Yesterday I had the pleasure of introducing DE shaving to a man who finds shaving actually painful. He uses a Mach 3 and canned foam, and for him a cartridge last for only two or three shaves. He was unfamiliar with DE shaving, so I gave him a tub of soap (Tim’s Soap Wood and Roses), a brush (my Omega S10005), a new Dorco PL602 (I keep several on hand to give away), and a pack each of five different brands of blades, along with a brief introduction and a demonstration of how to make lather. It will be interesting to hear whether his shaves become less painful and more pleasurable.
So this morning I used a synthetic brush, a vegan soap, and a Dorco PL602 in solidarity. I really like the fragrance of Stubble Trubble’s Up & Adam. I had him smell the soap just to show how greatly soaps differ from canned foams even in fragrance (and after smelling it, he said he was tempted to lick it 
). You’ll notice that I kept that tub for myself. It really is a wonderful soap, even beyond the espresso+vanilla fragrance: it makes a terrific lather and today’s made with the Kent Infinity brush—a very nice little brush—was everything one could want.
Three passes with the Dorco razor left my face perfectly smooth and there was never even a threat of a nick. A good splash of Ginger’s Garden Suede, and I’m ready for the day.
I usually do not use alum following the shave, though for quite a while I really enjoyed it and may in time return. In the meantime, let me point out Gentleman Jon’s Alum Block, along with a couple of brief articles he has about alum: why and how.
FWIW, I don’t wet the block, just glide the dry block over my wet skin. Alum is used in pickling cucumbers so that the pickled cucumber is crisp and crunchy instead of limp and soggy.
You can stop bleeding from a nick if you press the corner of an alum block against the nick for 20-30 seconds. Just gliding the block over a nick will stop bleeding only from very small nicks (“weepers”).
Filed under: Shaving
