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- #21
Leisureguy said:
Thanks.
Overload
- Thread starter Dansk
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Thanks.
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- #22
Alright... I just bought a Merkur HD from MenEssentials.com, who happen to be located only a 10 minute bike ride from where I live. I'll watch those videos again, do some more reading, and then... (deep breath) try it out tomorrow morning. I'll let you all know how it goes!
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- #23
Well, here's the report on my first DE shave. It wasn't quite as hard as I thought, although it took constant effort to remind myself not to put any pressure on it. My neck doesn't look too good, but oddly enough there's no irritation down there at all. I suppose the telling thing about all of this, is that even on my first try with a DE I still managed about as good a shave as I've ever had with my Mach 3. Consider me converted.
I wish I could do it over again, though. On the last pass, I could feel that something clicked, and I started getting exponentially better. Unfortunately, the damage was done by that point and I couldn't afford another pass without ripping my face off. However, I do have a nice, smooth spot on my chin, which was the last place to be shaved, and it's proof that tomorrow's shave will be far better. I'm looking forward to it! (I've never, EVER said that before in my life...)
I wish I could do it over again, though. On the last pass, I could feel that something clicked, and I started getting exponentially better. Unfortunately, the damage was done by that point and I couldn't afford another pass without ripping my face off. However, I do have a nice, smooth spot on my chin, which was the last place to be shaved, and it's proof that tomorrow's shave will be far better. I'm looking forward to it! (I've never, EVER said that before in my life...)
The wonderful thing about shaving is that you get to do it over again every morning! 
And I know exactly what you mean: one struggles, feels awkward, and then suddenly things fall into place and it is easy... I suppose learning to ice skate is like that, or skiing, or other skills. Something has to click...
And I know exactly what you mean: one struggles, feels awkward, and then suddenly things fall into place and it is easy... I suppose learning to ice skate is like that, or skiing, or other skills. Something has to click...
It won't be long until you find yourself cheating and trying to get in two shaves in day.
I do it sometimes on the weekends...
I do it sometimes on the weekends...
Great advice and tips from everyone. I am new myself and before I got into DE shaving recently, I had a Wilkinson brush from the supermarket like you. You must get a Badger! I'd never had a Badger before and when I got one, I could not believe the difference in making a lather! Michael's advice about the blades is spot on as I am very recently discovering. What an adventure we are all on!
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- #27
Well, DE shave number two brought about totally different results from yesterday. The top half of my face is ridiculously smooth, but the lower you get, the worse it is. Below the jawline, it looks (and feels) like a war zone. Sigh. I'm going to give it two days to recover, and I'll try again Sunday morning.
I just revised the blog to discuss pressure a bit more. It seems to me that beginning DE shavers often unconsciously use more pressure on the neck, for some reason, so that the neck suffers as compared to the rest of the face. Take special care to use light pressure in that area, and maintain a good blade angle.
Interestingly, I've never heard of a novice making the error of using too little pressure.
Interestingly, I've never heard of a novice making the error of using too little pressure.
As regards choice of razor and pressure issues:- When I got my Merkur Futur through the post and opened the presentation tin etc it was like something from another planet. Although I tried DE shaving when 15 -16 years old, it was with the totally wrong gear ! I did not like the mess etc. However, this time around, I thought that I am going to have to treat this Merkur razor with respect. Although it does not seem that heavy now, when I 1st used it about six months ago, because I was bit scared to use too much pressure, nothing too bad happened. However, since joining B&B a lot of advice says how to let the weight of the razor do the work and maybe, just maybe I was doing this unconciously etc. I have come to the conclusion in recent months that only a quality DE razor of the types advocated by the good people on this site will suffice ! I am a little biased towards Merkur though cos it is the first "proper" razor I have owned at the age of em er ...40 ..something! As regards my youthful fears of "mess", I had lather all over the place last nite and frankly, could'nt care less about mess as I'd got an ace lather! Good luck and keep up the good lather !Dansk said:You just described my shaving experience perfectly. For years I put up with irritation just because I didn't know it could be any different, and I got into an every-other-day pattern because shaving every day was worse than torture. I couldn't even touch my face for the rest of the day because it hurt so much...
The last two days have been an education for me, though. I've put several new ideas that I picked up here into use. I went out and bought a brush (just a $9 Wilkinson Sword... it was the only one the pharmacy sold and I'm not patient enough to wait for the internet, I can always get a better one later,) and I started doing multiple passes, relathering in between. That's definitely new for me, I always shaved in one long, painful pass. It works, I'm happy to say. I've also stopped going directly against the grain and started going sideways on the later passes. (The idea never occurred to me before, honestly.) The resulting shaves haven't been totally painless, but just the fact that I can shave every day and still touch my face afterwards is a godsend. It's not totally smooth, just a hair better than my electric, (some pun intended,) but I'm impressed with the results.
I think I'm going to work on this for a little while, while I locate a shiny metal thingbiggrin: ) to try. Any recommendations on which one to buy? I'm heading to the internet for this, so anything is fair game. I've seen the Merkur HD mentioned around here a lot, and I certainly like the price tag. What do you think?
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- #31
Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions guys! I think my problem this morning was that I was shaving on top of three days of horrific irritation. My face never recovered from the beating I've given it, first with the Mach 3 two days in a row, and then my first shave with the DE. So I'm going to do a reset, let everything grow for two days, and then start over again. I'm expecting much better results that way.
For many years, I have tended to mainly shave late evening and even now since DE shaving, I continue to do so. The reason stems from when starting to shave getting rashes, irritation, aggro to acne etc etc and I thought if I shaved at night it would give my skin a chance to recover by morning. Like a lot of chaps, I also did'nt have a shave on a weekend, if not really going anywhere special. I am going to look for some threads maybe about shaving in the evening as opposed to morning and am sure evening shaving must be curious to other B&Br's who are so enthused about their morning shaves. I don't really feel that experienced to give too much advice but certainly, if I was starting out again, I would scrap the M3 and suchlike and stick to a quality DE come rain or shine. Quite wisely, let your skin recover but dont give up on the DE. Since joining B&B and reading some of the advice I am feeling inspired to maybe even change my liflelong evening regime and have a shave in the mornings !Dansk said:
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- #33
Alright, DE shave number 3. I've learned that the right angle is very, very important. You can use as little pressure as you want, but if the angle is too steep it's still going to dig in. (I don't think any of the sets of instructions on the internet emphasize this enough.) Once again the discovery came rather late into the shaving process, in the third pass. However, once I figured it out, I managed to go against the grain on the upper part of my face with no irritation at all. (The only reason it's a little burnt is from the earlier passes.) So the jawline and up is BBS, but my neck is still a big red mess. Small steps.... 
RazzerRhodes said:
I also shave late in the evening, because I already get up so early (4:40 AM) in the morning. I like taking my time with wet shaving and I don't want to feel rushed in the morning or, heaven forbid, get up even earlier.
I shave six nights a week (Sat-Thur) and give my face a rest on Friday. I change blades every Saturday.
Tim
Dansk, good point on blade angle. I'll update my blog.
Updated.
Updated.
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- #36
Number 4 is complete. It's an improvement yet again, but I've decided that I'm doing something terribly evil to my neck. It doesn't seem to matter how shallow of an angle I have the blade at or how lightly I go, I always end up looking like I had a date with a very sloppy vampire. On the other hand, I've mastered the upper lip; I've had an absolutely perfect shave there right since the very first time with the DE. I'm beginning to wonder if it might be worth trying another kind of shaving cream. I'm using Florena right now, which few people on this board seem to have heard of. The only thing I have to compare it with is the gooinacan, which it easily demolishes. Another factor may be that I'm shaving with ridiculously hard water; I doubt that's good for your face and probably doesn't make things any easier when it comes to shaving. Can anyone here recommend something to counteract the hardness of the water, or maybe someone in a similar situation has some advice.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Yes, indeed: vary the shaving cream, vary the razor, etc. Try different things until you discover what works FOR YOU. Taylor's Avocado has received high praise from some beginning shavers, and of course Target has Proraso in the "spa" section.
I would recommend Musgo Real shaving cream. Comes in a tube. http://www.leesrazors.com/MusgoReal.html
If youŕe looking for shaving cream you can buy locally, the Palmolive (red tube) is excellent stuff. I used it a couple of days ago and got a great shave.
You said you´re close to MenEssentials, which puts you in Ottawa if I did my homework correctly. In the U.S. you can get Palmolive at CVS. I don´t know where to suggest you look in Canada, but I´m guessing that you can find it.
You said you´re close to MenEssentials, which puts you in Ottawa if I did my homework correctly. In the U.S. you can get Palmolive at CVS. I don´t know where to suggest you look in Canada, but I´m guessing that you can find it.
