the art of shaving (your face)

[joosttx]

I usually use soap and my wife's razor. I am I missing something?

[11.4]

I usually use soap and my wife's razor. I am I missing something?

Your wife's wrath?

Some soap is slick enough to do fine. Some just gets sticky or gums up your razor. If it works, the only question is whether it could work better. A very few people on this forum are somewhat obsessive and it occasionally carries over to shaving. We've had threads on shaving your face, shaving legs, shaving parmesan. Tell you something? I feel very normal after a few minutes on this forum.

[Too Tall]

BShow. Got yourself a supply of Kiss My Face shaving lotion (no scent is my fav.) and add a squirt of that to your puck. It will lather like made and his formula is quite good. You are *almost* there boss.

[joosttx]

Your wife's wrath?

Some soap is slick enough to do fine. Some just gets sticky or gums up your razor. If it works, the only question is whether it could work better. A very few people on this forum are somewhat obsessive and it occasionally carries over to shaving. We've had threads on shaving your face, shaving legs, shaving parmesan. Tell you something? I feel very normal after a few minutes on this forum.

I am sorry. I actually get a real shave about every other hair cut at Russ's. Amazing....

[Too Tall]

We need Russ here. You lucky dog.

[BShow]

BShow. Got yourself a supply of Kiss My Face shaving lotion (no scent is my fav.) and add a squirt of that to your puck. It will lather like made and his formula is quite good. You are *almost* there boss.

I'll grab some of this stuff... Thanks. I tried to build a lather with this puck a few more times and failed. No matter what I do to it, I get a frothy lather that comes undone quickly. I reached out to the lady that made the stuff, so maybe she has a pointer or two. We'll see.

I was pissed and a couple beers in the other night, so I ordered up a bunch of other soaps; including the Mitchell's. I wont give up without a fight - but if I find something that lathers, this one I have is getting relegated to shower duties.

[Too Tall]

Bshow, you might have hard water. There are some easy cures. A dash of fine salt into you mug with hot water or a drop of citric acid in a seperate cup of hot water. Mitchells solved my hard water issue.

[bbattle]

I'll grab some of this stuff... Thanks. I tried to build a lather with this puck a few more times and failed. No matter what I do to it, I get a frothy lather that comes undone quickly. I reached out to the lady that made the stuff, so maybe she has a pointer or two. We'll see.

I was pissed and a couple beers in the other night, so I ordered up a bunch of other soaps; including the Mitchell's. I wont give up without a fight - but if I find something that lathers, this one I have is getting relegated to shower duties.

Make sure to use plenty of water on the brush; that will also work up a lot of lather. I get lots of lather but I'm using a badger brush instead of the boar; that may or may not make a difference.

[Curt Goodrich]

When I think of it, I run some hot water into my shaving mug and then jump in the shower. After the shower my beard is softened and so has the shaving soap. Lathers like nobody business. I load the brush with lather and then vigorously apply the lather to my ugly mug. Then I shave away. One thing to remember when new to safety razors, is to pay attention to the angle that you're holding the razor to your face. Too flat or too perpendicular to the face can make for a poor shave or a gouged and nicked one.

[4Serottas]

To shift gears from lather to shaving, for those who shave with straights, and especially for those who hone their own, here's the best tip I've ever read:

Remember you're cutting whiskers off, not scraping them off.

Whenever I get to the point where it takes more than one pass of the blade to leave a swatch of clean shaven skin behind it's off to the hones for a touchup. This isn't to say that I might not do multiple passes (with fresh lather) to shave with the grain/across the grain/against the grain (whether or not I do depends on how much I want to treat myself, how close a shave I want and how much time I have) but the point is if you find yourself sawing on your face to get a clean shave it's gonna hurt and you're not going to get that great a shave anyway. A well honed razor is one of life's pleasures.

[BShow]

I just received a package from the postman. While I was unpacking the box, I realized that I pretty much put all my eggs in a single basket... For whatever reason I took a liking to this vendor on the B&B forum and I now have four differently scented soft soaps, all from RazoRock. Fortunately, I was able to create a decent lather on the first try with the soft soaps... the unfortunate part is that I'm not in love with any of these scents. I don't love the mild smell of the mitchell's wool fat either, but its something else to try. Next time I order stuff, I'll spread the love around and get a better sampling of what's out there. In the meantime, maybe I'll try to trade away the ones I like least.

I did also get some kiss my face and it helped with lathering my first hard soap. I dont think I have overly hard water, I think it's more my technique. I'll work with the soft soaps for a while to figure things out and then try again.

[BShow]

Remember you're cutting whiskers off, not scraping them off.

This sounds applicable to safety razors as well, regarding the angle that Curt alludes to just above. I think I might be holding the blade near perpendicular, which would scrape rather than cut... I've been thinking that I want an audible scrape of the razor against the whiskers, but that's silly. These comments make me realize that it should be agled a bit more, to actually cut the hair. I'm learning!

[rmplum]

I usually use soap and my wife's razor. I am I missing something?

Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap and Dollar Shave Club's cheapest for me.

60% of the time it works every time.

[Too Tall]

Nice brush Bill. those Badger and Blade folks trade soaps all the time on their BST page.

[joosttx]

Had my first straight razor shave today at the barber shop. Man that's living

[Chad]

I really like Dollar Shave Club's Dr. Carver's Shave Butter. https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/our-...e/shave-butter

[11.4]

For those of you interested in such things, Lee's Razors has just gotten into stock a few Mergress safety razors. These are basically Mercur razors with a custom threaded insert and end knob. They take a good razor and give it a precision adjustment and much better weight. My preference is the XL, but that's definitely a personal matter. The Mergress razors rarely come available -- they're a short batch run done by a machinist who makes a hundred or so at a time and then doesn't bother for a couple years. If you read the shaving forums, these are legendary. Lee's Safety Razors | Merkur Razors, Shaving Brushes, Shave Creams, Soap, Jagger, Taylor. It's a great site anyway with interesting shaving supplies you don't find elsewhere.

[gkk]

Thanks for the tip, Lane! Looking forward to trying one out.

/gkk

[ericpmoss]

For the guy who has, maybe literally, everything: SHOP — Discommon

[jmeloy]

Wrote Lee today and he called me an hour later and set me up with a starter kit for a wet shave. Thanks for the guidance in this thread!