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Attention all Newbs! Listen Up--Watch your Variables!

All,

After being a BBer for over a year, and a wetshaver for well beyond that, I've come to one simple conclusion to figuring out what works for you and your specific face.

WATCH YOUR VARIABLES!

This one piece of advice has guided me through trying all the new products on the market today.

So....what does it mean?

Well, if you're new to wetshaving and reading this you're likely getting bombarded with tons of advice, ideas of things to buy etc. The B/S/T seems a bit overwhelming...razors, blades, soaps, creams, brushes, aftershaves, milks, balms, Edts...where do I start? If you're in to straight razors....then you include strops, razors, hones, slurries, pasted paddles and a whole host of additional factors.

If you're not careful, you can quickly spiral into a very....very familiar pattern that many Newbs (including yours truly) go through. That pattern involves buying countless new products and immediately trying them out, putting them on the shelf the next day and moving on to product #2 without giving your face time to figure out if product #1 is a good thing or not!

Blades are the first item on this list. It may take a month or two (key time period here) to figure out which blades work for you...and which do not. I tried everything I could with Feathers/Crystals....but simply cannot shave with them without irritation! It took a couple of months for me to figure out that my face loved Israeli Red Packs.

Now...compound this blade problem with a different brush, soap, aftershave etc. If you change some (or all four) of these variables every day....and you're getting irritation full shaves...how can you truly know whats causing the problem?

Further, your routine is a variable in and of itself. Do you shave at night or day? Do you shower before your shave or not? Do you moisturize?

All of these things should be counted as a variable in the motto: watch your variables and dont vary too many at once!

The best advice I received when I started out was to pick a single routine and setup (this includes prep, shave and post shave routine) and use it for a month. After that month...change one variable (usually starts out with the blade but not always) and use that new item for a week or so to truly figure it out.

Truth be told...this site, the various awesome vendors and members etc. can actually hurt your ability to do this if you find you cannot overcome the various acquisition disorders that many new B&Bers are faced with. I MUST have a Tallow soap, I MUST have a FLOID aftershave, I MUST have a Silvertip Badger etc etc. The list goes on. Then, when these products arrive, you natually have to try them out as soon as possible and start your rotation....I mean all the other BBers have a rotation right?

Wrong....you should take it easy when you start. Some of those products may not be for you! Soaps contain essential oils that affect everyone's face differently. Same with aftershaves. I've spoke with some folks who've found certain badger/boar hairs tend to cause minor irritation. When you look at the plethora of product talked about on this site...its mind numbing....and potentially damaging to your ability to set up a good, solid baseline routine to build upon.

This advice also applies to whether you're shaving with str8s, DEs, injectors, cartidges, electrics or sharp sea shells....variables matter and will drastically impact your ability to have that great, zen-like shave we are all shooting for.

So...I've droned on enough, but again Happy Shaving and....

WATCH YOUR VARIABLES!

Editor's Note: I thought it might be helpful to edit this post and add a list of potential variables which might be affecting your shave outcomes (and irritation):

If you change any one of these (or...multiple as the post suggests) you could see a different shave outcome and possibly irritation.

This list is by no means all encompassing. I'm sure the quality BBers we have on here will likely chime in with variables of their own they have personally experienced helped/hurt their shave routine.

Time of day you shave
Method of prep (shower, no shower, pre shave product, Kyle's method seen here, no prep at all)
Razor
Blade
Brush
Soap/Cream
Quality of lather
Proper shaving of the grain (this varies per person...but a key variable)
Rinses between passes (or not)
Post shave routine (WWR/CWR, aftershave, milk, balm, moisturizer)
Facial routine later in the day from your shave (wash, moisturizer etc)

For straight users, this list would also have to include:
straight used
strop (and # of laps)
hone(s) used (and # of laps)

The ultimate YMMV is that each of us is different and have different shaving needs. Finding out what works for you and gives you that BBS shave, with no irritation and a great looking face truly is the Art of Shaving!
 
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Excellent advice Chris! :thumbup:

I too succumbed to (most of the) AD's early on...escpecially RAD. After a month of changing almost everything in my routine on a daily basis, I tried to settle in to a stricter routine. Once I did this, I actually appreciated the new stuff more as I could actually see and feel the differences they made to my shave.
 
Good advice. I lucked out without spending crazily and found my soaps,creams,blades and brushes that work best for me. Only things left on my to get list is some GFT soap and some Spanish fig & Nutmeg soap.
 
8<
I MUST have a Tallow soap, I MUST have a FLOID aftershave
8<

Hear! Hear! :tongue_sm
8<
Then, when these products arrive, you natually have to try them out as soon as possible
8<

Now be honest. How long did you wait to try the Floïd after waiting for 4 months? :tongue_sm

Serious though, keep this posting in your head when you're new because it is a good advise but requires lots of self discipline. :thumbup1:
I've been there too but luckily my AD was restricted to soaps so changing too quick was less dramatic than if I would have changed razors and blades every shave.

As a final note. To keep your settings for at least one month fixed is a good advise provided the new wet shaver invested in some research prior to buying his first kit.
Suppose one buys a Parker 90R (like I did :001_rolle) as a first razor with a Merkur blade (like I did :001_rolle) and some olive oil based soap, then he will be right back to his cartridge.
That reminds me of something. Is there a sticky or item in the wiki/faq as what would be a good starter setup? Because if you start with bad equipment then one month can prove to be a long time.
 
Great post. As a fellow newbie, I can testify on the subject of ADs. Despite my ADs, I still managed to change only 1 variable at a time. I just try 1 new thing each time (blade, soap, cream) and keep everythingn else the exact same. It definitely helps to pinpoint any problems you have as you can easily identify what one new thing you changed that is most likely the problem (if there is a problem -- not always).

Thanks,

X
 
A month may be stretching a bit length to try a product, I'd say two weeks max with one set up, then start to experiment switching out something. Again YMMV on this so do what works for you.
 
excellent advice! I found that Crystals give me the best shave after trying a sampler sent by some wonderful person here.:blushing:
 
Great advice +2 on making it a sticky. I've calmed down a lot after a few months. I've found my blade (Astras) I've found my fave cream (KMF), I have 3 razors in a rotation and my cheap as heck Omega brush is wonderous.
 
you natually have to try them out as soon as possible and start your rotation....I mean all the other BBers have a rotation right?

Wrong

Well said Chris. Newbs (and I too was one of them) come to this board and think that one of the "magical" products will be the silver bullet to slay the beast. I tried variables initially but because I was in Iraq at the time, I had to choose and settle down.

For near on two years, I have used the same razor (Merkur Progress), the same blades (Derby's). For the last year the same brush (a custom Badger by Eskimo) and for the last six months the same soap (Tabac). The only true variable has been aftershaves. Using all of these as constants has allowed me to concentrate on prep, lathering, technique, grain of my beard, angles. I got into wet shaving to conserve cost and to reduce the irritation and burn beneath my jawline and this has worked to satisfy both goals.

When my 200 pack of Derby's run's out next year, I'll try a sampler but until then, I'm happy with my kit. My non-rotating, but ever so effective kit.
 
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I understand what you're saying about being bombarded with advice. I was equipped, trained (studied an instructional video and watched countless shaving videos), eager, and ready, but my face still came out from my first straight razor shave looking like it came out of a Vegomatic. I'll probably have to skip tomorrow for healing, especially on the chin.

But I really want this after a lifetime of dissatisfaction with shaving. As long as I have a face I'll persevere and eventually figure this thing out.
 
I understand what you're saying about being bombarded with advice. I was equipped, trained (studied an instructional video and watched countless shaving videos), eager, and ready, but my face still came out from my first straight razor shave looking like it came out of a Vegomatic. I'll probably have to skip tomorrow for healing, especially on the chin.

But I really want this after a lifetime of dissatisfaction with shaving. As long as I have a face I'll persevere and eventually figure this thing out.

Perseverance is key with the straight journey my friend....I can vouch for that!
 
Great post Chris!!

As a newbie, it really does help to limit your variables. :thumbup1:

You need to know what variable is causing your problems, and changing multiple variables at once means it's difficult to pinpoint where the problem lies.
 
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