Confused newbie

G'day all - I've been lurking here for months but only signed up today.

I started DE shaving about a fortnight ago, going against advice here and buying a Merkur Futur from WCS, along with some of the Israeli Platnum Personnas from eBay. Although I'm noticing a lot less irritation than with my old Mach3/Gillette goo setup, I'm still bleeding a bit, and although this is decreasing and will probably disappear altogether soon enough, I thought perhaps buying a more forgiving razor would be sensible, if not for variety's sake than anything else.

On the pretext of wanting to upgrade from the old synthetic Body Shop brush I had rolling around my bathroom from 5 years ago, I decided I'd buy a shavemac badger brush and a Merkur HD, however I can't seem to find the HD at the WCS site, and QEDUSA also doesn't appear to list the razor.

I'm at a bit of a loss - the razor makes shipping to Australia much easier to justify. Am I missing something?

Welcome to B&B!

You could consult the list of vendors in the shopping/deals section of the forum. I would recommend checking the Buy/Sell/Trade section of the forum. You can usually get a good deal on a second hand razor.

dialagranny said:

I can't seem to find the HD at the WCS site, and QEDUSA also doesn't appear to list the razor.

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The Merkur HD is also known as the Merkur 34C, try these two links:

http://westcoastshaving.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=29

http://westcoastshaving.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=38

It also comes in a longer handled version known as the Merkur 38C.

I've never heard anyone have trouble finding a HD. I'd almost bet QED has them, your best bet is to simply ask Charles via email. He's very knowledgeable and a nice fellow, to boot.

Welcome to B&B !!

if you're still nicking with the Futur, especially on a low setting. If you're at or above say 2.5, then the HD is a possibility. But then I'd recommend turning the Futur lower and mastering that before experimenting. Just my 2 cents.

Welcome!

My advice, turn the aggressiveness, take your time and make sure you're NOT using any PRESSURE! Remember it's only natural to nick yourself a bit at the begining, as your tachnique imrpoves so will the quality of your shaves and the number of nicks will decrease.

Stick with it!

Thanks guys - I'm looking forward to this evening's shave because I have a bit more time on my hands this evening. Will report back.

Re: aggressiveness, although its difficult not using any pressure, I have eased off a LOT. And in regards to the Futur setting, I simply haven't been brave enough to go up above 2. If I'm getting razor burn at 2, I'll have no face left at 6.

Pete

Welcome Pete. The HD (or 34c) would be a better option for you IMO. Lay off the pressure and take your time. Short strokes are the order of the day.
Make sure you prep well as well.

welcome aboard, mate

Welcome to B&B

You may want to post your full routine to get opinions on that. Perhaps change your prep to make the whiskers softer. My suggestion would be to stick with the Futur and get your technique right - apply minimal pressure, and find the right blade angle (should be around 30degress for WTG passes). You could also try getting a blade sampler pack and working through it, but at this point, my bet would be prep and technique.

welcome and the bleeding will stop soon....it is a slow and not to painful journey....

Watch your blade angle too. You want to put the head of the razor against your skin and roll it down till the blade starts cutting.

I get razor burn when my angle is bad and I am scraping off hair instead of cutting it...

ITs pretty funny how everyone lurks in here a couple days or so until they join. I did the same.

Welcome!

Sorry about being so slack re: posting lasting impressions here, especially considering there is good news, people!

Although admittedly I've been at it for over a month now, my technique, while not consciously much different from my first nervous shave 6 weeks ago must be better because there is little to no irritation and no bleeding either (apart from a small nick last week when my better judgment went out the window and I tried to cut a stray hair on my adam's apple post-shave with just the bare blade - not so easy, not so smart.) for at least a few weeks.

Although I must report that I have cheated somewhat. I now own a 38C as well as the Futur (and I probably shave 65-70% of the time with the 38C). I also bought a middle of the road Shavemac badger hair brush for a better application of foam, although I doubt that had much bearing on the shave quality.

As requested, here is my prep rundown, comments would be greatly appreciated, as I am the first to admit I still have little idea what I'm doing, even though I do know I'm getting a better, more comfortable shave than I ever have had before.

Pre-shave:

I don't think I necessary subscribe to a particularly exhaustive preshave routine. I might try some of the products at a later date, but I don't really want to spend an hour in the bathroom every day.

-Hot shower
-Exfoliate/cleanse face (in shower)
-Rub face vigorously with towel during drying
-Apply hot facial towel while preping razor, brush, cup and foam
-Remove facial towel, apply foam, get cracking

Shave:

This is mainly down to technique, although I have toyed with shorter blade runs, but I can't tell a difference and the time saved is a few minutes.

-2 inch runs, 3 before flipping blade, rinse and repeat.
- 3 (or 4) passes, WTG, WTG, ATG, (ATG)

Post Shave:

-Rinse
-Warm then cold facial towel
-After shave balm

dialagranny said:

Pre-shave:
-Rub face vigorously with towel during drying

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I think this is a big mistake, and may cause more irritation. In my opinion, you shouldn't dry your face off AT ALL, let alone vigorously, after your shower. Leave it wet.

-Remove facial towel, apply foam, get cracking

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Strike two, in my opinion. After applying your lather, wait a minute or two. I usually brush my teeth at that time (between applying the lather and shaving).

kingfisher said:

I think this is a big mistake, and may cause more irritation. In my opinion, you shouldn't dry your face off AT ALL, let alone vigorously, after your shower. Leave it wet.

Strike two, in my opinion. After applying your lather, wait a minute or two.

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I agree with both of these comments.

+1 on the comments re: not drying the face, and compliments on the choice of Personna blades. I'm loving mine.

I regularly use a Merkur Futur, and the three keys I've found to not nicking myself are Low, Light and Level:

1. Low setting. So far I've found a 2 more than sufficient to get BBS shaves. Your mileage may vary.

2. Light pressure. By this I mean *no* pressure. The Futur is more than heavy enough to hold the razor to your face as much as it could ever need to be held.

3. Level grip. Hold it at the narrow neck. If you can rest the Futur on your finger like it's the fulcrum of a balance or scales, and it doesn't tip over, you've found the spot to grip it. It should be where the grip is narrowed down.

When I first used mine, I held it by the end with the same grip I used for my Gillette blue tip Super Speed, and got more weight on the blade than I needed, and nicks to go with it.

Woodrobin said:

and compliments on the choice of Personna blades. I'm loving mine.

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I'm incredibly impressed by the Personnas. I bought a packet of Wilkinson Blades from 'The Shaver Shop', a electric-geared franchise that is probably as good as we get here in Aus, and they are inferior IMHO, and about 10x more expensive to boot. I did enjoy the Merkur blades that came with the two razors, but I think I'll stick to the Personnas for now.

Thanks for the suggestions. I realise that a wet beard is an easily cut beard, however my rationale for using the towel before lather was for exfoliating, bringing the whiskers up off the skin and hopefully dissuade any hairs thinking of ingrowing. Maybe I shouldn't worry about that so much though - the application of the lather from the brush should suffice I spose.