Wow Epiphany!!

I am a short timer at wet shaving. This morning something incredible happened. I set up my gear a Semogue boar brush I have had for about 3 months and it's breaking in beautifully. A new Muhle R89 and for the first time strop shoppe Baker Street. Because I read the posts everyday I take a dollop of soap and press it down into the bowl and start a lather. Wow so far my best lather. I then brush it on and begin to shave. This was a slickness I had not yet seen before. However the 4 day persona blade wasn't doing anything. How could this be I asked myself. I went into my starter shave den AKA the spare bathroom and grabbed a Feather blade which I hadn't touched since I tore up my face the first time I tried using one as a newbie. I put it in the r89 and had the 3 most comfortable passes of my wet shaving life. With no irritation and very little pressure. I am still glowing with pride. Today will be a great day.

Andy

Well done!

Congratulations, Andy!

Sounds like a great shave Andy. Nice work!

Strop Shoppe is my favorite artisan soap, congrats on your discovery!

Congratulations! Feathers are not  look thirsty blades out to disfigure your face. I for one like the best tool for the job no matter what I'm doing,and IMO when it comes to shaving feathers will always be one of my top blades. When I has about a month into wetshaving I bought 50 feathers and made myself use all 50 until they were gone, I told myself if I could shave with those then any other blade would be a piece of cake. Those 50 blades took my technique to the next level. 

I remember my moment of epiphany too -- a marvelous feeling. I just knew that I'd finally figured it out. That is not to say that there has been no improvement since then (quite a lot really) or that I haven't had any bad shaves since (a few) but simply that I'd scaled the cliff and was now on the plateau!

For me the DE learning process was at least 60% un-learning all the habits that cartridge multi-blade shaving had taught me. It's funny, but now the same thing happens in reverse when I'm forced by travel restrictions to use the multi-blades -- I forget to use sufficient pressure and wonder why the beard isn't disappearing!

Still, congratulations to all who reach that Eureka! moment -- in shaving or in anything that you strive for.

(05-13-2015, 08:22 AM)acotler Wrote: I am a short timer at wet shaving. This morning something incredible happened. I set up my gear a Semogue boar brush I have had for about 3 months and it's breaking in beautifully. A new Muhle R89 and for the first time strop shoppe Baker Street. Because I read the posts everyday I take a dollop of soap and press it down into the bowl and start a lather. Wow so far my best lather. I then brush it on and begin to shave. This was a slickness I had not yet seen before. However the 4 day persona blade wasn't doing anything. How could this be I asked myself. I went into my starter shave den AKA the spare bathroom and grabbed a Feather blade which I hadn't touched since I tore up my face the first time I tried using one as a newbie. I put it in the r89 and had the 3 most comfortable passes of my wet shaving life. With no irritation and very little pressure. I am still glowing with pride. Today will be a great day.

Andy

A smooth shave is a great feeling...

Great to hear! Its always that one shave which dials in everything and being consistent. 

Congrats on the epiphany and the great shave!  It feels awesome doesn't it?

It's awesome when it clicks into place!

Fantastic.  Well done on everything falling into place. 

Congratulations on a wonderful shave - this is what it's all about.

One of the great lessons as we learn to shave is that sometimes a blade (or razor/cream/soap) magically improves from a dud to a superstar with a few months rest)

Today is a Great Day!