Tyrion's Shave Journal - starting from scratch

[tyrionstark]

Hello all. I've been so looking forward to today...both for it being the first day of vacation and also my first shot at shaving with a straight. Found a beautiful Frederick Reynolds out in the wild and had it cleaned and honed by Smalltank. Have a whipped dog starter strop kit that I've been practicing on with a junk razor...as I didn't want to inadvertently dull the edge of the Reynolds.


So I attached the emergency contactlist to the mirror whipped up a nice slick lather and went at it.


Shave 1


Em's pre-shave oil
TOBS grapefruit cream
EJ Best Badger brush
Frederick Reynolds straight
alum
Proraso aftershave


So I've been trying to make my lather a little wetter in preparation for using a straight and really had a nice slick lather going. I dug out the shave oil, which I haven't used for months, to give me every layer of protection I could. I found the face stretching to be easy at first when at my sideburns,but really lost it at times getting closer to the goatee area and lower.


The straight did not feel dull in the slightest and I tried for quick, authoritative strokes. Seemed to go okay with my right hand at least on the upper part of my face. Then onto the left hand.


What kind of crazy, fun-house mirror trick is this! I felt like an infant trying to fill out a Chinese tax form with a crayon...or something. That guy in the mirror had no clue what was going on. Somehow, against all odds, I managed pretty well for most of the cheek....and then.....ow! While re-positioning the razor for a transition I somehow dug the razor edge into the skin.Yeah....have a nice inch long cut just above my jaw and into the chin. (Pretty much why I started this on a vacation week.)


Anyway, I finished the pass, going roughly N-S on my neck, but really went easy. I did not attempt any touch up in the goatee area and pretty much left it at that. Did a quick pass with my Aristocrat just so the hair growth will be a little more uniform for my next shave., cold water rinse, broke out the styptic pencil...tough work even for the pencil.....alum for the rest of my face and then a splash of Proraso.


To be honest...the shave was pretty good. Its actually somewhere in the 'close' vicinity on the flatter planes of my cheeks all the way to the underside of my jawline. The neck....eh. Whatever. A slight touch of razor burn there but I expect that to be one of the last areas that get conquered.


I was really hoping to report a bloodless first attempt....but am somehow disgusted and happy at the same time with the results thus far. Sadly...may have to wait a few days to go again...or skip the aforementioned area and try again tomorrow.


Anyway, if you've actually read this far....thank you!

 

[seanusa]

Sound pretty good! It is easy to lose concentration and make a small mistake that translates to a cut, I have a few 1/4 inch scars on the tip of my chin. The chin I think is the hardest area to get everything right. Good luck with the next shave and good on you for not giving up!

 

[Shave_Rat]

Don't stress on the lack of bloodless first attempt. You aren't alone by any stretch, and even of those who have a bloodless first shave, unless they never touch a straight again, they eventually pay tribute to the shave gods of yore. Sounds like you already got over the initial fear of the first straight shave. I can say, I was shaking pretty badly the first couple. Try that without cutting yourself. lol

Well done, and welcome to the journey!

 

[Dukelax510]

As a new guy to the DE world this makes me glad that I started there and not here. However one day I hope to make it here as scary and nerve-racking as that first shave will surely be. Glad you made it out alive and excited for more.

 

[tyrionstark]

Okay...first I want to really thank you guys for the encouragement as yesterday turned out to be a tad disappointing with the...erm...incident. Sigh. Anyway....decided to shave at about my normal morning time in the hopes that my shaving biorhythms would be in check. The cut from yesterday looks to be very shallow and had improved noticeably overnight with the help of a little neosporin. Regardless....after lathering I created a no-shave zone outline around the cut with my DE and had another go.


Shave 2


RR King Louis AS wax (as a pre-shave)
Shavemac Silvertip
Mama Bear's Lily of the Valley soap
F Reynolds straight
alum
Proraso AS
Floid Balsamo AS balm


So used a facial scrub before my prep this morning as I am not showering til later. (Ill leave the house unshowered...but never unshaven!) After the scrub and other hot wate rprep used a generous amount of the King Louis as a pre-shave. (I just hate using oil and this is some slick stuff!) Bowl lathered the Mama Bear's and gingerly picked up the straight.....love this soap.


(Side note: if your about to shave with a gleaming, surgically-sharp, locomotive of metal you can use a soap called Mama Bear's Lily of the Valley and not have your manliness voided in any way.)


Did just a WTG pass but spent a little more time trying to figure out lip, chin and neck. The good news is that the razor felt a little more comfortable in my hand...nowhere near as much fumbling around as yesterday. It felt much more comfortable in my offhand as well surprisingly. Cheeks came out very well...and with some good skin stretching I was able to get a decent shave to below the jawline again up to the goatee area. (Certainly sensing a pattern.) Over my initial fear of the razor, I again tried for authoritative short strokes of the razor and was a little more accustomed to the great amount of feedback the straight gives in comparison to a DE. I wasn't trying to rush by any stretch, but was really having far less trouble than yesterday and pass 1 was complete in about ten minutes.


The trouble areas were again very troublesome. Every time I slowed down my shaving stroke...upper lip I'm talking to you! The results were razor burn and not a lot of hair being cut. I tried doing a little touch up with the toe of the razor in the corners of the mouth, etc and that didn’t seem to work very well. I then decided that in this case...less is more and stopped tyring for closeness in the tough spots. Got a little weeper right at the bend in my chin which closed up with a cold water rinse but that's it! Whoo hoo! No visit from the styptic fairies today! After a quick examination I re-lathered and finished with an XTG pass with a Gillette New.


The alum block had a lot of news for metoday....and I have several spots that are tender with some razor burn. But all in all my confidence grew a bit and it was an acceptable second shave. Have my first date in a long time tomorrow...so switching to the DE until Thursday....don't want to take the chance that I'll show up with a tic-tac-toe board carved into my face.


Thank you all again for the encouragement and the support.

 

[Shave_Rat]

It is surprising how fast the offhand strokes start to feel comfortable.

I'm wondering if you are applying more pressure when you slow down too much, and that is to blame for the razor burn. I know I was into 20 something shaves before I hit one that had no burn at all to it... it is an uphill learning curve for a while, but very rewarding once you crest that hill.

Don't worry much on cuts and such, chicks dig scars.

 

[tyrionstark]

It is surprising how fast the offhand strokes start to feel comfortable.

I'm wondering if you are applying more pressure when you slow down too much, and that is to blame for the razor burn. I know I was into 20 something shaves before I hit one that had no burn at all to it... it is an uphill learning curve for a while, but very rewarding once you crest that hill.

Don't worry much on cuts and such, chicks dig scars.

LOL...really hoping that chicks do dig scars....beautiful girl I'm going out with tomorrow.

Question, although I never really thought about attempting an XTG pass, I was practicing the grip a bit in preparation. It seems like it will be a more natural motion from Ear to chin shaving the opposite side of my face with each hand. Do people do this?

 

[Shave_Rat]

I do use the opposite hand, crossing my body like that, when I do ear to chin direction on a stroke. So you won't be alone in that one.

Regarding grips and such in general, there is no right or wrong, merely what works for you or doesn't. Looking at how others do it isa great learning tool and guideline, but no more than that. I'll attempt to explain my routine. Just to note, the hair grows horizontal on my neck, from my left to my right. My cheeks aren't sensitive enough to worry about them being mapped for growth direction, so I can't say for sure how they are... "Right" and "Left" are my right and left.

1st pass: North to South, traditional grip, left hand shaves left side, right hand shaves right side.

2nd pass: South to North on my neck, I hold the razor kamisori style, with the scales in a straight line with the blade, right hand shaves left side, left hand shaves right side. I then to ear to chin on the cheeks, traditional grip, crossing my body with arms, as noted above.

3rd pass: Still a kamisori grip in my right hand, I go XTG on the left side of the neck, so diagonal from the jaw under the chin down the neck towards the shoulder. For the right side of the neck, I use the right hand still, with a traditional grip... and harder to explain, but I do a sort of XTG on that side with the heel by my chin under the jaw, and the toe doing the diagonal scything down the neck, in sort of a windshield wiper kind of motion. It's the only way I found I can get XTG on that side of the neck, due to the growth pattern. On my cheeks I do chin to ear strokes, traditional grip, right hand shaves right side, left hand shaves left.

I usually relather my neck and do one more XTG/ATG pass there since that is the real trouble area for getting it DFS/BBS.

Keep in mind, that routine took me about 34 or 35 straight shaves to fall into place and really get it nailed.

 

[tyrionstark]

Thank you for the detailed response Sean....that really helps. I can see now that there will be a lot of grip experimentation coming up to really attune to my hair growth patterns. This is really get me truly excited to shave again.....DE shaves still the best I've ever had but was trending into the mundane a tad....

 

[tyrionstark]

Ok...to heck with it. Just couldn't resist going for shave 3 today despite my impending date. I figure that if I get another good cut somewhere it can be a conversation starter. Because women love talking about shaving, right? I'll be in like Flynn.

Yeah...anyway....

Morning Glory Scrub
RR King Louis AS wax as a pre
Semogue boar with D.R. Harris Arlington soap
F Reynolds straight
Alum
Proraso
Floid Balsamo AS balm

15 laps on leather....still need a lot of work here. Wtg went pretty well actually....tried a kamisori grip for upper lip and chin...Actually managed to just cut hair. Pretty comfortable...and really tried to not apply any pressure with slower strokes. Then I tried an XTG pass. Did this with opposite hands and found a nice comfortable grip for my right...it was about a minute of high comedy trying to match it with my left. But somehow managed it...mostly. Right as a set up with my left....concentrating like I was studying the Zapruder film...a mosquito buzzed by my ear. I jumped a mile. (Yeah...like Mosquitos are rare around here or something.) Luckily I pulled the razor far away from my face....and then had a nice 5 minute chase around the bathroom to kill the little bugger....not with the straight in case you were wondering. Finished with a scything motion on the neck for pass 2.

Cold water and then some alum. Alum sang me a chorus of feedback today...but only a slight weeper on one cheek and some burn at the base of my neck. (I think I'm paying this area far too little attention during prep.)

Finished off with an Atg with my aristocrat and voila!

Def feel over shaved today....but that Floid Balsamo just works absolute wonders. 15 more laps on leather and ready to go.

Now if I can just forego the cargo shorts with white socks and I might stand a chance on this date....

 

[Shave_Rat]

Definitely skip the socks... otherwise cargo shorts should be acceptable. lol

Not sure if just 15 laps on the strop between shaves will be enough to keep the edge, most of us hit 40 or 50 laps on the leather. Sounds like you are getting some of the angles sorted out, and getting some things to click. Great feeling of accomplishment, isn't it?

 

[tyrionstark]

It's pretty incredible. Very empowering. I've decided that the rest of my morning routine should be as studly...so today instead of brewing coffee I just chewed on some beans and poured hot water in mouth. Roar!

 

[Shave_Rat]

Wow, and here I thought my Turkish style coffee was on the high side of manly. Nice way to take it to the next level.

 

[tyrionstark]

So...skipped a day just to be nice to my face...at least one person should be. So close to 3 days if growth...longer than I ever have on a work week thought it might be a nice test.

Prep same as before but did 40 laps on the leather prior to shaving. (This is getting a little smoother but nowhere near locked in yet.)

WTG/ATG today. Still fumbling with what feels like thirty fingers or so in certain spots. Kamisori grip used in trouble spots...still figuring a lot of this out. Made sure to alter my passes to conform to my beard map....helped some in the chin and jawline area.

the good - really not too bad a shave....sas for the most part after two passes....neck not as irritated as before. I certainly cut some hairs!

The bad - still not the most comfortable feeling. Have two hot spots and one nick way up by my ear. A pass of alum felt like hydrochloride acid....finished with Em's abs, strengthening for a nice mint, cool down.....needed it.

So getting there I guess. The razor is still holding a nice edge as far as I can tell....hopefully the stropping hasn't really done much to it. Three things I'm happy for: the rounded tip on this razor, good as balms and the support from B&B. Oh....and single malt scotch.....but that's another story.....