First Time DE SHave

Hi All,

Was just bought my first DE shave kit for my birthday, EJ89 razor, EJ Best Badger brush, EJ Bowel and Sandlewood puck and stand.

I got a bunch of different blades, including Bic, Feather, Derby, Shark and a couple others.

Funnily enough, I have now decided to grow out my beard and so have only had to tidy up my neckline which I did about 15mins ago.

First pass with the grain went well with no problems. Second Pass I atttempted to go against the grain and ended upo with my razor looking like it was the key suspected murder weapon in a triple homicide, my neck being one of the victims.

I started with the BIC for the with grain pass which went well, although seemed to really tug on the against the grain pass which is where the damage was done. I naturally have quite thick facial hair and think perhaps the bic isn't sharp enough for my hair... thoughts?

Was the idea of going against the grain on the second pass the wrong idea? Also found I felt a lot of the time as though my angle was too steep, wiping away my lather without actually cutting... I couldn't decide if this was actually the case or if years of shaving with a cartridge with a lot of surface area on the skin has dulled my senses and the cutting from the single DE blade wasn't detected due to its minimal sensation while cutting...

Quick question, is there such a think as having too much lather on your face? Does this impact at all?

Interested in sticking around and learning more.

Oh I'm from NZ

Thanks

Hello and welcome. Great to have you here on B&B. Wander on over to the Hall of Fame and introduce yourself.

Too much lather won't affect the shave, but it might tend to clog your razor. All you need is a good coat, not an inch thick slathering.

Try some different razor angles. Practice is your friend and the only way to improve technique.

Good luck on your journey.

Welcome!

Welcome

Try going cross grain instead of against the grain. That works for me on my neck, against the grain is a big no-no, for me at least for me.

Welcome to the forum !!

BSAGuy said:

Hello and welcome. Great to have you here on B&B. Wander on over to the Hall of Fame and introduce yourself.

Too much lather won't affect the shave, but it might tend to clog your razor. All you need is a good coat, not an inch thick slathering.

Try some different razor angles. Practice is your friend and the only way to improve technique.

Good luck on your journey.

Click to expand...

+1

Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. We normally advise newbies to avoid the Against the Grain (ATG) pass until they have gained some experience and technique. Try two With the Grain (WTG) or one WTG and one Across the Grain (XTG) passes for a few weeks before trying an ATG pass.

Welcome to B&B. Good to have you here.

If the WTG pass felt good and the ATG pass felt lousy, I'm voting that you have an angle/pressure issue. I agree with the gents above that recommend skipping the ATG pass for now and focusing on comfortable shaves.

Parjay said:

If the WTG pass felt good and the ATG pass felt lousy, I'm voting that you have an angle/pressure issue. I agree with the gents above that recommend skipping the ATG pass for now and focusing on comfortable shaves.

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+1. And welcome to B&B.

As for your lather question, keep in mind there is a difference between lather that is too thick because of insufficient water and lather that is thick because you are using a lot of product plus water. The former will clog your razor and result in a less than desirable shave while the latter will result in a good shave.

Hello welcome on this board. I had a problem like that in the past too and I solved it.

"I started with the BIC for the with grain pass which went well, although seemed to really tug on the against the grain pass which is where the damage was done. I naturally have quite thick facial hair and think perhaps the bic isn't sharp enough for my hair... thoughts?"

Every time when you can feel it pulling and tugging its because of a couple reasons:

- The hair isn't short enough for that pass; could be caused because you didn't do the WTG properly or missed a couple spots.
- Shaving in the wrong direction; you see a WTG is WTG based on the direction of your hair growth and not simply from north to south.

This is how I solved it: I mapped my beard growth and since than I never had any problems at all! I suggest you do the same and you will enjoy your BBS with no time. Often I do get a couple nicks on my neck but that's because I shave too fast, so take your time.

You can perform the next pass only when you did the one before properly, else it won't work. Once I tried to start with an ATG pass instead with a WTG and man, that hurts a lot. The key is to reduce the hair until it's all gone. Sometimes I feel I don't need a third pass at all.

An another thing I want to say is take your time when you do your face prep. It's one of the most important steps, whenever I don't spend enough time doing this the shaves will be very roughly. Like the other guy said about the pressure, don't use a lot of pressure. The best way to start out is to use less pressure as possible and apply more until it feels good.

Wow, all these replys overnight! Appreciate the feedback lads.

As previously stated the first pas was good, though did result in average coverage, i.e. I did miss a few spots especially around the adams apple trying my best to avoid a cut throat.

I was allowing the razor weight to do the cutting over applying pressure, though I feel as though I might have re shaved over areas with little to no lather... bad habits of using a cartridge razor.

Had a little razor burn which subsided pretty quick, unlike other instances I have read on the forum, so all in all wasn;t a bad first encounter. Additionally, I hadn't showered prior to shaving which I have learned could have assisted.

In terms of prep, what usually is recommended? While I enjoy doing things properly I usually don't have time for a lengthy and laborious process. So what is worth while doing without going all out? I have read a little about Alum Blocks, might add one of these bad boys to the arsenal ASAP.

Thanks boys

euro said:

Hello welcome on this board. I had a problem like that in the past too and I solved it.

Click to expand...

euro said:

"I started with the BIC for the with grain pass which went well, although seemed to really tug on the against the grain pass which is where the damage was done. I naturally have quite thick facial hair and think perhaps the bic isn't sharp enough for my hair... thoughts?"

Every time when you can feel it pulling and tugging its because of a couple reasons:

- The hair isn't short enough for that pass; could be caused because you didn't do the WTG properly or missed a couple spots.
- Shaving in the wrong direction; you see a WTG is WTG based on the direction of your hair growth and not simply from north to south.

This is how I solved it: I mapped my beard growth and since than I never had any problems at all! I suggest you do the same and you will enjoy your BBS with no time. Often I do get a couple nicks on my neck but that's because I shave too fast, so take your time.

You can perform the next pass only when you did the one before properly, else it won't work. Once I tried to start with an ATG pass instead with a WTG and man, that hurts a lot. The key is to reduce the hair until it's all gone. Sometimes I feel I don't need a third pass at all.

An another thing I want to say is take your time when you do your face prep. It's one of the most important steps, whenever I don't spend enough time doing this the shaves will be very roughly. Like the other guy said about the pressure, don't use a lot of pressure. The best way to start out is to use less pressure as possible and apply more until it feels good.

Click to expand...

Thanks mate, I have watched a few tutorial vids with guys who just shave one direction regardelss of growth. As you said, I don't think this is going to work for me and mapping my growth might be a good tip.

I'll go home this evening and break it down, plan my next shave over the coming days (once the razor burn has gone for good).

Thanks Pal

DOHCta said:

Thanks mate, I have watched a few tutorial vids with guys who just shave one direction regardelss of growth. As you said, I don't think this is going to work for me and mapping my growth might be a good tip.

I'll go home this evening and break it down, plan my next shave over the coming days (once the razor burn has gone for good).

Thanks Pal

Click to expand...

Here is a tutorial I wrote about mapping your beard:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...important-part-newbies-don-t-know!?highlight=

euro said:

Here is a tutorial I wrote about mapping your beard:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...important-part-newbies-don-t-know!?highlight=

Click to expand...

Great post!

Thanks for that mate

Welcome and enjoy your Birthday gift!

Thanks for joining us!

celestino said:

Welcome and enjoy your Birthday gift!

Click to expand...

Thanks mate, everyone so far has been really helpful.

Nicer atmosphere than 90% of other forums I have been apart of (not shaving forums)

Second shave down... less razor rash this time, though struggling to get a nice clean shave.

I have decided I am struggling in part to the fact I am only at this stage shaving my neck and tidying up the neck line for my beard... so I am getting very limited time on the razor each shave given the real estate I am working with.

The growth on my neck also appears to be all over the place with very little uniformity, a real pain in the arse

ackvil said:

+1. And welcome to B&B.

As for your lather question, keep in mind there is a difference between lather that is too thick because of insufficient water and lather that is thick because you are using a lot of product plus water. The former will clog your razor and result in a less than desirable shave while the latter will result in a good shave.

Click to expand...

Jim's wet shaving wisdom is spot on. As always.

Welcome aboard, Sir.