First DE shave today

Well today I tried DE shaving for the first time. I was expecting to have trouble with the razor and slice myself up and end up finishing with my old cart. Hey, at least I would still be using a good lather, right? Well I was completely wrong on all accounts. First though, this was what I used.



I was using a sample of GFT cream and had tons of problems with the lather. I soak the bowl and brush in really hot water while i was in the shower. Dumped out the bowl and shook off the brush. I took a finger tip amount (maybe the size of a pea or so) of the cream and spread it around the bowl and started working it with the brush. I got some lather but nothing fluffy at all so I added a few drops of water and worked it more. That didn't help so I added more cream. Then worked it some more. Still nothing. Added more cream and still nothing. I used well over half of the sample and still didn't have much for lather. Total time was probably close to 5 minutes.



I said screw it and just used it anyway. I wasn't really expecting to have problems with the lather and was expecting problems with the shave so I was a little worried.

I have always shaved ATG my whole life and was about to just do that but decided to give it one WTG pass first. I re-lathered and went with the ATG and used ATG for the touchup as well. When I was done I wiped off a face with a cold wet towel.

I didn't have a single cut, nick, or anything!!! I was really amazed with the shave. I will be completely honest, I was half expecting to in the future continue using my cart and use good lather. I have been getting what I had thought was BBS for a long time now with it and didn't really think a DE would be able to get closer. Damn, was I wrong! There are some spots, my neck mainly, that are still a little rough but some parts of my cheeks are cut unbelievably close. I can't stop rubbing my face today.


Only down side to all of this, aside from the terrible lather, was it made me late for work even though I thought I had left myself plenty of time.


Ok, I have rambled on a lot more than I had planned but one last thing. I have to give a huge thanks to jwcarlson for hooking me up with a ton stuff.

Any advice about that lather? Or would it be best to start a seperate thread about just that?

Excellent!

Full Disclosure: I tried to lather some of that GFT sandlewood sample that I kept and had trouble. Washed it down the drain and went with Arko. That's the first cream I'd tried to lather in a very long time.

I'd suggest using the Arko stick I sent you and face lather. Sounds like you've got the razor part down, that's great! I can't believe you went ATG right out of the gate. I did this on my first shave and paid dearly the next few days. Hopefully you're experience is different!

Best of luck and hopefully we can officially welcome you the fold!


As far as your lather... I never used that brush so I don't know how it works. It might be a decent idea to go find a cheapo VDH boar brush.
How much of the cream did you use? I think those little samples are probably only good for a couple shaves so it's best to get with something you have enough of to shave with for at least a month without changing (the Arko).


Whatever you do DON'T CHANGE MORE THAN ONE THING FOR THE NEXT SHAVE!!

First, welcome and congrats.

For some reason I have found the samples from GFT are not representative of their products. I found some of the samples did not make a good lather - although I could shave with it. My advice is to use a little more product.

jwcarlson said:

Excellent!

Full Disclosure: I tried to lather some of that GFT sandlewood sample that I kept and had trouble. Washed it down the drain and went with Arko. That's the first cream I'd tried to lather in a very long time.

I'd suggest using the Arko stick I sent you and face lather. Sounds like you've got the razor part down, that's great! I can't believe you went ATG right out of the gate. I did this on my first shave and paid dearly the next few days. Hopefully you're experience is different!

Best of luck and hopefully we can officially welcome you the fold!


As far as your lather... I never used that brush so I don't know how it works. It might be a decent idea to go find a cheapo VDH boar brush.


Whatever you do DON'T CHANGE MORE THAN ONE THING FOR NEXT SHAVE!!

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I think it is because I have always gone ATG since I first started shaving and my face was used to it.

I can say that I am now officially hooked and can already feel a bit of AD coming on. I just need to wait til I have some spare money. That is a good thing though because it will help me change things very gradually and learn the difference each thing makes.

The brush didn't seem bad to me (but what do I know). It did lose probably 5 or 6 bristles. I may have been too rough though and caused it.

ackvil said:

First, welcome and congrats.

For some reason I have found the samples from GFT are not representative of their products. I found some of the samples did not make a good lather - although I could shave with it. My advice is to use a little more product.

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So it is very possible that I didn't really do anything wrong? I had read some great things about GFT and really liked the smell of that one so I gave it a shot. I will use the Arko next and see if I have better luck.

Welcome. Glad you joined. Enjoy yourself here. Congrats on your first shave.

Welcome to B & B and great shaves.

Mike,
I think you'll have best results face lathering with Arko. Something about face lathering helps make better lather in my experience. I think it's because you can feel how slippery the lather you're making is as you're making it.



In all honesty, the ADs aren't all they're cracked up to be. Really really think before you buy something "do I really need it?"

Dollar Stores:


Restores:

After seeing that last picture I now know you and I could get along very well. I just emptied a bottle of Johnny Black last night.

dataz722 said:

After seeing that last picture I now know you and I could get along very well. I just emptied a bottle of Johnny Black last night.

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If you're ever in Iowa, my friend...


Let me know.

Oh, I forgot...

Ok, I actually laughed when I saw all those arkos. I can assume that you like it.

dataz722 said:

Ok, I actually laughed when I saw all those arkos. I can assume that you like it.

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For $1.20 per stick shipped... you're darn skippy!

It's a tallowy latherbomb to the Nth degree.

Also, you actually picked what I like as one of the top blades I used. I ended up buying more Feathers but I think the 7 O'clock greens were great too. I was using a blade or two out of each pack and then moving on so I could come back if I liked it.

Oh, and it sounds like you used plenty of that cream. I'd had the samples for awhile so many they "expired"?

Lots of great comments and advice above! Welcome to B&B!

My suggestion for lathering is to practice between shaves. It takes a while to get the knack of getting a good lather. BTW, I always bowl lather ... it seems to give me better control than face lathering. I bowl lather even with shaving sticks.

dataz722 said:

Any advice about that lather? Or would it be best to start a seperate thread about just that?

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I would suggest re-visiting the tutorials and using a smaller bowl

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Lathers

Luc said:

I would suggest re-visiting the tutorials and using a smaller bowl

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Lathers

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I was wondering if the bowl might be too big. I don't think I really have anything that would work well. We don't have any big mugs and the only smaller bowls we are are ramikins which are too small probably.

I tried to use the arko this morning with a bowl lather but didn't get much better results. I will try and just use it to face lather next time. I am thinking it is probably either my technique or our water or most likely both.

dataz722 said:

I was wondering if the bowl might be too big. I don't think I really have anything that would work well. We don't have any big mugs and the only smaller bowls we are are ramikins which are too small probably.

I tried to use the arko this morning with a bowl lather but didn't get much better results. I will try and just use it to face lather next time. I am thinking it is probably either my technique or our water or most likely both.

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If I use a bowl, the perfect size is 1" high by 3" diameter which is not that big. A large cappuccino mug or a cereal bowl could do. The one you got there looks like a giant soup bowl!

Face lathering will eliminate the bowl and might resolve a few issues...

If it is ok, I would like to use this thread for me to just track everything. Comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated but I am thinking of doing this mainly for my own reference.

I think the problem with my lather is a combination of the bowl size and the brush. I did a face lather and got decent lather with that and then today used a smaller bowl and that was ok too but neither were great. I think I have the technique down but could be wrong there.

I also tried a Derby extra blade and don't really care for it too much. The first time I had a lot of pulling which is probably mostly from a hurried prep. I also had some weepers in that shave. Today's shave (2nd with the derby) was really rough. No pulling but a lot of weepers and 2 nicks, 1 of which I needed to pull out the styptic pencil for. I also have a little razor burn today. Neither of these shaves were nearly as close as the 7o'clock was either. Both of them were done with my best lather to date too.

dataz722 said:

I also tried a Derby extra blade and don't really care for it too much. The first time I had a lot of pulling which is probably mostly from a hurried prep. I also had some weepers in that shave. Today's shave (2nd with the derby) was really rough. No pulling but a lot of weepers and 2 nicks, 1 of which I needed to pull out the styptic pencil for. I also have a little razor burn today. Neither of these shaves were nearly as close as the 7o'clock was either. Both of them were done with my best lather to date too.

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Derby seems to be hit and miss as far as quality.
I've pulled a new one out and shaved with it and experienced like you did. Pulling and not cutting. Because they're so cheap just trash them. The next Derby you pull out might be a "good one". Wouldn't surprise me at all if the Derby you had was a bad one.

Welcome Aboard, Congrats on your first shave..

Welcome to Badger & Blade!