Fantastic shave, and also a learning shave.
To begin with the lather: superb, again. My Rooney butterscotch Emilion did its usual superb job, and the HTGAM soap did as well, with the result being a wonderful lather with the homey aroma of pumpkin pie.
The first pass with the iKon DLC slant showed me that one side of the razor felt a little harsh at one end. I stopped, looked, and lo! the blade was indeed more exposed (in terms of looking at the alignment of blade-edge and razor-cap: they should be parallel). One end of the blade was further from the cap than the other. I loosened the head a bit, used my thumbnail to gently nudge the blade into proper alignment, and re-tightened the handle, checking then to see that the alignment was good.
The rest of the shave was uneventful, and in particular I avoid a problem I’ve occasionally had with the iKon slants: a couple of small nicks on my upper lip in the XTG pass. I wonder whether those happened due to improper blade alignment.
I’ve been told of this problem, but had not really noticed, but this morning I did. So from now on I’ll check to make sure the blade’s edge parallels the edge of the cap.
Perfect BBS, and a splash of Geo. F. Trumper’s Coral Skin Food to finish thejob.
The other learning experience was watching the dry-brush tutorial by minimmalisto (or at least most of it) for lathering Stirling shaving soap. I made a practice lather this morning, and minimalisto’s method works exactly as described. I can’t wait to shave with Stirling soap now, and on playing with the lather I think it’s going to be a favorite soap now that I understand how to make lather with it. The tutorial is quite long (25 minutes), but it’s also very clear. After watching most of it, I had no trouble replicating the excellent lather he made.
Filed under: Shaving
