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Newbie Questions

Blade-meister

Blade-meister

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I've been wet shaving for a little over a month. One problem I'm having is the disappearing lather syndrome once it goes on my face. I watch all the videos here and man the shaving soap lather is much thicker on the face than mine. When I lather I get a good lather in my bowl with nice peaks that look glossy and then I put it on my face and it's like it starts to evaporate. I sometimes have to reapply on the neck. What's going on? I'm using MW and Simpson Super Badger. I do wet my face just prior to applying the lather, could it be I'm leaving too much water on my face?

The other thing I noticed is that it seems like all you guys have no redness after a shave. Since getting WH mine has lessened considerably, but I still have a red neck in some areas that lessens a few hours after my shave but still looks like razor burn all day. I'm thinking my pursuit of BBS is too much for my face using the Micro Touch DE. I've thought about just going back to WTG & XTG until I can get red free shaves but I'm used to getting a much better shave with my cart in the shower so it drives me crazy to not be smooth all day.

Had my first bad shave today, and it can make a guy cranky
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. DFS+ / BBS in some areas but it feels bad afterward. I was only 3 shaves into my Astra SP blade, but it feels like #4 this morning was one too many for me. Seems like I should be getting more mileage out of the Astra blade than 3 shaves. I may have to do a one pass shave tomorrow just to give it a break. Thought I was doing pretty good, not so sure now.
 
Ah... the Mystic Waters disappearing act. Yup that is a very common theme. That soap is known to have lathering difficulties however once mastered it is one of the best out there. I would recommend loading more. It sounds like you are not getting enough soap into the brush. Also nothing wrong with a badger brush but have you by chance tried a synthetic? Razorock, Stirling, and Maggards all 3 sell synthetics at a a great price.
 
Mike you may be onto something about too much water on the face if it truly is a good lather in the bowl. I haven't used MW soap yet so don't know it's breaking point well. The redness will be better as your technique improves and you gt the correct angle for any given razor and lighten any pressure you might be applying. Again I'm not familiar with the Micro Touch. Don't give up. There will be ups and downs. Learn from them as you go. Perhaps start a journal as some do and log your shaves. It will help you analyze what you are doing that works and what does not. Members can follow and offer tips or suggestions. Also gives you a written log to go back and refer too also.

Sent you a private message
 
Definitely don’t be stingy with your soap. However long you are spending loading your brush, double it. See if that helps. I load MW pretty heavily for at least 30-40 seconds. And add water slowly into your later, a few drops at a time.

Redness SS can be normal a month into it. Your face is still getting used to it. Technique can also be a cause. Maybe you are using too much pressure (strive for little to none). Or possibly you are holding your razor at the wrong angle, causing a scraping, rather than slicing action.

I chased BBS for a long time, because it’s what everyone seemed to do. Did 4 passes, and almost always ended up with irritation. When I gave that up and switched to 2 passes + touchup, I was much happier. Resulted in a quicker and a more comfortable shave.

Blade longevity is a weird thing. Any blade will last me a week or two easy, but some I can get much, much more out of them. Some people use for 2-3 days then toss. If your blades are giving out that soon and you think they should last longer, technique again could be your issue. If you are too steep and the blade is scraping, the edge will go out faster.
 
Also I should point out that MW soap does not like Hot water. Luke warm at the most and it really makes a difference. Also I will reiterate that the load time on MW seems considerably longer for me compared to others as well.
 
Good question! I think it’s been sufficiently answered for now.

Good job taking advantage of the knowledge base here, lots of experience in these hallowed halls!
 
Good advice above. More product is usually a good starting point for lather issues. Starting with a dryer brush was also helpful for me--you can always add water, but you can't take it away. Good luck!
 
I gave up the chase for the perfect shave. I also get redness on the bottom of my neck when I do. I also do a 2 pass shave and am happy. Don't chase the perfection and it will find you.

Load more soap. I hold the tin upside down and load for about 15 seconds. Also don't be afraid to reload the brush. When I first started I felt like a failure when I couldn't get 3 passes worth of lather out of one loading. Don't worry about it. I will reload when needed. It is your face so find what works for you.
 
Reading through this wisdom I see a few things I'm doing wrong. I think my brush is too wet and I'm leaving my face dripping wet after each rinse. I've been giving the brush a good shake after pulling it out of my soaking bowl (soak my brush while taking a shower). I may also not have perfected that 30 degree angle. When I start I park the razor tilted back on the safety guard and tilt up until I hear it start cutting my beard. This is the angle I try to maintain throughout my shave.

Pressure is not my issue in general because I've always felt comfortable gripping the razor with just my middle finger and thumb letting the weight of the razor work for me. Even with carts I had a light pressure system. But, I also know that I may think I am not applying pressure when I might be just a tiny bit.

At any rate, I appreciate the freely shared wisdom and may consider a shave journal just so other newbies can see my struggles and learn someday.
 
This is one of the coolest things about traditional shaving. I was an every other day cart guy because the razor burn was just too much if I tried every day. Even a few months into using a DE, while I was able to shave every day, I swore I'd never be able to get a BBS without any irritation. Now I can pretty much do that at whim. What changed?

First, there is experience. Maybe you are using the correct pressure, but I would say it would be unusual for most people a month in to actually be using NO pressure. Read my signature. Even folks that have been shaving a lot longer have times they need to remind themselves to not use any pressure.

The other things that changed were pre and post shave. And these still get tweaked from time to time. The one that made the biggest change by far was switching to cold water shaving. If you've never tried it, it sounds terrible but only after a day or two I was used to it and most of the neck irritation seemed to vanish like magic. When I'm on vacation to a fairly warm place where the water isn't cold, I can sure feel a difference. Adding in alum AND witch hazel has helped. I experimented with only one or the other and noticed a difference. And then adding a moisturizer helped as well. For pre shave I don't do as much as some around here and doing more would probably help as well. The one thing I've switched recently is prepping my lather before my shave. I realized that with cart shaving, if I didn't get to the razor just minuted after I got out of the shower then I didn't shave because things had dried up enough it hurt a lot. I figure that's no different now just because I'm using different equipment. So I lather up my soap in my bowl so it's ready to go when I get out and hopefully my whiskers are still softer.
 
Blade-meister said:
When I start I park the razor tilted back on the safety guard and tilt up until I hear it start cutting my beard.
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I prefer the opposite approach. Rest the cap on your face, and rotate until the blade just starts cutting. That’s where you want to be for optimal slicing. It’s also a way to tone down aggressive razors. It’s called riding the cap.
 
Spider said:
I prefer the opposite approach. Rest the cap on your face, and rotate until the blade just starts cutting. That’s where you want to be for optimal slicing. It’s also a way to tone down aggressive razors. It’s called riding the cap.
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^^^This^^^
 
Nurse Dave - I'm sure you are right. I think when I'm concentrating on clean-up on the neck that my muscle memory is likely reverting back to light cart pressure without me really noting it. My post shave has come a long way, but could use some improvement. I do hot water shave & rinse with hot water so maybe that's what is not helping with the MW basically melting and evaporating. I'll try cold.

Spider - My mistake in termonology, I meant the cap. I have a TTO DE so the cap that butterfly's open is what I'm resting on my cheek and slowly working forward to find my angle. I realized after reading your post that I used guard which is below the blade - yeah yikes that would be a terrible way to start
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My strategy going forward is to take each of your suggestions and change one at a time (so I'm not changing too many variables at a time) starting with the lather issues first. If I'm not slick enough that could be some of the irritation issues. When I fix that and I'm getting good face lathers I'll move forward with looking at the cold water shaving and try that for a stint. I think for tomorrow and Saturday I'll take Spider's advice and try for a nice comfortable 2 pass shave to give my face some time to recover. I may just focus on that until I can get consistent irritation free shaves. I'm currently doing WTG, XTG, & ATG with some clean-up chasing and catching that BBS shave but at a price. Thanks everyone!
 
Blade-meister said:
Spider - My mistake in termonology, I meant the cap. I have a TTO DE so the cap that butterfly's open is what I'm resting on my cheek and slowly working forward to find my angle. I realized after reading your post that I used guard which is below the blade - yeah yikes that would be a terrible way to start
1f604.png


My strategy going forward is to take each of your suggestions and change one at a time (so I'm not changing too many variables at a time) starting with the lather issues first. If I'm not slick enough that could be some of the irritation issues.
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Cool your water off that you make the lather with. MW rule#1

Yes KJ starting with the guard and then working from there would suck eggs.

The words in blue are what 1000000% of the time these guys have busted my only one year into this rabbit hole chops about the most
 
Super good suggestions everyone. I thought I'd move this discussion to a shaving journal rather than stretch this thread out with daily reports of progress. My hope is that as I learn and receive input to my journal that other newbies can read it and gain some insight to similar problems they may be having. Here's a link to my journal:

https://www.theshavingcadre.com/post/an-unexpected-journey-a-newbies-walk-in-wet-shaving-9873440?pid=1305720426

I welcome all comments. It's the only way I'm going to learn.
 
Blade-meister said:
The other thing I noticed is that it seems like all you guys have no redness after a shave. Since getting WH mine has lessened considerably, but I still have a red neck in some areas that lessens a few hours after my shave but still looks like razor burn all day. I'm thinking my pursuit of BBS is too much for my face using the Micro Touch DE. I've thought about just going back to WTG & XTG until I can get red free shaves but I'm used to getting a much better shave with my cart in the shower so it drives me crazy to not be smooth all day. N31
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I too started with a Micro Touch DE. I wil say that the factor that eliminated redness for me the quickest was the use of cold water during my shave. I haven't touched warm water since then, except for my pre-shave hot towel soak.
 
Wild West - I took your advice on the cold water and it works really well. I haven't used hot water since. I thought it would feel like eating cold fish, but it's actually quite refreshing. I don't feel like I'm getting beat red as I make shaving passes. Great tip!
 
Blade-meister said:
Wild West - I took your advice on the cold water and it works really well. I haven't used hot water since. I thought it would feel like eating cold fish, but it's actually quite refreshing. I don't feel like I'm getting beat red as I make shaving passes. Great tip!
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Excellent! I remember being apprehensive the first time, but the results delivered. I am glad they did for you as well.
 
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