Look how far you've come in such a short time! Sounds like you're really enjoying your shaves now. Congrats!
Day 19 of shave journal: Preshave: Shower with 2 minute exfoliation and hot rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (3rd use), Omega 11648, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 3 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, touch-ups, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Gillette Cool Wave Aftershave splash. Summary: No blood today; couldn't see any irritation either! Verdict: Previous to today's shave, I have been applying too much pressure! I followed through this morning with my experiment of eliminating all pressure I was applying to the razor, and it worked! There was no visible irritation after 3 passes and the after shave splash barely tingled at all.
Day 20 of shave journal: Preshave: Shower with 2 minute exfoliation and hot rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (4th use), Omega 11648, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 3 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, touch-ups, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Gillette Cool Wave Aftershave splash. Summary: 3 weepers on my neck, most likely caused by the 4 day-old blade, since I was being very careful about the pressure, stroke length, and direction. Verdict: The least irritation I've experienced on a 4 day-old blade.
Just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth, but I've always felt that a pre-shave exfoliation is over-kill and a source of unnecessary irritation. In my opinion, the blade does a sufficient job on its own to exfoliate. Anything more than the shave itself is asking for trouble. Again, just my opinion, but something for folks who do a pre-shave exfoliation and always seem to have irritation after the shave to think about.
Great suggestion, Steve! I think I'm going to try that tomorrow. I'm always open to suggestions for improvement. What is your pre-shave routine? I have heard some people apply a wet, hot towel on their face to loosen up the hairs.
Day 21 of shave journal: Preshave: Shower with 2 minute exfoliation and hot rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (1st use), Omega 11648, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 4 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, ATG, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Gillette Cool Wave Aftershave splash. Summary: No blood, no visible irritation, but that AS splash stung a bit on my neck. Verdict: I'm getting used to short, light strokes, but I need to rinse my blade more often I think. Will work on this starting tomorrow.
Always a hot shower to start. If I don't have time for a hot shower, I don't have time to shave. After that I wet my face with hot water and apply Dirigo Blue Cedarwood pre-shave oil. I just recently (within the last year of my 37 years of shaving) started using a pre-shave oil. I find it helps to soften the whiskers and give a little more glide to the razor. I apply it before the first pass, and lather right over it. At first I was a bit concerned it might mat up my brush or gunk up my razor, but I've had no such issues, just smoother, more comfortable shaves.
That sounds like one of those über-exotic shaver-boutique brands that costs more than liquid gold! Like Steve, I'm a more recent convent to using preshave oils. They do make a difference, particularly in those 'trouble spots' where irritation was a common problem. In the shower, I don't aggressively exfoliate nor defoliate—I use Lucky Tiger Lemon Cleansing Cream—which is basically a big tub of lemon-scented grease...but in a GOOD way. It contains some industrial-strength ingredients that may not be for the faint of heart (mineral oil, beeswax, petrolatum, lanolin, glycerin, sodium borate...etc) and smells like lemon, but it sure softens the facial hair/whiskers and leave the surface quite slick. Adding a piping-hot wet towel over the rub for a few minutes & your face is ready to go for the shave. I will often skip the pre-shave oil because of the effect of the cream.
Day 22 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (2nd use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 4 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, ATG, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: 2 weepers. Verdict: Tomorrow I'll spend more time on the shave. The brush is amazing at lathering, and a bit softer than my boar brush.
Day 23 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (3rd use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/bowl lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 3 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: 2 weepers. Verdict: Tried bowl lathering today. This silvertip is amazing! Spent a little bit more time today, worrying too much about getting that close shave caused the 2 weepers.
Saturday, 20 July 2013 - took a break after 23 days of consistent shaving. Will continue the journal tomorrow.
Day 25 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (4th use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 3 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: 2 weepers, 1 nick. Verdict: I had somewhere to be and didn't leave enough time for the 3rd pass, so I rushed it and got the nick and weepers. I'm getting much better about avoiding irritation with a 4-day old blade though.
Day 26 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a hot face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (1st use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 4 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, ATG, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: No blood or irritation! Verdict: I really took my time today during the shave and paid close attention to how much pressure I applied so I didn't cause any irritation. I am very happy with the outcome of this shave!
Day 27 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a hot face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (2nd use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/face lather, 30 second additional lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 2.5 passes: today's shave was very unconventional for me. 2 passes on my cheeks and 3 passes on my neck, but didn't follow a particular direction for any of them. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: 3 weepers. Verdict: This was an experiment and it didn't turn out very well. Essentially, I tried to get small patches at a time completely smooth before moving on to the next. This required a lot of blade buffing and caused quite a bit of irritation on my neck. Tomorrow, I'm going back to a standard 3 pass shave while maintaining the direction of each pass.
Good point. Tip to the new folks - always make sure you are not going over the same area too often without keeping it lathered.
Day 28 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a hot face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (3rd use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/bowl lather, 30 second face lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 3 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: 1 weeper. Verdict: A pretty good shave. I only ever get weepers on my neck now.
Day 29 of shave journal: Preshave: Just a hot face rinse. Gear: Gillette 40s style Super Speed, Astra SP (4th use), Whipped Dog 20 mm deep-set silvertip, Palmolive shave stick. Lather: 60/120 second load/bowl lather, 30 second face lather with each pass, no additional load required. Shave: 4 passes: WTG, XTG1, XTG2, ATG, plus a cold rinse. Aftershave: Mennen Skin Bracer! Summary: 3 weepers around my Adam's apple. This whipped dog silvertip is a lather machine! Honestly, I probably could have done a dozen passes before I ran out of lather! Verdict: A good shave considering the age of the blade. I can't figure out how to adequately reduce the hair on my neck without getting weepers. It seems that unless I devote a time to a particular area with blade buffing, I can't reduce the hair so the skin is smooth. If I do that, however, I end up with serious irritation from so many passes with the blade over that area. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
If you can't see the hair, but rather, feel it - try not to fixate on it. Call it a great shave and pack up for the day. I know it bothers you knowing it's there but if no one else knows, you're fine. Every now and then try a different trick with that area. If it works, then you know. If it doesn't, that leaves an experiment for another day. The goal is to have a comfortable shave.
