Thread: 10th (?) Shave Completed.

I took extra time and care stropping and lathering before this one. I hadn't shaved in two days, mainly because of time limitations and I kind of wanted to let my whiskers grow a bit.

I did about 40 laps on the nylon part of my strop, 50 laps on my leather (which is nicked quite a bit from either my last shave or the one prior), and another 10 very light laps on the leather.

I got a really good lather going before I stropped. Touched up the lather maybe 3 times during the shave.

I didn't have nearly as many stray hairs left over after the shave and I'm getting pretty confident moving the razor north to south on my face.

I have noticed that my TOBS shaving cream (in the beige tub) makes my face turn pretty red while I'm shaving although I don't feel any irritation like I did with the Classic Shaving soap. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Should I be concerned? There really haven't been any adverse effects aside from the discoloration.

Personally I love going 3 days between shaves. I don't know what it is, but my face just feels so much cleaner if the bristles are longer when I cut them. And it sounds like you are getting the hang of shaving down... Its supposed to be relaxing. I never used to enjoy shaving, it was just something I did. Part of growing up right? But having been shaving for a year, I still haven't lost the simple joy of all the steps needed to use a straight razor. From the time I start with my preshave prep, to the cleaning up of all the equipment, it just feels great.

I don't really know anything about TOBS. I started out with a $.99 soap from Walmart which wasn't to bad, to using Tabac which was a big step up. I tried a couple of different things after that, but nothing really stood out until my Barber introduced me his personal product line that he had just gotten in. I. Was. Hooked. He doesn't even have his stuff listed on his website yet, but if you shoot him an email I am sure he would send you some information on all of the stuff that he carries. My personal favorite is his Athos shave soap. It smells a little like bay rum, and whips into a beautiful lather with almost no work at all.

The Groom Room - The Premium Men's Haircutting Salon

If you check it out, don't expect to find much on the website to buy though. He hasn't had a whole lot of time to update anything since he started, as his shop has gone from "walk ins welcome" to "must have an appointment". But he has always responded to emails. Just mention that Nathan told you to check him out.

Is your face getting discolored from the soap, or are you using aftershave to close your pores? Or could it be that you are angling your razor a little bit to steep, and are scrapping your skin? It is tough to say without being there and watching you shave. You could try to put just a little lather on your face and let it sit for ~5 minutes. Then wash it off and see if that is actually the culprit.

All in all it sounds like you are coming along nicely. And are truly learning the art of straight razor shaving. Not that I am any expert, by any stretch of the imagination.

I had the same red face issue from Geo F. Trumpers Almond cream. Never had any problems with other almond products. Sometimes you just don't get along with something.

If you don't have a problem with a red face you could probably just keep using the cream. However, something's going on there, and in the long run your skin will probably be happier with something that isn't causing it to change color. No worries, plenty of other creams and soaps to choose from.

Originally Posted by tlittle

I had the same red face issue from Geo F. Trumpers Almond cream. Never had any problems with other almond products. Sometimes you just don't get along with something.

If you don't have a problem with a red face you could probably just keep using the cream. However, something's going on there, and in the long run your skin will probably be happier with something that isn't causing it to change color. No worries, plenty of other creams and soaps to choose from.

That's funny, my TOBS is Almond scented. I'm still not sure what an almond smells like even after using it. I eat almonds quite often as well and I don't have any allergic reaction to them whatsoever.

Of course, just because something's almond scented doesn't mean it has real almond in it. There could just be some synthetic fragrance oil or perfume used in the product that your skin doesn't like. I was a little luckier, as mine was a sample, but if you wanted to get rid of it I'm sure there's someone out there who wants to try TOBS almond.