Hello Everyone! Beginner and ready to learn!

[Osyri]

Hello All,

trying to convert from disposables and started wet shaving earlier this month.

Hope to learn from you all!

Questions : I have a Weidi Adjustable Razor, Is it a good idea to continue using my shave gel or should i invest in some shaving soap and creams?

 

[blethenstrom]

Hello and welcome! You have come to the right place to ask all kinds of questions. Newish wet shaver myself. Only been at it since about Jan 23 and I have learned a lot here. Been a fantastic journey.

 

[BigJ]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Multum in parvo]

Welcome

A switch to proper lather will definitely improve your shaving experience. A budget cream, brush and mug will set you straight.

Where are based and do you know what is available to you?

 

[blethenstrom]

Hello All,

trying to convert from disposables and started wet shaving earlier this month.

Hope to learn from you all!

Questions : I have a Weidi Adjustable Razor, Is it a good idea to continue using my shave gel or should i invest in some shaving soap and creams?

I would recommend that you get together with a simple, not too overly expensive shave kit. Grab a bowl from the kitchen or you can buy an inexpensive one online or in a local store for lather bowl.

I would recommend getting a shave soap like a Proraso shave cream or similar. Creams will be a bit easier to start with unless you want to go full in with a soap. If so, the Proraso shave soaps like the red or the green might be a good starting soap. With a cream or a soap you will have a much better experience learning to wet shave. It also protects your skin better.

I would also get a shave brush to go with all this and I would stay in the 10 - 20 dollar range and get a simple synthetic one. Easy, soft and dries quickly.

I would maybe also look at some other blades than the ones that came with the razor, unless you already got some. Go easy and gentle, no pressure, start at the lowest setting on your adjustable razor. Only do a single with-the-grain pass the first few times and work yourself up to incorporate the other passes as you build your technique.

 

[Osyri]

Welcome

A switch to proper lather will definitely improve your shaving experience. A budget cream, brush and mug will set you straight.

Where are based and do you know what is available to you?

Thank you all for your advices!

I'm in Orange County, CA and the only place that sells shaving items that I know of is Walmart and its all only cartridges or disposables. WIll check on online for a beginner kit

 

[Eric_75]

Hello and welcome to B & B!

 

[Dave himself]

Hi and welcome to B&B. Great advice above. I would just add take your time and enjoy your first set up whatever you decide on. Stick with your setup for a month or to until your technique improves, and have fun.

 

[blethenstrom]

Thank you all for your advices!

I'm in Orange County, CA and the only place that sells shaving items that I know of is Walmart and its all only cartridges or disposables. WIll check on online for a beginner kit

Cool! Greeting from Raleigh, NC. Yeah online is your friend when it comes to wet shaving. You will find very limited local things available unless you are one of the lucky ones to have a shave shop nearby. I would not buy an already made kit but maybe just put together something simple to start with. Look at ItalianBarber.com, pasteurshaving.com, maggardrazors.com, fendrihan.com or similar. They will have everything that you need brushes, soaps etc etc etc. Just be careful, because we are a bunch of enablers here on B&B and will try to drag you down in the rabbit hole with us. After all misery loves company.

I saw that you entered the PIF for a Merkur 34C and that is a nice razor to start with. I wish you luck on the drawing for it.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Ok, a tube of Proraso and a synthetic brush plus a liberated bowl/mug from the kitchen is all you need for starting out. Once you learn how to lather, which is easy, you can go shopping around for anything that tickles your fancy.

 

[StewB]

I'm in Orange County, CA and the only place that sells shaving items that I know of is Walmart and its all only cartridges or disposables. WIll check on online for a beginner kit

Interesting. In my local Walmart (Albuquerque) they sell the Van Der Hagen twist-to-open (TTO, also called "butterfly") short handle which is a pretty good clone of a vintage 1960s-1970s era Gillette Super Speed. You might see if they have those--it's a pretty good mild razor.

Preparation and technique are the keys to getting quality shaves from a DE razor. Make sure that your lather is nice and slick, use a light touch, and work on getting the proper shaving angle for the razor.

In my experience too much pressure is probably the main cause of shaving irritation. A cartridge razor usually requires you to press the cartridge into the skin to get it to cut. You need much less pressure with a DE razor. Practice and you will get good results in a pretty short time!

 

[T Bone]

Questions : I have a Weidi Adjustable Razor, Is it a good idea to continue using my shave gel or should i invest in some shaving soap and creams?

Welcome! I tried continuing with the shave gel I'd been using for years with cartridges, and would strongly suggest not doing that, any decent soap or cream will be much slicker. What to get depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go.

The simplest choice would be just a brushless cream like Cremo or Jack Black, those will work fine and are much slicker than canned gel. A bit nicer would be a cheap synthetic brush - you can get a good one for under $20, just pick a 24mm or 26mm one that you like the look of from RazoRock (Italian Barber), Yaqi, or Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements. That and a soap or cream (there's tons of good ones to choose from) would be a great starting point, no mug or bowl necessary unless you really want one. Enjoy!

 

[NorthernSoul]

Hi and welcome!

Gel works OK in a pinch. You can do a better job of preparing your beard with some simple shaving cream and an inexpensive synthetic brush. You don't have to spend a lot. Something like a tube of Proraso Green or Speick, for instance.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Welcome to the B&B community.

 

[cryhavoc]

Welcome to B&B!

 

[midwestshaver71]

Welcome to B&B!
When I started I just used the Cremo I had been using with the cartridge razor at the time, but there are a ton of fine creams and soaps out there, and perhaps a brush.

 

[Osyri]

Cool! Greeting from Raleigh, NC. Yeah online is your friend when it comes to wet shaving. You will find very limited local things available unless you are one of the lucky ones to have a shave shop nearby. I would not buy an already made kit but maybe just put together something simple to start with. Look at ItalianBarber.com, pasteurshaving.com, maggardrazors.com, fendrihan.com or similar. They will have everything that you need brushes, soaps etc etc etc. Just be careful, because we are a bunch of enablers here on B&B and will try to drag you down in the rabbit hole with us. After all misery loves company.

I saw that you entered the PIF for a Merkur 34C and that is a nice razor to start with. I wish you luck on the drawing for it.

Lol, if you read my other post on discussion, i'm frugal so hopefully i don't fall into the rabbit hole, right now all the shiny and expensive razors look fabulous, however a sharp blade is nothing when welded by an amateur or I'll probably cut myself more.

Serious question: one of the main reason i started wet shaving is because of 2 problem areas, the part where your sideburns go down and under the jaw line on the right and left side, does different razor help in that area, i know there are dual edge, single edge, and a blade.

 

[blethenstrom]

Lol, if you read my other post on discussion, i'm frugal so hopefully i don't fall into the rabbit hole, right now all the shiny and expensive razors look fabulous, however a sharp blade is nothing when welded by an amateur or I'll probably cut myself more.

Serious question: one of the main reason i started wet shaving is because of 2 problem areas, the part where your sideburns go down and under the jaw line on the right and left side, does different razor help in that area, i know there are dual edge, single edge, and a blade.

Well I am frugal as well and do not want to spend more than I should. Although it is hard to resist sometimes as we all know. As long as you have a razor that holds the blade well and is not overly aggressive you should be fine. Just get some decent blades and just follow the instructions in the guides that @thombrogan linked and you will be fine. It will not be perfect nor great but just start out slowly and easy and over time you will build muscle memory and technique and it will become second nature.

Right under the jawline is always a bit of a struggle to get super smooth and you will just have find what techniques works for you for those areas. I would recommend that you map your beard on your face and learn which direction that it grows, because that will determine which direction you will shave. Like I mentioned before just start out WTG (with the grain) and got from there.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Serious question: one of the main reason i started wet shaving is because of 2 problem areas, the part where your sideburns go down and under the jaw line on the right and left side, does different razor help in that area, i know there are dual edge, single edge, and a blade.

The jawline and chin usually have the toughest whiskers. It may take at least two passes in different directions, sometimes three.

You need to watch your shaving angle to get close as you come around the corners. Use short strokes, instead of the long strokes people usually do with cartridge razors. With practice, you should improve your skills.

 

[Guido75]

Welcome to B&B!

You can find our monthly and other periodic events here to get you started.

Enjoy!

Guido