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

The more water the better once lather has been made. Too much innitally will lead to a thin watery lather, but most soaps perform better with lots of water added slowly after building lather IMO.

Problem areas can be a pain (literally) and most of us have places that can be difficult. Learning hair growth pattern can help but doesnt always do the trick.
 
There's something about an Aqua Velva man! That about sums up the shave this morning. With the threat of the power going out it was interesting toward the end.

Today's Shave: Shave #83

Razor: Parker Variant - Graphite handle
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic smaller brush knot
Soap: Wild West Shaving Co's Aces & Eights
Bowl: Black Salsa Bowl (plastic) w/ textured rings inside
Pre Shave: Wash with soap in the shower
Total Razor on Face Time: 15 minutes

Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse. Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue on neck only. Every Man Jack Post Shave Balm to the face only. Aqua Velva Cologne. Mammoth Painting.

I really felt like changing it up this morning. I've been in a rut and haven't tried any new PIF items in a few days. The Aces and Eights has been begging to get off the bench and get in the game so in it came while the MW road the pine. I haven't used Aces and Eights since shave # 38 so it's been a while. I had to lather for a good 40 seconds on this soap to get a good build on the brush. I selected the smaller brush due to the puck of this soap being the size of a can of chewing tobacco. It lathered wonderfully and I must say easier than the MW soaps. The scent is nice, it just doesn't last long even with mammoth painting.

I kept everything the same with my 3 pass shave except I did try setting the razor at 3.0 for that first WTG pass on the top lip. It did shave it more closely I felt but not a huge difference. XTG was set at 2.5. All felt great and the slickness of the Aces & Eights was there and very nice. My problems came during the ATG pass. The lights flickered, which in my part of the country means you better hurry the heck up and draw water / get the flash lights around. Rushing through the ATG I got a little weeper on my chin and had to largely skip any clean-up on the upper lip. Do I mammoth paint or don't I? If the power goes out I could be stuck with a soapy chest. I chanced it and the lights flickered several more times but I got through it and had the quickest post shave in my wet shaving career. Overall, a great shave and I was BBS everywhere except my top lip which was CCS-. The Aces & Eights doesn't mammoth paint well in the aspect that the scent doesn't have the power that other soaps have but there is some presence there and it goes well with the AS & Cologne I used.

We got sleet and ice last night so I think this was causing issues with the power lines. We lose power 8-9 times a year at my place so my wife was in and out of the bathroom filling up water jugs. Those not familiar with well water, if you lose power your well pump doesn't pump water so you can't flush the toilet, shower or use the sinks. Drawing water allows us to keep critical infrastructure functioning
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Review of PIF Item: I've sorta resisted trying the Aqua Velva stuff because it just reminds me of the sort of stuff that you'd splash on in high school after showering after the big game. This morning though, the scent of the AV stuff seemed to work well with the Aces & Eights soap scent. The AS wasn't up to par with the Pacific Rush, but was a little milder I felt and the cooling effect was a notch or two less as well. It was still very pleasant and cooling. I like it and will keep it. My wife liked the scent as well. I just dabbed a bit of the classic AV cologne so I'd maintain the scent throughout the day. The cologne smells nice and is a classic scent, a manly scent so it's a keeper as well. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to use the AV and keep it in my rotation for occasional use. Thanks KJ!
 
Pacific Rush was the strongest menthol you could buy commercially. So comparing anything to that in that regard is going to come up short. Except for maybe Osage Rub, but that doesn’t really have a scent to speak of.

Also, the AV cologne, isn’t really a cologne in the traditional sense. I think it’s stronger than most AS so they call it that. I only use it as an aftershave.
 
Spider said:
Pacific Rush was the strongest menthol you could buy commercially. So comparing anything to that in that regard is going to come up short. Except for maybe Osage Rub, but that doesn’t really have a scent to speak of.

Also, the AV cologne, isn’t really a cologne in the traditional sense. I think it’s stronger than most AS so they call it that. I only use it as an aftershave.
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That's some good info KJ. You always have these little interesting tidbits that help me learn. I appreciate them because I'm so new to this.
 
Graybeard57 said:
Well, I finally learned the meaning of mammoth painting...
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Most people knock it and don't try it
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If you have chest hair, it works with most really good shaving soaps. It's not as powerful as an AS or cologne, but it allows you to keep that soap scent all day. Plus you just wash the leftover lather down the sink drain so I say why not do something productive with it?
 
This morning I just wanted to really sleep in. The thought of doing a quick cart shave in the shower crossed my mind, but then the specter of Nurse Dave started to haunt me like a drill sergeant ordering me out of bed for a good shave or turn in my man card I got a decent shave in.

Today's Shave: Shave #84

Razor: Parker Variant - Graphite handle
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Brush: Maggard Razors Synthetic larger brush knot from KJ's PIF
Soap: Mystic Water Lavender Lime
Bowl: Black Salsa Bowl (plastic) w/ textured rings inside
Pre Shave: Wash with soap in the shower
Total Razor on Face Time: 15 minutes

Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel (Walmart Brand) face only, Cold rinse. Pacific Rush AS on neck only. Every Man Jack Post Shave Balm to the face only. Mammoth Painting.

I was watching some TSC shaving videos and noticed that Josh is really pushing the brush down in his soap when loading it. Hmmm I thought, maybe me just moving it around on top is why I'm loading for 30 seconds. So I tried pushing the brush down harder. It did load in like 15 seconds, but I'm not sure I got the kind of lather I was looking for. I'll keep trying it to see if I can master it. The main difference between what I saw Josh doing and my normal brush loading technique is that he had soap spilling out of the puck container (as did I this morning) and the brush is getting soap much further in then when I do it. I'd say about 2/3 of my brush is loading with my normal method and soap isn't getting way up in the brush. I'm not sure if that really matters, but I'm sure someone will chime in and tell me which is the great thing about more experienced wet shavers reading my journal.

Onto the shave. The lather seemed nice but not as much residual slickness as normal. It seemed that each stroke of the razor took off all the soap and the face was dryish. I set the razor at 2.0 for WTG and 2.5 for the XTG on the face and ATG on the neck. 2.0 for the final ATG / XTG pass on the neck & face. As you recall yesterday I noted some issues with the upper lip. I did some reading and watched some TSC videos yesterday and paid attention to how folks were attacking that area. What I came away with were some interesting stretching and puffing techniques and that I need some diagonal passes that push toward being almost ATG. This worked well except for a nick and weeper right under the nose. That was cause by a blade angle mistake on my part and going to fast. So......I think I've figured it out. Today I got BBS everywhere and it felt pretty good with the exception of some redness and irritation on my right cheek. I'm not sure why that developed but I'm guessing some pressure mistakes on my part. With PR AS and EMJ post shave balm, I'm feeling pretty good.

On the personal side of things, not only do I like to make flint arrowheads, I also like to drawn them in my favorite medium.....pen and ink. I haven't worked much lately in pen and ink, but I love the detail you can obtain with it. I guess I've evolved more into a craftsman than an artist over the years, but this is something I pick up and do every so often. The below picture was something I did several years ago and kept for my personal collection eventually. The scanned image isn't as nice as the actual picture.

 
Dave in KY said:
Nice stuff Mike. I don't have an artistic one in my body but love art
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My art has really changed over the years. I can't paint to save my life if you can believe that. I suppose if I sat down and worked at it I might be able to paint something, but it doesn't come naturally to me. I watch Bob Ross paint and man he makes it look easy. I tend to want to paint every detail and he just takes a pallet knife and drags it across the picture accomplishing a better result
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No one does it like Bob!

Good update Mike. Glad the member videos are a source of inspiration for your shaves! Great job on the sketch pieces!
 
I'm away from a few shaves and the first one I read about is a cart shave?! What is this sorcery???
 
Blade-meister said:
My art has really changed over the years. I can't paint to save my life if you can believe that. I suppose if I sat down and worked at it I might be able to paint something, but it doesn't come naturally to me. I watch Bob Ross paint and man he makes it look easy. I tend to want to paint every detail and he just takes a pallet knife and drags it across the picture accomplishing a better result
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I was an art major for 4 years, and I can't draw or paint worth a darn. I of course was required to take several drawing classes and it was torture for me. I like those drawings. When you stare at them for a while I see waterfalls or waves in the patterns.
 
Great Update Mike. You are going to have to change the title of the thread soon. You are moving past rookie status.

Yes puffing and stretching help a lot. Also you have to change the angle to a little bit of a shallower on the hairs, when going against the grain. You will find attacking the shorter hairs smoother. They are more standing up at that point. Stepper angles will just ride over the hairs.

Very nice sketch. You should hang that on your fridge. Sorry tell that to my kids all the time. Not equating your art work to theirs.
 
How wet it your brush when you load? If it’s too dry you won’t pick up as much soap. You can add a few drops of water to the soap to make it load faster. I do that when needed.

That sketch is awesome. That’s a real talent.
 
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