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Steve's Journal: The Saga Continues....

Alright alright, I'll mention the elephant in the room. GTB with Sharp Dressed Man AS???? Come on people!! Someone get this poor guy the other half of the matching sets!

Hahaha they actually pair quite well, but you're right. I do need to just suck it up and get the matching set!
 
Journal Entry #18

Pre Shave: Hot shower, shampoo'd beard

Shave: Fatip Grande, Astra SP, Kingsley pure badger, CF Ghost Town Barber soap

Post Shave: Cold rinse, alum, cold rinse, witch hazel, Stirling SDM AS

Tonight was more of the same. Took last night off so I had about 36 hours growth. Usually this equates to a better shave for me, but for some reason not tonight. Still not as bad as a few shaves ago though.

I did try a bit steeper of an angle, but not too extreme. It didn't really seem to make a difference one way or the other.

I was very conscious to not apply any pressure. But there were definitely times where I felt that I was applying pressure. Sometimes the razor will stall, and the natural reaction is to apply pressure to keep the razor moving.

I think I'm already ready to move on from the Fatip/Astra combo, but I will continue until Sunday. Sunday is going to be my switch day.

Irritation wise, it was a bit better today as far as the recovery time. Most of the redness was visibly gone within 45 minutes. Some of the bumps were also gone. I also had a few weepers tonight that the cold rinse wasn't taking care of, so I had to break out the alum again. I really don't know if the alum aggravates the irritation or not, but I was trying to not use it for a while to see what happened.

The closeness of the shave could be graded as a close shave, though certainly not comfortable haha, but we'll get there. I am still getting very frustrated, but I refuse to give up!

I will probably take off tomorrow night and have another shave on Saturday morning. I'll be taking a couple to look at houses (their first home!) Saturday afternoon and I'll need to look like a professional. Hopefully I'll be low on the irritation that day, otherwise I'll probably look better if I don't shave haha!

I've also gone back and read some of my entries here. I've realized that lately (out of frustration) there has been a lot of negativity and whiney attitude from me. That's not what I want to portray here. This is supposed to be a place to share and, give and receive advice. Not a place to complain. So I'm making a concerted effort to cry a little less around here haha!

I really do appreciate everyone's advice too. I'm taking it all in and trying to come up with the best mix of it all. You guys are the best! Thank you!

Here's to positive vibes and (hopefully) smooth shaves!!!!
 
nice reads Steve, and even if the shave isn't quite where you want it, you're always learning something. I know what you're talking about regarding the blade stalling on some whiskers and the natural inclination being to apply more pressure. While not ideal, you can apply pressure, but not vertical pressure (into the face), instead lateral pressure in the direction of the shave. I've found that I tend to want to push in, but get the best results when I push in the direction that I'm shaving instead. Just my $.02, that isn't worth the $.02...lol.
 
Good read Steve!

Stalling? Hmmmm, but the lather was good, no pressure, the angel was good, and the blade was good? Just dosen't add up to me.
 
Hey, I wouldn't worry about sounding like you are whining...We all do it. Dave @xenostr8tshaver does it more than the rest of us...and we still love him.
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Thinking over my problems, the big one for me was getting greedy on the first pass before my whiskers are completely ready for mowing. I’m learning the new rules of cold water shaving so there will be more on this later.
 
Journal Entry #19

Same setup as the last few. Same routine for the pre shave.

I switched up the passes today to try to go easier on my skin. So I cut it down to 3 passes, no touch ups. 2 hybrid WTG/XTG passes and an ATG/XTG pass.

Final result was a DFS all over. No complaints there. 15 hours later it's still not too bad.

As far as irritation goes, there still was a bit, but no where near what it's been the last few shaves. So I think part of the problem has been too many passes and putting too much strain on my skin. So a clue had been revealed!

Tomorrow we'll see if I can duplicate it...
 
This is great news. I am glad that something clicked for you.

Keep shaving and keep analyzing. Your results will keep improving.
 
Steve, most days I only do two pass shaves. I have a really thick beard and when I shave it sounds like I am sanding my face as opposed to shaving. But even with the thick beard and just two passes, I get pretty decent shaves. I used to do four and five pass shaves (in addition to touch up). I have found that...for me...if I decrease my passes I get shaves that really only I can tell if it isn't BBS. Sure it isn't as smooth by the end of the day, but it's the end of the day. I probably only do a three pass shave once a week...sometimes only once every other week. I believe that this give time for my skin to replenish oils or regenerate skin, which in the long run all helps with better shaves. Anyway...just something that I have figure out for myself. Don't know if I can scientifically back this up...but it's what I do.
 
Good shave Steve!

Now that you are able to zero in on what could be causing the problems you can work to correct it. This 1st step is always to identify the problem and then the root cause.
 
Thanks everyone! I'll be going with another sub 4 pass shave today...contemplating cutting it down to 2 passes like Don mentioned.

Gotta look good for all the mom's in my life at dinner tonight!
 
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