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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving

Good stuff Mike! I personally like the Parker blades, but like anything else in wet shaving, you could have a totally different experience. Maybe give a second chance to see if you can dial it in a little better.
 
SteveChuckFrank said:
Good stuff Mike! I personally like the Parker blades, but like anything else in wet shaving, you could have a totally different experience. Maybe give a second chance to see if you can dial it in a little better.
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I've heard lots of good things about Parker blades so I was expecting something decent but they felt like a Voskod blades to me. I always give blades another go. I might just need to be at a 1.0 setting for this blade for some reason. I know my angle was right on and my pressure was non existent today too. Weird. Oh well YMMV I guess applies here.
 
I used one UJ product awhile back and found it too perfumy for my taste. I cannot recall what it was called, but it was a solid cologne.

Nice setup and shave!
 
Blade-meister said:
I was more thinking of the guys that get at that 3 day growth length and then get trimmers that keep it at that length. It just looks itchy and uncomfortable to me, but hey if they like it that's all that matters. My brothers all shake their heads because I just gotta have a daily clean shave.

I've been working through your video logs and picking up some good things. Thanks for doing that Dave!
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Gotcha, that makes sense and I totally agree
 
Blade-meister said:
I've heard lots of good things about Parker blades so I was expecting something decent but they felt like a Voskod blades to me. I always give blades another go. I might just need to be at a 1.0 setting for this blade for some reason. I know my angle was right on and my pressure was non existent today too. Weird. Oh well YMMV I guess applies here.
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Haha well I guess our tastes are just different across the board because I really like Voskhod blades too.
 
I gave Voskhod's 2 tries and man it was just rough feeling compared to my Gillette SB's. So far they are the only blades I really like.
 
Today is my forty sixtyith birthday! Alas forty sixtyith years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable wet shavers
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My take on Bilbo's speech from LOTR. Because it was my birthday I really wanted a great shave so I took my time in all aspects of this shave.



Today's Shave: Shave #67

Razor: Parker Variant - Graphite handle
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic
Soap: Mystic Water Bay Rum
Bowl: Walmart Salsa Bowl (plastic)
Pre Shave: Wash with soap in the shower
Total Razor on Face Time: 18 minutes

Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse. Dried face and immediately applied Nivea AS Balm to the face only. Mammoth Painting.

Today I quickly got rid of the Parker blade from yesterday and loaded my favorite SB blade. I made my lather this morning with about twice the amount of water as yesterday adding it a little few drops at a time. I put more water in the lather bowl initially, and didn't wring my brush out as dry. It all fell together for a lot more lather that was rich and creamy, not foamy or having any bubbles at all so I think I got closer to perfect this morning.

I didn't really do anything special with my WTG, XTG, and ATG passes other than going slowly and being careful on my blade angle. I am noticing that I have a tendency to want to ride the guard the further into my stroke that I am so I really need to pay close attention to it. I set the razor at 2.5 and really let the weight of the Variant do the work. For clean-up I set the razor at 1.5 and spent a generous amount of time getting super smooth. I think I was pretty darn close to DBBS, but I'm not ready to declare I was there. A very nice BBS+ everywhere with hardly any redness or irritation considering the amount of clean-up I did. What a great shave and wonderful birthday present.

Ironically I had no cuts or weepers which is my normal shave but somehow I was fanning my face out on the cold porch and I managed to gouge my chin with my fingernail. So I have a nice sized cut that looks like it was my first time shaving or something. That was the only downside to the shave this morning and when I was putting my razor back this morning she had a look on her face like "Hey love, I didn't do that to your chin you know."
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You are today’s marathon journal read. Great stuff! The best thing for lathering is to experiment and not be afraid to go back to the puck for more product if needed. We live pretty close to a large outcropping of flint where a knap-in is held every year. When I was a kid we could easily find arrow heads along the railroad beds. Not so much now.
 
First of all, Happy Birthday. 2nd of all, has your wife seen this mammoth painting you do?
 
Happy birthday Mike! Good shave. Enjoy your day!

Hopefully you know most of us as well as you should like and like us more than half as much as we deserve!
 
Thanks to all for their birthday wishes.

Majorrich said:
You are today’s marathon journal read. Great stuff! The best thing for lathering is to experiment and not be afraid to go back to the puck for more product if needed. We live pretty close to a large outcropping of flint where a knap-in is held every year. When I was a kid we could easily find arrow heads along the railroad beds. Not so much now.
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That sounds like Flint Ridge! Ah yes, the best flint in America. I know quite a few of the Ohio Flintknappers but have never made the journey out there to the Knap-in or to quarry flint in Roy Miller's quarry or the Nether's farm.

dangerousdon said:
Great Birthday Shave! But I have to say...I made it to 46 before you did!
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Dang, I'll never catch up will I

NurseDave said:
First of all, Happy Birthday. 2nd of all, has your wife seen this mammoth painting you do?
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She sees the mammoth painting ceremony every morning She like it because I smell like MW Bay Rum all day and into the evening. It never leaves you once you do the dance and the mammoth painting ceremony. Just wait until my PIF in 2019, mammoth painting will be a requirement to enter

GearNoir said:
Happy birthday Mike! Good shave. Enjoy your day!

Hopefully you know most of us as well as you should like and like us more than half as much as we deserve!
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I did leave that part out because I only know maybe a couple of you and would like to get to know as many as I can. TSC has such great community and comradery. We might as well be a shire full of wet shaving hobbits!

Speaking of hobbits, you ever check their faces out in the movies? The gotta be wet shaving those guys to get that smooth. So, I'll pose the fun question here.....If you were a hobbit from the LOTR movie series, who would you be? I'll go first. I'd be Sam all the way. I'm a great 2nd in charge person and a great supporter and defender of my brothers.


Question is, who on TSC would be this hobbit?

 
I'd probably be Frodo by default. I hate sitting around, I'm always the one that's dumb enough to say I'll do what everyone else thinks is a stupid idea, and I don't have all 10 fingers.
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Happy birthday Mike! Sounds like you had a great shave to go with it!

As far as hobbits go, I’d probably be Pippin or Merry. Always looking for a snack, a good ale, and a good time!
 
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