shaving experience you probably will have it dialed in better.

Shave on!