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Comment on Tuesday SOTD Thread, August 5th, 2025 (#784)

CsXGF8uzUAOh6fqV@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

2025-08-05

Razor: MERX & Co. Solingen-Wald Gamerx
Lather: just warm water :)
Post Shave: Kruidvat Aftershave Balm Sensitive

Still struggling with my edge a bit but I found out 2 layers of tape is best. 0 and 1 didn’t hold the edge at all and 3 layers seemed to much, didn’t take one to begin with. Progression is 8k > 1.5 micron strop > 0.6 micron strop. And yes I just soften my face with warm water and go, for various reasons. I just slap some on there with a washing cloth on each part before I shave there.

Decent shave, not much irritation at all today. I went against the grain immediately on the neck, felt good. Somehow that saves me irritation because I take less passes in total (I think). Went against/across the grain on the chin immediately as an experiment. Totally doable but I made a small error and cut myself. Skill issue. Looks like it would hurt but it doesn’t.

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snooting@sub.wetshaving.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Hello and welcome! I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.

Why do you not use soap when you shave, if you don’t mind my asking?

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- CsXGF8uzUAOh6fqV@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Thank you. I am new indeed. As for the soap:
  
  I just randomly started trying to use the razor. I didn’t buy all the things at once but slowly added things to make it work. Soap just wasn’t in line yet. I used to try to shave of an 3k edge on a razor with bad geometry honed on non-flat stones with no strop. It’s a miracle it even kind of worked. So things like a diamond plate, a 8k stone and a strop were of higher priority to me.
  
  I have a lot of lines to get straight, like my sideburns and my beard so I need to see what I’m doing.
  
  It costs money and my shaving budged is getting a bit low so I need to pick my poison.
  
  I’m a minimalist in the weirdest ways sometimes.
  
  I had a lot of trouble with my edge, so I honed a lot and tried a lot of edges. Just water gives the most direct feedback of the edge on the skin. If it’s fine with water it will be fine with any soap or oil.
  
  If my fundamentals (edge and technique) are solid I might add things like shaving soap or oil in the future.
  
  It’s quick. I watched a bunch of shaving videos and the lathering up part often takes up more than half of video.
  
  I don’t think I will post often here as I only have one razor, no soaps and two basic aftershaves. So it’s not exactly the most exciting SOTD 😅
  
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  - whosgotthepudding@sub.wetshaving.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Welcome. I can appreciate this approach. When I first started with straights, I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that a good shave was possible, I already had stones for my woodworking tools, and I was working on a budget.
    
    My first brush and first soap were pure trash. No slickness to be found in the soap, and the brush seemed to irritate my skin more than a bad shave did. This really forced me to dial in both my shaving technique and my honing. After some time, patience, and blood, I was getting really good shaves and really good edges.
    
    The first time I tried a good brush with an artisan soap, it blew my mind. I went from really good shaves, to fantastic shaves. Always leaving the experience smooth, hydrated and refreshed.
    
    All this to say again: I appreciate the approach and glad to have you here. I’ll be looking forward to how it develops.
    
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  - snooting@sub.wetshaving.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Very interesting. More power to you!
    
    When you get around to it, a proper lather will make a huge difference for you. :)
    
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