Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
I tried your mammoth painting technique and was excited that I got all 15 hairs! That is, until I realized that 3 of them were from the brush shedding.....
The Shaving Cadre
Welcome to The Shaving Cadre, a forum dedicated to gentlemanly discourse about wet shaving and other topics of common interests. Membership is always free so register today and join in the fun
An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving
- Thread starter Blade-meister
- Start date
Yeah, not my idea either. My PIF, but it'd be your soap and your chest hairs. I'll trust you if you said you mammoth painted - no pictures are needed.
I tried your mammoth painting technique and was excited that I got all 15 hairs! That is, until I realized that 3 of them were from the brush shedding.....
Dang Shawn, I hope mammoth painting didn't kill off anymore of your soul patch
The PIF will just require that you try it, even if you have a dolphin chest or a Gollum patch of hair or if you have a forest. You just have to try it and report the results.
Today unfortunately was a repeat of Tuesday with problems that I can now say are the razor and not the blade.
Today's Shave: Shave #48
Razor: QShave (Merkur Futur Clone) DE
Blade: Personna Platinum (Blue)
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Shower / wash with soap
Total Razor on Face Time: 20 minutes
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse, Dry face, then immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face only. Mammoth Painting, rubbing left over soap on the neck then rinsing.
I've been doing
some watching of lathering on several videos and came to the conclusion that my lather wasn't as slick as it should be. I was watching guys going back with follow-up strokes of the razor and I know that my lather wasn't good enough to do that. I went back to the MW lathering vids and realized I wasn't loading the brush nearly enough and blooming the puck helps with that. I was watching people have these super shiny and thick lathers and mine didn't look like that. I had some sheen to my lathers, but it was still more foamy than it should be. I doubled my MW load time to about 60 seconds and that did it. Wow, what a difference in performance. I even think mine was a tad bit watery, but much better than what I was doing before.
I snapped in the personna blade having never tried it, but figuring it can't hurt. Set at 2.1 the first couple of strokes with the WTG pass felt super dang aggressive. Huh?? So I used the other side and that felt like it wasn't even getting any stubble at all. I turned the razor setting down but a finishing the first pass was brutal. I probably should have stopped and grabbed another DE, but I just decided to use the "milder" side for the rest of my passes. XTG was better and the slicker lather really helped to do some clean-up as I went along. ATG was good, but the damage could be felt from that rough WTG pass. Somehow the razor head has come out of alignment and I'll be researching how to fix this issue. I think it's just a razor gap issue, but man I think when set on 2.1 it was more like 4.1 on the aggressive side and 1.1 on the milder side. I haven't dropped it or anything out of the ordinary so I'll have to do my research on the QShave to see how this issue was resolved by others. I may be shopping for a Merkur Futur in the near future if I can't figure this issue out.
Overall, I managed to get a BBS but only with extensive cart clean-up and DE clean-up. This took me longer and in the end, yesterday's cart shave felt much better. Maybe it's time to try the SE. I hear they are much easier to cut yourself on, less forgiving, but have a superior shave to the DE. Post shave feel of the thicker lather was amazing. I could tell immediately that there was a difference.
What I Changed: My lather for one. I loaded for double the time and bloomed the puck with a bit of water. Used a Personna blade for the first time.
Today's Shave: Shave #48
Razor: QShave (Merkur Futur Clone) DE
Blade: Personna Platinum (Blue)
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Shower / wash with soap
Total Razor on Face Time: 20 minutes
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse, Dry face, then immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face only. Mammoth Painting, rubbing left over soap on the neck then rinsing.
I've been doing
some watching of lathering on several videos and came to the conclusion that my lather wasn't as slick as it should be. I was watching guys going back with follow-up strokes of the razor and I know that my lather wasn't good enough to do that. I went back to the MW lathering vids and realized I wasn't loading the brush nearly enough and blooming the puck helps with that. I was watching people have these super shiny and thick lathers and mine didn't look like that. I had some sheen to my lathers, but it was still more foamy than it should be. I doubled my MW load time to about 60 seconds and that did it. Wow, what a difference in performance. I even think mine was a tad bit watery, but much better than what I was doing before.
I snapped in the personna blade having never tried it, but figuring it can't hurt. Set at 2.1 the first couple of strokes with the WTG pass felt super dang aggressive. Huh?? So I used the other side and that felt like it wasn't even getting any stubble at all. I turned the razor setting down but a finishing the first pass was brutal. I probably should have stopped and grabbed another DE, but I just decided to use the "milder" side for the rest of my passes. XTG was better and the slicker lather really helped to do some clean-up as I went along. ATG was good, but the damage could be felt from that rough WTG pass. Somehow the razor head has come out of alignment and I'll be researching how to fix this issue. I think it's just a razor gap issue, but man I think when set on 2.1 it was more like 4.1 on the aggressive side and 1.1 on the milder side. I haven't dropped it or anything out of the ordinary so I'll have to do my research on the QShave to see how this issue was resolved by others. I may be shopping for a Merkur Futur in the near future if I can't figure this issue out.
Overall, I managed to get a BBS but only with extensive cart clean-up and DE clean-up. This took me longer and in the end, yesterday's cart shave felt much better. Maybe it's time to try the SE. I hear they are much easier to cut yourself on, less forgiving, but have a superior shave to the DE. Post shave feel of the thicker lather was amazing. I could tell immediately that there was a difference.
What I Changed: My lather for one. I loaded for double the time and bloomed the puck with a bit of water. Used a Personna blade for the first time.
I'm actually looking for a Parker Variant possibly as the next step up. I but an add in the BST section.
Yup, that was too long for sure. Mammoth painting resulted in a little bit of panic because I couldn't rinse the soap off at first and my brush was retaining a lot of soap when rinsing it so I'm thinking tomorrow I'll try 40 seconds and see where that gets me with the MW. I was doing 30 with the foamy lather so maybe just 10 more seconds will do it.
Time to find a Fatboy or Slim!
60 second load time eh? Damn man, save some for the shave gods! At least it’s working for you lol.
Yup, that was too long for sure. Mammoth painting resulted in a little bit of panic because I couldn't rinse the soap off at first and my brush was retaining a lot of soap when rinsing it so I'm thinking tomorrow I'll try 40 seconds and see where that gets me with the MW. I was doing 30 with the foamy lather so maybe just 10 more seconds will do it.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Wanna borrow one?
I saw quite a few on Amazon and man people seem to love them. I love the adjustable DE's right now. Being able to dial it in is really nice. My upper lip really needs a lower setting on the ATG pass. I dunno, my face feels pretty hurting still so I may have a lower setting.
Wow, thanks Dave. I'm thinking about it. Right now my money may be tied up on a LOTR sword on Ebay. If I lose the item I may just buy one. If I win the sword I may just take you up on the try it before you buy one borrow. Thanks again. Seems like guys that get them love them and want to keep them. That tells me why I need one.
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
You know of course what will solve your predicament then, right?
Shave ready LOTR Sword!
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
Just catching up. Mammoth painting and shave ready LOTR swords? Sign me up!
I assumed he was just getting it to hone and shave?
No worries, I didn't win the sword. That's ok, it gives me the chance to possibly buy the Variant.
Ahhhhhhhhh is all I can say. I took apart the QShave and flipped the spring in it and that seems to have fixed the problem. Maybe there was some spring fatigue there? Not sure but that means the clock is ticking on how long the flip will continue to work.
Today's Shave: Shave #49
Razor: QShave (Merkur Futur Clone) DE
Blade: Personna Platinum (Blue)
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Shower / wash with soap
Total Razor on Face Time: 14 minutes
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse, Walked outside and let the face soak in the 30 degree temps. Dry face, then immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face onl
y. Mammoth Painting, rubbing left over soap on the neck then rinsing.
Today I only lathered until the count of 40 with the MW Bay Rum. I had a bit of a hard time getting the lather to explode on me without adding too much water but I did get there. Today I did my exfoliation in the shower with the soap and went right to the lather painting it on after the shower. I did this because my face was a little sore and going to town with my brush just didn't seem like a great feeling thing this morning.
With the fixed razor set at 2.0 my face let me know after the first few strokes to back it off. Flipping the spring seemed to make the settings more aggressive so 1.7 was good with a sore face. Honestly, I'm not liking the Personna blade. It feels rougher than all the Gillette's I've used. Gillette's just seem to hold that top spot still in my book. WTG felt pretty good and I noticed a big difference right away having the razor fixed. That was the feel I remember when I first stared using it. XTG I kept it at the same setting and took it really easy. My face was telling me I'd done quite the job yesterday. I almost stopped there, but decided it can't be worse than it feels right now so I went for the ATG pass. I turned the razor setting to about 1.2 to shave the upper lip and under the lower lip because I have some irritation there from the previous 2 days. No blade buffing this morning and I used the cart for the ATG pass on the neck only. I'd say BBS in most places with DFS in some areas of soreness. What a great feeling shave compared to the last two. After the post shave witch hazel and soap lather soak from the mammoth painted supply and a good cold water splash I decided to head right outside into the chill. Ahhhh, that cold air felt great! I'll probably do a no shave day tomorrow to let my face recover some and get ready for shave #50!
What I Changed: Took apart the razor and flipped the spring, set the razor much lower, went outside and exposed the face to the cold as part of the post shave routine.
I suffered through two days with the razor messed up, but hopefully that's been resolved.
Know That He Suffered Greatly...He Did
Today's Shave: Shave #49
Razor: QShave (Merkur Futur Clone) DE
Blade: Personna Platinum (Blue)
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Shower / wash with soap
Total Razor on Face Time: 14 minutes
Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse, Walked outside and let the face soak in the 30 degree temps. Dry face, then immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face onl
y. Mammoth Painting, rubbing left over soap on the neck then rinsing.
Today I only lathered until the count of 40 with the MW Bay Rum. I had a bit of a hard time getting the lather to explode on me without adding too much water but I did get there. Today I did my exfoliation in the shower with the soap and went right to the lather painting it on after the shower. I did this because my face was a little sore and going to town with my brush just didn't seem like a great feeling thing this morning.
With the fixed razor set at 2.0 my face let me know after the first few strokes to back it off. Flipping the spring seemed to make the settings more aggressive so 1.7 was good with a sore face. Honestly, I'm not liking the Personna blade. It feels rougher than all the Gillette's I've used. Gillette's just seem to hold that top spot still in my book. WTG felt pretty good and I noticed a big difference right away having the razor fixed. That was the feel I remember when I first stared using it. XTG I kept it at the same setting and took it really easy. My face was telling me I'd done quite the job yesterday. I almost stopped there, but decided it can't be worse than it feels right now so I went for the ATG pass. I turned the razor setting to about 1.2 to shave the upper lip and under the lower lip because I have some irritation there from the previous 2 days. No blade buffing this morning and I used the cart for the ATG pass on the neck only. I'd say BBS in most places with DFS in some areas of soreness. What a great feeling shave compared to the last two. After the post shave witch hazel and soap lather soak from the mammoth painted supply and a good cold water splash I decided to head right outside into the chill. Ahhhh, that cold air felt great! I'll probably do a no shave day tomorrow to let my face recover some and get ready for shave #50!
What I Changed: Took apart the razor and flipped the spring, set the razor much lower, went outside and exposed the face to the cold as part of the post shave routine.
I suffered through two days with the razor messed up, but hopefully that's been resolved.
Know That He Suffered Greatly...He Did
Blank stare...
So...That Personna. I'd suggest putting them away and in a month or two give it another shot with a different razor.
Dave, I was dressed and just poked my head out in case you thought I went all native and did the mammoth dance out in the snow
Dave, I was dressed and just poked my head out in case you thought I went all native and did the mammoth dance out in the snow
If my neighbor were to do a mammoth dance in the snow I'd sell my house, but quick!
