Vercin's Shave Journal

[Vercin]

well first thing first

Hello to this part of the forum .. and .. I survived

Like I wrote in my newbie intro my ultimate goal was to get into the straight razors shaving experience .. and with some luck I ended as the receiver of Jake PIF .. and I got the Sextoblade Razor Style A from him with some personna blades .. Huge Thank You!

So after shaving most of my arm I decided to give it a go on the face as well tonight.

My prep is standard I do for the DE shaving .. shower then lather up some ARKO with Palmolive cream together .. and then shave.

First and biggest issue I have is the field of view with a wall mirror like I have .. my hand gets in the way when I need to shave under the sideburns (no matter how I tried to turn). Next Jake advised me to shave with the guard on the razor .. which I pull off after few strokes (it was collecting all the lather and was getting in the way and/or I dont know how to use it hehe), so I proceeded without it. I found out I may be secretly lefty (I'm right handed) coz weirdly enough that side went smoother (shaving with the left hand).

What I noticed was that my lather became too dry and the razor was not moving .. but after some water it started to go a bit more smoothly .. I guess I need to work on my lather skill more. I tried everything WTG, XTG and even went AGT .. and happily enough I didn't draw blood at all. I was really gentle repeating all the time .. no pressure no pressure .. so even the after shave didnt sting at all (alcohol type)

So all in all I ended up with a DFS with some rough patches (my lower neck and under the jawbone - I did try pulling the skin over/under but now I see that I haven't done as good as I thought). What I need to work on more is my lather and the XTG/ATG grips and face grimaces and positions for the best skin stretching. Not sure what to do with the mirror tho .. Is that something I will have to "wing it" ? the parts I can't see .. and mm does those smaller free standing shaving mirrors can help for this maybe?

So yeah I liked it! and will continue to improve my skills with this razors as well as with the DE. This is a bit too time consuming for me to do regularly at this phase so I recon i'll stick with the DE most of the times and hit the Weck once a week or so.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Do you hold the razor with one hand or with both hands while shaving? I use both and have never had a viewing problem while shaving my sideburns. An eased square-point like the Sextoblade should be good for them. Never used the guard myself, never needed to.

Not sure of your wall mirror situation. If that's the source of the problem, then you need to find a more portable mirror and try it in another location (light conditions are also important here). Even a small, stand-up travel mirror will suffice.

 

[Vercin]

I use one hand .. hmm will look for more info about the two hand grip then.

my mirror is wall mounted and maybe a bit high .. it starts about my shoulder level i guess

 

[Vercin]

Shave no 2.

I was silly and shaved with practically dull blade .. I noticed the pulling straight away but stubbornly continued to shave .. I guess I was "playing" with the sextoblade too much (shaving dry on the arm and such) and the blade took it toll.

Maneuvering was better then the first time and i only managed to draw a tiny bit of blood on my chin .. as for the dull blade I paid with some razor burn (I even went ATG geee ). So the after shave sting a bit hehe but the balm should sooth it over in no time. Main ting learned .. do not shave with dull blade

I find the cheeks are easy enough to shave really fast and the lower neck (pull the skin downwards) .. also the mustache goes quick. But i'm struggling at the jawbone and chin area .. so I guess more shaving videos to watch and pay attention to those parts.

All in all pretty pleased for my second shave with the sextoblade

 

[ladykate]

I find the blade dulls quickly - I only get two good shaves from it. If you *lightly* strop the blade after the first shave, it will last quite a while. I did 7 or 8 with one a couple of months ago - but I was stropping after the first shave. Stropping will mellow the new blade a bit but it seems to keep a used blade at about the same sharpness for quite a few outings.

 

[Firewalker]

I am on three good shaves with the Fromm blade and it still feels plenty sharp to me. Do the Personna blades dull quicker in your opinion?

 

[Vercin]

had a little brake with the Sextoblade I was making a new wedge piece and repining the bottom .. the old one crumbled to pieces . I made one from a marble like river stone and it turned out great .. thanks to Firewalker for filling the box with sample blades of different brands and also for the pin and washers he send

​

now back to the shaving ..
Shave #3 - I shaved again with a Personna blade and did as advised - stropped it a few times before and after shave .. the shave went smooth now will see how long it will last me compared to the first one

the usual problems - can't see good on some spots (hand in the way) and the issue with the jawbone (can't get it smooth enough) I guess i'm missing the angle a bit there. As for the hand in the way next time im gonna try to reverse which hand shaves which sides (I saw ppl shave that way as well) and see what i'll prefer better at the end.

 

[Vercin]

Swapped to the Fromm blade .. first shave with that one went smooth and I guess initially the blade felt smoother than the Personna. I managed to get some Alum recently as well so now I have a bit more info on my technique (or sloppiness).

So far it goes good .. I manage to pick up some speed with every new shave and more confident strokes with the razor.

Also this time I had a slightly longer growth .. Its been 7-8 days with no shaving. And the blade did great chopping most of that in one pass.

 

[Vercin]

oh man .. I've been slacking here badly. I did kept written journal (I got sucked into the NIB sub-forum here as well ).

I see now that it is my one year anniversary of straight razor shaving. I see I haven't even put a single entry from my switch from the shavette to straight razors

Well first of thanks to BakerAndBadger for providing my first straight razor .. a Jas Hagen,

Next I would like to thank Rickboone1 for picking up my trade in the B/S/T section here, which btw is a great corner for trading with trustworthy people!
Also for mentoring me long distance all this time, with my countless questions regarding every aspect of Straight razors. Big thanks to all members here as well, I may have abandoned my journal here, but I did still trowed questions here and there all over the forum.

I did picked up few others razors along the way, was lucky to get some nice once in the local antique shops (great hobby as well haha picking through piles of stuff in semi-light antique stores all over town).

Reflecting on things now after one year .. I see the progress I've made, and can say that it is been a great and fun year. Making shaving (a chore) into something fun and enjoyable. I stumbled at some times with my limited honing abilities, and the time/effort it takes to send a razor for honing all the way from here (Europe, Macedonia). But I made improvement with my honing and now can put an decent edge on my blades. Obviously still (much) room for improvement but at least a bit more independent.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Vercin,

Great update after so long. If you don't want to keep the journal going full time, please poke your head in here and there to let us know how it's going.