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First shave with EJ89

Today I shaved with my first safety razor, the EJ89. Seemed to be a good mild razor to start with. It came with the Derby extra blades and at first I was a little nervous of finding the right blade angle, but when i started shaving my cheeks, it was extremely easy to stay consistent with it and the only part I had a little trouble was my neck where the hair grows in several directions. However, I did experience more than usual irritation on my neck, hopefully it is because this is my first time. Other than the irritation the shave was so much better than them mach 3, no tugging or pulling, and surprisingly no nicks or cuts. I plan to stick with the Derby's until I run out then might try some Red Persona's or maybe Feathers

Overall though it was an excellent start to DE shaving :thumbup1:
 
Sounds great.
If you feel like trying the Reds and Feathers, go for it (no need to stick with the Derby unless you found they work better for you than other blades). :thumbup1:
 
Cotton ball your neck when you have stubble and you'll figure out the directions that the hair grows in. That should help a fair amount with irritation, as long as you can then shave in the right direction.

Good pick with the EJ. :thumbup1:
 
My first and only is a EJ89 too. I'm about 3 weeks in now and I have to assume the EJ is just simply the best razor on the market right now.

I've had no cuts or nicks and always get a smooth shave. I'm planning to put a feather in there pretty soon and give that a go. At this point I don't even want another razor this one is so good.
 
My first and only is a EJ89 too. I'm about 3 weeks in now and I have to assume the EJ is just simply the best razor on the market right now.

I've had no cuts or nicks and always get a smooth shave. I'm planning to put a feather in there pretty soon and give that a go. At this point I don't even want another razor this one is so good.

We better hide your first paragraph before it gets taken over by talk of blasphemy....
 
Today I shaved with my first safety razor, the EJ89. Seemed to be a good mild razor to start with. It came with the Derby extra blades and at first I was a little nervous of finding the right blade angle, but when i started shaving my cheeks, it was extremely easy to stay consistent with it and the only part I had a little trouble was my neck where the hair grows in several directions. However, I did experience more than usual irritation on my neck, hopefully it is because this is my first time. Other than the irritation the shave was so much better than them mach 3, no tugging or pulling, and surprisingly no nicks or cuts. I plan to stick with the Derby's until I run out then might try some Red Persona's or maybe Feathers

Overall though it was an excellent start to DE shaving :thumbup1:

I have the exact smae setup, and started 1 week ago. Same razor, same blades. I ordered a sample pack, and am excited for that. Today, i experienced my first no nick/cut shave. The blade has nothing to do with it: preshave and technique are the culprit. I was good on the cheeks, much like you, but then my neck suffered. Today, i really barely touched the skin at all. It's amazing how much pressure we put on our neck with the cartidges. Just barely, BARELy hold your EJ and let it glide. What got me was the ATG pass. Today, I just really focused on NO pressure. No a little, not barely, no pressure. It was amazing, and I had never had a really shaved neck. I can't wait to start with the other blades.

All this to say, you may be right to stick with your blades, and work on your technique. I can't remember the name, but if you follow the technique for preshave in the wiki (use cream/soap as pre and post, other steps) it will help a lot. Hope all goes well for you, I know I love that razor, and the feel of wet shaving. Cheers.
 
Cotton ball your neck when you have stubble and you'll figure out the directions that the hair grows in. That should help a fair amount with irritation, as long as you can then shave in the right direction.

Good pick with the EJ. :thumbup1:

My neck hair grows from right to left, but on my right side there's a small section that grows straight upwards which usually is the spot where i experience ingrows.



I have the exact smae setup, and started 1 week ago. Same razor, same blades. I ordered a sample pack, and am excited for that. Today, i experienced my first no nick/cut shave. The blade has nothing to do with it: preshave and technique are the culprit. I was good on the cheeks, much like you, but then my neck suffered. Today, i really barely touched the skin at all. It's amazing how much pressure we put on our neck with the cartidges. Just barely, BARELy hold your EJ and let it glide. What got me was the ATG pass. Today, I just really focused on NO pressure. No a little, not barely, no pressure. It was amazing, and I had never had a really shaved neck. I can't wait to start with the other blades.

All this to say, you may be right to stick with your blades, and work on your technique. I can't remember the name, but if you follow the technique for preshave in the wiki (use cream/soap as pre and post, other steps) it will help a lot. Hope all goes well for you, I know I love that razor, and the feel of wet shaving. Cheers.

I didn't do any preshave prep, simply wet my face and applied the cream. I remembered to apply no pressure and it was actually quite easy since the weight did most of the cutting, something that the mach 3 never did. I have been shaving only with the grain as it has helped with irritation, and this time I got almost a BBS.

I actually want to shave again :biggrin1:
 
I have the Edwin Jagger DE89 as well, it really is a great razor for the $$. I have been using the Astra superior platinum blades with very good results.:thumbup1:
 
After years of using a Merkur Progress, I switched to the EJ89 a couple of weeks ago. While I found the Feather blades to be difficult to control in the Progress, they seem to be a great match for the EJ89.

Of course, now that I just won Ryan's super generous PIF for a Feather razor:thumbup:, I'll have to see if the EJ89 remains my favorite!
 
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After years of using a Merkur Progress, I switched to the EJ89 a couple of weeks ago. While I found the Feather blades to be difficult to control in the Progress, they seem to be a great match for the EJ89.

Of course, now that I just won Ryan's super generous PIF for a Feather razor:thumbup:, I'll have to see if the EJ89 remains my favorite!

I have both the EJ89 and Feather en route to myself as well. I'll be interested to see your take on the similarities/differences in these two. I may need to start growing now to see how they can handle about 10 days of stubble :tongue_sm
 
My first and only is a EJ89 too. I'm about 3 weeks in now and I have to assume the EJ is just simply the best razor on the market right now.

I've had no cuts or nicks and always get a smooth shave. I'm planning to put a feather in there pretty soon and give that a go. At this point I don't even want another razor this one is so good.

I've had the EJ89L for the best part of a year and love it. BUT, my recent Merkur 39C slant has knocked it off top spot for sure. Fully endorse the Feather in an EJ -perfect marriage!:thumbup1:
 
I've had the EJ89L for the best part of a year and love it. BUT, my recent Merkur 39C slant has knocked it off top spot for sure. Fully endorse the Feather in an EJ -perfect marriage!:thumbup1:

I used a feather for the first time today and I can see what people talk about for smooth shave but I have to be honest I don't see the big deal about it being so sharp that you can hurt yourself. All I can think of is the EJ is so mild that it prevents a feather from being harsh.

I can't say for sure yet on only one shave but I think the Bolzano's are just about equal to the feather's.
 
Just used feathers this AM too. First time my neck was shaved properly. Ever!!! I never thought I coujld achieve it. And I agree, they aren't that aggressive in the EJ89.
 
I used a feather for the first time today and I can see what people talk about for smooth shave but I have to be honest I don't see the big deal about it being so sharp that you can hurt yourself. All I can think of is the EJ is so mild that it prevents a feather from being harsh.

I can't say for sure yet on only one shave but I think the Bolzano's are just about equal to the feather's.

The Bolzano is my second choice blade to the Feather, and whilst I don't find it quite as sharp as a Feather, it is nevertheless a capable blade that gets my vote when time is pressing. And I agree, the Feather is a sharp blade, but not the lethal one it is made out to be.
 
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