First shot with my new Merkur HD and Feather blades

[GarageBoy]

My first DE shave, its NICE, but I gave myself a nice nick over a pimple...Nothing to stop the bleeding either..
I have a hard time getting the hairs under my nose and I have a little difficulty holding it at the correct angle...(ironic because I can shave patches of hair off my arm with my pocket knives no problem)

Also, how do I dry off the razor? Thanks

[GarageBoy]

Or not so good shave, I got nicks all over my neck..

[Scorpio]

what razor and blade did you use? What cream/soap? How many passes? Stick to with the grain passes, two of them, for now until your face gets used to the new shaving method. Hold off doing against the grain passes for now.

I recommend you buy a styptic pencil for those pesky bleeders, you will find them at your local Walgreens or CVS or Walmart. You can remove the blade and dry the razor with a towel but most folks just rinse it to get all the lather off the razor and then let it air dry.

Edit: I just saw your razor and blades. I recommend a sampler pack from Letterk for blades. Feathers are very sharp so you have to be very careful and apply NO pressure at all. Others will chime in but I think that another razor blade would be better until you improve your technique. Derby's, Israeli personnas, US personnas to name a few. Hopes this helps. Be patient it will get better much better.


Raf

[vespergo]

it'll get better. just shake the water out, nothing more than that.

the neck is the trickiest part of all, but once you've figured that out then it all comes together nicely.

[Opus_Y_&_Z]

Make sure you're not applying any pressure...especially with the HD. Just let the weight of the razor and the blade do the work. Keep at it...you'll get the hang of it and never turn back! Good luck! Mike

[Edcculus]

Feathers are definately less forgiving than other blades. Especially for a first shave.

What creams/soaps are you using?

Feel free to ask questions.

[GarageBoy]

Proraso green cream whipped up with a proraso/omega brush that continues to shed hairs..

Sharpness isn't the problem, the problem is holding the angle for me. My beard is all on my upper lip and neck, very little anywhere else.

[rtaylor61]

For at least a week, do only one pass, with the grain. Give your face time to adjust to your new tools. Then, if you are comfortable with it, add an across the grain pass, and continue for another week. Finally, once you have gotten things dialed in, add the against the grain pass. You may be ready for this in two weeks, or it may be four, but don't rush things. Also, the neck is the toughest area for most folks. Scotto recently posted about focusing on how he held the razor through the entire stroke. Be careful not to bend your wrist. Work from the elbow down.

Randy

[TimmyBoston]

Personally I don't recommend Feathers for new shavers. Some here disagree, but IMO they are too unforgiving to start with. IMO the best starter blade is an IP, it's not the closest, but IMO it is the most forgiving.
Also with any new razor, especially your first DE experience, I recommend one pass with the grain. In a day or so, bump up to 2 passes with the grain. THen after a week or two, 2 n-s passes and one, s-n, once you get the hang of that, branch out to figure out the pattern that works best for your face.

Also are you using a brush? Are you using a lather bowl? What cream are you using? What's your preshave prep? How many passes are you doing?

Also to be honest, I don't undertand your posts, from the first one, it sounds like you had a nice shave, in the second you said you ripped up your neck? So can you give us a little more detail on your shave, it will really help with advice.

[GarageBoy]

Using a brush to form a lather using Proraso green in a tupperware container. I showered before I shave, left it wet and went right to creaming up.

From the first one, I thought I had a decent shave, til I checked the mirror again and found blood droplets forming. I went with 2 N-S passes, nicked my neck on first pass down. I'm having a hard time getting the hair under my nose.

Thanks

[misterjoshua]

As far as lip hair goes, in my experience that was the trickiest part to get right, as my touch was a bit heavy at first (actually, I got two nicks this morning -- thank God for styptic!).

I found that a with the grain pass on that area was next to useless, but once I was able to get a light enough touch on my against the grain pass, it was super smooth.

Good luck,

Josh

[wildman]

for under the nose i tend to shave up towards the nostril ATG to catch the little tricky ones that are in a difficult position to reach

[GarageBoy]

Gave it a second shot, not bad, except that it's not so close and I opened up the previous nick. Also, I keep missing this one patch on my chin that grows differently than the rest of my whiskers..

How do you maintain the 30 degree angle? Thanks

[TimmyBoston]

How do you maintain the 30 degree angle? Thanks

Where?

[mnealtx]

Gave it a second shot, not bad, except that it's not so close and I opened up the previous nick. Also, I keep missing this one patch on my chin that grows differently than the rest of my whiskers..

How do you maintain the 30 degree angle? Thanks

The same way you get to Carnegie Hall.... practice, practice, practice...it'll come with time.

If you look at the HD and the relation between the blade edge and the guard bar, you'll see that having the guard bar just barely touching your skin makes for almost a perfect angle - that's why everyone says "no pressure", since pressing the guard bar harder into your skin can easily have the blade scraping skin.

[GarageBoy]

Also, finally noticed the sound it makes when the angles are right, like shaving my arm with a pocket knife...
Is there a way to hold the razor so I can aim it on my jaw while still seeing what I'm shaving?

[tim8557]

As far as lip hair goes, in my experience that was the trickiest part to get right, as my touch was a bit heavy at first (actually, I got two nicks this morning -- thank God for styptic!).

I found that a with the grain pass on that area was next to useless, but once I was able to get a light enough touch on my against the grain pass, it was super smooth.

Good luck,

Josh

All the more reason to keep the mustache I've had for 36 years.