June Focus- Two pass straight razor shave with minimal touch up, and Synthetic Brush
I know I should look at trying to lock down my razors, but I am very much in too deep with my RAD right now to make that commitment. I also have a brush I re-knotted that I have only used four or five times. Since the brush doesn’t need to be soaked, it’s a bit of a different beast from my other brushes. From bottom to top in the picture below:
- Ever-Ready 100T brush with 22m TGN synthetic knot
- Feather Artist Club SS Kamasori
- Wade & Butcher 5/8 square tip, pre-1890 with worm eaten scales
- W.B. Speed Rabbit marked razor- black celluloid scales
- Dubl Duck Satinwedge- Obnoxious Orange scales
- Sears Craftsman- cream scales NOS and in mint condition
- Cattaraugus Cutlery Green lizard- Green scales. Not shave ready.
- Cattaraugus Cutlery Small razor with warped and cracked horn scales. Not shave ready.
- WR Chase and Sons 5/8 with damaged Bakelite scales. Not shave ready.
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I have one other razor in the mail on it’s way back to me. My plan is to see if I can get the top three razors in shave ready condition this month, so I really don’t want to lock down on razors. I also have a business trip to DC in a few weeks, and I haven’t determined if I am going to take a DE, the Feather AC, or a straight.
Technique: Last month I was trying for a two pass DFS shave. I actually got it a few times, but most of the time needed touch up. I also started learning how to do touch up with a straight razor instead of a DE. One of the things I have figured out is that I have to change my passes a little bit to get a good shave. First pass is a mix. N/S (if two days since last shave,) or XTG (if only one day,) on cheeks and most of neck. Either way, the area around my chin starts with XTG. Second pass is ATG, which is mostly S/N.
The other thing I want to explore is shaving daily. I have always avoided this, and I think it had mostly to do with the thick whiskers on my chin, and how painful those were to shave with a cartridge after only one day’s growth. I did it a few times last month, and it wasn’t bad with a straight.
Goals for June
- Two pass shave, with minimal touch up.
- At least one week of daily shaves.
- Use every razor at least two days in a row.
- Use synthetic brush all month with a variety of soaps.
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