So I think the wife thinks I'm crazy! I am getting my initial setup up tomorrow. It'll be shave factory DE. And whatever blades I can find in town. Also found VDH shave kit (bowl,soap,brush) at Walgreens. Any tips besides no pressure and take my time? Been researching this for awhile hoping it turns out good.
Tomorrow is day one EXCITED!
- Thread starter dwack
- Start date
Look up the blade angle thread in the newbie section and look at the pictures. As silly as it may seem I feel like it helped. Also for me only electric shaving before this... be patient. Look at it as learning a new instrument or skill.
Welcome to the group dwack! You're in good company here on the subject of DE razor shaving.
Highlander is right about the angle thread in the newbie section. Take your time when you initially start shaving with your DE razor. There is a learning curve when you start DE shaving. You should become somewhat proficient with practice. Like any life skill, you have to learn this one as well.
Good luck on your first few shaves!
Highlander is right about the angle thread in the newbie section. Take your time when you initially start shaving with your DE razor. There is a learning curve when you start DE shaving. You should become somewhat proficient with practice. Like any life skill, you have to learn this one as well.
Good luck on your first few shaves!
Jump in!
Antique Hoosier
“Aircooled”
Enjoy and WELCOME. It is a life changing experience.
Hydrate. Take a nice shower or spend several minutes splashing water to your face before shaving. The grains are softer when hydrated.
Mapping. Find the pattern / growth directions of your beard in different sections of the face. Shave only with the grains the first time. If that feels fine, next time you can go first with the grain and then another pass across the grain.
Don't aim for the closest shave in the world on your first try. Focus on technique, and the close shave will eventually follow.
Don't try going against the grain before you have a good technique! Wait till you feel comfortable every time you go across the grain.
Skip a day if you had a rough shave.
Stick to a set of equipment (one soap, one type of blade, one razor, one aftershave) for your first month-ish. Then, when your technique is set, you can try a soap/cream sample and a blade sample to find what equipment suits you the best. Don't stick to what works for everyone else, find the things that works for YOU. Oh, and change only one thing at a time, so that you know what made the difference.
Have fun!
Mapping. Find the pattern / growth directions of your beard in different sections of the face. Shave only with the grains the first time. If that feels fine, next time you can go first with the grain and then another pass across the grain.
Don't aim for the closest shave in the world on your first try. Focus on technique, and the close shave will eventually follow.
Don't try going against the grain before you have a good technique! Wait till you feel comfortable every time you go across the grain.
Skip a day if you had a rough shave.
Stick to a set of equipment (one soap, one type of blade, one razor, one aftershave) for your first month-ish. Then, when your technique is set, you can try a soap/cream sample and a blade sample to find what equipment suits you the best. Don't stick to what works for everyone else, find the things that works for YOU. Oh, and change only one thing at a time, so that you know what made the difference.
Have fun!
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Just don't expect the stars to align and the heavens to open. They won't. It will take time but after a couple weeks at most you will start having great shaves.
+1 - This can't be overstated. For that first month your technique will develop rapidly and trying to change a bunch of stuff willy nilly is just going to obfuscate what works and what doesn't.
Don't over think it. This is something that guys have done for decades. It isn't rocket science.
Start with a simple north to south pass until you get the hang of it. Do subsequent passes with your old razor until you get to a point that you are comfortable doing 2-3 passes with your new DE.
I usually recommend that guys start lathering with soap while they are still using their old razor, assuming it isn't electric. Or you could use your old canned goo with the new razor. It cuts down on the number of things that are changing at the beginning. It's also fewer skills to learn all at the same time.
I echo the advice on beard prep. American Men (perhaps modern men in general) have been taught all wrong about shaving. We rinse our face lightly, slap on some canned goo and go forward with carts that have 3, 6, 14 and 27 blades in them when all it takes is one.
Soak your beard very well and wash your face with a moisturizing soap (I like Dove). Lather it well and for a couple of minutes. Rinse and leave your face wet and then lather using whatever method you have set up.
Let the lather sit for a couple of minutes while you load up your blade and relax. For an extra treat, try the hot Turkish towel by running a face cloth under very hot water, wringing it out and then laying it on your face right over top the lather and leaving it there for a few minutes. Rinse, re-lather and then shave.
During your first shave, let the blade do the work. No pressure should be applied and use your support hand/fingers to stretch the skin while you shave to make those whisker spring upward for the shearing. Use a shallow angle and short strokes and listen for the blade feedback as you mow down the beard hairs.
Rinse, feel, evaluate and take note of beard growth patterns. Pay attention to how your hairs are growing direction wise and then, using differing stroke approaches, touch those areas up if you are confident after you re-lather.
That's about it over the inter-webs. Over a couple of cold ones and in person, we could talk for hours.
Good luck,
Frank
Soak your beard very well and wash your face with a moisturizing soap (I like Dove). Lather it well and for a couple of minutes. Rinse and leave your face wet and then lather using whatever method you have set up.
Let the lather sit for a couple of minutes while you load up your blade and relax. For an extra treat, try the hot Turkish towel by running a face cloth under very hot water, wringing it out and then laying it on your face right over top the lather and leaving it there for a few minutes. Rinse, re-lather and then shave.
During your first shave, let the blade do the work. No pressure should be applied and use your support hand/fingers to stretch the skin while you shave to make those whisker spring upward for the shearing. Use a shallow angle and short strokes and listen for the blade feedback as you mow down the beard hairs.
Rinse, feel, evaluate and take note of beard growth patterns. Pay attention to how your hairs are growing direction wise and then, using differing stroke approaches, touch those areas up if you are confident after you re-lather.
That's about it over the inter-webs. Over a couple of cold ones and in person, we could talk for hours.
Good luck,
Frank
Hello and welcome to B&B. This is a great forum full of friendly, helpful shavers. You'll learn a lot here.
My advice - follow the above tips, especially don't overthink this, relax, and take your time. Scores of billions of men have been doing this for millenia thus (i) it is not really that difficult, and (ii) you can easily master this craft.
Have fun!
My advice - follow the above tips, especially don't overthink this, relax, and take your time. Scores of billions of men have been doing this for millenia thus (i) it is not really that difficult, and (ii) you can easily master this craft.
Have fun!
- Thread starter
- #11
Best tip i can give is not to be discouraged by mediocre results nor a little bit of red fluids leaking out. much like anything else you won't pick it up on your first try and some days you will think man i suck at this and the next day you will think you are king of the world with a BBS shave. I know cause i'm still that way after 2 months.
It took be a good a year to refined my technique so take your time.
C.O. Bigelow cream from Bath and Body Works available at any mall. When I started, I had trouble lathering a soap. I didn't know if it was soap or technique or if that's just the way DE shaving was. I almost gave up. I tried a quality cream (TOBS) and the results were incredible. I say C.O. Bigelow because its made by Proraso and widely available. It's really easy to get great, PROTECTIVE lather. If you know the lather is good you can just concentrate on technique and you won't have that many weepers. VDH soap is not the worst but its not as easy to lather as Proraso/Bigelow cream. Just a thought. Good luck tomorrow.
Welcome Aboard. As a newbie myself with only a few shaves under my belt. Dont expect a BBS right out of the gate. Take your time, pay attention to the angle of your blade/razor. I didnt at first and had to do numerous passes till I kind of figured it out, still working on my technique, but the shaves are so much better than my disposable razors. Enjoy
Jim
Jim
With all this expert advice above and what you already know-----you'll be fine. Good luck and welcome to the show!!
- Thread starter
- #17
$10. Made by Proraso. I can't tell the difference between the two. They even sell smaller tubes.
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- Thread starter
- #19
I lather on the puck until it's almost where I want it, then I take it to my face to whip it the correct consistency. Soap is cheap, and life's too short for crappy lather. Those Van der Hagen pucks do disappear much quicker than other brands though.
As a first time brush user, I would suggest building your lather right on top of the puck. That way you're sure to load up enough soap. It took me months to figure out that my crappy initial lathers were because I was using way too much water and way too little soap. Swirl on top of the soap for at least 30 seconds. Suds may go flying, but that doesn't mean that they're ready for shaving yet. If I were you, I'd probably load my brush for a full minute just because (nobody has ever had a crappy lather from using too much soap).
As a first time brush user, I would suggest building your lather right on top of the puck. That way you're sure to load up enough soap. It took me months to figure out that my crappy initial lathers were because I was using way too much water and way too little soap. Swirl on top of the soap for at least 30 seconds. Suds may go flying, but that doesn't mean that they're ready for shaving yet. If I were you, I'd probably load my brush for a full minute just because (nobody has ever had a crappy lather from using too much soap).
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