Long Time, First Time

nyrican52884 said:

Thanks for this advice. I realized that when I started shaving with less pressure I focused on a loose grip, but that led to a soft wrist also. I realized this morning that I can have a solid wrist and still maintain a soft grip and had an excellent shave today.

Using the big muscles made a huge difference and I was able to maintain the blade angle. I did a 3 pass shave and did an extra 2 passes on my chin because the beard is much thicker with minimal irritation only on spots of my chin. Thanks for the advice.

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You're welcome. It's knowledge that was passed down here and on other forums. It's all a learning process. Have fun!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to B&B! You're on the air! Great advice above.

Welcome aboard.

Update! So I've been getting really good shaves with my Merkur 23C and a Personna Lab blade. Been able to get DFS in 2 passes with minimal touch ups.

I got the EJ89 for my birthday and shaved today with a fresh Astra SP, my go to blade. My first thought was, wow this is much more aggressive than the 23C. Overall a good shave, but I felt I needed to be really careful not to cut myself. I got a couple weepers which I haven't gotten any in a couple weeks.

I think I need to go back through my blade sampler pack to find a blade that works best with the EJ. Some milder blades that I have had good success with are Crystals and Shark Super Chrome. The EJ came with 5 Derbys which I've been wanting to try, but didn't want to change 2 things at once (new razor and different blade) .

The one thing that drove me crazy with the Merkur was blade alignment. I was only using one edge of the blade because the alignment was always drastically off. Didn't have that with the EJ today. Also the balance and weight feel better.

If I can't get a good blade combination I'll probably look towards a vintage razor. Either a tech or superspeed.

For applying minimal pressure, some people have had success guiding the razor by the tip of the handle. That makes it nearly impossible to apply much pressure beyond the weight of the razor. Some people say it is a waste of time and money, but trying pre-shave oil can do no harm. Selections are many - AoS, eShave, American Crew, ShaveSecret, or any of the homemade concoctions that people describe in these forums.

Welcome! The wiki has a good discussion of angles. If you get the angle correctly then you need very little pressure IMO.

Thanks for the advice. I think I've got the angle and pressure down for a few weeks. When I switched to the Ej it was just a totally different experience.

Shaved with the Derby today and I felt that it wasn't extremely sharp, but had zero irritation. The Ej definitely gives more feedback than the 23C. I can feel if I don't have the proper angle, but I could go a whole shave with the 23C not knowing what the problem was, and that can be extremely frustrating.

I'm not really after BBS as much as I'm searching for a smooth irritation free shave. I got that with the Derby, but I just need to further improve my technique so it will cut on the first pass without tugging.