Hoping it gets more fun

[Dgamby]

This may not hold true for everyone but it seems like there is a significant jump from theoretical knowledge (reading the stickies and wiki's etc...) and actually putting blade to face.

Had my first DE shave this evening (razor arrived only a few hours ago) and am still here to tell about it. I only did one pass, and thus only one knick. It was certainly not the most pleasant experience I have ever had. Skin feels more irritated than before.

Practice will make perfect, especially with things like blade angle that are somewhat hard to transfer from a computer screen to real life.

One question: when starting out like this I'm tempted to occasionally shave with my cartridge between DE shaves, as it gets closer and irritates less at this point. Does anyone see any potential pitfalls to that strategy?

Thanks to all and...here we go!

[Malaspina]

No advice for you - I will have learned differently than what you are going to do since I don't shave my face

I just wanted to say hello and welcome to B&B...

Cheers

[danparker77]

I'd stick with the DE. Everytime you go back to the cart you go back to "cart" habbits. Also your face needs some time to adjust to the DE going back and forth wont help this. When you say not pleasant, what were the primary problems?

[jsj_297]

Welcome to B&B and wet shaving. Give us a breakdown on your gear? We all love to hear the new hauls here!

Man, just prep prep prep, hell over prep at first.

Hot water, hot water, keep face wet warm, and lubed always!

Chunk that first blade and reload, maybe got a bad one, it happens!

I personally Highly recommend a preshave oil, I use Pacific oil.

Watch every youtube video you can, I would even recommend watching straight razor barber shaves, and watch how gentle and smooth the professional barbers stroke is and then try copying his technique.

Dont keep going over and over the same area, 1 pass is NOT enough. I get away with 2 now, but I am pretty well versed.

Gentle, gentle, gentle, and be patient, shave when you have plenty of time to actually learn, and not just rush through it. And never stop experiementing, even if you find something that works, You may find something that works better.

and finally good luck! Remember to have fun too, it will come to ya, there is a learning curve, sometimes bloody and painful, but IT WILL pay off!!

ENJOY!!

[Alacrity59]

Welcome to B&B.

You choose your own path. There is a lightness of touch that has no parallel with cartridge razors.

Proper prep, blade angle, and light touch will get you there.


Good luck

[thick skin]

Be proud of the fact that you jumped right in there and gave it a go! Establish what is best for you during the learning curve and everything will come out fine.

[Drubbing]

Personally, I think the prep thing is overdone, but each to their own. In fact too much prep and hot water can be counter productive regards irritation. I wash my face and that's it, tried the lotsa hot water and towels but it made no difference to my shave.

You need to find what makes the difference for yours.

THe best thing you can do is practice making lather and getting a feel for when it's slick. That makes everything else easier when you use the blade.

[tkto13]

I thought the same in December when I started. I take any opportunity to practice with the DE; the cartridge comes out only when I am SUPER late in the morning.

You will notice drastic improvement in you 2nd, 3rd and 4th shaves. Just take it slow and watch the angle and pressure. Imagine what a few weeks or two months will do for you. Stay at it.

How you tried MWF? I've found it to be the most protective, moisturizing and best at protecting the skin from razor burn.

What blade are you using?

Best,

[SiBurning]

No real pitfall unless you give up.

As you've discovered, shaving is a skill, and skills take practice to develop. There's three things I'd suggest.

Keep it simple. While you'll need to do quite a bit of experimenting, don't go overboard trying different products, blades, techniques. If you find a blade or soap that works, stay with it for a while, but not at the cost of improving your shave.

Don't push it. Give yourself time to learn and find your own way. At first, just try to get a pain & nick free shave, then improve without adding too much irritation.

And most important... Enjoy the experience.

[tbress]

Welcome! Stick with it, it will come. I went through a hamburger phase myself. Lots of nicks instead of the skin irritation you describe. When I was starting I just couldn't do a DE shave every day, it was too hard on my face. I used an electric razor between DE shaves just because that was what I had. Looking back, I think this was better than using a cartridge because the electric didn't interfere with the DE techniques I was trying to learn.

Anyway, we're all proud of you that you've decided to stick with it. Keep at it, its worth the effort.

[Dgamby]

I love the advice and encouragement. You guys rock!

My set up is a tweezerman brush, TOBS sandalwood cream, a 70's black handle SS that I just got, never opened, and the two never used Gillette platinum plus blades that came with it. Is it bad to use blades that old? I guess I figured since they were never used it wouldn't matter.

My prep was a nice hot shower, bowl lather with warm water, apply to face, one pass mostly with the grain.

I do think I still need to work on my lather. I need to practice that by itself more and learn to tell the difference between good and bad lather.

I did notice that the lather was drying up on the half of my face I hadn't gotten too yet. Does that mean I might not have had it wet enough?

Again thanks for all the love!

[SiBurning]

One tip. Keep your face wet all the time from when you prep to when you finish shaving. That means figuring something out while you step out of the shower to dry off, and also between passes.

I like to quickly build a sudsy lather on my face just after a first pass with the towel, just to keep the face wet, then rinse the brush and start building a real lather. I also like to do a section at a time (if I'm going slow) and relather instead of waiting for the whole pass before relathering. But it's more important not to dry off before the first pass.

[SilverKarn]

Keep using the DE and only the DE, one of the shaves you have in the future you will get Zero irritation and weepers, and possibly BBS without even trying. From then on you will strive for that again, not getting it until months down the line.

Thats what happened to me at least, and i loved the experience. If your face is irritated from the shave before, just do one light pass, enough to be presentable and be on your way.

[jdudley76]

My set up is a tweezerman brush, TOBS sandalwood cream, a 70's black handle SS that I just got, never opened, and the two never used Gillette platinum plus blades that came with it. Is it bad to use blades that old?

Blades can absolutely make the difference between a nightmare shave and a zen like experience. Regarding using vintage blades as you have been doing, that's probably not a great starter setup.

Buy a blade sampler pack from a reputable vendor like WCS or Bullgoose and you will find something that works very well for you.

[BrianK]

That's the same razor I'm using. You can learn with it. I'm using blades from the late 60s /early 70s, as long as they aren't rusty... I have 2 blades left and a sampler on the way.

I'm still a noob, but I progressed rapidly because I studied the info stickied at the top of the page and the FAQ, there is so much info here and it really does help. Especially with lathering. I'll bet you didn't hydrate the lather enough. Practice getting rich lather that will last for many minutes on your arm. Too, the proper lather will form a ridge when put in the hand and you form a fist and open it. It's in one of the info places, don't remember where.

Again I have no deep experience, but folks say to try different blades. OK, so today I put a Treet blade in my SE GEM razor. Prep the face for a few minutes (soap it then repeated hot towels for a few minutes, then lather and press on). So this was a new and different brand blade, shaving nirvana! I never even felt the blade, it was like it wasn't even there. The first time I used this razor I had 6 weepers. No new ones but some of the old ones opened up again. I made a second pass and it was like the razor was on ball bearings, I don't go ATG. 2x WTG (or XTG) is a good enough shave for me.

The moral of the story? Try a different brand of blade- order a blade sampler. Lots of folks sell em. Some will be the pits and some will be mediocre, and a few will be excellent. Keep notes regarding them so you know what to buy in bulk.

But you can do it. It's new and there is a learning curve, but stick in there and before too long you'll get it. Up until about 1970 when the first of the rudimentary cartridges first began to come out everyone shaved with either an electric, a straight razor or a blade, and they learned. So can you.

You'll look back on your newly owned knowledge in a few days and wonder what all the fuss was about.

[ZJ68]

Switching to a cartridge razor might help with the irritation, but switching back and forth probably won't help the learning curve.

It would probably be a good idea to pick up an aftershave balm.

[Eric V]

Well, you have a lot of personal recommendations here! Lots to choose from. With this advice, you can make up your own mind what is comfortable to you and your face.

Do practice building lather. Lather was drying up? Both extremes of too much water and too little water will cause this. What soap/cream are you using? I had a huge bowl of lather with French Vetiver today. Every day is a bit different for me, since I rotate soaps/creams and brushes.

Perhaps you can work on just one quadrant of your face at a time ... to see how things go there. Then relather the rest of your face and work on another quadrant.

Good Luck, and keep us posted!

[tbress]

It looks like you have a good setup. I started with a Tweezerman brush too. For me step 1 was getting the angle and pressure right so I could shave without much blood. Step 2 was learning the right lathering technique. You mentioned that the lather seemed to be drying on your face. That's usually a sign that you aren't keeping your face wet or you aren't adding enough water when you are building your lather. It takes a while to get the hang of it, and different amounts of water are needed for different brands, for soaps vs creams etc. But once you get it right you will know it because it makes huge difference in the amount of slickness and protectiveness you get from the lather.

[Luc]

If using a cartridge in between works for you, that's fine. You got some irritation because you either applied some pressure while shaving, your lather wasn't on the spot or your prep was lacking... Or a combination of the 3. Good slow, no pressure, practice your lather before your next shave and make sure you take time to prepare your beard...

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index...pre-shave_prep

[Elecid]

PLEASE get rid of those old blades. That might be what causes your irritation.

I started with the TOBS Sandalwood, a tweezerman, and a similarly forgiving razor. It worked well, and I was over the worst of it within a week.

Hang in there, and don't go back to the cartridge unless you really need to get your neck BBS or something. You can really mess up your neck early on if you insist on shaving until BBS.