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.
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 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.
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!
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.
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.
I've learned that a 3pass shaves is plenty enough for me, I'll never be able to get every hair without some sort of irritation and I'm way okay with that. Also I really like baby powder smelling soaps/aftershaves.
2 things-1)-maybe I should have "disposed" of my disposable razor yesterday, and 2)-it's much better shaving with foam or cream then gel that doesn't gradually look like foam or cream.