My first DE shave....

Blackmass said:
After weeks of watching YouTube videos and reading this forum I had my first DE shave this morning.

Had a shower and used a Nivea face scrub for my prep. Applied some King of Shaves pre shave oil before I started making my lather. I had a number of samples to chose from but I decided to use the TOBS sandalwood I bought before I went a bit mad buying loads of samples.

I put some cream into the Razorock Pilssoft brush (the brush had been left in the sink with warm water for a few minutes) and started lathering in the bowl. It lathered up pretty quickly but I wasn't sure if I need more soap or water. I put a little more soap in the brush and started to lather up on my face. The lather was OK but I wasn't 100% happy with the consistency. I guess this is one of the many things that will come with practice.

Now onto the big moment of truth, actually shaving.
I used the Merkur 34c with an Astra blade. I'd put the blade in before I had a shower and checked the alignment of the blade (Thank you 'Nick shaves').
I took a deep breath and went for it. My first reaction was, "Is that it?".
I did a three pass shave (swilling my face off between each pass) and took my time. I only caught myself once on my bottom lip, right in the centre. It was very small and stopped after apply some cold water and pressure.
I finished with Nivea aftershave balm and some Fine Platinum aftershave.
The shave took 20 minutes and another 5 minutes to clean everything up.

So what I my first impressions I hear you ask.
Although it was time consuming and you have to be more careful than a cartridge razor the end results were stunning. I've never had a better shave. My face is super smooth and I've been cool all day. I'm not great in the heat and this shave has really cooled me down.
Seen as this was my first time I'll really excited to see the improvements in the future.
Apologies for the poor quality photo. Having seen the staggering photography on show here I really need to step me game up.
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Well done, you will never look back, practice makes perfect.
The main thing to learn is take you time and using no pressure on the razor ,above all relax and enjoy a little me time.
 
Good luck on returning to DEs Andy hope it works well for you this time round. Just work away at your own pace m8 and I'm sure you'll find what suits you best. Irrespective of the type of razor you use I found the soap makes an enormous difference to my skin condition. Glycerine soaps helped me a lot, however the likes of P & B, NSS, OSP and Wickhams all make tremendous products for protection against razor burn whilst leaving the skin feeling great. I'm using an unscented version of one of them just now and having no probs.

JohnnyO. o/
 
JohnnyO said:
Good luck on returning to DEs Andy hope it works well for you this time round. Just work away at your own pace m8 and I'm sure you'll find what suits you best. Irrespective of the type of razor you use I found the soap makes an enormous difference to my skin condition. Glycerine soaps helped me a lot, however the likes of P & B, NSS, OSP and Wickhams all make tremendous products for protection against razor burn whilst leaving the skin feeling great. I'm using an unscented version of one of them just now and having no probs.

JohnnyO. o/
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Yes I second that, the soap is most important, you mentioned some very good sops but neglected to mention Mitchell's wool fat which imho is fabulous for the slick lather it produces, but each to their own.
 
Yes indeed, the fat works well for me BM, the sole reason I left it out was because some users find difficulty in getting good lather so it seemed safer no omit it. But it performed well for me for years and I'd agree with you on the skin conditioning benefits as long as you are good with lanolin.

JohnnyO. o/
 
Also, don't shave against the grain if you have skin that is very sensitive. I stopped doing this about a year ago. A DFS leaves your skin in much better shape and no one will see the the difference anyway with a BBS. Plus, your shave goes quicker and shaving every day is not a problem.
 
Great job. I would second the not shaving against the grain, if you have sensitive skin. plus don't aim for BBS. If it is a by product of a great shave, then great but aiming for it, is likely to lead to irritation or bumps (caused by in growing hairs, which may be caused by shaving too close amongst other things. Afro Carribeans often get them due to the nature of their curly hair, I think). I find that I may end up doing four passes but rarely get any irritation because I or 2 with and 2 against and I have a beard like copper wire. I still usually end up with a really close smooth shave. Everyone is different. It makes me laugh seeing youtube video of people shaving against the grain with ease, when I know the likely effect of that on me. As they say YMMV.
 
Marcus said:
Great job. I would second the not shaving against the grain, if you have sensitive skin. plus don't aim for BBS. If it is a by product of a great shave, then great but aiming for it, is likely to lead to irritation or bumps (caused by in growing hairs, which may be caused by shaving too close amongst other things. Afro Carribeans often get them due to the nature of their curly hair, I think). I find that I may end up doing four passes but rarely get any irritation because I or 2 with and 2 against and I have a beard like copper wire. I still usually end up with a really close smooth shave. Everyone is different. It makes me laugh seeing youtube video of people shaving against the grain with ease, when I know the likely effect of that on me. As they say YMMV.
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@Marcus Thank you for the advice and explaining about the 'bumps'.
 
Your welcome. I have only been DE, and now occasional straight, shaving for less than a year but you'll find its a steep but enjoyable learning curve
 
This definitely reminds me of my first DE shave.

I've actually only just found this forum (started DE shaving 10 months ago) and I don't know how I missed it previously. Same as yourself I done a LOT of research before going with an DE89. Just got sick of cartridge razors and how bad my skin was with them.

Although I really enjoyed my first shave it really wasn't what I was hoping for, I still had some irritation and wasn't sure if I had the patience but I have to say that anyone that has just started should keep going. Unfortunately, wet shaving is rarely going to give great results first time and this was the case for me. I Kept at it though and started to have some great shaves. Eventually I picked up a Gillette Tech, I honestly could not be happier with this razor, just perfect for me for everyday shaving.

It's definitely true that this becomes a bit of an obsession. I used to dread shaving but I just enjoying taking some time out now and really relaxing and enjoying it. Thought I would join on here to say what others are saying as I know no one else that uses a safety razor and to be honest I just can't understand why;)
 
rek17 said:
With an ever expanding collection I don't think there will be an end in sight:D
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I can only see the end of my bank balance at the moment.:p

I'll be having my second shave tonight or tomorrow, not decided yet. Had some Thayers witch hazel arrive today so looking forward to trying that....Oh and by BTW. I've ventured into the Straight razor section....Must resist! Must resist! Must resist!:) But they look so nice and shiny.:D
 
rek17 said:
With an ever expanding collection I don't think there will be an end in sight:D
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I am seriously considering selling off all my razors and just keeping the 34c and 37c. Got 3 or 4 vintage razors I just don't use. Never seem to get as good a shave with them as I get from the merkurs. Think my obsession is shifting more towards soaps. Lol. DE shaving to save money? Not a chance. Lol. :p
 
I'm just about to order some soaps tonight. So far I've used creams exclusively, this has to change.... Yeah, unfortunately I wasn't able to resist (I have 3 vintage ones now:eek:) Don't use them as much as I should but when I feel I've got a bit of time I make sure they get used haha.
 
Drew71 said:
I am seriously considering selling off all my razors and just keeping the 34c and 37c. Got 3 or 4 vintage razors I just don't use. Never seem to get as good a shave with them as I get from the merkurs. Think my obsession is shifting more towards soaps. Lol. DE shaving to save money? Not a chance. Lol. :p
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Yeah.... this ^^^^
 
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