Am I missing something?

[ezequielvigo1]

I bought a safety razor recently because I've been wanting to get closer shaves. My facial hair is too damn thick, if I shave only with the grain it genuinely looks like I haven't shaved at all. Shaving against the grain is possible after 3 or 4 passes but the skin on my neck gets all irritated and cut up. Visually it gives me the best results but it hurts like hell. Using regular razors ain't an option either.

The only way I've found I can get a semi-decent shave in under 15 minutes is using some proraso soap and my Philips s8000 electric shaver, it almost looks as if I shaved against the grain.

The frustrating part is that even this way of shaving, when I look at myself in the mirror, still leaves the black dots of hair not that greyish undertone but genuine visible hairs that are just short in length.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is there any other way for me to shave given the thickness of my beard? It also grows pretty damn quick and I'm frustrated at being unable to get that true clean-shaven look, let alone hold it for longer than a few hours. (By lunch I tend to look like I need a shave regardless of how close I manage to shave)

 

[blethenstrom]

First of all welcome to B&B! We are so glad you joined us. We are a very friendly bunch of folks here.

Now to your question. It sounds like you are trying to switch from electric to DE shaving. I did the same thing about 1.5 year ago. the most important thing with wet shaving, DE shaving and learning it is that it takes time. Time to learn the technique physically. How to hold the razor, how to minimize pressure, what angles to shave at, how to make lather, how to........ The other aspect that is not thought of much is that your skin has to acclimate to being wet shaved. Your skin will be used to electric shaving and now things gets changed and it does take skin time to get used to your new routine. It takes 30-40 days of daily, every other day shaving for the skin to get used to it.

During this time you need to work on your skills. You will not get super smooth shaves to begin with. Here is what I would recommend.

1. Start just with one with-the-grain (WTG) pass. Do that for a while until that you do not get any irritation or issues from it. Yes it is not going to be the smoothest shave you have had, but we need to start somewhere. You may even need to give your skin a break sometimes to recover and that is ok.
2. Once you nailed that down incorporate a second pass as the across-the-grain (XTG). Same thing here do that until you can do a full 2-pass shave without irritation. You will have a much closer shave here, but yes not BBS, but better.
3. Once you have the 2-pass shaves figured out you can if you want or need and if your skin can tolerate it. Some people cannot do an against-the-grain (ATG) pass because it causes problems, but most can do maybe a partial ATG at least. You can also just add a second XTG pass in the opposite direction. After you ATG pass your face should be quite smooth maybe not BBS but at least a good nice shave. Remember that BBS is not your first goal but a irritation free shave is.

Try not to change around too much with razors, blades etc until you get a bit versed into this. Your toughness of beard may or may not be an issue once you go through these steps. Maybe you have to do more of a pre shave treatment to soften your whiskers better etc. You will learn this as you go along. Yes this is not done nor learned in a few shaves. Be patient and hang in there and before you know it you will be on your way to shaving bliss.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will be glad to help you out.

 

[DesertIguana]

People who have bought, swirly, thick beards. Need to take time to shave, as lather take time to soften beard, and when my beard was bought I hated shaving.

Beard got old like me, it is no longer big deal to remove, benefit of aging I assume.

 

[ezequielvigo1]

First of all welcome to B&B! We are so glad you joined us. We are a very friendly bunch of folks here.

Now to your question. It sounds like you are trying to switch from electric to DE shaving. I did the same thing about 1.5 year ago. the most important thing with wet shaving, DE shaving and learning it is that it takes time. Time to learn the technique physically. How to hold the razor, how to minimize pressure, what angles to shave at, how to make lather, how to........ The other aspect that is not thought of much is that your skin has to acclimate to being wet shaved. Your skin will be used to electric shaving and now things gets changed and it does take skin time to get used to your new routine. It takes 30-40 days of daily, every other day shaving for the skin to get used to it.

During this time you need to work on your skills. You will not get super smooth shaves to begin with. Here is what I would recommend.

1. Start just with one with-the-grain (WTG) pass. Do that for a while until that you do not get any irritation or issues from it. Yes it is not going to be the smoothest shave you have had, but we need to start somewhere. You may even need to give your skin a break sometimes to recover and that is ok.
2. Once you nailed that down incorporate a second pass as the across-the-grain (XTG). Same thing here do that until you can do a full 2-pass shave without irritation. You will have a much closer shave here, but yes not BBS, but better.
3. Once you have the 2-pass shaves figured out you can if you want or need and if your skin can tolerate it. Some people cannot do an against-the-grain (ATG) pass because it causes problems, but most can do maybe a partial ATG at least. You can also just add a second XTG pass in the opposite direction. After you ATG pass your face should be quite smooth maybe not BBS but at least a good nice shave. Remember that BBS is not your first goal but a irritation free shave is.

Try not to change around too much with razors, blades etc until you get a bit versed into this. Your toughness of beard may or may not be an issue once you go through these steps. Maybe you have to do more of a pre shave treatment to soften your whiskers better etc. You will learn this as you go along. Yes this is not done nor learned in a few shaves. Be patient and hang in there and before you know it you will be on your way to shaving bliss.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will be glad to help you out.

Hi, thank you for the swift and detailed reply. I'll give that a go to slowly incorporate wet shaves. Do you recommend any particular blades? the ones that I have are unbranded and came with my razor, I've heard Derby or Feathers are good but I don't know much about either. Also, in the process if I add a second pass with the electric razor just to get a smoother shave will that be fine or will it ruin my progress? I understand getting as little irritation as possible is key but I don't want to look unprofessional at work and my stubble is surprisingly apparent (it looks like I haven't even shaved when I shave with the grain).

 

[shupey]

There is definitely a learning curve with DE shaving. Some guys pretend they are experts after their first DE attempt. Others, like myself, take longer. It took me close to a year of practicing DE shaving to get an awesome shave every time. Slow down, take you time and build that muscle memory.

 

[blethenstrom]

Hi, thank you for the swift and detailed reply. I'll give that a go to slowly incorporate wet shaves. Do you recommend any particular blades? the ones that I have are unbranded and came with my razor, I've heard Derby or Feathers are good but I don't know much about either. Also, in the process if I add a second pass with the electric razor just to get a smoother shave will that be fine or will it ruin my progress? I understand getting as little irritation as possible is key but I don't want to look unprofessional at work and my stubble is surprisingly apparent (it looks like I haven't even shaved when I shave with the grain).

I understand that you do not want to look unprofessional. What kind of razor did you get? I would probably not use that blades that came with the razor. It kind of hard to know what you are dealing with. Now as far as blades goes I would not get Feather blades as your first blade. Feathers are viewed as the sharpest blade out there and unless you have a bit of time under your belt it may become a bit rough. You can do Derby Premiums, but I would not do Derby Extras at this time. Other blades that would work well are Dorco Prime, Dorco Titan, Astra Superior Platinum, Astra Stainless Steel. There are also many others that will be very good. You can get a blade sample pack if you would like.

Adding an electric pass after your wet shaving pass may or may not work. You may tolerate it or you may not. You will have to try that and be the judge of that. I do not think it will ruin your progress. Besides once you hit a 2-pass shave the electric will not do anything for you most likely.

 

[ezequielvigo1]

Okay, great I'll give the Derby's a go! I couldn't say for sure what brand my razor is, my friend ordered it for me from amazon, I guess it works okay but I don't really have anything to compare it to. I used to use a straight razor for lining up my beard and by comparison it is slightly less harsh and not as close. (I have done full shaves with the straight razor before but ended up giving it up because it took too long). Thanks for all your replies and advice!

I understand that you do not want to look unprofessional. What kind of razor did you get? I would probably not use that blades that came with the razor. It kind of hard to know what you are dealing with. Now as far as blades goes I would not get Feather blades as your first blade. Feathers are viewed as the sharpest blade out there and unless you have a bit of time under your belt it may become a bit rough. You can do Derby Premiums, but I would not do Derby Extras at this time. Other blades that would work well are Dorco Prime, Dorco Titan, Astra Superior Platinum, Astra Stainless Steel. There are also many others that will be very good. You can get a blade sample pack if you would like.

Adding an electric pass after your wet shaving pass may or may not work. You may tolerate it or you may not. You will have to try that and be the judge of that. I do not think it will ruin your progress. Besides once you hit a 2-pass shave the electric will not do anything for you most likely.

 

[blethenstrom]

Make sure you get the black Derby Premium and not the green Derby Extra. Now there are many DE razors with different characteristics. The reason asked about your razor is that some have the blade sticking out further than others and there are many other differences as well. Some are not great for beginning to learn with. If you have a link to the razor you got or anything we could probably give you an idea.

DE shaving will also take longer than electric shaving. Try not to be in a hurry while you do this so that you do not have a bad and rough shave. You will be really slow in the beginning, but things will get a bit faster as time goes. Now I do not think that you will ever get to the speed at which the electric will shave you.

Please let us know how things go. There are also many many good tutorials here on B&B regarding the many aspects of wet shaving.

 

[ezequielvigo1]

Make sure you get the black Derby Premium and not the green Derby Extra. Now there are many DE razors with different characteristics. The reason asked about your razor is that some have the blade sticking out further than others and there are many other differences as well. Some are not great for beginning to learn with. If you have a link to the razor you got or anything we could probably give you an idea.

DE shaving will also take longer than electric shaving. Try not to be in a hurry while you do this so that you do not have a bad and rough shave. You will be really slow in the beginning, but things will get a bit faster as time goes. Now I do not think that you will ever get to the speed at which the electric will shave you.

Please let us know how things go. There are also many many good tutorials here on B&B regarding the many aspects of wet shaving.

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01N7P3UI0?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details this is the one I believe. I've ordered the black derby blades now, thanks!

 

[BigJ]

Welcome aboard!

Some great advice above!!

My take is that ‘traditional’ wet shaving is a skill that takes time and effort to acquire. The effort is well worth the time IMO!!

 

[Hawkweber]

if I shave only with the grain it genuinely looks like I haven't shaved at all.

I had the same issue when I started with a DE razor. It turns out that the issue was with the shaving angle I was using. I was trying to maintain the 30-degree "holy grail" angle that gets talked about all over the place and that wasn't engaging the blade with the whiskers. Once I played around with the angle and started shaving by "feel and sound" the issue resolved.

Here is a video by Shane of Blackland Razors that discusses it:

 

[ezequielvigo1]

I had the same issue when I started with a DE razor. It turns out that the issue was with the shaving angle I was using. I was trying to maintain the 30-degree "holy grail" angle that gets talked about all over the place and that wasn't engaging the blade with the whiskers. Once I played around with the angle and started shaving by "feel and sound" the issue resolved.

Here is a video by Shane of Blackland Razors that discusses it:

Thats great, I'll have a watch, thanks!

 

[blethenstrom]

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01N7P3UI0?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details this is the one I believe. I've ordered the black derby blades now, thanks!

Awesome! Your razor looks like a Baili BD176. This is a mild 3-piece razor and it will be perfectly good to learn to DE shave with. You will be good to go. It may not be your forever razor, but it is a fully acceptable starting point.

What are you using for lather? lather-less cream, canned gel, canned foam or are you using brush and shave soap/cream? Either will work, but you probably want to work towards a shave brush and shave soap/cream. An inexpensive synthetic brush and some Proraso shave cream would be a great starting point.

 

[ezequielvigo1]

Great, good to know it isn't a piece of junk. I've got a truefitt & hill brush I got as a present and a proraso tube of cream with eucalyptus and mint. Its a big green tube, I just squeeze half an inch onto my brush, wet it and lather on my face.

Awesome! Your razor looks like a Baili BD176. This is a mild 3-piece razor and it will be perfectly good to learn to DE shave with. You will be good to go. It may not be your forever razor, but it is a fully acceptable starting point.

What are you using for lather? lather-less cream, canned gel, canned foam or are you using brush and shave soap/cream? Either will work, but you probably want to work towards a shave brush and shave soap/cream. An inexpensive synthetic brush and some Proraso shave cream would be a great starting point.

 

[gpjoe]

Lots of great advice.

I think the biggest issue for newcomers is pressing too hard...that, and too much "blade time" (my term for too many passes in an attempt for a perfect shave ) can cause severe irritation and draw blood. Use the lightest touch that allows the razor to remove your whiskers, and know when to stop. Your face will thank you.

I wouldn't expect a great shave from your first few attempts, and that's ok. Work your way along slowly and ou will figure it out in time...and you will get all the help you need from the membership here.

Welcome to the show.

 

[DrakeMegrim]

Welcome! Lots of great advice here. Looks like you've got the right gear and some things to work towards. Something that might help is doing some beard mapping just to understand what direction with/across/against the grain is on your face. It helped me not mulch my neck.

 

[blethenstrom]

Great, good to know it isn't a piece of junk. I've got a truefitt & hill brush I got as a present and a proraso tube of cream with eucalyptus and mint. Its a big green tube, I just squeeze half an inch onto my brush, wet it and lather on my face.

Perfect you have everything that you need for a great shave. Once you get the blades have at it! Please keep us in the loop incase you have some questions.

 

[Dave himself]

Hi and welcome to B&B. You've been given great advice. Just take your time and don't get frustrated, we've all been where you are now. Relax and give yourself some time to let your muscle memory to kick in. Don't worry you'll get there .

 

[ezequielvigo1]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice and support, I'll give it a go and hopefully in a little while the update will be a very favourable one and my face will be a happier one!

 

[LJTheFox]

I bought a safety razor recently because I've been wanting to get closer shaves. My facial hair is too damn thick, if I shave only with the grain it genuinely looks like I haven't shaved at all. Shaving against the grain is possible after 3 or 4 passes but the skin on my neck gets all irritated and cut up. Visually it gives me the best results but it hurts like hell. Using regular razors ain't an option either.

The only way I've found I can get a semi-decent shave in under 15 minutes is using some proraso soap and my Philips s8000 electric shaver, it almost looks as if I shaved against the grain.

The frustrating part is that even this way of shaving, when I look at myself in the mirror, still leaves the black dots of hair not that greyish undertone but genuine visible hairs that are just short in length.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is there any other way for me to shave given the thickness of my beard? It also grows pretty damn quick and I'm frustrated at being unable to get that true clean-shaven look, let alone hold it for longer than a few hours. (By lunch I tend to look like I need a shave regardless of how close I manage to shave)

Hello Mr. Vigo and welcome to the B&B forums. I can tell you personally that for almost all of my life I was also mainly an electric shaver. DE has made shaving fun for me, and I know it will do the same for you. Like @blethenstrom and @shupey said this is a learning curve. not necessarily a liner one, but one indeed. I was disappointed when I saw those little hairs too. I think looking at it from a medical perspective, like I can, may clear things up; think of your hair follicles as little collagen pods. when you first thrusted that safety razor on your face, rather than the electric one, they didn't know how to react to it, because they were used to the electric shaver. but as you keep using a DE blade to shave, the skin will re-shape itself to fit that need, with minute secretions of collagen you can't really see. that process can be more violent for some, and people have passed away from lacerations from a razor. that's why barbers, and places like B&B, are here to help you and guide you in safe shaving practices. do not be afraid to contact members, and look through the forum list and wiki whenever you'd like and educational read. have a great day!