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Woo-hoo! I suck!

I've always hated my Mach 3 shave. I'm always still prickly all over. Then I got a professional shave from a Colombian barber with a straight-edge for $5 and my face was baby-butt smooth. A girl who was traveling with me felt my face and was pretty much ready for sex right there.

So now I want to learn how to do that myself.

I wasn't ready to jump to cutthroat, so I read this fine tutorial and bought myself a Merkur HD double-edge razor, a chrome-handled pure badger shave brush, and some Proraso pre & post shaving cream from MenEssentials.

My first wet shave was, of course, a disaster.

I couldn't build up a lather at all, so eventually I just put some Proraso in my brush, added water, and rubbed it on my face. It was so thin I could barely see it. Then I held the Merkur blade at a 30-degree angle (or was it a 150-degree angle?) to my face, and did with-the-grain swipes across my face. I went easy on the pressure. Then I reapplied my non-lather and did against-the-grain passes.

I felt my face. It felt no better than a Mach 3 shave, was still scratchy in most places, burned more than usual, and I had cut myself three times and spent $100.

Yay.

But hey. "Michael Jordon got cut from his high school basketball team" and all that.

Now I'm watching every YouTube video on wet-shaving I can find.

Anyway, "Howdy" to everybody here and thanks for collectively providing such a great community of resources. Hopefully one day I'll be giving tips to newbs.
 
The only videos on YouTube I'd concern myself with are Mantic's videos. They're top-notch and have helped many on this forum. Welcome to B&B!
 
+2 on Mantics videos...that's what I watched after I butchered myself the first (or was it 3rd?) time.
 
+3 on Mantic. Plus, keep practicing the lather part. Prepping your beard is an important part. Also, get a different blade than the Merkur that came with the HD. Perhaps you may want to try a sample pack from West Coast Shaving.
 
Lol. And the first video I clicked on, before I read any of these responses, was Mantic's. After a few videos, I left a comment on is blog saying, "Your videos are AWESOME!" :)
 
Also, if you want to give straights a try, check out Lynn Abrams' video. You can also catch segments of the DVD on You Tube. Believe it or not, straights aren't that tough to get the hang of.

Either way, welcome!
 
As a new wet shaver myself...all I can say is practice that lathering. Without good lather, you're just going to shred your face to something that resembles your board name. I started with soaps, rather than creams. the VDH from Wal-mart ain't half bad. Also, try picking up a pack of Red Personnas from the Wal-mart as well. I really like those blades. They do the job without a ton of irritation. Well, that's just my two cents, worthless as they are.
 
Yeah, Mantic can be your best friend during the learning period.But believe me once mastered you'll agree that the double edge safety razor is the best shaving tool out there.These cartridge things are nothing but expensive corporate junk!
 
I wasn't ready to jump to cutthroat, so I read this fine tutorial and bought myself a Merkur HD double-edge razor, a chrome-handled pure badger shave brush, and some Proraso pre & post shaving cream from MenEssentials.

You do realize that this product isn't an actual shaving cream, but a pre-shave prep and aftershave. It sounds like you tried to use it as shaving cream and that's why you couldn't get it to lather at all. If that's the case you'll find an actual shave cream will provide much more efficacious results.
 
Welcome to the show... I hope you enjoy the stay. I see the Good advice is rolling in. Remember Prep + good warm wet slick lather.. = ahhhhhhhhhhh


Fuzzy
 
First, Welcome to B&B!

As has been previously stated, the Proraso Pre-Post is not a shaving cream.

If you are near a Bath and Body Works store (many malls in the USA have them - I don't know where you live), buy a tube of C. O. Bigelow Premium Shaving Cream. This is basically Proraso shaving cream in a different package. I think you'll find it to your liking. It will definitely lather better than the Pre-Post.

Also, read and use Kyle's Prep. The Proraso Pre-Post should work well for this perp method.

Let us know how it goes!
 
Don't give up yet. This is something new to you and your face. Is that razor of yours adjustable? I went with a Gillette Adjustable Fatboy on 1 and then got it up to a 5. There is a learning curve and you are on the bottom.

1. Get a big coffee cup or a soup bowl.
2. Put about 1 inche of Proraso in it.
3. Get a Brush Wal Mart will get you a VanDerHagen for 4.96.
4. Make lather that way

You will see a huge difference
 
welcome, and two thoughts, that have already been mentioned, but I'll big time +x them:

if you used pre/post as shave cream, :eek: oops, you need the actual shave cream. if you have a bath and body works nearby, you should be able to find it in a green box labeled as CO Bigelow, which is made by proraso

also, ditch the merkur blades, if that is what you used. when I first started, I myself said "who needs a sampler pack? big woop..."
well, I now say it is well worth the investment, you get to try several top notch blades, and discover what the best combination for you is. it is your face we're dealing with, after all

other than that, keep everything else consistent for a while
 
Ah, so much good advice... thanks, guys!

I ordered the West Coast Shaving razor blades sampler pack. Neato.

I was indeed trying to lather with Proraso! Why does it say "shaving cream" on the jar? They're trying to confuse me! :)

I work with computers and now I feel like the people I teach who don't know what the mouse is for. I'll jump over to a Bath and Body Works and grab some CO Bigelow (or Taylor's Avocado, if I can find it).

I live in North Hollywood, California. Previously of FreezeYourAssOff, Minnesota.
 
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