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First DE Shave - Newbie Mistakes

C

CaptainTime

My first DE safety razor arrived yesterday - a Maggard m4.

I had been getting good lather and shaves with Proraso Red and my old disposable cartridge razor so I was really looking forward to my first DE shave.

Put a Feather blade in and began...

Used short strokes WTG and it seemed to go well. Just a couple of red bumps. TI was congratulating myself on conquering wet shaving! :)

Then I made my first mistake. I usually go once WTG and once ATG with my cartridge razor so I tried ATG with the DE razor. It actually seemed to work ok but a little irritating so I resolved to try CTG instead the next day. But then I did something really stupid. I decided to go ATG under my nose and above my lip. I don't even do that with my cartridge razor but it all seemed to go so well to that point.

As soon as I did this, I realized this was a mistake, with red, irritated areas jumping up right away. So I resolved to aoid ATG in the mustache area in future.

Cleaned up and went to work in my home office. 1 hour later, my face was burning all over! I did have some Nivea After Shave Balm that I had originally tried after my cartridge shaves and didn't like the feel on my skin, but it was sure a life saver now. It took the pain away and let my face cool off.

I'm not put off of DE shaving, I just think I have more to learn. I will give it another go, perhaps after using the cartridge tomorrow to give my face a break for a day.

Unfortunately I have to travel this weekend so I may not get enough time to get this working before I go so I might just take my old equipment with me and start again when I get back.
 
Lakebound

Lakebound

CaptainTime said:
My first DE safety razor arrived yesterday - a Maggard m4.

I had been getting good lather and shaves with Proraso Red and my old disposable cartridge razor so I was really looking forward to my first DE shave.

Put a Feather blade in and began...

Used short strokes WTG and it seemed to go well. Just a couple of red bumps. TI was congratulating myself on conquering wet shaving! :)

Then I made my first mistake. I usually go once WTG and once ATG with my cartridge razor so I tried ATG with the DE razor. It actually seemed to work ok but a little irritating so I resolved to try CTG instead the next day. But then I did something really stupid. I decided to go ATG under my nose and above my lip. I don't even do that with my cartridge razor but it all seemed to go so well to that point.

As soon as I did this, I realized this was a mistake, with red, irritated areas jumping up right away. So I resolved to aoid ATG in the mustache area in future.

Cleaned up and went to work in my home office. 1 hour later, my face was burning all over! I did have some Nivea After Shave Balm that I had originally tried after my cartridge shaves and didn't like the feel on my skin, but it was sure a life saver now. It took the pain away and let my face cool off.

I'm not put off of DE shaving, I just think I have more to learn. I will give it another go, perhaps after using the cartridge tomorrow to give my face a break for a day.

Unfortunately I have to travel this weekend so I may not get enough time to get this working before I go so I might just take my old equipment with me and start again when I get back.
Click to expand...



Welcome to B&B and congratulations on starting your journey. I would like to offer a couple of reading assignments for you, I think you would benefit from them. First we have an article from the International Dermal Institute. And then we have an article from Modern Mechanix. I hope that both of these articles will be of some help to you, I know that they helped me a great deal when I first started out and I refer to them often.


Frank
 
docholliday77

docholliday77

Hey Captain, welcome to B&B! Sounds like you're actually doing pretty well, just lay off the ATG for a while like the others said. I also am new and seem to get into trouble primarily when I can't resist getting too aggressive. :blushing:
 
Armiger

Armiger

Welcome Captain Time! Your journey sounded similar to mine several months ago although I did not start with a Feather blade. I started with two simple passes and a light touch - one WTG followed by XTG. I did not get an extremely close shave at first but as my technique improved and I was consistent with the razor angle the shaves got closer. After a month I added a light ATG as part of what I call pass 2.5. I do rinse and lather again between passes. Keep it up and you will get there.
 
BSAGuy

BSAGuy

Sounds like you went ATG before whiskers were short enough. Think about a lever. The longer the whiskers are and you try to go ATG, the more the hairs will dig into the follicle. For now, I'd stick with WTG and XTG until you get more comfortable.

You can do it, just takes time and practice.
 
C

CaptainTime

Did my second try today and went only WTG with a second pass WTG again. Didn't want to try anything more to let my face heal. Worked much better, only 1 nick and 1 weeper, but not a real close shave of course. I will try again tomorrow and add an XTG.

Unfortunately after tomorrow I have to travel so I guess I will have to go back to cartridges a bit as I don't really want to mess with this while staying with family. And I don't want my face to look like hamburger when I go to my stepdaughter's wedding. :)
 
ryinzana

ryinzana

Good luck. Glad the second shave was better! Stick with it and you'll quickly see progress. I'd imagine adding an XTG pass with the feathers will help
 
alex2363

alex2363

CaptainTime said:
Did my second try today and went only WTG with a second pass WTG again. Didn't want to try anything more to let my face heal. Worked much better, only 1 nick and 1 weeper, but not a real close shave of course. I will try again tomorrow and add an XTG.

Unfortunately after tomorrow I have to travel so I guess I will have to go back to cartridges a bit as I don't really want to mess with this while staying with family. And I don't want my face to look like hamburger when I go to my stepdaughter's wedding. :)
Click to expand...
Captain, I would try a less aggressive blade. Try a sampler blade pack.
 
C

CaptainTime

alex2363 said:
Captain, I would try a less aggressive blade. Try a sampler blade pack.
Click to expand...

Thanks alex,

There was also another pack of blades with the package I got - bluebird I think.

Did my third shave, twice WTG and once XTG. The shave felt great - couple of nicks, but later some areas on my neck were really red. That is the funny thing - feels great while I do it but raises welts later.

Have to take a break from this while I travel, but when I get back, I will try the other blades.
 
Mick

Mick

It all becomes routine with time.

Learning to shave is nothing more than patience, practice, and persistence.

Consistency from shave to shave is what you are after.

Get it right and change NOTHING :yesnod:

Enjoy your trip and check back in once you return.
 
alex2363

alex2363

CaptainTime said:
Thanks alex,

There was also another pack of blades with the package I got - bluebird I think.

Did my third shave, twice WTG and once XTG. The shave felt great - couple of nicks, but later some areas on my neck were really red. That is the funny thing - feels great while I do it but raises welts later.

Have to take a break from this while I travel, but when I get back, I will try the other blades.
Click to expand...
I think the break will do you good. ..and the blade variety will help you decide on your blade of choice.
 
C

CaptainTime

Well, I got back from my trip and got two more DE shaves under my belt.

I tried the idea mentioned in another post here on the forum and used Noxzema on my face and then lathered overtop of it.

Then I shaved with the MR4 and Feather blade and Proraso red cream. Took it easy. Once WTG the first day and once XTG. The second day twice WTG and once XTG.

It worked well. For the first time I had NO nicks on either shave. , so I think my technique is improving. I think the Noxzema helped the neck irritation as well. Just a bit the first day and none the next.
e
Will continue for a week or so this way before trying any ATG again.
 
Bamarambler

Bamarambler

Until you get the hang of your technique, you may want to consider a blade that is milder than the Feather. And as you figured out, wait a while until you do the ATG.
 
Vespasian

Vespasian

It will settle down. I have found that rubbing a wet alum block over the shaved area right after I cold rinse pretty much prevents irritation/redness for jumping up a little later. And your technique will improve. Two careful passes and touch-up. Welcome, and good luck!
 
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