John has kept a beard for years, largely because he's extremely allergic to chromium - a critical component (10% in regular stainless & 13% in surgical) in stainless steel. The fact that I love his beard (when it's neat) hasn't exactly hurt, either. But, last month, it just really got to him (particularly when trying to buckle his motorcycle helmet under his chin!) and he took it off. He's using a ceramic coated straight razor, but wears bifocal glasses, and it's often difficult for him to see what he's doing. I want to learn how to do it. He does so much for me, and if I can learn how to do this for him, and make it an enjoyable, relaxing ritual for him, that's what I want to do.
Unfortunately, it's not something that comes naturally, to me, and I'm REALLY struggling. I let him strop the blade, then I got the towel nice and hot, wet, but not dripping. I put it on his face & neck, while I trimmed his hair, and when he deemed the beard soft enough, I lathered up the brush and dabbed it thoroughly over his face. I was careful with the angle, and went in - cheek first, to get the feel for handling the blade and how it played against the whiskers. By the time I was halfway done with the first cheek, my frustration level was just crazy. It seemed like I was trying to cut the whiskers with a butter knife. Every stroke left more than it cut, and the whiskers were cooling off and firming up so fast, it felt like I was losing ground - then, the shaving cream and ridiculously few whiskers on a stroke came up pink. I know and understand that nicks happen, even when he's doing it, himself. I'm not generally bothered by blood - but, the fact that the whiskers were in full-on rebellion, refusing to leave their porous homes, the shaving soap was losing its foam, and now, I was already drawing blood... well. The next thing was just the icing on the cake - tears of frustration - and I couldn't see what I was doing. So, I handed him the razor, and let him finish it, before it would simply have to be restarted, from the beginning. He was very understanding, encouraging, and his usual sweet self. Dammit. It might actually have been easier, if he'd been a jerk about it.
So, here I am - still determined to figure this out. A couple of possibilities come to mind as things that might help: 1 - more initial stropping; 2 - a longer hot/wet towel phase; 3 - me giving myself a bit more grace; 4 - practice, practice, practice! And 5 - tips, thoughts, ideas, from y'all - my awesome permies peeps. Help? Please?