Newbie checking in

Discussion in 'Welcome Center' started by Gelf Lover, May 14, 2009.

  1. Gelf Lover

    Gelf Lover Member

    I bought a tube of C.O. Bigalow today and gave it a whirl this evening. It was wonderful. It was very easy to achieve a very creamy thick lather with it. The lather was at least twice as thick as the lather with VDH deluxe. I was able to Is that right or am I doing something wrong when I'm making my lather with the VDH soap?

    Since I didn't know how strong the menthol feel was to it I only used my preshave oil as a preshave and didn't use it for every lather and it went well. I did find out that the Astra blades only last for 2 shaves for me and this was it's 3rd. So I shaved with a dull blade and didn't use any oil except for prep and had a nice DFS. The only irritation is a raw feeling on my face, no redness. Other then that my skin feels great. I can't wait to see what it is like when I use a sharp blade.
     
  2. omegapd

    omegapd New Member

    Soaps take a lot of practice compared to creams. For a long time I thought I was doing a good job with soaps until I saw this video (linked in this thread)

    http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12881

    Dropping the first "lather" into the sink and continuing on made a world of difference. I now get better lather with the majority of soaps than I do with creams. I also prefer a boar brush to soaps than badger...

    EW
     
  3. Dridecker

    Dridecker Sherlock

    I can not comment on the VDH lather as I have never used it. I will let you in on a well known secret if you didn't already know it. That C.O. Bigelow in the green tube is made in Italy by Proraso. Yep, you just bought some Proraso green! Good choice as long as your face likes it.

    Good to hear the shave went well for you. As your technique improves, so will the shaves. :signs107
     
  4. jbcohen

    jbcohen New Member

    :happy088 Good job on the shave.

    Will not comment, I have some van der hagen in the den but have not used it as yet, I am going through something of a shave cream stage at the moment.
     
  5. Gelf Lover

    Gelf Lover Member

    Wow. I thought I was making good lather but was nowhere close. From watching the video I wasn't using enough water or soap. I think I had watched to many super lather videos.

    How does hard water effect the lather creation process? Would that be part of my problem as well?
     
  6. Bronco

    Bronco Mac Daddy

    Welcome to The Shave Den! Glad to have you aboard!
    Be sure to check out the Newbie give-away!.
     
  7. Teiste

    Teiste New Member

    Good man.step by step.I find that Astras only last 2 shaves for me too.However theyre sharp blades(not like feathers but close to Gillette Swedes)
    Glad to know that youre archiving some success!
     
  8. Gelf Lover

    Gelf Lover Member

    Are scuttles a good item to have or is that an item best gotten later?
     
  9. omegapd

    omegapd New Member

    Probably to a point. I have it here also. But, technique was my biggest mistake and not the water's fault. :D

    Scuttles are nice if you want a hot lather. I don't use one, though. I've already made this "hobby" more complex than it needs to be...

    EW
     
  10. Special_K

    Special_K New Member

    Good job. Now you are on your way. I have found as mentioned above that the boar brush is easier for me to get a decent lather with a soap.
     
  11. Gelf Lover

    Gelf Lover Member

    Just checking back in to update on my progress...

    After a few days of practice and a few new acquisitions I'm now able to get a good lather from my VDH soap now. I had been using the bowl that you get in the VDH shaving kit to lather in, Now I have a dessert dish that I'm using. I'm also using the VDH boar brush and I can produce a nice thick hydrated lather and in a bowl that I have room to work and be able to warm my lather.

    I got the ball-end tech from Dridecker last week and was trying different blades in it to see what would work. I put and Astra blade in it last night and did my first pass and it was great. My second pass I tried something different I did what I think is a mild version of blade buffing just to clean up the shave and my shave was complete. 2 passes and both were WTG and had a nice DFS, very near BBS, and no irritation or new ingrowns. But the biggest improvement that I have had is that I have shaved every night for over 7 nights and do not have any severe skin irritations or ingrowns like I have had with cartridge razors.

    I also have been using witch hazel after every shave now, all over my face not just my beard, and my skin has been doing a little better. My last 2 shaves I have also been using AV Blue Ice AS, SWMBO said she like the smell, and it has taken care of any irritation I have remaining. I also really enjoy the menthol feeling that it has, I just wish the Proraso was as strong as the AV and Noxzema.
     
  12. Teiste

    Teiste New Member

    Good!Keep enjoying this journey to a BBS shave man!
     
  13. jbcohen

    jbcohen New Member

    :happy096
     
  14. Special_K

    Special_K New Member

    :signs021 :happy096 :signs107 :happy088 :eatdrink047 ::git
     
  15. LadyGillette0409

    LadyGillette0409 New Member

    Nice.
    I am really digging your picture.
    For Dridecker (Dad)
     
  16. MTgrayling

    MTgrayling Rocket Man

    Welcome!
     
  17. Gelf Lover

    Gelf Lover Member

    Checking back in again.

    I believe that I have the hang of using soaps now. I'm able to create a very nice lather with either my boar or badger brush. The problem was that I was putting too much water on the soap before I started to load my brush. I'm also adding a few drops of glycerin to my lather bowl as well and it is improving things as well.

    I've also been slipping on my quality of shaves lately too. Been a little under the weather, I think I got the e-flu that Joanna was threatening. :happy102 But over all I'm still gaining more useful knowledge and my complexion has been greatly improving. Shaving on my neck is becoming easier but shaving my chin is becoming more and more difficult. The hairs there are very coarse and don't shave very well unless I use a very aggressive angle and that is causing some irritation.

    Also my ball end tech broke this morning after I stropped my blade. :ashamed001 I feel so bad since it was a gift from Dridecker. I do have a fat handled tech on the way to me but I would like to know if the ball handle can be fixed. It looks to me like the head threads are striped. Are there replacement heads?

    I also tried using glycerin as my preshave this morning as well. Was thrown off a bit since it caused a very warm sensation when I put it on, so after my bath I went ahead and used my preshave oil for the rest of my shave. It didn't click in my head until later that the room was filled with warm water vapor and that caused the warm sensation so I'm going to try it for the entire shave tomorrow. I also notice that my skin didn't feel as supple as it usually does when I use the oil under my lather, I'm using 6-8 drops per lather, but my wife said tonight that my skin didn't seem as oily has it had in the past and looked much better.

    I have been applying witch hazel 2-3 times a day and ASB twice a day to help with the irritation does anyone else do that?
     
  18. jbcohen

    jbcohen New Member

    ***Personal Opinion Ahead***

    In my humble opinion shave creams lather quite a bit better than soaps. So I recommend you try a few creams before sigining on with a soap.

    ***Personal Opinion above***
     
  19. Truckman

    Truckman New Member

    Sometimes on a very bad shave day I'll reapply some balm later on in the day, but that hadn't happened in a very long time until I recently started using a straight - and now that I have the hang of that, I hadn't had to reapply anything since. So, no, you shouldn't have to once your shaves start coming together.

    You may want to consider a sharper blade if you're having to change your angle on your chin. Bad angle = irritation, as you've discovered. The name of the game is being able to maintain the proper angle and pressure to get great shaves - change the other variables to accomplish this, not the angle or pressure. Maybe a different razor will help, different blade, making sure you're going WTG first and knowing which way the grain goes... maybe change your prep routine because your stubble isn't softened enough....
     
  20. Special_K

    Special_K New Member

     

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