Hi everyone,
I would firstly like to say I am dedicating this thread to some wonderful people on here who have been so kind to me as a newbie on this site. From being a great source of information, to PIF-ing me some truly amazing things to get me started and for their selfless kindness I can not thank them enough.
John, Tim, Bob and Maher - this one's for you!
I waited patiently for my wonderful Gillette Lady to arrive and it finally came this morning. So I got a few things together (none of them used yet) and grabbed my camera and prepared myself to try and create my first ever lather and have my first DE shave all in one. I should point out now that I'm a lady so I'm shaving my legs in case you wonder what you're looking at in the photos!
Any critique would be helpful as I really want to get better.
So to begin:
I took my new Tweezerman brush, a nice bowl, a Blue Bird blade, Mama Bears Soap (thanks Bob!) and my lovely Gillette Lady (thanks John!).
I put some warm water in the bowl and soaked the brush for a while. I also put some warm water on the soap as I've read that's how you prep it.
Step Two:
I squeezed the water out of my brush and poured it out of the bowl and off the soap. I then swooshed the brush on the soap. This was strange as it was like I was lathering on the soap rather than loading it - what's the difference?
Then I put a few drops of water in the bowl and started to build the lather.
Step Three:
I slowly added a bit more water. I found this part the hardest thing to gauge. I knew I was looking for the egg-white, nicely peaked type of thing but I didn't know if I was adding too much or too little water. I kept going anyway and here's my resulting lather:
I them began to lather up my first leg. The brush felt really nice on my legs though it shed a few (5 or 6) hairs at this stage. The lather wasn't as thick as I thought it would/should be at this stage but it did seem nice. I put it on part of my legs and began to shave. The razor worked MUCH easier than I thought it would and I was so, so happy with it! Better and more fun than a cartridge razor anyday! Once shaved my leg felt a little dry though and also slightly tingly. I went to lather up the next part and found that the lather seemed a little drier at this stage. I added a couple of drops of water and gave it a quick swish in the bowl and it was good again. I ended up doing this before each new section which was fine.
Emmm... okay here's the embarressing part. I was just going to write this bit in the Women Shaver's group but heck, as you guys are so open about things here we go: Having been so excited about doing my first DE shave I had been resisting shaving for a while. However I found that this ment that the razor pretty much filled with hair after each run up my leg (or in some parts every second run up). So I had to keep rinsing it under the tap... BUT I had to open the top slightly and rinse it inside and out each time in order to wash out the hair fully - is that normal/okay?
By the time I got onto my second leg I needed to build a bit more lather. I think because I took more time with that one it was a bit better. What do you think?
Step Four:
When the shave was done I was very happy, not too much lather left and actually got everywhere. Only one tiny nick near my ankle (a tricky part to shave at the best of times). My legs are smooth, feel very soft and weren't irritated at all.
A few things though:
I applied the lather to my dry legs. Previously when using canned goo I would have wet my legs and built a lather on them with the goo. I think I should wet my legs before lathering with a brush.
I think the next shave will be easier when it's just cutting through stubble. It will also probably have a clearer "line" so I can see where I've shaved already. I could sometimes feel the blade on my legs. I think this was when the lather was a bit too thin... again I think the next shave will be easier.
I did this out of the shower as I wanted to take pictures as I went along. In the future I will probably do this at the start of my shower as it will be easier to rinse etc afterward.
I will take more time building the lather next time. I was a little gung-ho this time!
Any other tips I should take into account?
Oh, yes, and how could I forget? I have to show you...
I would firstly like to say I am dedicating this thread to some wonderful people on here who have been so kind to me as a newbie on this site. From being a great source of information, to PIF-ing me some truly amazing things to get me started and for their selfless kindness I can not thank them enough.
John, Tim, Bob and Maher - this one's for you!
I waited patiently for my wonderful Gillette Lady to arrive and it finally came this morning. So I got a few things together (none of them used yet) and grabbed my camera and prepared myself to try and create my first ever lather and have my first DE shave all in one. I should point out now that I'm a lady so I'm shaving my legs in case you wonder what you're looking at in the photos!
Any critique would be helpful as I really want to get better.
So to begin:
I took my new Tweezerman brush, a nice bowl, a Blue Bird blade, Mama Bears Soap (thanks Bob!) and my lovely Gillette Lady (thanks John!).
I put some warm water in the bowl and soaked the brush for a while. I also put some warm water on the soap as I've read that's how you prep it.
Step Two:
I squeezed the water out of my brush and poured it out of the bowl and off the soap. I then swooshed the brush on the soap. This was strange as it was like I was lathering on the soap rather than loading it - what's the difference?
Then I put a few drops of water in the bowl and started to build the lather.
Step Three:
I slowly added a bit more water. I found this part the hardest thing to gauge. I knew I was looking for the egg-white, nicely peaked type of thing but I didn't know if I was adding too much or too little water. I kept going anyway and here's my resulting lather:
I them began to lather up my first leg. The brush felt really nice on my legs though it shed a few (5 or 6) hairs at this stage. The lather wasn't as thick as I thought it would/should be at this stage but it did seem nice. I put it on part of my legs and began to shave. The razor worked MUCH easier than I thought it would and I was so, so happy with it! Better and more fun than a cartridge razor anyday! Once shaved my leg felt a little dry though and also slightly tingly. I went to lather up the next part and found that the lather seemed a little drier at this stage. I added a couple of drops of water and gave it a quick swish in the bowl and it was good again. I ended up doing this before each new section which was fine.
Emmm... okay here's the embarressing part. I was just going to write this bit in the Women Shaver's group but heck, as you guys are so open about things here we go: Having been so excited about doing my first DE shave I had been resisting shaving for a while. However I found that this ment that the razor pretty much filled with hair after each run up my leg (or in some parts every second run up). So I had to keep rinsing it under the tap... BUT I had to open the top slightly and rinse it inside and out each time in order to wash out the hair fully - is that normal/okay?
By the time I got onto my second leg I needed to build a bit more lather. I think because I took more time with that one it was a bit better. What do you think?
Step Four:
When the shave was done I was very happy, not too much lather left and actually got everywhere. Only one tiny nick near my ankle (a tricky part to shave at the best of times). My legs are smooth, feel very soft and weren't irritated at all.
A few things though:
I applied the lather to my dry legs. Previously when using canned goo I would have wet my legs and built a lather on them with the goo. I think I should wet my legs before lathering with a brush.
I think the next shave will be easier when it's just cutting through stubble. It will also probably have a clearer "line" so I can see where I've shaved already. I could sometimes feel the blade on my legs. I think this was when the lather was a bit too thin... again I think the next shave will be easier.
I did this out of the shower as I wanted to take pictures as I went along. In the future I will probably do this at the start of my shower as it will be easier to rinse etc afterward.
I will take more time building the lather next time. I was a little gung-ho this time!
Any other tips I should take into account?
Oh, yes, and how could I forget? I have to show you...