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The adventures of a new shaver first wet shave feb 10, 2018

Hey all.
In my newness to the forums i had not realized that there was a journal and diary section. Luckily ive only been at this since feb 10 so i can remember my shaves.

this first post will be big as i will recap the first 10 or so days of my adventure

tldr. there was blood and now im learning and progressing

I would like to start by saying that for my work i dont have to shave. i collect watches and one of the youtube people i watch had made a few videos about how his day goes and how he can have a "boutique" moment for himself with wetshaving. so i figured why not do this and have some enjoyment and fun especially since i dont have to shave. (i had used a norelco wet electric with canned goop until this moment) So with what i assume happens with everyone who has never done something. I made a kit from amazon.

the kit included a: ( i also did a stirling order from watching a youtube video. he is a prior soldier and i am too so i ordered from him but i did electrics when i was in the army)
viking's blade vulcan (it sure looked neat and it never dawned on me that there was only really one or two people who youtube about this razor. are they shills? dunno)
blades: astra, feather and kai blades.
Cream: TOBS coconut cream, Vikings blade black ocean, proraso green
soap stirling black ice
proraso pre shave and post shave and pres de provence 63 balm along with stirling margarita balm
and a badger omega brush along with a synthetic

feb 10 saturday shave. i made the mistake of doing the shave with the stock (training blades) from vikings blade and attempted an official full blown 3 shave with buffing. There was actually quite a bit of blood and it hurt for a few days to even touch my face. i made up a batch of corn huskers, ylang ylang and lavendor for me face to help heal it

I then decided to join a shave group so i can learn and hopefully share down the road with others my experiences and knowledge i gain.

I saw some people talk on my hello post about techinique. i also saw something posted somewhere that said i should only do one pass shaves for a month or two untill i get some technique along with a post about the razor should glide and not feel tugs.

feb 13 tuesday shave (3 days later) i loaded up a feather blade. my thought was if i need to work on technique and gliding the razor then i might as well put one of the sharpest blades on the planet and put the fear of death into me using it. my hands were a little shaky out of being nervous but i tried as hard as i could to be gentle with the razor and let it work for me.
i only did one pass and it went well. this is when i started pondering an allergy to menthol ( i have a thread in general about this pondering it)
the one pass shave this time went well i still had scrape rash but was happy. so happy that i opened the wallet and ordered a timeless SS 68 scallop (their "gift" bundle) and an as-d2

Feb 15 thursday shave. i dropped the viking in the sink and out of worry about damaging the blade, i took the feather out and used a new one for this shave. the shave went good but still had some razor rash from scraping. still only a one pass shave.

Feb 17 saturday shave. my two other razors are here they were to be my reward and stepping stone treats. i keep seeing posts around about gliding the razor and various explanations that i take as "let the razor do the job" so i tried again to glide the razor on saturday. the shave was good and i felt good about it but i still had some razor rash. not as much and just a few splotches but i felt good about it

Feb 19 Tuesday shave. i broke out the timeless early !!! i figured i need to work more with letting the razor do the job so i figured why not use what i think is a darned heavy razor. i tried very hard to glide the razor and let it do the job. i was very happy with the results and this shave i did not see any new rash. just healing up from the other shave rash.
 
another quick post as i have done some orders this first week and half. my inventory now has:

Razors:
vikings blade vulcan
Timeless .68 scallop
AS-D2

Blades:
a few feathers left
unopened 10 pack of kai
unopened 10 pack of astra

soaps and creams
stirling black ice, mountain man, dunshire, bay rum and samples of gentleman and electric sheep
MWF in the MWF bowl and Schafmilch Rasierseife. TOBS coconut, vikings blade black ocean and proraso green

preshave
stirling menthol pre shave soap and natural soap, stirling mentha and dunshire oil, mini moustachery beard oil (local shop here in Utah) proraso white pre shave

post shave: theyers rose, stirling black ice balm and dunshire splash, pres du provence 63 balm, proraso white balm, cornhuskers then a mix of corn huskers with lavender and ylang ylang, noxema and cerave.

on the way is another Schafmilch Rasierseife and MWF to make Fat'Has, SV dolomite, Cosmo, Ash Wood Shave Bowl, Mahogany and Pure Butter Pre-Shave and Mango Butter along with Musgo Real Glyce Lime Oil Pre-shave Soap,
 
Welcome to the cadre. As I still have to be reminded regularly don’t change more than one thing at a time in a shave until you get the hang of this stuff. Also if you think you are using a light touch and no pressure you are still using too much pressure. As a good wise gentleman gave me and others the advice “Shave the lather”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
had a rough day at work couldnt wait to get home and relax on something to drain my mind. i was so wanting to close the door, turn on some music and just ahem "play" with my shave that i found myself trying to cheat my BFF (the dog in my avatar) out of her fair walk and time with me when i got home. But i always think of that cats and the cradle silver spoon yaddah yaddah song so i spent a bit of time with her. She has saved me so i cant ignore her

Feb 21 Wednesday shave.
music was pandora japanese folk song channel
Razor Timeless SS .68 scallop with feather blade
Preshave soap was unscented stirling
preshave oil was stirling bay rum
shave soap was stirling bay rum
post shave was thayers rose followed by stirling bay rum balm
brush was omega professional boar and omega synthetic (yes two read on)

Can you tell i like stirling? he was a soldier just like me so i do try to give him business in his post soldier life

Brush was soaking while i was on the "daddy is home lets walk" tradition dog walk while i tell her about my day
Turned the music on and began
1) i washed my face with the preshave soap and instead of rinsing it off i warmed up a towel and pressed it on my face for a bit
2) leaving the soap residue on my face i massaged the pre oil for 2-3 minutes
3) i used a Popsicle stick and put some shave soap in my scuttle. i ended up not liking the results so i just loaded from the soap container and then whipped it up.
4) one pass again while working on technique. the thing i thought was interesting was doc holiday mentioning shave the lather. with the scallop head and safety bar, today i noticed for the first time there were lather lines on my face left by the scallops of the razor head. i did not have this the last shave. i was trying rather hard at shaving the lather. if i did this right then scallop is an awesome training aid. one thing i did after i did a stroke with each side with the razor i rinsed it and i dipped it in a bowl of luke warm water so it wouldnt hit my skin and burn from the heat. our 50g water heater is stupidly hot to counter the 60 gallon jet tub we have in the house
5) i was not ready to finish my "boutique" therapy session but did not want to do a 2 pass yet until technique is better
6 i took my synthetic and decided to load it up in the soap and try a face lather which i had not done yet. it turned out alright not pretty and not ready for me to shave with it yet
7) i used a warm towel and held it over the lather on face till it cooled down.
8) rinsed off the soap with warm water then turned it to cold.
9) pressed a cold cloth against my skin till it warmed up
10) air dried my face then put on thayers and air dried that and followed up with the bay rum balm.

I really enjoyed my session tonight. it took about 20 or so minutes and i was relaxed when i was done
 
i put a post in the DE shave threads and didnt get as much feedback as i had wanted so i figured i would write what is on my mind about it. i dont have a lot of nice things in my life and i had decided that shaving was going to be one of those outlets where i can honestly say i have nice gear since i cant afford a corvette hope that makes sense.

So far i have three razors. the vikings blade vulcan which i dont care for much. i dont think its a bad razor but since it was my first experience out of a bloody story (yeah im a drama lama it was not hospital bloody but still it was seriously rough) and the next few shaves scraping my face up. i dont think its a good beginner razor and im glad it happened with this and not with my other two razors as i might feal awkward towards them.

my second razor is the timeless .68 scallop. im having good experiences with it and am happy
i also have an AS-D2 just waiting for me till i get time on the timeless

i want one more razor for a total of 3 nice razors
i have thought of the charcoal goods, wolfman and the rocnel.

i wonder with the wait list for the charcoal and wolfman what happens down the road if i want a differant plate or it drops and i need service. what then... wait list for who knows how long?

in regards to the rocnel. i dont have a warm fuzzy over the thought. i do like it and do want it. but if i receive it and dont like it... tough luck im stuck due to the retaiier's policy along with the your on your own to get service but we might try and get you a phone number to call the manufacture. atleast that is the way i read the terms and conditions

any thoughts on this thought i have?
please note this shaving adventure is for enjoyment and pleasure not a necessity for every day requirement. and the last thing i want to have is a distaste for a piece of gear i purchased
 
Welcome to the Journals, Mike! You've posted some good reading so far.

Regarding your razor question, I have not had a lot of experience with high-end DE razors. My first high-end "safety" razor is the Asylum RX SE, which uses Feather AC blades. It is like shaving with a straight razor on a stick, and not something I would recommend for a completely new shaver. But that being said, it is hands down the best razor I have ever used in my journey.
 
I have an hour left of work then home for the night. its the off day for shaving as I build my face up to the tolerance of shaving. I plan on practicing some face lathering tonight with soaps and then I will do a face cleaning with noxema and follow up with the cerave after I do some face lather practice.

I'm pondering getting a badger brush as I only have an omega natural and 2 omega boars
 
well i did some face lather practice tonight. i think this is actually beneficial. i was able to tell on my face vs a bowl when the lather was starting to dry and needed water. easier to tell on my face then in my bowl

i practiced face lather with mwf and hasin ugh i cant remember the name yet alone spell it and omega soap that came with one of my brushes in a combo.

i also made my mind up on razors and hopefully in the not too far future i get to do a whats in the box picture :)
 
Had a wonderful shave tonight. so i dont repeat i put a quick post in the soap forum about the new SV that came

SV Cosmo, my first SV Oh My i have to share a story

Tonights products were:
music was once again the japanese folk song channel on pandora
stirling unscented pre shave soasp
Stirling Bay Rum beard and shave oil
MWF soap
timeless .068 scallop head and scallop plate with a 1 shave on the feather
Theyers Rose
Stirling Bay rum balm

not much to say outside of i did a 1 pass with a few buffing spots with full lather on instead of bare skin buffing. still working on technique before i move to 2 or 3 pass shaves

im still seeing lines drawn by the scallop so i hope this is a sign of shave the lather not the face

i got a chance to have an email with Brian from Charcoal about Patina and the juliet statue (from romeo and juliet) in verona italy. i cant wait until my wait turn shows up at Charcoal.
 
Sunday morn before church shave

1. timeless .068 scalloped with feather blade with 2 shaves on the feather
2. stirling unscented pre shave soap
3. SV Cosmo face lathered (it leathers nice for me)
4. thayers ( i have stirling black ice witch hazel but until i get better at shaving im not using menthol on my abused face. i plan to order some other flavors on payday)
5. stirling bay rum balm

pretty good shave. no weepers but i could feel some hotspots after i shaved.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
Welcome to the Journals section, and to the forum itself!

You're certainly starting in style, a Timeless and SV. Two top picks in anyones book.

i want one more razor for a total of 3 nice razors
i have thought of the charcoal goods, wolfman and the rocnel.

Dont overlook Fatip as they are fantastic shavers. There is also Joris/Plisson which are made by Fatip, but have different handle choices and plating options.

Seeing as you seem to have a taste for the higher end, there are also the British Gillette TTO razors.

These arent mine, just a Google pic, but they are very well regarded among those that do own them on this forum.

bulldogs.jpg
 
Well.
i think my sbad is done. i ordered from etsy a zebra wood shaving brush and a cocobolo shaving brush. they sure look pretty.

This puts my Brush inventory at (in no particular order of purchase date):

1. Razorock Big Bruce
2. Vikings Blade Dark Stallion
3. Omega 10098
4. Omega 10065
5. Omega S in green
6. Knots in your Head cocobolo brush with Ubersoft2(on the way)
7. Turned Timber by Bill Zebra and Wenge wood brush with synthetic. (on the way)

My latest 3 acquisitions were the Big Bruce, Cocobolo and Wenge with synthetic.

I saw 2 youtubers who i wont mention who were into the synthetics. i also i found out envy shave is maybe... 20 miles from my house so i would like to purchase something from someone local. but their website wont let me progress at all due to some security issue
 
Welcome to the Journals section, and to the forum itself!

You're certainly starting in style, a Timeless and SV. Two top picks in anyones book.



Dont overlook Fatip as they are fantastic shavers. There is also Joris/Plisson which are made by Fatip, but have different handle choices and plating options.

Seeing as you seem to have a taste for the higher end, there are also the British Gillette TTO razors.

These arent mine, just a Google pic, but they are very well regarded among those that do own them on this forum.

View attachment 863369

Yeah... taste for the higher end. i had decided since im doing this for fun, relaxation and for the therapeutic time (my job dont require me to shave. i could go braided ringed viking beard and pony tails if i really wanted to) i might as well enjoy this 30 minutes of relaxation in bliss looking at and good stuff. ill take a gander at it. i dont think im too far down the charcoal wait list and i hope my Rad is done but who knows
 
Well booo. i clicked the link. time to go study look and research these

AND FATIP are Italian. oh noooo... if you saw my little thread in the soap section regarding SV im in trouble now.

Well atleast i have time to study it.
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
i think my sbad is done.

Maybe we can fix that, or maybe cure it once and for all lol. See my new Yaqi Silvertip below.

IMG_2399.jpg

This is Jims @Chan Eil Whiskers 30mm Maseto Shaving Silvertip and his Yaqi 2 band.




On the left in this photo. Maseto Shaving 30mm fan silvertip.

On the right is brand new, never wet Yaqi two-band fan.

Neither are 'expensive' but quality doesnt always have to cost a fortune.

AND FATIP are Italian. oh noooo... if you saw my little thread in the soap section regarding SV im in trouble now.

I did.

Fatip razors are possibly the best example of quality doesnt have to cost a lot as I may have ever come across. They shave that well. My Grande was $48CAD shipped I think from Maggards and has been, by far, the best investment I've made in shaving in my life.

I bought my Fatip Grande last September and its been virtually the only razor I've used until last week when I decided to try my 1940 Gillette Regent again.

You can read about my Grande here My Grande Journey

All shaves starting at shave #7 with a Feather blade on page 5 and every shave with it since then has been a single buffing pass ATG at around 48 hours growth while I tested 20 different blades.

@Raven Koenes is our resident 'expert' on the Fatip family of razors. He has several examples across three different brands I believe. As long as I've been a member here I dont remember him using a razor not made by Fatip.
 
Well you all know rocket from guardians of the Galaxy when he says "oh yeah'?

Queue rocket saying "oh yeah "

Rocnel elite platinum coat
 

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