Hello,
Today I have just embarked upon my first ever DE shave. All I can say is ouch!
Firstly, the kit:
Merkur 23C with one included Merkur blade.
The Friendly Soap Co shaving bar
Synthetic brush (I'm a vegan)
Bowl to lather
I've watched lots of videos and read plenty of advice, so I was expecting my first DE shave (and, incidentally, my first wet shave in years) to be, well, difficult.
Ordinarily I use a Braun 3040s electric shaver which, while not perfect, does the job. Prior to this I used the cartridge style razors (Wilkinson Sword Titanium with five blades.) The cartridges left me a little red, but not bloody, hence switching to the electric shaver.
It's not cut anywhere near as close as I was expecting. Though my cheeks are better than my neck, but still scratchy. But it looks as if I've taken a bread knife to my neck, and I'm now very sore.
I suspect this may partially be down to my technique, and partially due to the soap. No matter what I did, the lather disappeared rather quickly.
Have a look at the attached photos, and tell me - is that normal for my first time?! Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, did your shave get better?
Thanks all!