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Kingfisher's open blade (straight razors and shavettes) journey
- Thread starter kingfisher
- Start date
Thanks. See below....
Ditto.
Sound like you might have used too much. I literally put exactly two drops on my hand and rubbed it in the entire shaving area. For the entire face, 4 drops would suffice.
I don't know; I feel like I just shave better with my left hand. In any case, today's shave result might help with interpreting what happened (or didn't happen).
125/162 this morning.
One more go with the ZY, to make it similar to yesterday's shave. Used the preshave oil on the right side of my face today. For lather, I went with Mike's in the OCBP scent.
You know how, even when using a soap you use and love, sometimes you get a lather that's even better than you expect? There are variations from day to day, even if minute. Well, today was one of the 99th percentile Mike's lathers. Just spectacular.
Three passes all over and a bit of clean-up with the Hybrid Tech left me CCS+/DFS-. I had to do a bit more clean-up today than yesterday, but not much. I tried to do a pass on the right neck that would be more ear-to-nose but with only moderate success. I haven't really figured out how to get the right neck clean (left neck is much better).
Post-shave face feel was great; perhaps a BIT softer on the right. I noticed the post-shave face feel was a BIT softer on the left after yesterday's shave. Aside from that, I didn't notice any difference whatsoever between the side that got the oil and the side that did not. Slickness was the same, reduction was the same, comfort was the same, protection was the same.
My conclusion? Maybe I'll save the oil for winter, when that slight, almost imperceptible improvement in skin softness post-shave might make a difference because of dryness of the air.
Have a great day, gentleman!
Thanks, guys.
126/163 this morning.
Went back to the Noonan and used Stirling Peach. Lovely lather.
Today's shave was adequate. Reduction was not as good as usual, but I ended up with a good shave. There was a tiny bit of tugging in the densest spots. It was my 21st shave with the Noonan since I refreshed the edge on the balsa, and it still shaved pretty well, but I think maybe the reduction was less because the edge is not as keen as it used to be. I'm pretty happy that I can get 21 shaves! It tells me my technique is better, and also that my stropping is much better than it used to be.
I'll probably refresh the edge on the CrOx tonight and see if there is any change tomorrow.
Overall, though, another successful outing. No cuts, no nicks, no weepers. Have a great day, gents.
Thanks, Josh!
So, last night I went ahead and took the blade to the CrOx for just 15 laps (it's a small paddle strop; maybe 9 inches long and the CrOx balsa is maybe 2 inches wide). So I didn't do much. Didn't spend much time. And when I wiped off the blade, I didn't see any green at all. I was concerned that maybe there wasn't much, if any, CrOx left on the balsa. I did NOT do any passes at all on the FeOx, because I've noticed the edges getting harsh when I do that.
So, I stropped the heck out of it and put it away (I did all this last night).
127/164 this morning.
To be honest, I didn't expect the edge to be much different, given the points I just made, above. Lather was Soapy Science in My Special Blend (LOVE IT). Anyway, imagine my surprise to feel how much keener the edge was! Wow! Like night and day. Not harsh at all, but smooth and sharp. Even in the dense places it went right through.
Reduction with each pass was much better, too. I did a third pass just because, and ended up CCS+/DFS-. I had a tiny bit of irritation just right of the Adam's apple, where I think I applied too much pressure on the first pass (with the keener edge, that pressure is not necessary).
Anyway, it was amazing. The edge yesterday would still shave, but it had obviously rounded quite a bit since the last CrOx refresh. I think from now on I will refresh more frequently. Maybe as soon as I feel it having a hard time with a dense spot or when I notice the reduction is going downhill. I think I can reasonably expect to get 10 or 11 shaves between refreshes without any problem at all and without much edge deterioration.
Anyway, a great shave today. I hope yours was as nice as mine was. Have a good day, gents.
Thanks, guys.
128/165 this morning.
After such a great shave yesterday, today's was a major disappointment. I decided to try the RR What the Puck? soap again. I had had mediocre results from it previously, so I decided to load more. I managed to make a very photogenic lather, but it is much airier/fluffier than I prefer.
Once I got it on the mug and the best it could be, I thought it would suffice. For the right cheek it was fine. I got a tiny pinpoint weeper on the right side of the chin in a place I have never had a weeper before, which was odd. Didn't feel it at all. Felt like technique was good. Right neck went OK.
Left cheek felt fine, but got a small weeper there, too, right in the middle of the cheek. No idea why. Ended up with another just below my lip. Left neck was OK.
Second pass was more of the same; a tiny weeper just above the lip on the left side, and another one in the middle of my chin! That made FIVE! Mind you, I've never had more than one before, even when I was a rank beginner.
After the second pass, I dried off the razor and finished the shave with my Atra! I was frustrated.
Rinsing after the shave was through revealed more areas of sensitivity, but no more weepers. I used the F/Extra alcohol-heavy aftershave to see if there were any other spots and there weren't. Only the weeper on the left cheek and the one on the middle of chin required the styptic. They were all small. My face looks fine now, but it still feels somewhat irritated.
I can't help but wonder what went wrong? And also whether any of these would have happened had I used Soapy Science or Mike's or Stirling?
To make matters worse, I remembered that last night I was supposed to have cleaned the transom window over the front door. I decided it would be nice to surprise my wife by doing it before I went to work. Only problem is that I forgot it's best not to wash windows that are in direct sunlight, for multiple reasons. First thing that happened was that I got an abrasion on my forearm from the sharp metal over the screen door. Second thing was that I took a direct reflection of the sun right into my eyes when I looked up to see if I was getting the spots off; for well over 30 minutes my vision was messed up. That was several hours ago and it still isn't completely back to normal. I think I got a small burn on my retina! This about 3 weeks after the eye doctor told me that I need to be really careful about sun exposure for my eyes because I have early changes in the retina from sun damage. Whoopsies. I know it was my stupidity but I couldn't help but think of the old adage "no good deed goes unpunished." Sigh.
On the bright side (pun intended), the transom window is clean...........
I hope your day started a lot better than mine did.
I'm kinda sad that I didn't get any sympathy for my 5-weeper shave.
As if that weren't bad enough, when I got to the parking lot to drive home from work this evening, there was about a 14-inch long crack in my windshield. I've only had the car since February. :-(
As if that weren't bad enough, when I got to the parking lot to drive home from work this evening, there was about a 14-inch long crack in my windshield. I've only had the car since February. :-(
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Sorry Randall, super busy day for me. Just now doing mass catch up!
I hope the weekend improves things!
Yeah, it was a pretty bad day. First one I've had in a long time, though, so I can't really complain. Turns out the crack is likely a "stress crack" and I will have to have the entire windshield replaced. Sigh.
On the plus side, my vision seems to have recovered. I just hope I didn't make my other retinal problem progress too much. Guess I'll find out at my next follow-up.
Hadn't heard of others, but yesterday's shave was a first for me in quite some time. In fact, in my entire straight razor journey I never really had much blood letting except on one shave with the Feather SS, when I got a linear cut (it was shallow, though).
Thanks, Chris. So far, so good, see below.
129/166 this morning.
Last night I stropped up both the Noonan and the ZY, since I couldn't decide whether to jump back up on the horse that threw me 5 times yesterday, lol. Ultimately I decided that if I switched to the ZY and had a great shave, I'd never know whether the problem was the Noonan of the What the Puck lather. So, in the interest of science, although I took both razors in with me for the shave, I grabbed the Noonan and went to it after lathering up Soapy Science Lollipop Citrus (I knew I would get an outstanding lather).
Well, three passes later, CCS+, without weepers or cuts. A tiny bit of irritation just to the right of the Adam's apple where the hair grows almost perfectly west to east, but not much. Clean-up was with a Schick injector that I have had for over a year but never used. I didn't know I had blades, but found a dispenser with a couple of blades left in my stash. Not sure what model it is; off-white handle with horizontal lines on it, gold head. Real nice, if 1960s-looking razor. Clean-up with this baby was a breeze, as I'm sure you can imagine.
So, the problem was either the lather, or the fact that yesterday was Friday the 13th. LOL.
In any case, my shave game is back on track. Have a great weekend. Tomorrow is my day off of open blades. I'll probably take that Schick for a spin.