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

SteveChuckFrank said:
I've only been DE shaving for about 4 months now. And I would say things didn't really start to click until about 4-5 weeks ago. So I'd definitely consider myself new haha!

I was sticking to the one change at a time rule, this week I kind of went nuts! I'll have to start fighting the urge to shake everything up at the same time.

Sometimes I get excited and a little carried away
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i can say from experience that changing more than one thing at a time is not good. These guys used to bust my backside with regularity for changing everything except one thing every shave.
 
DocHoliday0831 said:
i can say from experience that changing more than one thing at a time is not good.
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I think now I can say the same thing too haha!

It was a lot easier to stay with the same setup when I didn't have as much to choose from. I'll be much more strict with it though.

Also after waking up this morning I did notice that most of the visible irritation is gone, only a few red bumps on the jaw line and one spot where I slipped and cut myself on my chin. The cut had nothing to do with the razor, that was just an accident.

Even though I suffered a bit last night, I still have what I would consider a DFS. So all is not lost haha!
 
Heh, we’ll tell everyone not to change more than one thing at a time, but I’m sure we’ve all be guilty of it too. It’s hard not to get excited about how much is out there.
 
I am sure I would have mastered the art a lot quicker if I didn't change things. It is extremely difficult.

One thing you can start to do is what some refer to as nightly lathers. Many of us wash our face before bed. Well it is soap! Grab your brush make a small lather and wash your face with it. This will allow you to master the perfect lather sooner. I am firm believer that most problems with wet shaving start with the lather. It needs to be hydrated enough.
 
Cvargo said:
I am sure I would have mastered the art a lot quicker if I didn't change things. It is extremely difficult. One thing you can start to do is what some refer to as nightly lathers. Many of us wash our face before bed. Well it is soap! Grab your brush make a small lather and wash your face with it. This will allow you to master the perfect lather sooner. I am firm believer that most problems with wet shaving start with the lather. It needs to be hydrated enough.
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+1! If you decide to start your nightly lathers, you can also experiment and see how much water you can add to the soap before it actually breaks, try different lathering methods, (whipping motions, pumping motions, swirls, etc..) and see what works best. This can also be used as a way to break in brushes before use and see how they act with different soaps!
 
I have thought about doing test lathers on nights that I don't shave, but I haven't started doing that yet. I shave almost every night during the week so maybe I'll start doing it on Friday and Saturday.
 
Welcome to the journals Steve! Sorry to hear about the rough shave, though they do pop up on occasion.
 
Welcome to the Journals area! I assure you, your shaves will do nothing but get better with experience!
 
JOURNAL ENTRY #3



Tonight’s shave was muuuuuuuuch better than last nights....

Pre shave:
Hot shower, shampoo’d beard

Shave:
Stirling Soap Co. DE3P6 (this thing really needs a nickname...), Astra SP, Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber, Kingsley pure badger.
3 pass shave. 1 W/XTG, 1 XTG, 1 A/XTG

Post shave:
Cold rinse, alum, cold rinse, witch hazel, Stirling Soap Co. Sharp Dressed Man AS

Tonight was much nicer than last night. I skipped one pass because I was still a little irritated in the neck area from last night. I probably could have used a night off, but I decided not to.

Going back to my trusty Stirling razor I decided to go with an Astra SP as my blade option. Ive never had bad results with Astra's, but I've never been blown away by them either. Tonight I was surprised though, as this was the first time I paired one with the Stirling.

The result is a DFS all over, and just a little irritation but not bad. I don't know what it is about this razor, but for some reason it just works every time. I'll stick with this setup (hardware wise) for as long as I can...I make no promises though!

Tomorrow I have some shave mail scheduled to arrive from Wet Shave Products. I've heard good things so I ordered some goodies...
 
Great stuff here, Steve! Nice to see the GTB as always, maybe we can get a new posse going.

When I was getting dialed in, I found that a mild razor coupled with the sharpest blade gave me the best results. That helped keep things simple while I was getting all of the techniques down pat.
 
WildWest74 said:
Great stuff here, Steve! Nice to see the GTB as always, maybe we can get a new posse going.

When I was getting dialed in, I found that a mild razor coupled with the sharpest blade gave me the best results. That helped keep things simple while I was getting all of the techniques down pat.
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I'm ready to ride when you are Jim! GTB Posse, mount up! Time to regulate!

Ive really been having the best results with that Stirling razor loaded with a Kai blade. From what I understand Kai's are on the Sharp side, not sure where Astra's fall on the spectrum.

Also not really sure if the Stirling is supposed to mild or aggressive or what, but my guess is that it's definitely mild.
 
Good shave and picture Steve!

FYI I think it was Dave that recommended putting talc on before bed when you have irritation. It worked for me!
 
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