Day 5

On this fifth day of my journey, I was beginning to feel a bit more confident with my skills with the razor.  I felt like I could try for a closer shave than I had been getting.  After three passes, I did get a closer shave, but also a bit more irritation and a lot of bleeders.  Thankfully most of the bleeding stopped with a little cold water, and I only had to use some toilet paper for a pesky mole on my lower lip that sticks out a bit.  I may still be trying to be too aggressive with the blade, I don't know.  I'll probably skip shaving tomorrow (Saturday,) and see how it is the next day.

Pics after the jump...

Day 4

My brush and Proraso cream arrived last night.  Very excited.

I followed the instructions of an Amazon reviewer for doing an initial cleaning of the brush.  I put some dish soap in a cup of warm water and let the brush soak for a while.  Then I rinsed it out and put some of the new Proraso cream directly on the brush and lathered it in my hand for a while until the entire brush was covered in thick foam.  I let the brush sit like this overnight, and rinsed it out in the morning.  I didn't notice much odor from the brush initially, but thought a good cleaning couldn't hurt.

I used a large coffee mug to create my first lather.  I think it worked pretty well.  The lather was definitely much nicer on my face than what I had been previously using.  Still need to work on technique and pressure.

Day 3

Brush should arrive today, excited to see how it works.

I can definitely say that the aftershave is great. My skin feels much better after using it and for the rest of the day too.

I didn't take any pictures as there's nothing different to see.

Day 2

Day 2 results.  Still with the old cream and no brush to create lather.  Pictures taken moments after shave.

Day 1

I received most of my kit yesterday, strange since it was a Sunday and I didn't know USPS delivered on Sunday.  Anyway, I received the razor, blades, stand, and aftershave.

I went ahead and used the new razor with the old cream I had been using.  Its not a bad cream, but without a brush, it doesn't get much of a lather.  I wanted to start getting used to the new razor and figuring out how to shave with it.  I decided I wasn't going to be too concerned with getting a close shave, just wanted to learn the basics.

I could tell that the razor blade was sharper than I had been used to.  I went very lightly and tried to get the right angle.  I had some irritation directly under my nose, and on my neck. 

This is a few hours after the shave: