Great opening. You are most welcome. 
Just starting out
- Thread starter SLR_65
- Start date
Dear Steve,
Excellent first and second posts - well done.
Don't worry too much about your boys - it is the duty of teenagers to wind their parents up and to treat anything they say as the vapourings of aged imbeciles - that is why God created them.
Interesting secondary point too - I wonder what razor HM uses?
Welcome aboard.
Cordially, AvT.
Excellent first and second posts - well done.
Don't worry too much about your boys - it is the duty of teenagers to wind their parents up and to treat anything they say as the vapourings of aged imbeciles - that is why God created them.
Interesting secondary point too - I wonder what razor HM uses?
Welcome aboard.
Cordially, AvT.
- Thread starter
- #23
THANKS for the warm welcome guys!
We may have new members soon . . . we got to discussing shaving at work today on lunch break and several of the guys were amazed you could still get DE razors, blades, and . . . shaving soap! Most of the guys remembered soap fondly and most commented they were headed out to Wally World to pick some up after work! I referred them all to this web site so I'll bet we pick some new members up!
It's amazing how the conversation picks up when bring this up, it seems EVERYONE is sick and tired of being ripped off with the new plastic multiblade shavers!
I'm on the fence with my razor. The Merkur HD has very good reviews here, but I'm thinking the Progress may be nice too since it's adjustable. Are there any real differences between the two beyond the adjustability?
I do like to tweak, but knowing that switching settings all the time is a sure fire way to ginsu up my face I think I could muster enough self control to just set it on one setting for while till I get my technique going good.
Sooo, what are the thoughts? Do you guys with adjustable razors actually adjust them or do you usually just leave them on one setting?
I found an earlier post about shimming up razors and I'm wondering if adding a shim would make my Gillette Tech more aggressive? It's not that I'm cheap (though I am! ), I just like using my Dad's old razor so if I could make it work a bit better it would be great. If not though I can leave it set in the medicen cabinet along with my new one, no biggie.
Thanks again for the warm welcome and great advice!
Steve
We may have new members soon . . . we got to discussing shaving at work today on lunch break and several of the guys were amazed you could still get DE razors, blades, and . . . shaving soap! Most of the guys remembered soap fondly and most commented they were headed out to Wally World to pick some up after work! I referred them all to this web site so I'll bet we pick some new members up!
It's amazing how the conversation picks up when bring this up, it seems EVERYONE is sick and tired of being ripped off with the new plastic multiblade shavers!
I'm on the fence with my razor. The Merkur HD has very good reviews here, but I'm thinking the Progress may be nice too since it's adjustable. Are there any real differences between the two beyond the adjustability?
I do like to tweak, but knowing that switching settings all the time is a sure fire way to ginsu up my face I think I could muster enough self control to just set it on one setting for while till I get my technique going good.
Sooo, what are the thoughts? Do you guys with adjustable razors actually adjust them or do you usually just leave them on one setting?
I found an earlier post about shimming up razors and I'm wondering if adding a shim would make my Gillette Tech more aggressive? It's not that I'm cheap (though I am!
), I just like using my Dad's old razor so if I could make it work a bit better it would be great. If not though I can leave it set in the medicen cabinet along with my new one, no biggie.Thanks again for the warm welcome and great advice!
Steve
- Thread starter
- #24
Nice choice. Great razor. I'm in love with mine. Hope you like it!
welcome to da B&B!!!!!!! now....start posting!!!!
- Thread starter
- #27
Hi Guys,
New toys arrived today - Israeli Red Box blades and a Merkur HD!
OK, I've been using an old Gillette Tech, Walmart Personna blades, and the VDH soap from Walmart with a VDH board hair brush.
I had been doing OK, no major knicks or anything but I have a thick beard and I was having trouble getting close shaves. Because I had to make so many passes I was getting some razor burn. I finally decided to cut down to just three passes - one wtg, one xtg, and one atg. If I missed something I didn't worry about it - just figured I'd pick it up tomorrow and that helped the razor burn a alot.
I got lazy the last couple days though and didn't shave and last night's shave was terrible - just a real fight! I could feel each whisker as it cut (and I've been changing blades with each shave just to eliminate a dull blade variable) and I ended up with a pretty good razor burn.
Today's shave was excellent though! First my wife found a bigger mug thingie and I can really work up a lather in it so I had a better lather (though I'm getting pretty good at face lathering). Then I picked up some witch hazel and generic Old Spice at Family Dollar today. The witch hazel felt really good and didn't smell that bad (kinda vanilla like). The Old Spice burnt a bit though! And, I'd forgotten it's what my late father used to wear so I keep catching a whif of it and looking around for Dad!
As I said, I got new toys today. I know I shouldn't change things mid-ship, but I wanted to try the israeli blades as they are cheaper than the Walmart blades and from what I'd read I thought the Merkur HD may help with my razor burn. Boy was I right! First up was the sound, it just sounds like it's mowing the whiskers down! Second off was that I wasn't feeling any pulling on my whiskers -> I'm betting that's due to the Israeli blades being sharper. The Merkur just feels better balanced too!
My face is still a little sore from last night, but all in all today's shave was much better than any I've had to date!
However . . . I'd like to think this is a manly thing I'm doing here, but I've got more paraphanalia going on in the bathroom than my wife and daughter!
Oh well, at least I'm enjoying shaving now instead of it just being a chore!
Thanks for everything guys - all the advice given here has been spot on!
Steve
New toys arrived today - Israeli Red Box blades and a Merkur HD!
OK, I've been using an old Gillette Tech, Walmart Personna blades, and the VDH soap from Walmart with a VDH board hair brush.
I had been doing OK, no major knicks or anything but I have a thick beard and I was having trouble getting close shaves. Because I had to make so many passes I was getting some razor burn. I finally decided to cut down to just three passes - one wtg, one xtg, and one atg. If I missed something I didn't worry about it - just figured I'd pick it up tomorrow and that helped the razor burn a alot.
I got lazy the last couple days though and didn't shave and last night's shave was terrible - just a real fight! I could feel each whisker as it cut (and I've been changing blades with each shave just to eliminate a dull blade variable) and I ended up with a pretty good razor burn.
Today's shave was excellent though! First my wife found a bigger mug thingie and I can really work up a lather in it so I had a better lather (though I'm getting pretty good at face lathering). Then I picked up some witch hazel and generic Old Spice at Family Dollar today. The witch hazel felt really good and didn't smell that bad (kinda vanilla like). The Old Spice burnt a bit though! And, I'd forgotten it's what my late father used to wear so I keep catching a whif of it and looking around for Dad!
As I said, I got new toys today. I know I shouldn't change things mid-ship, but I wanted to try the israeli blades as they are cheaper than the Walmart blades and from what I'd read I thought the Merkur HD may help with my razor burn. Boy was I right! First up was the sound, it just sounds like it's mowing the whiskers down! Second off was that I wasn't feeling any pulling on my whiskers -> I'm betting that's due to the Israeli blades being sharper. The Merkur just feels better balanced too!
My face is still a little sore from last night, but all in all today's shave was much better than any I've had to date!
However . . . I'd like to think this is a manly thing I'm doing here, but I've got more paraphanalia going on in the bathroom than my wife and daughter!
Oh well, at least I'm enjoying shaving now instead of it just being a chore!Thanks for everything guys - all the advice given here has been spot on!
Steve
- Thread starter
- #28
Hi Guys,
Just an update.
I've been using the Iraeli Red Box Personnas and the Merkur HD for a couple weeks now.
It's been so-so. It started out promising and I've gotten some pretty close shaves but I keep getting some razor burn on my right cheek and my chin. No matter how light of a touch, just going with the grain, etc. I always end up with a razor burn in those two places. I actually skipped shaving a couple days to give my face a little time to heal up. I'm sure I have the angle right as I start horizontal and then come down slowly until I can hear the blade cutting.
This is in contrast to when I was using the Gillette Tech as my cheeks and chin were fine then but I got some razor burn on my neck. With the Merkur HD my neck is fine, but I razor burn my cheek and chin.
I hadn't tried the new blades in the old Gillette Tech (I had been using some Personna blades from WalMart in it when I first started) so this morning on a whim I gave the new blades and the old Tech a shot. Boy, what a difference! The Tech shave MUCH better with a decent blade in it!
This shave my cheek and chin are just fine, but as with my pervious experience with the Tech I have a hard time shaving my neck close so I make too many passes and ended up with some razor burn on my neck. Not bad though, if I had to choose one razor right now I think I'd stick with the Tech as the neck razor burn isn't as bad as what I get on my cheek and chin with the HD.
If I could just combine the two razors I'd have it made!
I'm thinking I may use the Tech on my cheeks and chin tomorrow and use the HD on my neck just to see how it goes.
I'm considering a couple things also - maybe trying some Feather blades in both razors and maybe moving to an adjustable razor, what would be a good adjustable razor to try? (new or vintage doesn't make much difference to me)
Thanks guys!
Steve
Just an update.
I've been using the Iraeli Red Box Personnas and the Merkur HD for a couple weeks now.
It's been so-so. It started out promising and I've gotten some pretty close shaves but I keep getting some razor burn on my right cheek and my chin. No matter how light of a touch, just going with the grain, etc. I always end up with a razor burn in those two places. I actually skipped shaving a couple days to give my face a little time to heal up. I'm sure I have the angle right as I start horizontal and then come down slowly until I can hear the blade cutting.
This is in contrast to when I was using the Gillette Tech as my cheeks and chin were fine then but I got some razor burn on my neck. With the Merkur HD my neck is fine, but I razor burn my cheek and chin.
I hadn't tried the new blades in the old Gillette Tech (I had been using some Personna blades from WalMart in it when I first started) so this morning on a whim I gave the new blades and the old Tech a shot. Boy, what a difference! The Tech shave MUCH better with a decent blade in it!
This shave my cheek and chin are just fine, but as with my pervious experience with the Tech I have a hard time shaving my neck close so I make too many passes and ended up with some razor burn on my neck. Not bad though, if I had to choose one razor right now I think I'd stick with the Tech as the neck razor burn isn't as bad as what I get on my cheek and chin with the HD.
If I could just combine the two razors I'd have it made!
I'm thinking I may use the Tech on my cheeks and chin tomorrow and use the HD on my neck just to see how it goes.
I'm considering a couple things also - maybe trying some Feather blades in both razors and maybe moving to an adjustable razor, what would be a good adjustable razor to try? (new or vintage doesn't make much difference to me)
Thanks guys!
Steve
