Russian Roulette

[Smedley]

I ordered and recieved Letter K's blade sampler. Any suggestions on which blade I should start with -- a blade that woulld be good for a Newbie?

The Israeli Personnas are a step up from the Merkurs and seem to be still gentle enough on the newbie face.

 

[Patrick D]

Thanks to everyone for your warm welcome!!

I will definitely keep everyone updated once my brushes and creams arrive.

I have not performed my second shave yet - will wait until Sunday or Monday.Also, thanks for the advice on ditching the Merkur Blade that came with the Futur.

I ordered and recieved Letter K's blade sampler. Any suggestions on which blade I should start with -- a blade that woulld be good for a Newbie?

I keep checking ebay for other DE Razors - but - I am taking the advice of all the posts that I read about staying with 1 razor and 1 type of blade for at least a couple months.

Thanks Again!!

Out of the blades tried from the sample pack, I've settled on the Derby's and Feathers as my go to blades. The Derbys have worked very well in whatever razor I've used them in and deliver a very comfortable shave.

The Feathers are very sharp and I use them when I have the time to go for a BBS shave.

 

[lynnvin]

Well, all of my tools arrived (Vulfix brush, T & O Avocado Shave cream, soap, etc) and I finally had my first true DE wet shave. I was so excited that I made a few bowls of sample lather to see which combination of water and cream/soap produces a decent lather.

After I prepared my beard by splashing hot water on it for a couple of minutes and also testing out the sample lather I produced - I finally placed a hot towel on my beard for a few minutes.

Now I was roaring to use the Futur to get a great shave. The razor had no problem gliding over my face with all the lather on it - I did 4 passes (1 WTG - 2 XTG and 1 ATG - I know I should have waited a couple more weeks to do the ATG pass). I only got 1 nick but got some razor burn - there are no bumps but it feels like I got sunburn on my face. I splashed on some witch hazel and Nivea AS Balm which helped.

I know what I did wrong - I would resort back to my old ways when I was using a Mach 3. I would go over an area a second time after I just shaved there and removed the lather. I was being the typical newbie by trying to move too fast.

It was a decent shave -- one positive thing -- I used no pressure on the blade (IP) and just let the weight of the Futur do it's job. I still had some stubble on my neck area but I am sure with practice and trial and error I can eliminate that stubble.

Thanks Again for all of your help - I will keep you posted on how things are progressing!

 

[BroJohn]

One of the indications of a bad product reaction is the Sunburn-like hot-ness appearant on your skin. Razor 'burn' from poor shaving technique subsides rather quickly; the Sunburn-like heat from a product reaction persists and in many cases will increase.

I'm not saying that's what you have, just alerting you with a heads-up so you can be somewhat more aware.

-- John Gehman

 

[lynnvin]

John:

Thanks for the heads up -- I beleive I may have razor burn because the sunburn like pain (maybe I should say discomfort) was only on a few spots on my face - not my entire face. Also, the discomfort decreased significantly after I applied the witch hazel and Nivea AS Balm.

However, if I keep experiencing the sunburn like discomfort for a few more shaves then I may have to consider some sort of reaction to the products that are being used.

Thanks Again!

 

[ericmoritz]

You'll be amazed how much a proper cream or soap will make the shave better. I thought I had decent soaps (A Colonel Conk Almond and a Classicshave.com violet) but the super think and slick lather that Mama Bear's soaps makes is miles above the other two.

Can you tell I'm a huge fan of her soaps? You would think she's paying me to advertise She can pay me in soaps if she wants...

 

[ead]

You really make my resistance to try Mama's soaps hard