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A Bloody Mess

Okay so after too many years of multi-bladed shaving, I have been wanting to go over to the Wet Shaving team. I have heard all these years of how great of a shave it is. So I dove in. I have been doing a hybrid kind of thing for the last few years. Wet shaving with a cartridge type razor. I have been using a Badger brush and shave soap for the economics. I had to offset the raping fee charged for the cartridge refills.

Any way, I had done a lot of research and decided I would go with a Merkur 34C razor and try out a few different blades (Feather & Personna). I even watched a bunch of Mantic's videos on Youtube.

While the actual blade part cuts right through the hair like a hot knife through butter, I end up with a bunch of nicks everywhere. Especially around the lower neck, upper lips, and near the jaw line (just above it actually). You may be thinking I am pushing to hard. I am letting the weight of the razor head do all the work.

I just finished shaving with 3 passes. I used MWF soap. I have done all the steps necessary. I have all the right gear. Yet my face hurts to the touch.

I have achieved somewhere between BBS and a DFS.

Why is my face hurting and why all the nicks? What is going on? I am certainly not ready to give up. But, I want the enjoyable part of wet shaving everyone is always talking about.

Good God, it looks like I sat under a UV lamp with SPF 1000 on my face except for where I shaved. If you held a lobster up to my face you would no longer be able to see it, my face is so red.
:blink:
 
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Welcome to B&B!

You could be having an issue with your angle of attach. I had that issue especially on my neck. Also mapping/knowing the direction of growth really helps. Going against the grain on the first pass can cause the types of problems you are having. The other thing is practice :001_smile

Once again, welcome.
 
Hey Figaro. Yikes! This cutting and nicking you are experiencing are a probably a technic issue. Working on technic, which includes no pressure and getting the right angle, means not looking for a DFS or a BBS at all. It means just learning how to negotiate the razor around your face without nicks or shaving burn.

Prep may have something to do with this also. Read through more tutorials found at the top of this forum. For you, I'd suggest using only WTG passes, two per shave right now. It sounds like you are simply shaving too much skin off with your whiskers. Ouch!

In my case, the only time I get nicks is when I'm inattentive to the blade angle, and smash or dig it into my face, or accidentally pull the blade sideways, which will slice my skin very easily.

Prep and Technic! Read, Learn, Shave, Share, and do ask questions. We do want you to find a good way to shave with your DE!
 
After doing some more research (my face is no longer sore to the touch), I think it may have been mostly due to the fact that shaving with the cartridge type, I had small ingrown hairs that caused tiny bumps which the feather blade enjoyed leveling. LOL - I know I had tiny bumps on my upper lip from cartridge shaving, which are no longer there.

I did three passes using shave oil as part of my prep. The first two were always with the grain. I did pattern my growth as I have always shaved with the grain even with the cartridges. It wasn't until the 3rd pass where I began to go against the grain. However, it should be noted that the nicks started int he first two passes. The 3rd and final pass had hardly any nicks created during that pass.

So any advice?
 
Well, the best advice I can give you about nicks in the first two passes is that the prep must be adequate to let your razor slide over your skin, while reducing the growth of your beard. If you are getting nicks, it means the angle or pressure was incorrect for that particular spot. Do you also have a blade sampler? Some blades prove more forgiving than others, and will not nick so easily.

Nice to hear you mapped your beard! Omit the ATG pass for a while ... a month or more. Concentrate on technic doing WTG, WTG, XTG ... then WTG, XTG, XTG passes.

For me dragging the razor across the face sounds kind of brutal. I hold my DE's rather high on the handle, and balance the weight with my 4th and 5th fingers on the tip of the handle. There are many different technics used by different people. You do want to have some control of the 'dragging'.
 
No pressure. Like I stated in the OP - I let the weight of the razor do the work. I simply dragged the razor across my face being careful not to apply any pressure.

Still heed the advice - many a newb down the track relaises they were still leaning on the razor when they stop doing so.

If your razor is literally dragging then good lather is your best friend. MWF can be finnicky for a new user, but you want something that feels slick and creamy. Not big and foamy or airy.

Feathers can also be often too aggressive, I can't use them at all and have been shaving with a DE for 2 years, so it's not always a technique thing.

Stick with a couple of WTG passes til you sort your issues and develop good technique. Learn the process first, don't go for gold.
 
Skip on the third pass


Skip on the second pass.

Just get a comfortable one pass shave. BBS is a myth right now!
 
Feathers are wicked sharp! They will find any little raise in the skin and simply slice it off.
 
Feathers are wicked sharp! They will find any little raise in the skin and simply slice it off.
Like a hot knife through butter.

And as another poster wrote you are many months from BBS. Two passes for a long time before you can graduate and shave ATG. I only go ATG on rare occasions because it's just not necessary for a killer shave.

Lastly, creams are so much easier than soaps for a newbie. Get some proraso.
 
I have been shaving with soaps & creams for years. The only thing new to the equation is the DE Razor. I have been using pre-shaves and MWF with the cartridges for a long time.

I will try the Personna blades and only to the two passes WTG for a while. :blushing:
 
I would start out with a more forgiving blade. Feathers are held in high regard for a reason, and as such I figure they would be more risky to a new DE shaver.

The next advice I can give you is to take it slow and short strokes. Always paying attention to blade angle. I have to get up a good 20 minutes earlier now, to allow time for my shave routine...but its well worth it. Just yesterday a woman complimented me on how healthy-looking my facial complexion was. ;)
 
Feathers are crazy for a beginner. Try personna. edit: I see you plan to

1-2 pass is good for a beginner, maybe even touch ups. Get a comfortable shave first, then get a close shave.

Chasing BBS gets you bloody. BBS happens with experience and technique. BBS is not a goal.

Phil
 
Dude, one shave and you're ready to give up? It's been said before, but it bears repeating.... this is going to be a MONTHS LONG PROCESS. You have to unlearn a lot of bad habits and relearn new ones. Expect lousy shaves for a few weeks, adequate shaves for a few more weeks, passable shaves for the next month or so, and one day you'll realize that you've figured it out and everything will click.

You have to be willing to invest the time and effort into DE shaving, and not get discouraged if you don't experience immediate results. The journey is as important as the destination here - if it were easy, it wouldn't be any fun!
 
Most often new wet shavers have a problem with blade angle and no pressure.

You said you had been cart shaving for a while. Howeverr, as you have seen DE shaving is different from cartridge shaving in that you must be sure you are not putting any pressure on the blade. Let the weight of the razor do the work for you. To assure this I use two fingers and my thumb to hold the razor with another finger resting on the tip of the handle. This results in holding the razor very lightly with no pressure on the razor. You want to hold the razor as lightly as you can without it falling from your hand. And here is a good post that will help you on blade angle.
 
+1 on this - I started on the Derby Extras that came with my EJ DE89. As a newbie of about 9-10 shaves I can get a near DFS (now). I've shaved 2x with Wilkinson (not as sharp) and 1x with Shark (starting my sampler pack). The Feathers are awaiting the day when my skills are up to the challenge...

I would start out with a more forgiving blade. Feathers are held in high regard for a reason, and as such I figure they would be more risky to a new DE shaver.

The next advice I can give you is to take it slow and short strokes. Always paying attention to blade angle. I have to get up a good 20 minutes earlier now, to allow time for my shave routine...but its well worth it. Just yesterday a woman complimented me on how healthy-looking my facial complexion was. ;)
 
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