Thread: Shave #1 and #2

So after asking advice from this forum I went with a Merkur 23C and Classic Shaving brand soap and brush and variety pack of blades.

Routine -
Soak the brush in hot water before shower. After the shower I draped a microwaved hand towel on my face for 30 seconds and proceeded to lather up and shave for 3 passes WTG, XTG and ATG.
After shave I used an alum bar and a light splash of Witch Hazel that I got from the pharmacy section at Wal-mart next to the rubbing alcohol.

Some problems I ran into-
Lather - getting the soap to lather and apply properly has proven difficult after 2 shaves. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong with this. It doesn't go on so thick that I can no longer see skin without having to "paint" it on and I noticed it evaporates fairly quick as I once had to re-apply on the second half of my face during the first pass.

Blade Angle - I realize this is a learning process. I'm starting at 90 degrees and rotating down toward the skin until I can feel the blade catch and rotating slightly more than that and executing the pass. For the most part I'm able to get BBS smooth but I'm still missing some patches especially around the jaw line. Going to use shorter strokes to try and correct this.

Aside from the missed patches and a few nicks here and there it was an enjoyable experience. The lady was very impressed with how smooth it was and I liked that there were no signs of skin irritation on my neck that I've accustomed to from cartridges.

Also, Witch Hazel stinks, lol

Store-brand Witch hazel is garbage. It's cheap cause it's way watered down. Get the Dickinsons and if you don't like the scent try the Thayers. It's great stuff.

Making lather is a matter of the right combination of water and twirling and quality soap. I'm not familiar with your soap but you just need to experiment and try using a tad of pressure as you load the soap. There are some soaps that just don't have it in them to provide a really thick luxuriant soap. Disappearing lather is usually a sign of too much water and maybe too little soap.

Are you using multiple passes or just a single pass? If just a single, perhaps multiple passes will help catch those missed areas. ??

For the Soap... A few things that might help:

- While the Brush is soaking, fill the soap container with about 1/4" warm water... Pour out before beginning to load your brush.
- Load the Brush for at least 15 seconds swirling on top of the soap.
- If Bowl Lathering... Spend as much time as you need here until you get the results you want and you can kinda scrape the edges of the Brush (.. from Handle to Tips..) against the Bowl to put the excess Lather back in the center of the Bowl and go at it over and over again until you get that nice meringue-type result.
- If, as you are lathering, the Soap seems dry... Just dip the tips of your brush back into the water and continue.
- If you are not Face Lathering you might want to try that... Load your Brush for 15 seconds or so then go straight to your moist, prepped face and see if the whisker-action along with the Brush will get you where you want to be. Take note of how long it takes to Face Lather for those results and realize it will likely take longer to Bowl Lather.

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Keep at it and have fun!!!

Shawn
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+1 for what Phraston says. A little addition. If bowl lathering, get a little bottle of glycerin (Walmart carries it) and add a couple, three drops to the bowl. Goes a long way in helping to develop a good lather. Another idea to try is a cold water shave from start to finish.

One thing I overlooked starting out was how really slow I was. The time just seemed to fly by as I took my time and enjoyed it. With that said I think I had pretty good lather starting out but I spent an hour shaving doing 3 passes including my prep so half way through I was having issues with my lather starting to dry out. Now I'm down to only needing about 25minutes including prep to do a 3 pass shave, still not rushing anything with not really any issue with the drying effect anymore. While I recognize I'm getting better at things I don't think the duration helped with the hydration. The solution however is quite simple if you find it starting to dry just add a little water and your right back in business, it doesn't take much at this point. Good luck, take your time and have fun.

So heartening when a new to straight razor shaving member gets it right.

Welcome! If I may add, use weight of the blade pressure only. When coming from a cartridge, you will quickly realize how much damagine pressure you were exerting against your face.

Cheers

I used to do the hot water shave but found I can get closer using cold water. I start with a nice hot shower but when I get out I give my face a couple cold water rinses. My lather is made with a brush soaked in cold water and I dampen my face with cold water before I re lather between passes. All the cold water helps make my hairs stand up better giving me a better shave especially in those glitchy spots like the corners of the jaw.