I'm going on week three of shaving with a DE razor. My weapon of choice is a Futur set to 2.5. Ashamedly, I must admit that my razor is loaded with a Merkur blade. Despite all the warnings, I decided to give them a try before launching in to my 60 blade sampler.
Symptoms of my bad shave: 10 bleeding razor bumps; Redness and irritation; Burning sensation when I put my non-burning C&E aftershave on; having to do four passes (N-S, XTG, ATG, ATG) to get any kind of acceptable shave. I'm shaving gently, slowly, using plenty of lather.
I've heard that the Merkur blades are worthless, but I've also heard that the Futur is a very aggressive blade, even on low settings. Any thoughts as to the source of this problem? I get a feeling that the razor bumps and irritation are a result of the two ATG passes, so the source of this problem is that my setup isn't cutting as well as it should.
For the record, my soap is C&E Nomad, my brush is a Pure Badger, and the blade was brand new yesterday.
Symptoms of my bad shave: 10 bleeding razor bumps; Redness and irritation; Burning sensation when I put my non-burning C&E aftershave on; having to do four passes (N-S, XTG, ATG, ATG) to get any kind of acceptable shave. I'm shaving gently, slowly, using plenty of lather.
I've heard that the Merkur blades are worthless, but I've also heard that the Futur is a very aggressive blade, even on low settings. Any thoughts as to the source of this problem? I get a feeling that the razor bumps and irritation are a result of the two ATG passes, so the source of this problem is that my setup isn't cutting as well as it should.
For the record, my soap is C&E Nomad, my brush is a Pure Badger, and the blade was brand new yesterday.