Hello from my screaming red face

cheese_dave

cheese_dave

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1,133
Hi, I'm Dave. After many years shaving with razors with ever increasingly expensive disposable cartridges, I recently took the plunge and bought a Merkur DE razor. It made me feel like my dad. I've read a few forums (fora?), bought "Sharp Practice: A Real Man's Guide To Shaving" by Anders Larson, and I've been shaving with a safety razor for a couple of weeks now.

I'm experimenting with the David Somerset oil I'm used to, and some Geo F. Trumper shaving soap (applied with an eco-friendly but still quite expensive brush). I'm alternating between the two, not using them both at the same time! Mixed results really. I generally shave in the evening, and am finding shaving after a shower and with the oil is better than the shaving soap - which disappoints me, because (a) the soap was expensive, and (b) the soap made me feel more like a man! So I'm hoping for plenty of top tips on these pages, cos right now I've just had the worst shave ever and my face feels like it's been dipped in acid. Annoying really, cos my first few shaves were pretty decent.

Anyways, now to jump into this forum!

Dave
 
Good evening Dave, thanks for joining us! Hopefully it won't be long before your face is happy again. You'll no doubt get lots of helpful advice. I'll start with "how many passes are you doing, and do you go with or against the grain?"

Cheers,

Adam :D
 
welcome

stay with the grain and apply no pressure,reduce the growth gradually rather than going for a clean shave in one pass.Once you get the technique sorted you will be fine.Plenty info in here.Hope you enjoy it.
 
Thanks for the advice so far! I've been trying not to throw my face at the razor like I would with a Mach 3, doing longer, slower passes, very light pressure, and attempting to stick with the grain (though ohhhh my neck, that's tough).

From what people are saying here the Merkur blades seem to have caused some problems similar to what I've experienced (I changed the blade on Monday night, and it's been 3 bad shaves since then), so I've just ordered some Feathers.
 
Sounds good Cheesy, but perhaps try short strokes. I started getting cocky after a while of DE shaving and started sweeping the blade over my face. It took me a while to realise that this was the reason I kept nicking myself. Good idea to move away from the Merkur blades as they get terrible write-ups. Some may say the Feathers are not a beginner's blade but personally I think they're worth trying as long as you take care (see above!) Try using them for at least a week before changing anything else in your set-up otherwise you won't know if they are making a difference or not.

Hope this helps - keep us posted, we're your family now... :twisted:
 
Hello Dave and welcome

The Merkur razor, Trumpers soap and the brush is a great set up. Go for a smooth blade like a Personna (Tesco or Boots own brand) or take Boab up on his offer. It will take a bit of time to get the hang of correct preparation and technique.
If you haven't looked at Mantic's videos they are great.
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cheers

Pete
 
Wow this board is pretty amazing already, haha. So much advice. I have just been watching those videos, picked up some great tips. I didn't realise there was such a community out there dedicated to getting a proper, grown-up, gentleman's shave. What an excellent choice for my mid-life crisis, much cheaper than a Ferrari.
 
Hi Dave

Welcome. Don't get too fixed on soap. There are some great creams much easier to lather. Among the best cheaper options are Proraso and Musgo Real. But really there is so much to choose from. Have fun browsing and making your choice.
I suspect that your blade may be the main problem as others have said. Go VERY lightly with the feather on first use. I use Red Personna and Gillette Super Thins with my Merkur and get great results.
 
Oh, and note that a shave oil is only half the solution... It provides lubrication, but no beard prep. A soap or cream does both -- since a lather is a mixture of soap and (lots of, relatively speaking) water, it degreases the beard hairs, then lets those hairs soak up water, then also provides lubrication and cushioning for the razor.

The oil ONLY provides lubrication. So you need to separately degrease and hydrate the beard hairs before using the oil, and you will have to be more careful, since there's nothing on your skin to cushion the razor.

Trumpers is supposed to be a good shaving soap. Maybe you should work on your lather-building?

Cheers

Henk
 
Hello Dave and welcome. Not much I can add to the advice already given. Take your time and don't go for baby bottom smooth just yet but rather aim for a decent irritation-free shave. Once your technique has improved and you have settled on a combination that suits you (blade,soap, cream,etc) your shaves will improve and baby bottom smooth will be attainable.
 
Welcome.

It will take time especially when it comes to learning NOT to apply the sort of pressure you used with cartridges.

Try and be systematic and make one change at a time ONLY, that way it is easier to identify what works for you and what doesn't.

I don't think anyone likes Merkur blades which were designed by the Irritation & Balm industry, you should notice an immediate improvement
with Feathers.
 
Hi Dave, and welcome from a fellow rookie razorhead.

Like yourself, I'm at the experimentation stage, finding out what works for me and what doesn't through trial, error and lots of good advice from gents like these. I'm trying to keep an open mind to everything: from pre-shave prep right through to blades, razors and post-shave.

As Pig Cat and antdad suggest, change your setup a little at a time and stick with it a while to see if your shave improves or not (I've started doing that myself). So I guess patience is the main ingredient for a great shave - quite difficult when you have so many different types of creams and blades you'd like to try out!

Chin-Chin
 
Hello, welcome along!

Go slowly and take your time as the other guys have said.

Derby and Israeli (unmarked) Personnas are quite forgiving, I think, but we're all different. I tried a Merkur blade this morning for the first time (wary of the bad press it generally gets everywhere) and I have to say it was a lot better than I anticipated. Time will tell.

For me Oil tends to clog up things and for preference I would recommend soaps and creams.

Erasmic Cream and Tabac AS, for me, are favourites but I'm into nostalgia...loving the Polish WARS cream too.

Regards,

BS
:shave
 
If you have a Body Shop nearby go in and ask for a sample of their shave cream. It's made by the same people who make Trumpers etc.

Pete
 
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