Kokak's Straight Razor journey...

Me too on the fools pass and a straight is the best tool for the upper lip.

 

20170731 Mon@2130
Straight Razor shave: 19
Safety Razor shave: 47

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: Soap Commander Charisma (Melon and Citrus)
Shaving Bowl: Fine Lather Bowl
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Tanifuji 'FAVORIT' 750 6/8" (13) WTG -XTG - WTG (cheeks, chin), WTG - WTG - WTG (neck)
DE Razor: Gillette 109 WTG - XTG (upper lip)
Splash: Stirling Orange Chill, Bergamot Lavender (+Menthol) and Sandalwood (+Menthol)
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm
Strop: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)

For the 1st time in the last couple of months, I missed a shave. I was just too exhausted on Sunday to shave. I am almost 2 weeks using the same straight and am having very comfortable and smooth shaves with it. My resulting shaves leave me DFS (border BBS) without any irritation. I had 1 tiny issue at the crease in my chin (bottom lip meets the chin), which resulting in a tiny weeper. But that was my fault for trying to go from the bottom lip to under the chin in one motion. When I work the area in short strokes, just under my lip, I have no problems. I am really amazed at how nice of a shave I am having.
I received the Swedish OMEGA I bought on eBay ($9.95). It is in great condition and should clean up nicely. I have ordered some replacement scales and my honing stones have come in as well. My wife works this weekend, so... looks like I will attempt my 1st restore and honing Saturday. If I am successful and can continue to find decent razors for under $10, I can see a rather large collection in my not too distant future.

 

20170801 Tue@2200
Straight Razor shave: 20
Safety Razor shave: 48

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: Soap Commander Charisma (Melon and Citrus)
Shaving Bowl: Fine Lather Bowl
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Tanifuji 'FAVORIT' 750 6/8" (14) WTG -XTG (cheeks, chin), WTG - WTG (neck)
DE Razor: Gillette 109 WTG - XTG (upper lip)
Splash: Stirling Orange Chill
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm
Strop: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)

Another straight shave on the books. This one was not uneventful. I don't know if my mind was wondering or I just was spacing out but I nicked myself a couple of times. Once on the lower lip; I managed to drive the muted point into the corner of my bottom lip and make a vertical cut. The other was not rolling my wrist while going over the crease between my lower lip and chin, so I scrapped a few spots there as well. My neck and cheeks were perfect though and I am almost on autopilot when shaving those areas. This may have been why I nicked my chin area; too much confidence and not paying as close attention.

 

20170803 Thu@0630
Straight Razor shave: 21
Safety Razor shave: 49

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: Stirling Barbershop
Shaving Bowl: Fine Lather Bowl
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)
Straight Razor: Hayashi Diamond #77 13/16" (3) WTG -XTG (cheeks, chin), WTG - WTG (neck)
DE Razor: Gillette 109 WTG - XTG (upper lip)
Splash: Stirling PAA Good Vibrations
Balm: Stirling Piacenza

 

Despite the risk of potential injury and our awareness of the sharp edge, it is still easy to get complacent with daily use of a straight razor.
I tend to minimize distraction (as much as possible), door closed, no one talking to/at me, no pets around.
I will play some background music on my iphone, but I do try and give my complete attention to what I'm actually doing with the razor. Focus, focus, focus...Not a lot of room for error.

 

These days the only time I let myself is when I lose focus or I'm in a hurry. Now for those days I put down the street and pick up a DE or SE instead. Keep it up you're making excellent progress.

 

20170804 Fri@0715
Straight Razor shave: 22

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: Proraso Red (Sandalwood)
Shaving Bowl: Fine Lather Bowl
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Tanifuji 'FAVORIT' 750 6/8" (14) WTG -XTG -WTG (cheeks), WTG - WTG - WTG (neck)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)
DE Razor: Rockwell (#4) (goatee)
Splash: Stirling Orange Chill
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

Greta shave this morning. Since I have butchered my bottom lip these past couple of days, I decided to only use the straight on my cheeks and neck and use my DE on my upper lip and chin. I will stick to this regiment until my lower lip completely heals. This resulted in a perfect BBS shave. No nicks, cuts or blood of any type. I did irritate one of the previous straight cuts on my lower lip, but otherwise it was fantastic.
While Proraso is not what anyone would refer to as being "one of the best" soaps out there, it is absolutely one of my favorites. The scent, slickness and ease of lather makes this a very nice soap. Not to mention the $10 price point makes it an easy buy. The RED is definitely my favorite Proraso scent.
I am expecting 3 new (to me) straights to be delivered this morning. All, shave ready. One of them, Kevin had muted the toe for me and then honed it. It is a nice little Dubl Duck I managed to snag at a great price from a different forum.
My wife even commented on how much more relaxed I am whenever I have had my daily shave.

 

No room for error is what I am learning. One must never take the 'Blade' for granted

You are absolutely correct. If I can't spend at least 1/2 hour on my shave, I default to my DE.

 

Glad to see you fully embraced the Darkside.

 

20170805 Sat@0700
Straight Razor shave: 23

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: Captain's Choice 45th Parallel
Shaving Bowl: Fine Lather Bowl
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Dubl Duck Special No 1 5/8" (1) WTG -XTG -WTG (cheeks), WTG - WTG - WTG (neck)
Stropping: none
DE Razor: Rockwell (#4) (goatee)
Splash: Stirling Orange Chill
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

So got a delivery yesterday of some straight razors yesterday so I took the Dubl Duck Special No 1 out for a test drive. Before receiving this razor I had it sent to Kevin to have the toe muted and the heal fixed. This razor is fantastic. I had a great 3 pass shave (cheeks and neck) but the longer thinner blade was much easier to maneuver across my face. I did have to clean the blade more frequently, but that was okay. This new straight could easily be my daily go to razor.

 

Nice looking razor!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

20170806 Sun@0745
Straight Razor shave: 24

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: C&E Moroccan Myrrh
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Dubl Duck Special No 1 5/8" (2) WTG -XTG -WTG (cheeks), WTG - WTG (neck)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (25x Linen and 100x Leather)
DE Razor: Rockwell (#4) WTG - XTG - WTG (goatee)
Splash: Stirling Lime (+Menthol)
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

So after going through my closet and coming to the conclusion that; I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF. I went back to the soap and lathering style that started my Traditional Wet Shaving adventure, all 3 months ago (with the exception of the straight razor). So armed with the teak bowl of C&B Moroccan Myrrh, I put the lathering bowl away and put brush to soap and face lathered. I had forgotten just how satisfying going simple was. While C&E is not what I would call a 'top tier' soap, it performed well with my straight razor. My intention, I stress the word 'intention', is to use only this soap to completion. Now I may only going 1 week (probably 2 days), but I will try.
While the shave went without issue yesterday, my face was feeling a bit irritated late in the day. I am not sure if it was the blade, me or my technique. But I decided to put leather to the metal and strop this razor into submission. The linen went as expected. But the sound of the blade on the leather was very strange. Now I do have to say, I have very limited experience when it comes to stropping razors. To this point I have only stropped 3 different razors. So it probably was only the fact that this Dubl Duck razor had a little different of a draw on the leather. So I resisted the urge to push harder on the razor and kept my strokes lite and smooth. I had to mentally not push onto the spine of the blade. So instead of pushing on the blade, I chose just to increase the number of strokes. This all played out really well and the shave was very nice. The shave felt like I was just removing the soap from my skin. The audible feedback was there, there just wasn't and resistance when drawing the blade across my cheeks and neck. While the shave was DFS and not BBS, this has to be one of the most comfortable straight razor shave I have had so far.
A huge thanks to Kevin (@HolyRollah ) for putting such an awesome edge on this blade.

 

Thanks!

 

20170807 Mon@0730
Straight Razor shave: 25

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: C&E Moroccan Myrrh
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Dubl Duck Special No 1 5/8" (3) WTG -XTG -WTG (cheeks and chin), WTG - WTG -WTG (neck)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)
DE Razor: Rockwell (#4) WTG - XTG (upper/lower lip)
Splash: Stirling Lime (+Menthol)
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

Day 2 of using the same items (I can't believe I made it this far). All joking aside; my sink doesn't look as cluttered. I don't have to think about what scents pair well with what. Just reach out, load my brush, whip-up a lather on my face and go to work. Since the only problem areas I am having are my lips, I decided to shave my chin with the straight and just leave the top and bottom lip for my DE to cleanup. This left me with an incredible shave.
If I stick to my plans; the next several weeks may be boring to read, but my technique will develop and benefit from this monotony. Not to mention my face and lips will have a chance to heal, completely.

 

Learning to properly strop simply takes practice and repetition. Most newcomers are advised to use very light pressure when starting. You may not be effectively stropping the edge at this point with such light pressure, but at least you are developing a feel and some muscle memory. Applying too much pressure early on when you're still developing a feel for the razor on the leather can lead to a potential rolled edge or a nicked-up strop.
BTW: that DD had 75 laps on linen; 100 laps on fast-bridle leather, post-honing. HHT2-3.

 

The DD is shaving great. In fact of all the newly acquired razors I have, it is the only one I am using consistently. I am starting to get the feel for stropping the DD now.

 

20170808 Tue@0800
Straight Razor shave: 26

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: C&E Moroccan Myrrh
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Dubl Duck Special No 1 5/8" (4) WTG -XTG -WTG (cheeks and chin), WTG - WTG -WTG (neck)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)
DE Razor: Rockwell (#4) WTG - XTG (upper/lower lip)
Splash: Stirling Lime (+Menthol)
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

I am really enjoying the DD razor. While I have limited experience with other straight razors, this has to be one of the smoothest razors I have tried so far. Shaving my chin is almost as easy as my neck and cheeks. I figure in a week or so, this daily routine will become second nature. I am also liking the simplicity of face lathering. I ordered the new Stirling Boar Brush for just this task. We will see. I may make a few changes and give one of my other new blades a chance, I have 3 new straights that are shave ready, but I plan on using the C&E soap until it is gone.
This has been a very pleasant learning experience.

 

I'm pleased to read you're progressing nicely in your SR journey! The more razors you wind up trying on a regular basis, the subtle differences between razors will become more obvious. You'll also start to develop a personal preference for a particular size, style or make. I enjoy the majority of razors I use, but there are a few that standout.
BTW: Tony Miller strops are exceptional, well-made strops.

 

20170809 Wed@2130
Straight Razor shave: 27

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: C&E Moroccan Myrrh
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Gardener's Challenge 9/16" (1) WTG -XTG -WTG (cheeks and chin), WTG - WTG -WTG (neck)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (25x Leather)
DE Razor: Rockwell (#4) WTG - XTG (upper/lower lip)
Splash: Stirling Bergamot Lavender (+Menthol) + Sandalwood (+Menthol)
Balm: Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm

Decided to try one of the other Shave Ready newly acquired straights tonight. This was 1 of 2 straights bought from a user on another forum. I believe this straight was manufactured in the early 1900's. While I am not crazy about the scales, they are in good shape and the razor was shave ready.



I seem to like the narrower blades. The 6/8" and 13/16" straights I have are fantastic blades. But there is something in the way I can maneuver this 9/16" blade that I just seem to like more. Even the DD, which is a 5/8" blade, is a very easy shaver for me. I was a little concerned with the Square Toe on this razor, but it was not an issue. I will probably mute the toe when it becomes necessary to hone this razor. For now, I will leave it alone.
It was a great 3 pass shave, with no blood spilled. In fact; I have noticed that the areas I am shaving with a straight are smoother than my DE loaded with a Feather blade. I am not having any problems shaving my cheeks, chin and neck with my straights. So I may try my lower lip this weekend and see how it goes. I am hoping that by the end of this month to be using only a straight for the complete 3 pass shave.

 

20170810 Thu@1545
Straight Razor shave: 28

Prep: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Pre-Shave Oil
Shaving Soap: C&E Moroccan Myrrh
Shaving Bowl: Fine Lather Bowl
Brush: RazorRock Chubby #506 Handle Extra Silvertip Badger (27.5 mm x 51 mm)
Straight Razor: Gardener's Challenge 9/16" (2) WTG -WTG (entire face)
Stropping: Tony Miller 3" Fast Bridle Leather "Plain Chocolate" (15x Linen and 25x Leather)
Splash: Humphreys Witch Hazel
Splash: Stirling Bergamot Lavender (+Menthol) + Sandalwood (+Menthol)

So I changed a few things this afternoon.

1. Lather Bowl: While I was getting good lathers with face lathering, I am able to whip up a much better and protective lather with a bowl
2. Full Face shave with the Straight: I went very slow with the upper lip without a single issue. The squared toe caught the right corner of my upper lip, for a tiny nick (red line, no blood). Otherwise it was a perfect shave!
3. Witch Hazel after shave: I received an order of Humphreys Witch Hazel and used it right after the shave, followed by my usual blend of Stirling Aftershaves. This resulted in very soft and smooth skin. No need for a moisturizing balm.

All in all the shave went well. I will only do a full face straight shave when I have lots of time and when I am in a calm peaceful mood. If I am stressed or distracted in anyway, I will shave my upper/lower lips with a DE. Otherwise it is straight all the way!