Just getting started........

So......

My first experience with a d.e. razor was a bloodbath (I was young....pre-shaving young.....and picked up my dad's Gillette). Hopefully the results will be slightly less catastrophic this time around. I should be getting a Mergress in the mail any day now and have my sights set on a Rooney 3/1 (trouble deciding between black and horn). I am currently using L'Occitane shave oil and cream but am interested in the Trumper products and would really like to try a soap. I'm also planning to start out with Derby blades but I get the impression that it really doesn't matter which blade I start out with as no one seems to get it right the first time. Your thoughts, and have I missed anything?

Welcome!

Skin recovery stuff (after shave/balm)?

Blades will matter even if you are just starting out. Derby's are a great blade to start of with. I would stay away from Feathers and Gillette Swede's until you have your technique down(very sharp and will open you up with the slightest mistake). Try the Westcoastshaving.com sampler pack and work your way through them. Once you find the ones you like, you can buy in bulk and save a ton of money.

Welcome to B&B!

This is why I been looking at GFT products and skin food. I have also hoped to find a full line of shaving and finishing products (i.e. a decent cologne that doesn't smell like Calvin Klein Obsession) I think that I just might hate sandalwood, patchouli, and similar scents. I tend to like some of the juinper scents a bit more. Without smelling it first hand, I like the concept of GFT Marlborough having a more "soapy" scent. The dry down of the "sandalwoody" type scent has always been a bit sickly sweet to me.

Recommend ordering some sample packs of GFT and Truefitt & Hill before going 30 dollars in on a single tub.

GFT Samples

Truefitt & Hill Samples

Taylor of Old Bond Street samples are out there, someone else can post the link to it as I don't know much there. Both the GFT and T&H samplers are great; with GFT you can request at the checkout if you want certain flavors of shave cream (I wanted to make sure coconut was in mine). They both come with a sampling of colognes, and ASB.

Personally, GFT and T & H have very similar lather qualities, which are top of the line. You will be hard pressed to find better quality creams. Now when it comes to the scents, VERY different. night and day different, and in a good way. Just make sure you want to smell like it until you run out of the cream.

And welcome to B&B!

blackglass said:

So......

I'm also planning to start out with Derby blades but I get the impression that it really doesn't matter which blade I start out with as no one seems to get it right the first time.

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It's an excellent idea to learn technique with one type of blade, and then move on to a sampler pack and experiment with blades. If the Derby's don't irritate your face then use them for the duration of your learning process, Israeli Crystals or IP's are also good.
It's not the sharpness of the blade which is an issue, it's whether a blade irritates your face, to me gillette 7 O'CLOCK yellows are as sharp as Feathers but Feathers give me razor burn. What will draw blood is incorrect technique, not the tiny variance between blade sharpness.

So...stick to one, learn, then sample.