I never felt much need to do a journal but then I accidentally stumbled into a couple of journals and managed to learn some things, and occasionally give some advice. So...in the interests of furthering my own learning, and maybe other people's too, here goes.
Background: I shave with straights, daily. I have too many. You can see them in the "What straight did you use today" thread if you're inclined. I'm not sure posting the same pictures here serves any purpose. I wear a mustache (permanent, I daresay) and currently a goatee, which has been an on-again-off-again affair for a couple years now, but currently on...the women in my life whose opinions I care about (wife and daughters) prefer it, so I keep it. Though I do like the feeling of a fresh shaved chin.
The goatee presents a bit of a challenge, though. The whiskers below my jawline have a strong left to right bias, and they lie fairly flat. So, if I want to be smooth on the neck, I need to attack them almost directly ATG. This is challenging but doable with a straight--when my chin is clean shaved. I can raise my chin up and hold the blade with the heel under my chin and the toe pointed toward my collarbone, and with a careful scything motion, lop everything down well enough to be happy with it. But with the goatee, I can't do that, because the heel of the blade gets tangled up in the forest under my chin. Shorter blades (under 2.5" long) help but it still requires more gymnastics than I prefer.
Up until about a week ago I just used a Bic twin blade, non pivoting disposable to clean up under there. It's not the worst solution although there is a fine line between enough pressure to be effective and too much. And they don't last for ever, not on my beard anyway, although I can get quite a few uses by stropping them (one direction only, obviously) between uses.
For Christmas, I asked for a DE, of some sort (hinted towards a vintage Tech). My stepkid found a new DE in a local shop (details here) which turned out to be a nice surprise. I then ordered a couple of Razorock heads to play with, too. A Mentor and their Old Type clone. I like this bamboo handle just fine so figured experimenting with heads would be a nice start. I also got some GSB and Nacet blades. The "Cloud" blades that came with the original razor aren't awful, actually, at least to my limited experience.
To wrap up the Background section, I'll just say a few words about the three razor heads. First, the (supposedly) stainless steel head on the gift razor: it's OC on one side and scalloped SB on the other. It feels very nice to shave with, but there is not much play in the cutting angle. It's either cutting or it's not. The OC side is almost useless to me-- haven't measured the exposure but I suspect it's neutral to negative. By the time I'm doing cleanup passes there's just not enough left for it to cut. The SB side is workable though, although again, narrow window of use in terms of angle, which is challenging when navigating the uneven terrain under the jaw. But it is very smooth, quite tolerant of excessive buffing, and gets me good results (eventually) with not even a hint of harshness. I've used the Cloud blades and a GSB in it so far.
I should interject that because I've been using straights for several years, my instincts are to stretch the skin, use almost no pressure, and start at a quite shallow angle, riding the cap, and adjust it to more neutral to steep-ish to find the most effective angle. So far that's been working very well.
The other two heads: First, the Old Type clone. Wow, I really like this head. I wish it was solid steel and not plated pot metal. But, for $8, what are you going to do? It tolerates a wider range of angles, seems mild but sneakily efficient, and even tolerates a little judicious pressure. I've used it with GSBs so far. Still takes a fair amount of buffing to get as close as I'd like, but hasn't left me with any discomfort. Curious to see how the Nacet works in it. I suspect it will be nice. Second, the Mentor head: I think this is equivalent to the Maggard V3A? At any rate, it's supposedly more aggressive. I would say yes, it it more aggressive--feeling-- but maybe not any more efficient than the other two? Blade feel is definitely there. It feels like it has the potentially for harshness. In doing a head-to-head with the Old Type clone, the Mentor seemed to get a little closer. Not necessarily enough that I could feel it with my fingers, but in going over an already shaved area, it picks up a little more stubble. Not sure it's necessary, especially on the neck, but there you go. So far this one has only seen GSBs as well.
Ok, that's enough background. Will write about today's shave in another post.
Background: I shave with straights, daily. I have too many. You can see them in the "What straight did you use today" thread if you're inclined. I'm not sure posting the same pictures here serves any purpose. I wear a mustache (permanent, I daresay) and currently a goatee, which has been an on-again-off-again affair for a couple years now, but currently on...the women in my life whose opinions I care about (wife and daughters) prefer it, so I keep it. Though I do like the feeling of a fresh shaved chin.
The goatee presents a bit of a challenge, though. The whiskers below my jawline have a strong left to right bias, and they lie fairly flat. So, if I want to be smooth on the neck, I need to attack them almost directly ATG. This is challenging but doable with a straight--when my chin is clean shaved. I can raise my chin up and hold the blade with the heel under my chin and the toe pointed toward my collarbone, and with a careful scything motion, lop everything down well enough to be happy with it. But with the goatee, I can't do that, because the heel of the blade gets tangled up in the forest under my chin. Shorter blades (under 2.5" long) help but it still requires more gymnastics than I prefer.
Up until about a week ago I just used a Bic twin blade, non pivoting disposable to clean up under there. It's not the worst solution although there is a fine line between enough pressure to be effective and too much. And they don't last for ever, not on my beard anyway, although I can get quite a few uses by stropping them (one direction only, obviously) between uses.
For Christmas, I asked for a DE, of some sort (hinted towards a vintage Tech). My stepkid found a new DE in a local shop (details here) which turned out to be a nice surprise. I then ordered a couple of Razorock heads to play with, too. A Mentor and their Old Type clone. I like this bamboo handle just fine so figured experimenting with heads would be a nice start. I also got some GSB and Nacet blades. The "Cloud" blades that came with the original razor aren't awful, actually, at least to my limited experience.
To wrap up the Background section, I'll just say a few words about the three razor heads. First, the (supposedly) stainless steel head on the gift razor: it's OC on one side and scalloped SB on the other. It feels very nice to shave with, but there is not much play in the cutting angle. It's either cutting or it's not. The OC side is almost useless to me-- haven't measured the exposure but I suspect it's neutral to negative. By the time I'm doing cleanup passes there's just not enough left for it to cut. The SB side is workable though, although again, narrow window of use in terms of angle, which is challenging when navigating the uneven terrain under the jaw. But it is very smooth, quite tolerant of excessive buffing, and gets me good results (eventually) with not even a hint of harshness. I've used the Cloud blades and a GSB in it so far.
I should interject that because I've been using straights for several years, my instincts are to stretch the skin, use almost no pressure, and start at a quite shallow angle, riding the cap, and adjust it to more neutral to steep-ish to find the most effective angle. So far that's been working very well.
The other two heads: First, the Old Type clone. Wow, I really like this head. I wish it was solid steel and not plated pot metal. But, for $8, what are you going to do? It tolerates a wider range of angles, seems mild but sneakily efficient, and even tolerates a little judicious pressure. I've used it with GSBs so far. Still takes a fair amount of buffing to get as close as I'd like, but hasn't left me with any discomfort. Curious to see how the Nacet works in it. I suspect it will be nice. Second, the Mentor head: I think this is equivalent to the Maggard V3A? At any rate, it's supposedly more aggressive. I would say yes, it it more aggressive--feeling-- but maybe not any more efficient than the other two? Blade feel is definitely there. It feels like it has the potentially for harshness. In doing a head-to-head with the Old Type clone, the Mentor seemed to get a little closer. Not necessarily enough that I could feel it with my fingers, but in going over an already shaved area, it picks up a little more stubble. Not sure it's necessary, especially on the neck, but there you go. So far this one has only seen GSBs as well.
Ok, that's enough background. Will write about today's shave in another post.
. In all seriousness, the advice that I've seen many times, to combine a sharper blade with a milder razor, seems solid. The cleanup went very, very well. More efficient than I've been able to accomplish so far, and with no real post-shave drama. I'm curious to try these blades in the OC head now. Seems like a winner. I may wait for a few more shaves under my belt to use them in the Mentor, though. Seems like it has potential for mishaps. I finished the shave with Nivea Balm and a generous handful of Lilac Vegetal. Got some tingle on the left side of my throat from the Veg, nothing major but enough to know I can work on an even lighter touch there with the DE.
