First shave is in the books..

I was very impressed with the lack of irritation. I left quite a bit of stubble around my mouth "soul patch" and the corners of my lips. I am very cautious by nature, so it wasn't hard for me to NOT apply pressure, especially near the lips. I couldn't figure out how to get the spot right under my nose, that HD head is HUGE!! haha I went with 2 pass WTG, and obviously the flat spots (cheeks) are pretty good and would pass for work. Rubbing the neck WTG is good, XTG and ATG, it feels like it does any other day when I used a cartridge.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, felt FAR less irritated, and it seems i've got a fine line to dance or a sharper angle around the mouth with some XTG for now to make a workable shave. No nicks or cuts (took somewhere around 10 min, was very very determined to do no damage).

Merkur HD with a Personna Red and some art of shaving scream. Another happy customer, and I look forward to the days of ATG and mastering the upper lip. I've got a pretty good dip in there, but i'll figure it out eventually.I think the other blades in my sampler are Dorco 301, Astra, Feathers (yes..i know), Gillette 7am, and Derbys. My girlfriend picked the red, so it will be this week.

Nice! You've got the right tools so it can only get better from here on in! Let us know what blades you find work the best.

Welcome aboard.

Great first shave...keep the cautious attitude as your technique improves. Regular knuckleheads like me start cautious, get cocky and then get careful again real quick.

Well done and welcome. Did you let the lather set for a couple minutes before starting in with the blade? That always helps me.

Showered (scrubbed with Anthony glycolic scrub).....then preshave oil, and made lather in a bowl, and put it on my face. I've used this same prep with a fusion the last week, and although I didn't miss spots, my face always FELT like I just shaved if you know what I mean(the burning). I finished tonight wondering what I've been doing my 5 years of cartridges. I've actually had the pre-shave oil, brush, cream for almost a year, but took this long to cave to the DE. It's only one day, but if it only gets better from this (just irritation, ingrown hairs pushed me to DE), I'm happy.

Sounds like you are ready for the plunge, and are prepared for some great shaves. The first shaves sounds like it went well for you--good to hear. Watch yourself with those Feathers, and good luck with that upper lip; mine gives me some trouble still.

Welcome, and enjoy yourself!

When going in for the area under the nose, move it to one side, push the razor up in there at the correct angle, and go for it. Repeat. Your girlfriend picked a excellent blade. IMHO! Good luck and Welcome!

Welcome!

I wish you the perfect shave, and the wonderful journey there. Enjoy the trip.

Congrats on a great start! It keeps getting better. Have fun.

You've got great tools to start with, and it sounds like you are on the right track. I find the the easiest way to get the spot under my nose is to push it up and out of the way to the side opposite the one whcih you are shaving. For the corners of the lips, I find the "puffer fish" (think Dizzy Gillespie) works well. For the sould patch, you can just curl your lower lip up over your bottom teeth. Of course, your face is different than mine (lucky for you ), so you may have to figure out your wn ways of achieving the desired result -- these are just the little tricks that worked for me. It's all about creating a relatively flat surface to make it easier for the blade to fit, allowing it to cut hair instead of skin.

Keep at it and those BBS shaves will come to you. Just don't get impatient and try to force it.

Enjoy!