My Straight Shave Saga (continues...)

I can honestly tell you that my shaves with a straight are better than my shaves with my DE/SEs.... Why? Not quite sure, but even though I don't get BBS, I do get a damn fine DFS (yes, I know - it was intentional) with only 2 passes. I can get BBS w/ a straight (I did today in fact), but like Olafurson here, it doesn't come without some sort of sacrifice. But I have confidence that it will come eventually, with practice, just like it did with a DE.

In all honesty, I reach for a straight more often than not now....

 

I am still reading too! I personally think you have come a long way in only 36 shaves.

With regards the potential scar, a lot of us have them (mine is on my left cheek). The general consensus is to pass them off as duelling scars from a misspent youth. En garde!!

James.

 

Shave #37:

Yardley's Oatmeal and Almond soap as shaving soap
Vulfix
Wapi WTG/XTA/ATG a little bit
444 alum block
Speick aftershave
444 aftershave goo

Oh, yeah, fellas - this is what I'm talkin' about. Now that was a Damn Fine Shave.

I really am in love with the Yardley's as a shave soap. I know there's nothing fancy about it, it smells good but not great, it's not the best at lubricating, the lather disappears within minutes... but it works. I rub it on my face, lather it up, toss it back in the box, and go to town with Ms. Wapi. 3 passes EASY with more in the brush to spare, and my face isn't overdry afterwards. Who needs fancy shave soap? Who needs cream? Who needs a soap dish? Why spend more than $2?

On another note, I'm really looking forward to receiving my and Leo's Semogue brushes in the mail - whenever that is. Poor Leon has been trying to get these things made since before Christmas, I bet he's going bonkers.

The 444 alum block was scratchy. No two ways about it. Shavex from Mama Bear's is superior. And bigger. And comes with a cool plastic box. Oh well.

Now, the 444 aftershave goo, on the other hand, was AWESOME! I did like everyone says, put a drop of it in my hand, then some Speick splash, and it added just the right bit of extra moisture and menthol kick that the Speick was lacking. And it's portable! Man, if this stuff was available at the local pharmacy, I'd totally put it in Leo's kit. Heck, I might just throw some in there because of its novelty and sheer awesomeness. Wonder if it will be any good in 16 years? Too bad the tube wasn't a little bigger...

And speaking of my son, I just ordered him a bowl of Penhaligon's Benheim Bouquet soap AND a bowl of English Fern soap for his box o' goodies - from two different places, naturally, just to add to the shipping charges. Thanks for losing me another chunk of money, Bong! Too bad it's too expensive for ME to have a bowl...

Oh yeah, about the shave - yup, fantastic. Who needs a styptic stick anymore? I'm learning to accept the 5 o'clock shadow I NEVER had before, and not getting every last bit of stubble off my face. Big deal. On the other hand, what a RUSH of accomplishment I had this morning, after my shave! How awake! How alive! Try to get THAT with an electric! Plus, the entire shower/shave routine took all of 40 MINUTES today. That's a new record. I don't think I ever finished shaving that quickly with my Panasonic, as a matter of fact. Not that I was trying to shave quickly, it just... happened. Glorious. Makes me feel all the more foolish looking at my previously discussed chin scars. Oh, and tiny nicks? Who even cares, if they disappear after the alum?

If you don't have an alum block, get one now. Do it. You'll thank me.

 

Non-shave day:

Since I'm getting (slightly) better at this shaving thing, I feel less of a need to mess with it every day. Refreshing change! Enjoying this morning's very short stubble.

Today's morning routine was a bit rushed, but I treated myself to my newest greatest find: Pinaud's Classic Vanilla aftershave.

Wow! Where the heck has this stuff been my whole life?! What a great, light, manly little scent! My wife loves it, I love it, it's cheap... AWESOME!

I've splashed some of this stuff on myself every day for the last two or three days at random points in the day, just because I like it so much. It's not overpowering like Clubman, or stinky florally like LV, just surprisingly modern and wonderful. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

And since noone commented on yesterday's post, I edited it somewhat. I'll keep that little bit unwritten again until I prove it works.

Working on the menthol component... I know menthol is distilled from the mint plant...

 

Glad someone likes the Vanilla Clubman...ugh.

 

Dude, you know where to send yours!

 

Shave #38:

Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet shave soap leftover bits
superlathered with Musgo Real cream for the third pass
crappy Speick brush (Semogue Excelsior on the way!!!)
Wapi
FULL WTG/XTG/ATG (oh yeah, baby, I went for it)
Pinaud's Classic Vanilla aftershave with one drop baby oil

Shave Bliss #2!!!!!

About 4 stubble hairs short (heh heh) of the best shave of my life. Truly great. It's 10:30pm now, and I look like I just shaved an hour ago, that's how close and smooth and perfect it was.

Everything about it was perfect. The soap was perfect (thanks, Bong!!!!), having the experience to know I had to add a little more of something (Musgo) to the soap at the end because my lather was running out was perfect... Ms. Wapi was in top form, the wonderful smell of my beautiful Vanilla Clubman, the perfect little addition of just a touch of baby oil for moisture, just perfect, perfect, perfect.

I didn't learn a damn thing this morning, except that painless, bloodless BBS straight razor shaves do exist. It just takes 37+ shaves to get there.

I swear, I'm gonna start taking pictures of shaving soap, brush and razor laid out artistically on a shave towel with scotch in the background if this keeps up...

Glorious.

Got Leo's Blenheim Bouquet shave soap in the mail today, and the bowl sucks. Sending it back for one where the lid has some HOPE of sitting properly on the bowl. Wish me luck. Soap itself was also damaged, like it had been dropped on the ground or something. How did they get the soap out of the bowl and out of the box to drop it? Weird. Back it goes.

Also got my English Fern shave soap today (did you know Penhaligon's has a warehouse in New Jersey?) and it was beautifully wrapped, so I don't know what the box looks like. I'm going to keep it wrapped for little Leo, so I hope it's wonderful! Smells good from the outside...

Got two Thiers-Issard travel strops yesterday, and they're HUGE. There's nothing "travel sized" about them. I'm better off using my regular leather strop. Sent 'em back.

Sold my Goedecke on SRP yesterday! I hope that fellow has better luck then I did with it. It's a beautiful piece, just not for me.

Leo's Wapi project is also going well...

A good day in shave-land.

 

Non-shave day (no need!)

Egoiste Cologne Concentree, by Chanel is today's Scent o' the Day.

The Concentree form is a rare, more potent form of Egoiste, one of Chanel's all-time best selling men's fragrances.

Launched in 1990. A woody, spicy fragrance with a vanilla and sandalwood drydown. Described by some as "sweet smoke".

My all-time favorite men's cologne. Only the Concentree lasts all day, the regular Egoiste would still be a nice pick-me-up, especially in colder weather.

(or in this office, which is overly air-conditioned)

 

Shave #39:

Laaaaast little bit of Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet soap (thanks, Bong!) superlathered with Musgo Real shave cream
Speick shave brush
Wapi
Shavex Alum block
Hattric aftershave with baby oil

Yes, you read that right, I faced my fears and used the Hattric on my actual face. It still stung like a mofo, but not quiiiite as napalm-y as last time, thankfully! Probably because I took less skin off this time. Not much for healing, not much for cooling...

...but man oh MAN do I love that fragrance!! Totally worth it.

Hurting myself less with a previously super-painful aftershave is making me wonder if I should have given more time to others like the La Toja that I had trouble with a few weeks ago... should I have sold it? Yeah, it didn't smell THAT great. Never mind. Not worth ordering another bottle from Leon.

Spanish Floid, on the other hand, I miss enough to re-order. Stupid me. One for me, one for Leo. Might as well get a couple of 444 balms too, since they're so much fun to use!

Today's shave was harsher than the last one. Which, sadly, obviously means today is the beginning of a lifetime of trying to achieve Wednesday's perfect shave again. Slower - 35 minutes for a 3-pass shave today.

I even cut myself, on the chin, in exactly the same place where a tiny little scar is still healing up from weeks ago.

Anybody else keep injuring themselves in the same places??

I even had to break out the My Nik Is Sealed.

My crappy little Speick brush is much more tolerable when it smells like Blenheim Bouquet. That seriously is the best smelling, most authentic "this is what shaving soap should smell like" soap I've ever smelled.

Whoa... bad grammar. You get the idea.

And this morning, at work, I'm playing with a little splash of Osage Rub on my left wrist, and some Floid Blue I'm about to sell on my right. Floid Blue, for the record, is basically more powdery Aqua Velva. Save your money and get the AV, which works better as an aftershave and smells less frou-frou than Italian Floid (in either form).

I think I might have given myself a couple of zits with my magical baby oil. Figures. I'm going to try glycerin next time (which I found for $3 at WalMart).

Trying to come up with the perfect aftershave concoction... today, I'm thinking 2 parts Clubman Vanilla, 2 parts Osage Rub, 1 part glycerin. All American, very barbershop, all easy to order or buy locally. I'm going to have to start mixing up some stuff here soon for fun. To the lab! (mwa ha ha)

Also thinking 3 parts Captain Morgans spiced rum, 1 part glycerin, and a few crystals of menthol would be an awesome aftershave. Maybe add some water to luke it down a little?

(or an ice cube... heh)

Was reading something about grapeseed oil or jojoba oil as aftershave moisturizer on B&B - wonder how pore-clogging they are? Must get to Whole Foods to check that out. Must also look and see if they sell alum blocks...

 

Now your talking.. maybe I should try that internally (at least the first part) before my first straight shave... just biding my time before giving it a go.

 

Believe it or not, I did!

A bit of anesthetic never hurt anybody.

 

Oops.. I forgot to get something while running errands (OK, I chose not to try that).. but its too late... first straight shave just finished... details to come in another thread. Thanks for giving me some insights through your experiences!

 

Shave #40:

Penhaligon's English Fern shaving soap (thanks, Bong!!!)
Speick brush (counting the seconds until Semogue Excelsior arrives)
Wapi (which is weirdly getting tarnished - need to take better care of her!!!)
Mama Bear's Shavex alum block
Osage Rub + Pinaud's Vanilla + glycerin aftershave

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found the best aftershave combination EVER.

Oh. My. God. Did I ever enjoy the Osage/Vanilla/Glycerin combination. Just, no burn at all, no pain afterwards, lovely cooling, beautiful fragrance, wonderful lasting menthol aura, yum, yum, yum. AWESOME.

It didn't even matter that my shave was pretty crappy.

Oh, and I've made a decision. I'm OVER styptic sticks. Every time I apply some of that crap, it feels painful on my face for the next 1-2 hours, especially every time I move my head around. Weird, sucky, stretchy painful feeling.

Instead, today, I just waited until my two little nicks had thoroughly clotted, then wiped them off with a cold-water damp cloth. No more pain, no more blood, perfect. I'd rather look like a dork with blood spots on my for an hour before I wipe them off, than feel pain for that hour.

Penhaligon's is awesome.

That's all I have to say for today. My post-shave aftershave bliss lasted just about as long as the shave itself, so hooray for Osage Rub!

 

Don't laugh please I did not know any better. I went over to the Art of Shaving today and I learned several reasons why I have been fustrated about using my striaght razor. 1) The thing was so dull that it probably couldn't shave anything; and 2) I was trying to sharpen it using a strop that's the job of the hone. Now after buying a hone I am learning to hone it to a point where I can use it to practice with it. He showed me a simple test, take a Klenex and try to cut the edge, a sharp straight should be able to cut the Klenex without a problem or a piece of paper. He showed me the X patern technique and how to strop and why one needs to strop. I still need to do a bit more honing before I am ready to start practicing with the razor. Again don't laugh I did not know any better - Evidently I was trying to sharpen the razor with a strop and removing the fragments real well but not sharpening it at all. Did a few passes on my right cheek in the bathroom and the only thing I can say is "Oh, baby where have you been all my life."

 

There's nothing to laugh about, JB. That's how people learn stuff!

One thing I would advise, though, is read up on good sharpness tests...that paper test is quite good for knives, I hear, but a razor's edge is so delicate, I fear you might ruin it like that.

Also, I might recommend you send it to someone who already has learned to hone, so that you can get an idea of what a REALLY sharp edge feels like. Learning to hone without knowing what your goal really should be can be frustrating. It's a great idea to learn to hone your own razors, but in the meantime you might frustrate yourself.

Can I ask, what hone did you get?

 

Dude! You already know 100% more about honing than I do. Nice work! Let us know what works with your honing.

Let me try to say what JimR is saying, in a different way - it's my understanding that if you try to teach yourself how to hone, that's fine and all, but be prepared that you'll probably destroy your blade in the process.

Or, you can have some other guy do it correctly the first time, therefore sparing your blade.

On the other hand... like I said, you're already better at honing than I am, so maybe it's worth killing one blade over?

Best of luck, friend. Good shaves to you.

 

I have a teacher that has given me some pointers about how to hone and what a good sharp edge feels like and how to test it. My razor will cut a piece of paper but has trouble with the klenex at this point so its probably not sharp enough. I am a tad dubious of honing services at this point as this particular razor was pre-honed for me before I even started. The inidividual who sent me the blade honed it for me before sending it to me. When it arrived it was so dull it could not cut a thing, so experience has made me a bit dubious. Although I am not complaining since the razor was free to me. Don't want to mention the individual's name. The strop is a Dovo padle strop from the Knife Center in College Park, MD in a suburb of Washington, DC.

As for the shave last night that was pretty good, much better than I have done before, however I still think that I could use some work. Such as learning to shave with my left hand, when I am right hand dominant. My son will have a much easier time of this since he equaly as good with either hand, can feed himself with both hands, he's learning to self feed and tends to grab the fork with which ever is close to the fork. Need to hone a bit more since the blade has troubble with the Klenex and can cut the paper, although not real easily. I would appreciate some comments about how to tell if a razor is really sharp. My teacher showed me the Klenex and paper method, however I think that there are better methods out there. Since my beard grows most when I am asleep I simply can't do a stright shave for the entire day, will probably do my experimentation at night for most of the time. Since some of the techniques in the striaght shave are the same as with the double edge I think that I do not have such a high learning curve to mount. However, I love a challenge.

 

Good luck, Doctor.

I'm curious...is your teacher named Matt and a member here?

 

Hey you guys, quick hijacking my thread! :signs108

Just kidding.

Shave #41:

Sir Irisch Moos shave stick
Vulfix brush
Wapi (one of the sharper ones!)
444 Alum block
Captain Morgan's spiced rum with a dab of 444 balm for aftershave

Ouch! That 444 block has some SHARP edges.

I decided to "treat" myself to the Irisch Moos stick again this morning, after having used the Yardley's soap at the gym for the past few weeks. Maybe it's because I've been getting used to thinner lathers or something, but the IM seemed almost TOO thick today. Or, I'm just getting fussy.

Nicked myself under my nose, DIDN'T use styptic. Just waited for the clot to dry up and wiped it away. Nice.

Today's "travel" Wapi worked so much better than Monday's "home" Wapi, that I'm concerned the home one may need honing. I have been using it for a few months now... going to follow up on JimR's suggestion to order a coticule from Belgium and give that a shot I think.

Captain Morgan's made a DARN FINE AFTERSHAVE. Especially when I mixed it with Portugal's best kept secret, the 444 aftershave balm. I'm really starting to enjoy that balm on the road! It was nice for once to have a pleasant, almost edible smelling aftershave instead of the usual harsh stuff. I don't know if I'll make it a habit, or not, but one of those airplane bottles of Captain's was like $1.49 for 50mL, so it'll last me a while.

I'm sending away three packages today. One is a replacement bowl of Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet soap, because the first one they sent had a tear in the celophane protecting the soap, and the lid fit HORRIBLY. Now, I know these English wooden bowls are not very well made, but this was just sad. The one I got in exchange worked out well - I kept the new soap, the new lid of the bowl, the old base of the bowl, the new lid of the box, and the old base of the box. All in all, finally pieced together one fine gift for Leo.

Box #2 is a collection of "soaps and splashes" for the kind fellow who went out of his way to find me my Old Spice mug. I hope he finds something in here he likes!

(sales thread altered accordingly!)

Box #3 contains my old original, the Shumate Barber's Delight, headed for Australia surrounded by a bunch of other goodies to help a noob get on his feet. Happy travels, little razor!

 

How old's your boy, again? Maybe pick up one of those toy shaving kits so he can shave along with you...