newbie check in

**nueldwsa** · 05-02-2008, 01:21 AM

Hi,
As a newbie to DE shaving, experiences so far.

Is there some law of the DE experience that says the razors arrive quickly while the blades take forever to arrive?

I'm a firm believer in the maxim that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess! So now I have a RAD, SAD, CAD, SBAD, and ASAD.

I'm experimenting with Merkur Futur, Merkur Vision 2000, Gillette Fat boy 1958, Gillette SS 1947, Gillete TV D4 and Gillette Blue tip. Savile Row 3824 (Thanks Charles). Wide variety of soaps, creams and pre, post shave balms.

As an older gent who has skipped the DE options in favor of electric shaver and then on to wet shave with Gillette Mach 3. I was happy as a clam with the ease of shaving with my can of foam and the plastic handle Mach 3 shave. Not the most esthetic experience, and certainly not bbs, but acceptable. No nicks, no unpleasant shaving experiences.

I caught the DE bug, and could not ignore the attractiveness of lower cost and green nature of DE shaving, not to mention a chance to experience those previously denied barbershop balms and elixiers. Being an engineer at heart, I researched all of the forums thoroughly to find recommendations for razors, brushes, creams, soaps, and afer shave balms. Thanks to all of you for sharing your favorites and thoughts.

I'm a tall guy with a long face. I have goattee at the moment, so shaving the delicate parts around the chin and nose is not a problem. Only the cheeks and neck.

Many have expressed a preference for the products of Merkur. I tried the Futur. Of all I have tried, this razor gives me the closest to a BBS experience. I have it set to 3. Works well, though I have only tried the Israeli platinum blades so far. Still having difficulty with the area under the chin. Can't seem to get a clean shave.

My experience with the Vision has been more problematic. Seem to have some brain fade at a critical moment and set the aggressiveness to high, thought the I, S less aggressive then O, N, oops Managed to take a huge nick out of my cheek! Noticed my razor has the dreaded difference between sides problem. Thanks to some excellent posts in this forum, I'll take it apart and fix this problem and try it again.

I like the fat boy, but find after 3 or 4 passes, wtg, atg, atg, I still have stubble, especially on the neck. Setting 3 or 4.

The SS, while not giving as much razor burn on the neck, does not give me as close a shave as the others. Maybe a problem with the angle. I need 5 passes to reach the same level of closeness as the others.

I've not yet tried the blue tip.

As for soaps and creams. QED, Tabac, Truefitt, and Salter give a rich lather. The Savile Row works will with all of them. The Salter cream is easy and quick to build a rich full lather when I am in a hurry and I love the scent.

The gentlemans Refinery after shave balm works really well for relieving razor burn on the neck. Pashana has that barbershop smell, which lasts all day and is very distinctive, but don't even thing about cologne!

The saga continues. So much to learn.

Ron

**Silb3r** · 05-02-2008, 01:42 AM

Ron,

Welcome to B&B and way to put your best foot forward! You're off to quite a start. Enjoy it...

-Michael

**crankymoose** · 05-02-2008, 04:18 AM

Ron, Welcome to B&B, now that's what I call getting started right

**Johnny Dale** · 05-02-2008, 04:37 AM

Welcome to B&B! Lokks like you did not jump in, you dove in head first!

**mantic** · 05-02-2008, 05:36 AM

Welcome!

--Mark

**TacoBell** · 05-02-2008, 06:00 AM

Welcome. I agree about The Gentlemans Refinery aftershave balm. Subtle scent and soothing.

**nueldwsa** · 05-17-2008, 03:01 PM

The blades finally arrived, at least some of them. Contacted Giovanni at Tryphon after waiting a couple of weeks. Sincere apology for not having shipped the order, upgraded me to the big sample, which arrived 3 days later. What a selection! The order from Dosskey is lost in the mail. Five weeks and no blades. He did indicate he would resend if I had not received them by this week.

I thought it would be interesting to compare razors with one brand of blade and cream. Gentlemens Refinery sent me a nice little sampler pot of black ice (anise fragrance). The Astra superior has received good reviews, so I used up a sample of 5 on different razors and shaved each morning over a week to see and feel the difference.

Brush: Savile Row 3824
Cream: Gentlemens Refinery Black Ice
After Shave Balm: Gentlemens Refinery balm
Razors: 40's SS (2), E4 Fat Boy, Merkur Futur, D2 SS (TV?). Wanted to try the Vision, but it looks like I will need to rebuild it to make the blade symmetrical.

I would rank the results in best to worst as: Futur (setting 3), D2 SS (tie), 40's SS #2, Fat Boy (setting 4). I'll try the FB again with a more aggressive setting to see if there is a difference.

Overall I find the Futur gives a great shave, very smooth and no nicks. Very solid feel in the hand with great balance. The D2 SS gave a great shave, but one small nick on the neck. I really enjoyed the shave. Really nice feel to the razor on my face. The second 40's SS gave a great shave, but I can feel the wiskers being pulled, just didn't give a close enough shave. Could have taken more passes, but my neck was getting a bit sore.

I'll try it again next week with a different cream to see what difference that makes.

Thank you all for your warm welcome!

Regards,
Ron