What did we learn from our last shaves?

I learned that working with the same soap/cream over a period of time improves your lather. I'm pretty strict about same razor/blade for a week, however, I change soap/creams everyday. The Focus thread has helped immensely.

 

Lucky Tigerror Aspen smells amazing but it doesn't feel as good on my face as my old standby Gabels.

 

I hadn't used my Ikon 102 for a while and forgot how good it shaves. 12 hours after shaving my face felt like it normally does after 6 hours. I'll definitely grab it more often from now on.

 

I learned that tugging is not the only sign of a straight razor needing to be touched up. Blade skipping can be fixed by touching it up as well. 10 laps on a pasted strop and it felt like a new razor.

 

I relearned that every DE razor brand can package a bad blade. Had a horrible shave with a Gillette Silver Blue this morning. Usually a favorite brand for me.

 

Odd or just lucky - I've never come across a bum blade.

 

I found this true with Stirling soaps. If I use one 3 or 4 consecutive shaves it just seems to load easier. Not sure if that's technique or soap not drying out too much between uses.

 

I learned that almost all my problems go away with one ATG pass with my R41. Daily!

 

I learned it is better to pay attention to my shave, especially on my neck, than to pay attention to SWMBO making funny faces at me. Those nicks hurt!

Though I did get a few sympathy kisses for my pain.

 

Time to tell jokes while she's shaving her legs

 

I learned that I am addicted and I don't have enough soaps, creams, brushes, razors, blades, and AS, and Im only been doing this a week or so!

 

Glycern soap and my Super Speed are a win / win on my face.

 

Using the bloom water as a preshave rinse makes a big difference for me in smoothness on the initial pass.

 

The Red Tip is not nearly as harsh as it was when my technique was not what it is now. And that's a good thing.

 

I learned that I should stop trying for the perfect two pass shave. It got a bit too intense with the Fatboy on nine today!
I can get great shaves from a 9-7-7 progression, so maybe I should leave well enough alone.

 

Hey, live and learn. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

My experience today was similar. I typically do 2 passes on my head shaves, 1 WTG and 1 XTG. Each pass requires quite a bit of buffing as I go in order to get acceptable final results. I've been using Stirling soaps for the past few months and recently went back to a Razorock. It's not nearly as forgiving to buffing as you go. Today I decided to go back to a quick 3-pass shave instead, 1 WTG, 2 XTG in both directions with minimal or no buffing until the final pass. Turns out it is probably just as quick and just as comfortable, maybe even better results.

 

One pass ATG with my R41 is enough for a perfect BBS