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Nurse Dave's Journal
- Thread starter NurseDave
- Start date
Good Reads Dave!
Good reads Dave and I need a rope to keep me from falling too far into the straight rabbit hole.
2018 shave #154 (DE:33 SE:51 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Feather (1)
???
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
???
2018 shave #155 (DE:34 SE:51 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Feather (2)
SV Opuntia
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
Penhaligon's Opus 1870
2018 shave #156 (DE:35 SE:51 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Feather (3)
GTB
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
GTB AS and EdP
Hey there cadre! Been a busy week and weekend. As you see I'm sticking with a basic DE shave for now. I'm ready to get back into straights, but I also have box #4 of the soap passaround from B&B arriving any day. So, I'll probably stick with DE/SE shaves through that and then get to the straights. Applying the lather right from the shower is still working for me. When I used Opuntia, I bloomed it with more water than I normally would. Then when I got out of the shower, I rubbed the residual water on my face and worked it in a brush, then went and loaded my brush and made my lather in the bowl. I'm curious to see how this helps with a straight shave. I think it does help with the DE, but not to the point where I can shave any direction I want on my neck and get away with it.
Some of you may know, we were seriously looking at getting a bigger house a few months ago. Then made the decision we were going to stay where we are because we enjoy having money to do the other things we enjoy. Since that decision I've been more motivated to do things to make this house nicer. It's one my wife had with her ex, so I think I was just sitting back and feeling like it's just a resting place until we got something else. But now that we're staying here, I see my weekends are filled with manual labor and imprinting my mark on it. After a good power washing and weeding this weekend, I think the front area is good for now. Next is making a few changes to make our wine/sitting area nicer and looking at painting inside and out. Inside shouldn't be too big of a deal because that can be done room by room. Outside, I'm sure will be a much bigger pain. Especially since we'll be changing the colour and there's an old metal storage shed right next to the house that I think will fall apart if there's an attempt to move it.
Busy week this week as well. My parents roll in Thursday to celebrate the last of our elementary school "graduations" and then my dad's birthday. Going to keep us hopping.
Been reading the cadre during down times, just not a lot of time to reply to everyone.
Parker 76R w/ Feather (1)
???
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
???
2018 shave #155 (DE:34 SE:51 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Feather (2)
SV Opuntia
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
Penhaligon's Opus 1870
2018 shave #156 (DE:35 SE:51 Str:68 Cart:2)
Parker 76R w/ Feather (3)
GTB
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
GTB AS and EdP
Hey there cadre! Been a busy week and weekend. As you see I'm sticking with a basic DE shave for now. I'm ready to get back into straights, but I also have box #4 of the soap passaround from B&B arriving any day. So, I'll probably stick with DE/SE shaves through that and then get to the straights. Applying the lather right from the shower is still working for me. When I used Opuntia, I bloomed it with more water than I normally would. Then when I got out of the shower, I rubbed the residual water on my face and worked it in a brush, then went and loaded my brush and made my lather in the bowl. I'm curious to see how this helps with a straight shave. I think it does help with the DE, but not to the point where I can shave any direction I want on my neck and get away with it.
Some of you may know, we were seriously looking at getting a bigger house a few months ago. Then made the decision we were going to stay where we are because we enjoy having money to do the other things we enjoy. Since that decision I've been more motivated to do things to make this house nicer. It's one my wife had with her ex, so I think I was just sitting back and feeling like it's just a resting place until we got something else. But now that we're staying here, I see my weekends are filled with manual labor and imprinting my mark on it. After a good power washing and weeding this weekend, I think the front area is good for now. Next is making a few changes to make our wine/sitting area nicer and looking at painting inside and out. Inside shouldn't be too big of a deal because that can be done room by room. Outside, I'm sure will be a much bigger pain. Especially since we'll be changing the colour and there's an old metal storage shed right next to the house that I think will fall apart if there's an attempt to move it.
Busy week this week as well. My parents roll in Thursday to celebrate the last of our elementary school "graduations" and then my dad's birthday. Going to keep us hopping.
Been reading the cadre during down times, just not a lot of time to reply to everyone.
I'm tired just reading how busy you are. Take a deep breath and come up for air every now and then. We'll be here .?
Catching up Dave Great reads!, good luck on the reno, and I am glad you are embracing a facial prep we have talked, and you know how important I think it is. It sets the stage for the entire shave. Good luck finding a system that works for you
Chad's next custom title "The Cake Police"Good stuff Dave. and Good luck with the home improvements.
Don't eat too much cake at the party
I'm tired just reading how busy you are. Take a deep breath and come up for air every now and then. We'll be here .
Thanks guys. I don't know if it's the mental motivation or that I'm in that phase of using the CPAP where have more energy to get stuff done, but I figure I shouldn't sit while I still have the willpower to get something done.
Yesterday I got the new wine fridge delivered, in place, leveled and filled. Just have to wait 48hrs to plug it in. And we got some new dining room chairs, so I went and picked those up and got them in place. Nice heavy wood ones. My wife had some decent chairs when I met her so we've been using those. But there were fabric covered and slowly collecting stains over 15 years. They were ones where the fabric went all the way to the floor. I was very happily surprised how much more open and light the room looks with chairs you can see though. We can see the Persian carpet under the table and the nice structural accents of the table itself. Wouldn't have though it would have made a difference like that, but it's very cool.
Thanks Dave. One day this summer I'll give the hot towel a shot. I can just see my wife's face when I tell her I actually do need that 50 pack of little white towels from Costco because I have a new shave routine!
2018 shave #157 (DE:35 SE:52 Str:68 Cart:2)
Asylum "The Doctor" RX w/ Feather Proguard (1)
Long Rifle Brown Bess & Long Rifle Hunting Lodge
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
V's Barbershop Tonic
I got the B&B soap passaround box yesterday. It sure is hard to decide which few soaps I'll try out of what has to be over 100 samples. Today was Long Rifle. I'd seen Long Rifle used with fair consistency over on B&B so I figured it must be a decent performer. Lathering it was a bit of a surprise. Both samples were marked as new 2018 forumlas. They started as very fluffy and airy. As water was added, they did firm u
p some, but never got to that really thick and creamy consistency. It was almost like they skipped over that stage and went to what an awesome soap looks like when it's watered down a bit for straight shaving. Both were also very weak in the scent department from the sample and only Hunting Lodge was a bit stronger on lathering.
The first pass was with Brown Bess. The lather applied better than I thought it would with how thin it appeared. The scent never really took off though. It was weak enough I couldn't really make out what it was. The shave was good though. Nice cushion and the blade glided like it wasn't even there. On rinsing there was also a decent amount of slickness. Not top bar, but nothing to complain about. The 2nd and 3rd pass were with Hunting Lodge. This one had a little stronger scent on application. Maybe up to a 3/5 with main notes of leather. I like it. The shave experience was the same. Nice protection and good slickness. The performance is there for sure, and I would certainly use Hunting Lodge, but probably not buy it because the scent still needs to be stronger. Brown Bess, also good performance, but it would be a pass due to almost no scent at all.
At home, one of my long term projects is a wine sitting area for adults. Some of you may remember I made a coffee table out of a wine barrel I cut in half. And there's also our largest wine fridge in that room. The next steps are replacing the couch that's in there with a couple of nice, preferably worn leather, chairs and getting a nicer computer desk. The desk is another one of those things that was inherited and just one of those basic black fiberboard things. Today I pick-up a new desk we ordered that will fit in more with what I want the decor to be and has less storage drawers so it will open the room up a bit. Slowly but surly.
Asylum "The Doctor" RX w/ Feather Proguard (1)
Long Rifle Brown Bess & Long Rifle Hunting Lodge
RazoRock synthetic 24mm
Witch Hazel & Alum
Nivea post shave balm
V's Barbershop Tonic
I got the B&B soap passaround box yesterday. It sure is hard to decide which few soaps I'll try out of what has to be over 100 samples. Today was Long Rifle. I'd seen Long Rifle used with fair consistency over on B&B so I figured it must be a decent performer. Lathering it was a bit of a surprise. Both samples were marked as new 2018 forumlas. They started as very fluffy and airy. As water was added, they did firm u
p some, but never got to that really thick and creamy consistency. It was almost like they skipped over that stage and went to what an awesome soap looks like when it's watered down a bit for straight shaving. Both were also very weak in the scent department from the sample and only Hunting Lodge was a bit stronger on lathering.
The first pass was with Brown Bess. The lather applied better than I thought it would with how thin it appeared. The scent never really took off though. It was weak enough I couldn't really make out what it was. The shave was good though. Nice cushion and the blade glided like it wasn't even there. On rinsing there was also a decent amount of slickness. Not top bar, but nothing to complain about. The 2nd and 3rd pass were with Hunting Lodge. This one had a little stronger scent on application. Maybe up to a 3/5 with main notes of leather. I like it. The shave experience was the same. Nice protection and good slickness. The performance is there for sure, and I would certainly use Hunting Lodge, but probably not buy it because the scent still needs to be stronger. Brown Bess, also good performance, but it would be a pass due to almost no scent at all.
At home, one of my long term projects is a wine sitting area for adults. Some of you may remember I made a coffee table out of a wine barrel I cut in half. And there's also our largest wine fridge in that room. The next steps are replacing the couch that's in there with a couple of nice, preferably worn leather, chairs and getting a nicer computer desk. The desk is another one of those things that was inherited and just one of those basic black fiberboard things. Today I pick-up a new desk we ordered that will fit in more with what I want the decor to be and has less storage drawers so it will open the room up a bit. Slowly but surly.
Not sure how I got so far behind in your journal Dave, but I did, and I apologize. I am also very sorry that you are struggling so with the traditional straight razor. With 68 shaves in with a straight (I assume that includes AC straights as well) it is a little perplexing as to what might be the issue. Certainly blade keenness comes to mind as a potential problem. Shave ready is a subjective term by one person intended to be applicable to the entire population of shavers. Sometimes this is the case, but often it is not. Shave ready really needs to be discerned by the individual shaver. Not sure where all of your razors have come from (with respect to honing) but perhaps you have not had one that suits your face. I know Chris H. has this issue with his whiskers. An edge that gave me a BBS only will get him to DFS.
Good luck with your continued journey though. Perhaps visit the traditional straight when you have plenty of time, and no expectations. Slow it down. Today I was shaving and I had a bunch of lather accumulated on the blade. As I mentioned in my journal, all of the shave videos popping up here had me go through my routine, thinking about what I would be saying if I were doing a shave video. Well, on my initial WTG pass, I typically will shave the entire left side of my face to the midline, below the lip, without rinsing the lather off. I always will rinse for the below the nose pass so as to see better the edge, and I perform the under nose scoop which would deposit the built up later above my lip. When I started the pass from the corner of my mouth down to my chin, I made a mental note that the amount of lather on the blade would not allow the viewer (nor me) a clear view of what I was actually doing, yet I do it like this every day. Then the idea was reinforced in my consciousness that I shave more by feel than I do by sight. I know that I had talked about this many times in my journal at the other site when I was learning, but when the feel of the bevel on the skin is learned, the shaves do improve. The feel is a combination of angle and pressure, and it can only be achieved through trial and error. For the razors that I have honed and are currently using, I will say that I do use more pressure than if I were shaving with an AC type razor with a fresh Pro Super. And I learned that by trial and error as well.
Good luck with your continued journey though. Perhaps visit the traditional straight when you have plenty of time, and no expectations. Slow it down. Today I was shaving and I had a bunch of lather accumulated on the blade. As I mentioned in my journal, all of the shave videos popping up here had me go through my routine, thinking about what I would be saying if I were doing a shave video. Well, on my initial WTG pass, I typically will shave the entire left side of my face to the midline, below the lip, without rinsing the lather off. I always will rinse for the below the nose pass so as to see better the edge, and I perform the under nose scoop which would deposit the built up later above my lip. When I started the pass from the corner of my mouth down to my chin, I made a mental note that the amount of lather on the blade would not allow the viewer (nor me) a clear view of what I was actually doing, yet I do it like this every day. Then the idea was reinforced in my consciousness that I shave more by feel than I do by sight. I know that I had talked about this many times in my journal at the other site when I was learning, but when the feel of the bevel on the skin is learned, the shaves do improve. The feel is a combination of angle and pressure, and it can only be achieved through trial and error. For the razors that I have honed and are currently using, I will say that I do use more pressure than if I were shaving with an AC type razor with a fresh Pro Super. And I learned that by trial and error as well.
I'm looking forward to pictures of the wine sitting area. Sounds like it is going to turn out awesome! We are in the process of looking for a wine fridge but definitely going to be getting one smaller than yours lol.
And hey Birthday Cake isn't bad but have you ever had Birthday Pie??? That's what I get every year.
And hey Birthday Cake isn't bad but have you ever had Birthday Pie??? That's what I get every year.