Day 1: Let the learning begin

[Aceyduce]

I'm not normally one to write an introductory post, but I wanted to thank you folks for being so kind and helpful with your knowledge. I've spent several hours over the past few days reading up on how to best break into DE shaving. The final (and most critical- ie. razor) parts of my kit arrived yesterday.

With as much information absorbed as I could, I set about attempting my first DE wet shave. It was a success in that I am still writing to you today :). In all truthfulness, it went better than I expected. Only 1 nick, and a fair bit of stubble remaining. I would say I had only 2 good passes on the cheeks where the skin felt smoother than it ever has, the rest will require attention later this week.

I'm fortunate my hair is relatively straight and uniform in growth and direction. This first attempt was shaving the hair from ~0.7cm. I observed much less irritation than via cartridges. I imagine it has a lot to do with the prep (performed both a hot towel soak - 2 min, Proraso pre lather - 2 min, Proraso lather and shave followed by Nivea AS balm without alcohol). The whole experience was very relaxing and reminded me of the days at the town barbershop. A perfect wind down from a workday.

Thanks again for all the advice and I'm looking forward to improving with each pass.

The biggest question I have at present - How on earth do you keep that hot towel on your face while you prep your equipment? I felt as if I should be robbing a train :biggrin1:

[Galengwath]

Sounds like you're off to a good start. Don't worry about remaining stubble at this phase, just concentrate on perfecting your lather, the angle of your blade and using no pressure while you shave. As far as keeping the hot towel on is concerned, I hold it there with my hands. It may not be as time efficient, but I don't try to prep equipment while it's on my face, I just get everything ready before putting the towel on.

[LukeW]

The only issue I have is neck irritation. For that reason I just wrap and tuck the ends of my towel around my neck while I prep. everything else. Works well for me anyway.

[Greyfox]

Good luck and remember no pressure.

[Sledgehammer39]

Welcome Aboard glad you joined us!!

[Eric V]

Hmmm. Towel on face. When I do that particular prep, I have to stop doing anything else and hold the towel with my hands. Let us know if rubber bands or velcro works out for you!

[Aceyduce]

Hmmm. Towel on face. When I do that particular prep, I have to stop doing anything else and hold the towel with my hands. Let us know if rubber bands or velcro works out for you!


Haha! I tried velco and I just can't seem to get a good shave with the adhesive residue, and while the GF would love the thought of rubber bands around my neck, I'm afraid I'll have to pass :laugh:

Thanks again for all the warm greetings!

[Optometrist]

Congratulations on that first shave!:thumbup1:

[Dennard]

Welcome!

[Obiwan]

Good luck and remember no pressure.

Can't be said enough. Welcome to B&B, glad to have another RI'r here.

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to B&B !!

[drquantum]

re: the towel on the face, I plan to actually let one of the main benefits of DE shaving take hold of me.

I plan to do NOTHING but sit and think. I say "plan to" because I'll be making my DE shaving debut Thursday morning... but I'm really looking forward to actually taking TIME in the morning and not rushing through it all.

[zano2]

Welcome to B&B!

[tempeViking]

Welcome! I haven't tried the hot towel yet but I envision those pictures from old cartoons with small children who had the mumps! My apologies if it's bad form to post an external link, but maybe this will help ;->

http://biddlesworld.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mumps.jpg

Have fun! This is a great forum with lots of friendly advice!

[aceinyerface]

The biggest question I have at present - How on earth do you keep that hot towel on your face while you prep your equipment? I felt as if I should be robbing a train :biggrin1:

Another Ace! Welcome to the B&B!

I did hot towels for a while, I found that a shower, shampooing and conditioning my whiskers, did every bit as good and killed two birds with one stone.

[mandoman]

Welcome to B&B

[ackvil]

Hmmm. Towel on face. When I do that particular prep, I have to stop doing anything else and hold the towel with my hands. Let us know if rubber bands or velcro works out for you!

First, welcome.

Second, I do what Eric does.

[Aceyduce]

Day 2: Mostly patchy with a hint of razor burn.

Now that we've sorted out the towel holding routine, I gave it a second try last night. Same routine, same tools. The first attempt I was extra careful to not apply any pressure whatsoever. This time I found myself instinctively trying to apply slight pressure around the chin. Backed off and relaxed. Let the razor do the work. The areas where I missed on round 1 came out better, but already smooth areas received slight razor burn. I'm still at a loss as to how to get the proper angle on the mid to lower neck where the beard thins. Baby steps.

I'll take a few days off to let the face absorb the new routine and try again keeping the mantra "Relax, Reminisce, Rejuvenate." Thanks again for the support. I look forward to the journey ahead, and realize that this will not come overnight.

[Graves14]

Best advice I can give you is keep going and dont use ANY pressure! Welcome to B&B :-P

[Obiwan]

Can't be said enough.

[aceinyerface]

Give yourself plenty of time, so you can learn without being rushed.

Check the Shave Wiki for the pictures on blade angle.

Short strokes, set your angle deliberately each time, and don't run the blade across skin that has no lather on it.. Think "there is only one thing in the universe at this second, a single one inch stroke at the exact angle and precise pressure" and do it on each and every stroke.