Kung Fu Stella

Forgetting to bring blades on vacation, the entrance of the Brownie into rotation, and an accident I had one day with the Slim, where I forgot to tighten the blade, have shaken down to a new technical breakthrough. Like the "artist method" of lathering with Williams soap, the blading technique outlined herein can be applied with only an inexpensive razor based on the Super Speed, and an SS-class blade. Yet still achieve what many hold to be the ideal, a "BBS" shave. Or, if you'd rather, milk a blade in less-than-ideal condition for a month of "DFS."

I'm always reminded of Charles A. Roberts' "Method Shaving" in the context of shave-by-number instructions, and once again find myself in search of a humorous label. Though there is a history, in the form of barber manuals, leading toward the neotraditional "three-pass shave," I think C.A.R. was onto something with his alternate, martial-arts inspired language of "forms." I'll give a nod to China, too, since I hit on this with my Baili BD-177 "Stella." We're definitely talking about some kind of Kung Fu. Like the shovel of a rebelling farmer, a humble weapon can become fully capable.

Originally, practicing Kung Fu did not just mean to practice Chinese martial arts.[5] Instead, it referred to the process of one's training - the strengthening of the body and the mind, the learning and the perfection of one's skills - rather than to what was being trained. It refers to excellence achieved through long practice in any endeavor.[4] This meaning can be traced to classical writings, especially those of Neo-Confucianism, which emphasize the importance of effort in education.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu_(term)

And I do expect you to continue learning, even after receiving this monumental wisdom. It's not meant to be the best shaving method, just the best method for now. (PSA: VDH/MTO owners will still probably need to shim. This is not the prophesied Weishi Wushu.)

Reform Method

Do not begin without having first learned to lather soap (see preceding post). Dry lather or shit from a can WILL KILL YOU. With the razor doors fully tightened, blade fully bent and secured, proceed as in Gillette's original instructions, sliding approximately WTG. That is, accommodating the topography of your face as well as the direction of growth, minimizing the drag on your skin, and shaving in long, straight lines.

Lather again, and loosen the blade slightly, to where it makes full skin contact, but is still safe enough to handle, and not fully loose. The Baili TTO has nice little fins guarding the blade corners, where you can check how flat your blade is; an unshimmed Weishi will already be flat, without loosening. Shave WTG again, more precisely: using shorter, square strokes, steeper blade pitch, more skin pulling and some pressure (together, as leverage). In other words, more deeply. That should result in a close, comfortable shave, all that is recommended for a beginner.

For a still smoother shave, apply what you have learned ATG. Whether to loosen the blade, or not, is up to you, now. Third pass uses sliding; fourth is deeper, with square strokes. Do not press to the hair roots just because you think it's the "last" pass, though. Remain mindful of traction on skin, and never allow excessive exfoliation. If shadows remain in the middle face area, alternate WTG and ATG touch-ups with square strokes, gradually increasing depth. Apply some kind of soapy slickness before each stroke, if not a complete relathering.

A New Direction

What else can I say, to the straight-stroking, hoe-digging, anchor-headed reprobates of the virtual world? Your fine radio voices, charismatic video presence, excellent writing skills, and good old-fashioned capitalism have somehow combined in the internet to create an anonymous, fascist monster. Everyone today is shaving wrong... but feeling really, really good about it! The simple test is sliding. When we shave right, there is no "across the grain."

Considering the blood shed in YouTube mimicry, "against the grain" is painful irony. My novel synthesis of the classic and the modern aims to foster a sense of progressive reduction sooner and safely, simply by stroking in the general direction that doesn't hurt. One shaves as deeply and evenly as possible, without damaging the skin, before moving on. I mean, think about it: if you missed a spot, it would be as if you just started shaving the wrong way.

Which everyone is doing anyway, due to not sliding on the first pass. The multiple levels of error do not compute within Google's inane engine of conformity, but luckily the old paradigm still exists in a few brains, and in reality. TRY a vintage Gillette, if you want to understand how "safe" your highly-rated safety razor really is. OBSERVE the forums' endless stream of "what happened to my neck?" posts. It's not their fault. They know that we're not supposed to be walking around stubbly, waiting three days for skin to heal. Aren't we supposed to be enjoying ourselves?

Balling with a Bowl and Williams

I've recently realized, while trying to explain how soap works on a forum, that according to the standards I've laid out here, my lathering ways have become extremely lazy and perverse. A far cry from the rustic Williams-in-palm method that I hold as being authentic tradition, from the time before hoarding. Taking just enough soap for one shave, or even one pass, in a small, narrow brush.

Bulbous 24-mm synthetic knots are a new standard, generally speaking, and might not even seem all that luxurious to a newcomer. Googling quickly orients one to the dry brush method of lathering, or an alternately wet, but equally stupid, method that sends soapy water spilling everywhere. Not having bothered to learn the old way is defeating the purpose of extravagance entirely. It takes forever to drip water back into the even greater volume of prematurely aerated paste; or, if you sent all your soap down the drain to start, how much lather are you really left with?

How To Lather Shaving Soap

Fill your brush at least half full of water, then use a soap cup to gently and carefully dissolve soap into the water, until it gets grey and sudsy. Unload the brush against the rim of the soap cup occasionally, to make sure that no relatively pure water is sequestered in the knot. The assessment of the suds is rather important, because stable bubbles, at this point, will ensure a stable lather later.

Without whisking to lather, transfer all protolather liquid into a separate bowl, first by dumping, then by wringing the brush on the lip of that vessel. Return to the soap cup to mop up any remaining moisture gently, without digging at the puck. A few stirs in the bowl makes it just bubbly enough that the fluid may be painted on the face without having it run down one's neck. Once more, drag the brush over the bowl rim to make room, before finally whipping up lather on the face.

It's not "bowl lathering," though the bowl's usefulness is maximized. And this specific technique is beyond the internet's present understanding of "face lathering." The essence is, loading and not lathering. Not until lather is needed, anyway. "Bowl preparation," to be precise. Actually, it seems like the most natural use of a scuttle.

If You Can't Join Them, Beat Them

I was confident that I could find a YouTube where an Italian barber does exactly what I'm talking about; and that adding soap to water, instead of water to soap, wouldn't need a label. I was wrong. It's not that I think I've invented anything by lathering soap efficiently. But the contrast between what I do and what everyone online does, and wastes everyone's time instructing, has become glaring and intolerable. Large brushes forced the issue, but it was always the amount of water in the brush that determined serving size. So if you still want to conserve soap, while affording yourself this luxury of a bowl or scuttle, simply reconsider using a brush of classic proportions.

Anyway, the switch in my head has officially flipped, from internal justification of my frugal guilt, to absolute justification. Categorize me as "correct," and everyone else as, "incorrect." That's all the newcomer needs to know. One might (justly) point out that I've been of that opinion since the founding of this blog. But I convict even my prior self, who rubbed the Williams lather that stuck to his palm into his beard as a minimal preshave. I didn't fully realize then, how much of the magic was attributable to my palm's contribution of natural moisturizing factor. It's not something you want to be wiping off your face, either.

Today, Williams is definitely in on the high life, as I pre-treat the lather bowl with a dollop of oil and/or a splash of fragrance. I've got a large, black-and-white synthetic brush heat-modified to a flame profile, extending its mighty mass of fiber into the tiny Armetale "mug." The opportunity to easily add amendments to the simplest of all shaving soaps is a synergistic benefit. My label search finally yielded an old forum post of my own, where I started with Ivory and added things in my palm. I then gave the nascent water-first approach an excellent label: the Artist Method. Though, when tossing in things like six grains of sugar, or a dash of psyllium husk powder, it may be more like alchemy.

So come on, everyone. There is no practical abundance in the mere possession of cupboards full of shaving soap. Quit cranking that brush, start maxing and relaxing. Indulge! I know you want to.

Finally Got A Brownie

I finally got to try a razor I believe I remember my grandmother endorsing, a later variety of Gillette Old Type. (For herself? For her spouse? I'll never know. I thought they were talking about the dessert, because I was four years old.) The originals had thinner caps than this one, from the twenties, but it still has a much flatter profile than my Merkur 41c.

Looks like the "1904 Classic" moniker refers to Merkur history, not Gillette, as I had previously thought. This is not a beginner razor, where the edge is by default suspended away from where it may do harm. You have to choose your angle wisely. Not because it is prone to cut, with the gapless geometry, but because it has tremendous "chomp," which reaches roots with ease, and can go too deep just as easily.

I'm tempted to go bald again, just so I can see if it can be managed on my scalp, where the 41c excelled. As for my face, I find it a bit exfoliating. My rationalization of this is that the curvature of the skin between OC teeth presents the blade at a range of angles, like a slant, and is thus not precisely controllable. Compensating for the most aggressive aspect would push the mildest aspect out of the effective range, and vice-versa.

I really don't think "efficient" is the right word for such razors. I've come up with some alternatives. "Angle relief" for the technical leeway, if not the mechanical advantage, of slants and combs; "traction relief" for pressure modulated anchors and TTOs. I've been shaving with all of them, lately, to see how they handle 2xWTG. (Though I frequently expand that to a four-pass shave, because I'm unwilling to give up the BBS attempt.)

The Tech is still the best razor for me, and I'd call the Slim the best razor for the theoretical everyman. One opinion has changed, though. I used to think OCs were better with smooth blades, and anchors needed sharp ones. I'd much rather take the dull blade out with traction relief now, and spare my skin from overly keen starts with angle relief. Deviating from the ideal, I not too surprisingly end up recreating the shaves of prior years; but I extract the full life from every blade, and never have to work too hard on technique.

As I find myself reflecting a lot lately, shaving just keeps getting better and better. Still, the last carrot may be dangling in the form of Razorock Mamba. I've seen some complain that the guarded geometry makes shaving close difficult or impossible, and I know my hair is that type, too. But I've been really good at adapting between razors, lately. Meanwhile, I have such precision with the Tech that I'm thinking about how to exploit the angle of cut tips. My hope is that the angle and traction relief of the Mamba are balanced, if not ideal; so that this other "efficiency" will not be denied.

Alas, my tax refund is already spent on minivan repairs. Maybe for Father's Day...