Welcome. Happy shaves!
Hey man! Welcome! Glad to have to here.Two weeks in to my DE shaving journey and I'm hooked. I'm in my 50s and feel like I've missed out on this hidden secret and have now opened a door into a vast world of opportunity. OK maybe I'm overstating it a bit...lol. Seriously though, I am really into it and now seriously look forward to shaving in the morning where it had been just a task for me. What pushed me into the world was the ridiculous cost of the cartridges. After paying $2+ for cartridges that lasted 4 shaves, I felt it time to stop feeding that beast.
I've started with a cheap setup ($15 Weishi DE from Amazon, Cremo SC, Dorco blades). It has worked well but added some pre-shave oil, alum block and cremo mint after-shave. The pre-shave oil made a huge difference for me and it only took me about 5 shaves to work my face map properly (minimal irritation/nicks) with the razor. The alum block tells provides the feedback on how good a job I've done . I have a very thick beard (not a ton of hair though) and sensitive skin so I'm considering getting a slant (Merkur 37c). My only regret so far is buying a 100pack of the Dorco blades. I'll probably get a sample pack when I order the Merkur and would advise anyone else who's starting out to do the same.