The Journal of a Backwards Professor

[Rosseforp]

Saturday, October 5

English Tech(early)
Nacet(7)
Omega S
MWF
Aqua Velva

The Omega S and MWF. As usual, took a bit of time, great lather. The MWF really was nice and thick and creamy. The 1st pass felt nice and smooth, I could really feel the feedback. As usual, the MWF was even better for the 2nd pass. This razor is so mild that I could not feel it cut until I shaved XTG and ATG. The feedback that it gave let me find the precise angle for shaving my neck ATG with absolutely no irritation. I did take extra time on both passes, but was rewarded with a fantastic shave. I waited till I felt my skin tighten to apply the Witch Hazel, and the AV was a cool refreshing splash with no stinging at all. BBS

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Hi @AimlessWanderer ,

First off thank you for taking the time to skim through some of my ramblings. I am actually a daily shaver, although I can usually skip a few days before the wife starts to complain.

You are correct in noting that it appears I change my set-up quite frequently, I do. The entry's that I have been posting however are just a sampling from notes that I have been keeping since I began my wet shaving journey. A lot of these postings are razors that I haven't used in months. Once I stumbled across an NSC, I was sold on open comb razors, with my Piccolo SE being my favorite OC.

One of my other passions is NHRA 1/4 mile Drag Racing. I own a race car and learned early on with that hobby to keep notes, as I made a lot of changes to the vehicle to make it competitive. That type of racing requires exacting consistency if you actually want to win races. And I have won a few. After 20 years of getting my butt kicked, I learned how to jump into other people's race cars and win races with them also.

I am applying those same techniques in my journey to have the most comfortable shaves along with a little excitement along the way. Of course, no one likes to have a raw face from crummy blades, poorly engineered razors, or even bad lathering technique.
Making mistakes along the way is all part of the process, as are those days after a really fantastic shave. Sometimes my best shaves have come completely unexpectedly.

I do have a rotation of 4 DE's out of the 20 I have, but I decided this month as part of my journey to revisit some of the razors that didn't give me the results I was looking for as I was forming muscle memory. Just last night I used my English Tech that I had only used a few times with mixed results, and got a fantastic BBS.

My technique has recently improved to where I can usually pick up any of my razors and find the angle it needs with a few strokes. And blades that gave me 2 shaves are now giving me 20 shaves.......

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of all of you here at B&B!

prof

Sounds like you have everything under control.

I essentially have two techniques. The autopilot that engages when I pick up my regular razor, and the "treat it like it's the first time you've ever used it" with any of any of my others. Personally, I tried to get more familiar with my others, but it just screws up my technique with the primary, so I pretty much use them as occasional novelty shaves now, unless I have specific call/need to use something else. That simple choice of whether I need to pay attention or not, generally keeps the red sticky stuff on the inside, and the post shave burn at bay

A lot of it with DE tends to be how I hold it though. My arm seems to move in the relevant face shaped and grain relevant motions automatically, so just tweaking how the razor sits in the hand is most of the battle (for both angle and feel). Obviously the complexity goes up a couple of notches when I pick up a straight format razor though

 

[Rosseforp]

Obviously the complexity goes up a couple of notches when I pick up a straight format razor though

+1

 

[Rosseforp]

Tuesday, August 27
Merkur 15C
Gillette Platinum(11)
Omega 10066
Arko

Darn nice lather. Did a 2 pass face-WTG/XTG, 2 pass neck-WTG/ATG. Wasn't going to do an ATG but the 15C breezed through without irritation. Almost no sting WH and AV. DFS, Oh Yeah

 

[Rosseforp]

Tuesday, September 3
Piccolo
Gillette Platinum(17)
Omega 10290 and Arko. Hmmm, don't remember much about this shave.....

 

[Rosseforp]

Wednesday, September 4
Prewar Tech
Gillette Platinum(18)
Omega 10066
TOBS LIME

I guess I used a bit much product, got a ridiculous amount of lather, I just kept adding water, smelled pretty nice too. So, good lather=good shave. Did a full 2 pass with a bit of ATG under my chin. As I did make sure I got a nice close shave, I did feel the AV sting on my cheeks! DFS

 

[Rosseforp]

Thursday, September 5
GC68
Gillette Platinum(19)
Omega 10066 and TOBS LIME. Used more water, was a little runny, then got nice. Just a real nice full 2 pass CCS/DFS

 

[Rosseforp]

Friday, September 6
GC68
Gillette Platinum(20)
Omega 10066 and TOBS Lime. Quick lather, quick shave. That is all.

 

[Rosseforp]

Saturday, September 7
Merkur15C
Gillette Platinum(21)
Omega 10066
TOBS Lime

Another quick lather and 1 pass shave. That is all.

 

[Rosseforp]

Sunday, September 8
#28 Straight Shave
Merkur15C
Gillette Platinum(22)
Henckels
Cremo Horsey
TOBS Lime

Used too much product, but used a lot of water also, got a nice creamy lather, but still dries too fast for SR shaving. With the Merkur it is great! In fact, the Merkur gave me a great shave, I really could not feel the blade. Now the Henckels, it never tugged, didn't irritate my face much, but I was a little gun-shy as the blade did not glide. I think the TOBS is not slick enough for SR's. I'll try the Wilko/Cremo next time. Just an OK shave

 

[Rosseforp]

Monday, September 9
#29 Straight Shave
Geneva35
15C
Gillette Platinum(23)
Cremo Horsey
Wilko/Cremo

Used lots of water, lots of lather! Just used the Geneva on the cheeks, felt nice, nicked my ear! Did a full WTG/ATG shave with the Merkur15c, little to no irritation, the Whitch hazel was nice and cool, finished with a splash of Veg. BBS

 

[Rosseforp]

Sunday, September 15
Piccolo
Derby(2)
Omega 10066
TOBS
Just used a dab and got lots of lather. Still needs more water.......... Just a 1 pass get 'er done. Derbys remind me of BICs, a little sharper.
SAS

 

[Rosseforp]

Monday, September 16
Game Changer .68
Derby(3)
Omega 10066
TOBS lime

I thought I only dipped the tip of the brush, still had tons of lather. Used tons of water. Finally got a decent hydrated lather. The Derby started to smooth out during the first pass, felt nice on 2nd pass. No irritation.
DFS

 

[Rosseforp]

Tuesday, September 17
Game Changer 68
Derby(4)
Omega 10066
TOBS Lime

Just a small dip and still tons of lather. It starts to foam, until you work it for 20 seconds, then add a bunch more water.... Could have easily done 2 pass, settled on 1. I think this is the best it gets with this blade.
Meh.....SAS

 

[Rosseforp]

Saturday, September 21
Piccolo
Shark SS(1)
Omega 10066
Mikes Orange

Used a bit too much water, still really comfortable lather. The first touch under my nose felt a little rough, but cleared up real fast. Got nice and smooth, not Nacet smooth, but way better than a BIC or Derby... 2 pass, with a little ATG under my chin. A bit of irritation from that, but also a really close shave. Cleaned my brush before I used WH, felt nice. Cleaned my razor then AV, a little sting.
DFS

 

[Rosseforp]

Sunday, September 22
#33 Straight Shave
Geneva35
Piccolo
Shark SS(2)
White Knight
Mike's Orange

Decent lather. Spaced out and got a cut under my nose..... Besides that, the Geneva felt nice, I was a little shaky. Did my neck and chin with the Piccolo. 2nd pass Pic, nose, chin, neck. Geneva 2 WTG passes cheek. Piccolo-Shark SS blade feels great.
DFS

 

[Rosseforp]

Monday, September 23
NEW Schone
Shark SS(3)
Omega 10066
Mike's Orange

Pretty good lather, just a bit soupy. As I remembered, there is a lot of blade feel. In a good way. The balance is different from my Piccolo, the Schone feels a bit head heavy, even though it is actually lighter than the Pic! I could feel the blade kinda scrape, not drag or tug, so I tossed it. 2 pass face and neck WTG/XTG, and ATG under my chin. I still got a very close shave with little to no irritation. The blade was probably still good. Not sure if it was the blade or razor, will try a Nacet or Platinum next....... DFS, close to BBS

 

[Rosseforp]

Tuesday, September 24
55 Red Tip SS
Feather(1)
Omega 10066
Mike's Orange

Pretty decent lather. Why does this seem familiar in a way? As I remember the 54 was a keeper, but is on loan.......... So of course I had to get this one, My Birth Quarter (A4), and I like it! Oh, it is not as efficient as my OC's, but it is now my most efficient Gillette.............. 2 pass face and neck, not a hint of irritation. WH was nice, AV tingled a bit Damn Nice Shave

 

[Rosseforp]

Friday, September 27
55 Red Tip SS
Nacet(4)
Cremo Horsey
Williams

It is WMS, what do you want? First pass pretty fast, clipped the skin tag above my lip. The WMS didn't provide much cushion and it felt a lot like the Schone. 2nd pass went to the puck and got much nicer lather. Still not winning any awards for most comfortable shaves...... Save the WMS for the Tech's........ The Red Tip needs at least Arko..... SAS

 

[Rosseforp]

Monday, September 30
Piccolo/Gentile
Feather(4)
Omega 10290
MWF

I was in a hurry, the lather was a little thin at first, got nicer for the 2nd pass. It has been a while since I used the Gentile plate, it felt nicer than I remember. Very efficient. I could really feel it cut on the 2nd pass under my chin, but no irritation. WH wet and nice, Layrite splash was nice! DFS almost BBS