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It all starts tomorrow.

Decent little sampler. Id say start with the Astra and work your way thru what you have. Choose one from that pack that you felt most comfortable with and gave you the best shave, order some more and stick with that blade for a good couple of months.

As you get more comfortable with using a DE and get your technique down then you can either stick with that blade or venture out in the hunt for that perfect blade.

You dont wanna go off on the hunt to early. You want to get comfortable with using DEs since your used to cartridges aswell as get your technique down first and foremost. I personally feel many people get so excited about jumping into DE shaving they want to rush out and try every blade they can find. IMO until you get your technique down and you really dont know what your even looking for quite yet anyways. Without the experience even the best blade in the world could feel like the worst if you dont quite know what your doing yet. :)
 
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I'm about a two weeks ahead of you. I did Derby first, but quickly ditched it for the Astra which I'm sticking with for a bit.

I don't think going Derby first is a bad idea, it feels "safe" but from there is was no issue to translate over to the Astra, and I find it much less irritating.

I did two Derby shaves, realised my skin doesn't like it, but I think it did spare me a bit of blood while I got some idea of how this all works.
 
Decent little sampler. Id say start with the Astra and work your way thru what you have. Choose one from that pack that you felt most comfortable with and gave you the best shave, order some more and stick with that blade for a good couple of months.

As you get more comfortable with using a DE and get your technique down then you can either stick with that blade or venture out in the hunt for that perfect blade.

You dont wanna go off on the hunt to early. You want to get comfortable with using DEs since your used to cartridges aswell as get your technique down first and foremost. I personally feel many people get so excited about jumping into DE shaving they want to rush out and try every blade they can find. IMO until you get your technique down and you really dont know what your even looking for quite yet anyways. Without the experience even the best blade in the world could feel like the worst if you dont quite know what your doing yet. :)
This is really good advice. I fell into the trap of wanting to try everything, you know, I wanted to run before I could walk, and had to go back to basics. I just got a new razor that I need to figure out all over again.
 
Just about any blade for the superspeed.

I'd leave the Derby for your first slant or Fatip razor. Derby needs more blade exposure to give a good shave

I always recommend new shavers to start with the Astra SP and stick with that blade for at least 3 months before trying any others.

/thread.
 
welcome! The only thing I would caution you on is sticking with the same routine. When you're learning to DE shave, it can be hard to determine what's working if you change it up too much. Whatever you use, remember the trifecta
1. prep
2. blade angle
3. no pressure

have fun!
 
Thanks for the suggestions and guidance everyone!

In the end I did decide to start with the Astras, and have no regret. I am two shaves in with the Super Speed, and enjoying it, shaves are passing the wife test as well (rated as a DFS).

On the first shave I had far less blood loss then I was expecting, a couple very small spots on my neck and one very small spot on a corner/edge of my jaw. Second shave only one spot. As you all have suggested I am going to stick with this set up for a while until I have it all dialed in. I am really tempted to grab one of my other razors and try it out, but I will resist until I have mastered the art, to start all over from the beginning.

David
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Congratulations! It sounds like you are off to a great start!

As you can see, DE shaving is not really some harrowing experience. Keep paying attention to what you are doing, and you should see your shaves improve quickly!
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
Looks like you're off and running buddy! Keep us posted how you are progressing. The best thing for me was staying moisturized. As soon as fall hit, I started getting bad shaves. I started moisturizing and it got me back on track.

God Bless,
Adam
 
Thanks for the suggestions and guidance everyone!

In the end I did decide to start with the Astras, and have no regret. I am two shaves in with the Super Speed, and enjoying it, shaves are passing the wife test as well (rated as a DFS).

On the first shave I had far less blood loss then I was expecting, a couple very small spots on my neck and one very small spot on a corner/edge of my jaw. Second shave only one spot. As you all have suggested I am going to stick with this set up for a while until I have it all dialed in. I am really tempted to grab one of my other razors and try it out, but I will resist until I have mastered the art, to start all over from the beginning.

David
Good call. The less you change, the easier it will be to tell what works and what doesn't. When you start experimenting try to only change one thing at a time.

RJ - Chicago
Posted from my phone, please forgive typos.
 
Be sure to keep us posted (with pix if possible) of your progress in the wonderful world of DE shaving. The Gillette SS will last you a life time and give you great shaves. The Merkur 34c (used mine today-with Astra SP blade) is an excellent razor also and sort of a "standard" that other razors are compared to in terms of aggressiveness, comfort, feel and efficiency.
 

KeenDogg

Slays On Fleek - For Rizz
Be sure to keep us posted (with pix if possible) of your progress in the wonderful world of DE shaving. The Gillette SS will last you a life time and give you great shaves. The Merkur 34c (used mine today-with Astra SP blade) is an excellent razor also and sort of a "standard" that other razors are compared to in terms of aggressiveness, comfort, feel and efficiency.
+1 to the 34c. Great razor.
 
Still chugging along with the trusty SS, got 4 shaves out of my very first blade, and figured that was probably a decent life for it. I might have been able to get a few more but thought it was not worth pushing my luck, and having a bad experience. Life got in the way this morning and I did not managed to shave (day off) and I am actually a little disappointed. Only a couple weeks ago I would have been happy to have a day where I did not shave.

Seeing the thread about OCtober I am seriously tempted to get a Razorock Old and join the fun. Just not sure if that is a smart thing to do this early in the game as I have read that OC is a more aggressive set up. Clearly the RAD did not take long to set in with this guy. Been eying up soaps too......... clearly this is a much less expensive way to shave :laugh:
 
Still working away at it. Against some of the advice I had received, I am playing around with the brands of blades already. Have used the Astra SP and now using the Derbys, also picked up a couple more brands that I see talked about a lot around here.

The AD is in full effect as well (thanks guys) and I have started trying some different soaps, and now clearly I am going to have to look into upgrading my brush.

I have been careful to only ever change one thing at a time, and with a couple days between changes, so I can get an idea of what impact the change has made.

Is it to early for me to jump into the OCtober fun?? Like I said AD is in full effect.


David
 
If your looking into upgrading your brush, might I recommed The Purest Satin Tip Shave Brush. It's a synthetics brush on the cheap side of around $10-15 and I must say It is a fantastic brush. So glad I recieved it as a gift. When it was gifted to me it came with a tin of The Blades Grim Smolder shave soap. I went and ordered another puck of that after using it aswell. lol
 
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