Thursday morning April 11 - Rule shave #24 - reviewing/practicing new/old techniques
Delta Echo refurbished Gillette Fatboy on 4 / Rapira Swedish Supersteel (2)
Simpsons CH2 Chubby Synthetic Bristles brush
MWF/Kent in beechwood tub
Alum and Polar Ice Booster splash
Last shave was Monday evening so I had 2.5 days stubble to remove. As I started, something occurred to me that I should have realised a long time ago: I take very long strokes with my DE. A habit from cart days that I carried over to wetshaving because I started with a Schick injector and it works with injectors too. With both carts and injectors, the razor has a definite flat face that you simply keep flat against your face. DEs not so much -- you have to rely on muscle memory to keep the angle the same all through the stroke, which is easier with shorter strokes. I have tended to set my razor at my sideburn line, ensure the angle is right, then pull one continuous stroke straight down to my jaw. And so on.
It occurred to me to wonder what would happen if I switched to those half inch or less strokes you're supposed to use with a DE.
So I did my normal two passes with short strokes. The result: absolutely zero tugging from the heavy whisker growth as it disappeared, no comment whatsoever from the alum, and a better DFS much closer to an overall BBS than I normally get with my two passes.
I will do the rest of this Rule concentrating on using very short strokes to overcome this old bad habit. And it's only taken me 2.5 years in the 30DC Shave School to figure this one out... I guess some of us are just naturally slower than others
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