February Favorites!!
February 5
Razor - Kampfe Star
Blade - CVS Carbon SE Blade (1)
Soap - Stirling Barbershop
Brush - Jayaruh #312
Post - Alum, Nivea Original Balm
Well, well, well. Looks like I need to do another focus on the SE razors, or at least the Lather Catcher. To say that I had a rough one tonight would be an understatement. It wasn't Sweeney Todd bad, but it was bad enough. I used a new CVS blade with the Kampfe Star and Stirling Barbershop with the JR312 for the perfect lather. Nice and slick, protective, and the razor just absolutely butchered its way through it. Well, ok, I can't blame the razor. The guy handling the razor did it. The first pass wasn't bad. It was smooth, noisy as expected and effective. At some point, though, I had a bad set down as a cut about 1/4" opened up on my right cheek. Clearly a set down issue. In addition, a couple of small nicks appeared on both sides of my face. No worries. Rinsed, lathered, and went after it again. Somehow after the second pass I knew enough to stop. It was a good enough shave to last through work tomorrow, and since half the day is a meeting I could care less about it. However, rinsing my face was enough to get a slight burn going. That's not good. So, with a little blood here and there, I grabbed the alum, wet my face and went after it. The howl (more like series of colorful words) that came out brought my wife on the run, thinking that I had cut off a significant body part or something. It was all from the burn. Every.Inch.Of.My.Face. The bleeding did stop, but the burn lasted and lasted. My wife informed me it appeared that I had tried removing a few too many layers of skin with my beard.
What happened, you ask as you laugh? (Yes, I know you guys) I'm thinking too much pressure and not paying attention to angle enough. The cut proves I was careless with angle. And the only reason that razor should have roughed me up would be pressure issues. Hmmmmm....the two things you master for flawless shaves - pressure and angle - and I blew both of them tonight. No excuses. My mind apparently wasn't in the game like it should have been. Even though the Star isn't a straight, it also isn't a Tech. Lesson learned. For now, at least. I am happy to say that the Nivea balm in my den is still in good shape. I so rarely need it I had to find it. But it did cool things off nicely. Whew!
My Monday is a few hours away. Hope you have a great Wednesday!
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