First shave with a DE...

[TheGrooveking]

Well because of this place I bought a Merkur HD after wet shaving for over a year with a Merkur MII cartridge razor. So here is the list of tools utilized:

Hot shower
Piraso Pre shave cream
Merkur Vision Silver Tip Badger brush
Col.Conk Bay Rum soap
Merkur 34G loaded with Personna blade
Nivea after shave balm

Well I watched the Mantic videos multiple times. Had two very small nicks, didn't even weep near my adams apple - one either side. Obviously I need to practice much more, since I did two downward passes in total, lathering before both, but on the upper half of my neck it seems like I barely shaved. It seems I'm having a hard time getting enough angle to cut with a downward stroke. I am confident that if I was doing an upward stroke I would have no problems.

One thing I noticed about the HD is that if I look at the arc of the head to the comb, the blade is well behind that arc. Meaning it looks as if the skin needs to deform/flow (almost bubble) into that area of the razor to contact the blade.

I'll try later to take a pic of the HD/razor. I'm sure it's me and not the razor, but after reliably doing BBS with my MII (with 3 passes, WG, XG,ATG) this is going to take some practice. The other think is the handle is a little more than half the length of the Merkur MII's handle so I have some gettin' used to to do.

[SavantStrike]

It sounds like you're on the right track, but I do have two observations.

With a DE you really don't nesc need all that much handle. I remember reading here that you should take the razor and try to balance it on your finger. The point where the razor balances without falling off your finger is the point where you should pinch and hold it. Of course you can hold it all the way and the end if you want and it gets resuls so YMMV.

As for the neck thing. I agree, it's a lot easier to do the neck going S-N, but you need to get most of the hair knocked back a bit first. Try angling your head back further when you do the N to S pass, and break it up into multiple strokes if need be (note don't hit the same place twice though). Personally I have a neck that lets me do a S-N stroke as pass number 2 without any trouble, but I know a lot of guys have sensitive necks (my face is the sensitive part for me :blushing:).

I'm still only on the end of my 2nd week of DE shaving myself so take my advice with a grain of salt though. If I sound like I know what I'm doing it's only because I learned it here :P. One thing I can really recommend you do is not to panic when there are missed spots etc on your face. I found that those types of things made me want to go back at shaving the next day with a vengeance and I would increase blade angle, pressure, etc... and it would give me razor burn.

Keep it goin!

[Ru4scuba?]

Congrats on your first DE shave!

[Zombasaur]

I've been wetshaving for a couple of months, so I'll give you some new guy advice.

When you're in the shower, really feel on your beard around you neck area and learn what way all the hair grows down there. I thought I was shving WTG, but it turned out I was making my pass XTG. Then there are the parts of my neck that grow different than the rest. If you really take time and learn your growth pattern, it'll make the reduction passes easier and more effective, not to mention less irritating.

Try holding the razor a different way depending on what direction you're shaving. I use the normal way I always used in addition to holding the razor almost like a spoon and like a dart. Using different grips (but at the same point) has really helped me out.

I'm getting DFS whenever I want now, still stand-offish about going ATG with my slant to get the BBS. But each shave I learn a little more and refine my technique. Go slow, enjoy your shaves, and have fun! The rest will come.

[TheGrooveking]

Thanks for the info on the balancing, that may make it easier/improve control. As to the grain, yeah I've been thinking there a few patches/areas on my neck that grow in different directions. Will doing the different passes in different directions with the MII I took care of that, but with only down stokes with the DE I'm not going in the same direction as the hair growth.

Now even though I can feel some growth since this morning I can't wait to do it again. I had my 3 pass MII shaves in under 10 minutes, so I'll have add some time to my morning schedule for the DE, since I don't want to rush it. Again thanks for the help, this forum is a great resource along with Mantic's videos.

[TheGrooveking]

Well I performed my 2nd shave today and it slighty better, but I have determined that to top half of my neck will not be shaved well until I can shave upwards, I just don't seem to have enough neck (length) between the radius of the chin to the throat to get the proper angle.

I can say that the shave is decent/good on the bottom of my neck and above my chin, equal to or better than I was getting before I started wet shaving. I like to shave on Sunday nights so I don't have to rush on Monday mornings.

For the first 2 weeks I am determined to use the identical hardware/soap/routine to eliminate any other variable while I try to nail down my technique.

[bokaba]

Welcome aboard!