My second DE shave

For my second shave, I used my 1954 Gillette Super Speed with a Derby blade. As I stated in my last post, my first shave's lather wasn't even close to being good enough and I figured it may have been the soap, being that it was brand new and was very hard (therefore not being able to sufficiently "charge" the brush). I then found in the book that some people found soaking the soap in hot water while showering helped. So I tried this today.

WOW! What a difference! As soon as I drained the soap bowl I could see how much softer the soap was and that it came away on my finger easily. This made very quick work of building a voluminous lather with the same brush I used yesterday. I now realize (including re-reading the book on lathering) that it is a good thing to have the lather develop into the brush (I had thought maybe this was a problem yesterday). The difference today from yesterday was that having the lather develop into the brush didn't hinder lather being readily available at the head.

So, good lather in brush ready, I lathered my beard and started with the razor. The Super Speed (SS) felt good in the hand and possibly easier to maneuver than the Vision. I would equate this to being more the fault of my technique on blade angle and such still not being refined enough for the Vision. The Vision, being so massive comparably, seems just a tad intimidating. The head of the SS was also quite a bit smaller (lower profile) which probably made it easier to work on the upper lip, but the Vision did a fine job on my upper lip too... just different technique.

Today was a lesson in patience... being that I didn't have enough. The patience of which I speak is patience for achieving a BBS shave without razor burn and nicking the heck out of oneself... but it could also have something to do with the Derby blade in the SS. Only time and experimentation will tell. Without someone experienced there to see my technique, I have no idea if it's my technique or the blade (or even the lather for that matter, but the lather seemed pretty solid... trying shaving cream for lather will help me figure this out too). Back to patience though, my reason for saying this is because, instead of making full passes and sticking to just one way (i.e., With the grain (WTG) only in all areas of the face to start, then across the grain (XTG) only in all areas, possibly another XTG from the opposite direction, and then stopping for now instead of going against the grain (ATG) and being okay with some stubble left in the end) I found myself trying to get every last stubble. The result was a LOT of nicks and a bloody neck. ;-)

Again, some of this may have to do with the Derby blade in the SS, the fact that I still had some shaving bumps on my neck from previous shaves that never went away, and even some (much less now) ingrowns, or possibly my prep still isn't enough or the lather isn't quite right. Only time will tell, but even with all of this being a somewhat negative result, compared to the perfect shave, it was still WAY better than what I could have hoped to achieve using cartridges and trying to shave on back to back mornings. Plus, I do have to give some of the end result to my post shave prep, using a styptic pencil and a toner spray before aftershave balm.

All in all, not bad.

Equipment list:

• 1954 Gillette Super Speed
• Derby blade
• Aloe Vera Edwin Jagger shaving soap (soaked in hot water while showered)
• Edwin Jagger Super Badger brush
• Styptic pencil (for the nicks)
• Toner spray
  
• Art of Shaving Aftershave Balm

In future Shave of the Day posts I may get more detailed in my passing methods, but today was too sporadic to try and list them. ;-)

My first ever DE shave

Well, I had planned on getting up ultra early (for me, that's 6am) and taking my time to shower and shave with ample time for prep in a unhurried pace and state of mind. But, as you can read in my post on the LeisureGuy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving, I didn't get to bed until after 1am... so, when my alarm went off at 6am, I said NO. 7am? Still not ready to wake up. I decided, since my kids needed to get ready for school and my wife would kill me if I didn't help, plus I had some stuff I had to do early in the day for work, that I would find some time in the afternoon to take my time with it.

It's once again almost 1am as I write this, so this post won't be as involved as I would have liked. I'm having "Boy's Night Up" with my oldest, watching movies, so I should really not be on the computer at all. Check out the book post for more details. I may come back to this and update it with more details.

Long story short, the shave went pretty well, but I think my prep was lacking. Instead of shaving cream, I used the Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera shaving soap. This was my first experience with trying to use soap, and I can say I borked the lather. :-) It wasn't horrendous, but it also wasn't good enough and only lasted one and a half passes... so I had to try and get more lather twice more. My new Edwin Jagger brush was MUCH nicer than my AoS brush for both lathering and feel on my face. I tried using shorter strokes with the razor, which seemed to work really well, but getting the blade angle right on different parts of the face was difficult at best. Now that I am paying more attention, I think I ALWAYS had a problem with this even using cartridges. The shave I got, without really going against the grain (ATG), though I did in some small areas, and instead doing multiple across the grain (XTG) passes, was VERY good. Better than any previous shave I have had with less irritation. I noticed I missed some areas, even all together, so it will take some getting used to where this razor cuts from (i.e., not all the way out to the edges) and working on getting my technique better.

The hardware I used:

• The Merkur Vision 2000. I have it cranked down to the lowest setting (least aggressive) and it gave a really good shave. The massiveness of it takes some getting used to, as does the blade angle, but I got a good result for my first shave.
• I used one of the Merkur Super Platinum blades that came with the Vision.
  
• The Super Badger Edwin Jagger brush. They call it "Super Badger", which I'm not sure where it sits in the rankings, but it sure looks like Silvertip Badger to me, and is softer and plusher than the Dovo travel brush which was called "Silvertip Badger". From what I can tell, different geographies have different names for similar classes of brush hair, so it's difficult to simply go off names.
• The Apothocary black porcelin Edwin Jagger shaving mug. This was great in helping me build a lather, but I still did it wrong (no fault of the brush or mug... all me). The deep black color of the mug was helpful in seeing how well I was building the lather and will definitely come in handy in the future as I start to learn better technique.
• The Aloe Vera Edwin Jagger shaving soap. I have never used shaving soap before and it definitely seems different to build lather than shaving cream. Probably just a different technique than cream (which is all I've used to this point). Hopefully I can get the hang of soap quickly, but I will be taking my Art of Shaving (AoS) Shaving Cream on my trip in case I have to fall back to something I'm more familiar with.
• Finished up with styptic pen and finally AoS After Shave Balm.

I'd like to get an Alum Block and liquid styptic instead of the styptic sticks which leave a powdery residue.

My shave could have been better for several reasons: 1) My last shave wasn't very good and I had several ingrowns and bumps. 2) My prep, especially lathering, could have been better. 3) Technique needs some work too, especially razor blade angle around the different areas of the face.

I have read people talking about the Vision being too massive to shave with, especially under the nose. I can understand this complaint, but it was fairly easily overcome and my upper lip is in good shape. I couldn't go XTG because it is still far to sensitive from previous shaves, but I think that would easily solve the issue of the large razor head.

I am thinking of trying my Gillette Super Speed tomorrow to see how well that works for me. It may be easier for me for now, in which case I would possibly only take that razor on my trip. I may wind up taking both.

Anyway, that's all for now. I need to get back to my son.

********Update 3/29/08********

Well, I'm about to go and have my shave for today, but I thought of some things about my last shave to add.

One thing that I found about my lather (which is what is troubling me most I think), aside from not being thick or voluminous enough, the lather seemed to go deep into the brush. I'm not sure if this is what is supposed to happen, but it's not what I remember with my AoS brush. Maybe it's because I was using soap instead of shaving cream... it was my first time with soap, so I have no idea if I was doing things correctly. I found that in between passes, I had to pinch the base of the bristles and squeeze the lather up to the tip of the brush, but then it never seemed to be enough lather... so I had to build more lather in between passes. With my AoS brush and AoS shaving cream I did not need to do this for three passes with lather still left in the brush at the end... AND, I built the lather on my beard (without a bowl). So, certainly some experimenting is in order. Maybe today I will have time to experiment a little.

Correction: After watching the following video, I now think that my problem was NOT my lathering technique, or my brush, or my bowl, but rather that the soap was brand new, and I fear that the brush did not get enough soap on it. My lather 1) did NOT come out like that in thickness and such, and 2) took me forever to create. I think I may soak the soap in hot water for a little bit to soften it up and see if that makes a difference at all. I remember thinking it seemed very hard and wasn't sure if enough soap was getting on to the brush. (I did just find in the book that some people noted soaking the soap in hot water while showering helped, so hopefully this will solve my problem... at least initially to get the soap to soften. May not need to do this every time)

What a friendly bunch of people

One more post before I get ready for bed and read more on Gourmet Shaving:

I just wanted to say that my short time with reading posts from, and interacting with, the people on the shaving forums and having their own blogs has been a great experience. Very non-threatening and helpful.

It's a great crowd out there... keep up the good work!

I, too, have a Vision

Having some additional funding at my discretion, and doing some research and question asking, I decided to hunker down and get a Merkur Vision 2000!

As I said in my earlier post, I now have TWO DE razors in one day after not having any. The first, also my first post, is a 1954 Gillette Super Speed that I obtained used through the ShaveMyFace.com forum. I couldn't pass up the deal and it looks like a great razor. PLUS, I read so many good things about them and that they are generally good for beginners because 1) They are not adjustable, so nothing to fiddle with, and 2) They are not that aggressive.

Tax returns are nice, and while most of it went to pay the bills, I took the opportunity to splurge a bit where I normally couldn't. So, while I received my first DE razor today, I also received my order from BestGroomingTools.com. I have to say that they were very responsive and I love the detail they have on their site. I actually placed my order but then realized I missed an item. So I emailed them to find out whether or not I could add an item without slowing down shipment because I leave Monday morning for a week long trip and I wanted my stuff! They allowed me to add the item and even setup UPS shipping for very little more to guarantee I got it in time. I added two more things and they didn't make me do anything other than email to change my order... that was nice.

What I ordered:

1. Obviously the Merkur Vision 2000. I love the look and feel of this razor, but I think I expected something a little more "tight" based on how it looks and the reviews on the sites selling them. DON'T get me wrong, this thing is nice and substantial, but compared to the more than a half century old Gillette I got, this thing kind of feels sloppy without a blade in it. Once I put a blade in, it feels a LOT tighter, but I guess I was a little disappointed at first hold. It comes in a really nice tin with great presentation, and it includes a 10 pack of Merkur Super Platinum blades. I'm sure I will appreciate it more and more as time goes by.
2. Super Badger & Chatsworth Ebony Brush by Edwin Jagger. After my research and learning just HOW important the prep of your face & beard is, I decided to splurge on brushes too. This thing is simply sumptuous! Compared to my Art of Shaving Pure Badger brush that came with a $35 sampler, it is heaven. It even came with its own matching stand. The bristles are SO much nicer, I can't even come up with a description that would possibly do it justice, and I don't have the depth to describe it yet. Soft, supple, stiff yet flexible... these are some of the words that come to mind when I think about it. I can't WAIT to use it tomorrow morning for my first shave!
3. Black Porcelain Apothecary Mug by Edwin Jagger. I saw this while I was looking for razors and I just had to have it. I absolutely love the shape and the knob off the side to hold it between two fingers. Not having used a mug previously and simply trying to build a lather on my face, I realized I wanted to try lathering in a mug... now that I have read LeisureGuy's book, I definitely feel that building a lather in a mug or bowl for beginners is useful.
4. Aloe Vera Shaving Soap & Travel Jar by Edwin Jagger. I've wanted to try shaving soap and felt that it would be the best for travel purposes since it is not a liquid and for carry-on the allowed amount of liquid is only 3.4fl oz, which is less than most shaving creams in tubes or tubs. I also am interested in the Aloe Vera aspect of this soap. I think I'll point out at this time that the Edwin Jagger line of products are exquisite! Their fit and finish is truly something... much better than the Merkur/Dovo line... more on that later.
5. Styptic Pencil by Colonel Conk. Hey, I have to expect to bleed for a while. May as well be prepared. :-D After more reading though, I think I am going to go for an Alum Block instead of the styptic pencil/powder. The Alum Block has more uses than just stopping bleeding from nicks and cuts, it also helps close your pores and tighten your skin. Also, I was a little bummed... the stick of styptic broke off the base during shipping. I don't believe that will affect performance, but it certainly makes it less user friendly. ;-)
6. Silvertip Badger & Stainless Steel Travel Shave Brush by DOVO. While earlier I said the fit and finish on Merkur/Dovo products is behind Edwin Jagger, I HAVE to give props to them on this unit. The design and delivery is great, and the brush is only slightly lower quality than the Edwin Jagger brush... but it's also smaller by a large margin, so I think that makes it feel stiffer (the bristles are soft themselves, the vertical stiffness is what I'm referring to). I actually WANTED this (smaller size) in a travel brush because I have heard/read that it is easier to build a lather on your beard with a smaller brush. I can attest to that having tried it with my AoS brush which was roughly the same size (a little smaller than) my Edwin Jagger brush. Since I don't plan on bringing a mug/bowl, that is important. I think this brush will be a great travel brush for me, and it matches my Vision very nicely.
7. Lavender Shaving Soap & Travel Tin by DOVO. Here is where most of my wrath comes as far as fit and finish, but some of it goes to the Vision razor. This "tin", which is NOT metal but rather painted plastic, is 1) Much bigger than I expected, or that I feel it needs to be. 2) Is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to screw open and closed without serious effort... at one point I seriously contemplated throwing it in the trash because I messed up screwing the lid on and I COULD NOT get it undone. It finally gave and I had to VERY carefully screw it on so it didn't cross-thread. The paint almost seems to make it adhere to itself. I got it on a whim because I figured the Dovo line of products would be first rate, and I figured it would be nice to have a variety of soaps to try. It also seemed to match my Vision and Dovo travel brush, so why not. Well, I DON'T think I'll be using that on my travels. The Edwin Jagger soap is in a travel case itself and is a joy to use and hold in the hand. The lid is fluid in opening and closing. It's really too bad about this Dovo one though... oh well.
8. I also got a protective tube for any shave brush that can be used for travel or storage purposes. I could use it for my Edwin Jagger brush if it turns out I don't like the Dovo, but for now it is storing my AoS brush. It was only $6.
9. Leather Sheath for the Vision 2000. This is a leather travel pouch that fits the Vision (which is a chore because of how big the thing is). It also can hold pretty much ANY other DE razor on the market, so no loss there. I didn't realize how nice the tin was that the Vision came in, but I was thinking I might use that to transport my razor when traveling. I can even cut out an area in the foam for my Dovo travel brush, so that's an option.
10. They threw in a 5 pack of Personna blades for free (nice), so now, between the Derby that I got with my Gillette and the 10 pack of Merkur Super Platinum's that came with my Vision, I have three different blades to try out. Which brings up the point that's in the book... you should try as many different blades as you can (systematically of course... see the book reference) to see which blade works best for you for both your face and in your different razors. I plan on getting a massive sampler pack soon. First I have to work on technique. ;-)
    

All in all, I am VERY happy with my products (without having used them yet) and can't wait to dive in tomorrow morning.

Cheers!

LeisureGuy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving

I purchased this book from Amazon.com since I have their Prime membership and you get free 2-day shipping.

The book came yesterday at the end of the day and I was already into dinner with the fam, so it had to wait until everyone was in bed. I got about 75% finished before I just had to go to sleep. I will probably finish the rest of this excellent book tonight and come back to this post and give it a proper review.

So far, I am VERY impressed with the information, layout and tone. While I only JUST received my first DE razor yesterday, I had started to use some of the techniques I was picking up from both my best friend, as well as stuff online. I purchased an Art of Shaving sampler from Amazon which came with a badger hair brush. The AoS products were pretty good and the brush was alright. I was still using a Mach3 as my razor, but I was turning out better shaves by prepping my beard/face better.

What you probably don't know about me is that I have had facial hair to some degree for a long time now (it feels... probably about 7 years), which was mainly due to my pain and suffering I experienced with shaving. But that was all electric shavers (Oh the horrors... they chewed my face to bits!!!) and cartridges eventually... the good stuff too. My latest razor was the Gillette Power Fusion. At first, it was the best shave I ever had, but then I realized I could only shave every three days or my neck would be a wall of blood. Most of the problem, I now realize, was my technique and lack of prep. My best friend started me down this path, and I tend to obsess about things, so I dug in as much as I could. It took many months for me to get to this point where I actually own, not one, but two DE razors! More on that in another post... Anyway, my point is that I recently was trimming my goatee, but I had to use a trimmer I was not familiar with because my older one broke down. Well, the newer one cut a HECK of a lot closer than my older one on the same setting and I wound up with barely stubble on my upper lip... doh! I've been wanting to try clean shaven for a while, so what the hell. I trimmed everything and shaved it all off... MAN was it weird looking at myself! Only now after close to a week am I able to look at myself and not be weirded out. :-D

While I haven't shaved with a DE yet, I am confident that, with some practice, it will be the best shaves I ever had and will be able to shave everyday. Hopefully it won't be long before I can achieve a BBS (Baby Butt Smooth) shave without nicks and cuts. ;-)

********Update 3/28/08 2:14pm*************
Well, it turns out I was further through the book than I thought. ;-) I finished the book last night, but it was really late before I even laid down to do so. I didn't start to fall asleep until a little after 1am... so, when my alarm went off at 6am to get up and have my first shave... I wasn't having any of it. I reset it for 7am instead... but then 7 rolled around and I STILL wasn't having any of it. :-) I decided that a midday shower and shave was in order. Luckily I work from home and can pretty much write my own schedule for the most part.

I didn't bring the book with me for my first shave and I think I could have used it. There were certain things I knew I was forgetting, or forgetting the technique. I will write a post exclusively about my first shave, but what I can say right now is, my prep was lacking a little. Also, my previous shave resulted in some ingrowns and bumps, so this first shave was definitely not as good as it could have been... VERY nice though. Seriously, already better than ANY of my previous shaves because of the lack of pull and cut (IMHO).

Back to the book. I did not read it in front of a PC to look up all the additional info and instead just read it through cover to cover. It is a VERY good book for this filled with knowledge and tips/tricks. Obviously everyone's face and beard is ultimately different, so mileage may vary across different people... luckily, Michael does an excellent job of making sure you understand the key is technique and experimentation. I LIKE the fact that he mentions what HE likes and dislikes... it at least gives you something to go on. I will need to experiment for quite a while before I get things down. The hardest for me so far is the lather... the way Michael explains it and the way his looks in the photos is NOT the way mine looked this afternoon. I also didn't have hours to mess around and start over, so I just used it the way I had it... unfortunately I think this was elemental in some of the less than desirable results. Once again, I want to reiterate that the experience was not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just not perfect like I've been doing it for 50 years now. ;-) Not that I expected it to go without incident... I saw my neck before I started. :-) While my shave was not the ultimate BBS shave, it is VERY smooth with less irritation than I have ever had with cartridges.

This book gave me a tremendous amount of advice, and also bolstered some of the decisions I made before reading it. It also showed me where some of my decisions were wrong. ;-) I certainly don't expect to be perfect... heck, where does that leave room to grow and keep things interesting? I can see that my quest will be an enjoyable one, and I can see me keeping this book close by. My week long trip next week will give me a PERFECT opportunity to experiment and master some of my technique. I think I will be bringing both of my razors with me to also experiment there (just a little... I don't want to focus too much on hardware and instead focus on technique, but I'd like to know how my other razor and I perform together... it may be a better fit for me than the Vision to start out). I will probably try my SS before I go and see if I really want to bring both or choose the one I perform better with to remove that temptation.

Anyway, while I may give more of a review again later, so far I say, "Buy the book!"

My first DE Razor arrived!!

Well, for my opening post, it may as well be about receiving my very first Double-Edge (DE) razor.

I'm very excited and can't wait to try it. It is a 1954 Gillette Super Speed that I purchased from a wonderful man going by the alias of "Shave4Fun" on the ShaveMyFace forum (a wonderful place to gain a LOT of knowledge by the way). It was posted in the "Selling and Trading" section and I couldn't pass up the price.

Below are some pictures of it (taken by Shave4Fun) and I have to say I am very pleased with its condition.

He even threw in a brand new Derby blade for me to try.

So, I will definitely be posting on my first experience with it soon.