First DE Shave

If you find the lather is drying because you are slow while you focus on technique then you might consider applying the lather to only half your face at a time.
 
As far as 2 or 3 weeks growth goes its six & half a Dozen to me..I have a growth like Barbed Wire..The longer I Go the easier it is to Whack them down because its Softer..Hell..I can knock Down a Years Bin Laden Growth with a Cart in 10 Min & Finish off with a Fresh Cartridge for an Irritation Free BBS with Gunk Out a Can..Hell I have even done it with Hand Soap.:eek:

Done it for Years..:D

Billy
 
Well fellas, how about this for thread resurrection? Rather than create a new one, considering it's basically the same thing I thought I'd carry on where I left off.

First DE shave in 4 years and I think...3rd in my life. My first one was a complete disaster and I feel like I made good progress as this one was somewhere between a complete disaster and just a standard disaster.

Merkur 41c, Proraso red, Astra SP. 1 1/2 weeks of growth but my beard isn't very coarse and doesn't grow particularly fast.

First pass was abysmal. From not getting the lather right, to scratchy performance, to missing most of the hairs on my neck. But in fairness I learned well for the second pass. First pass, I struggled to get the lather right in the bowl, then face lathered but knowing what I know now, pressed on too hard with the brush and was almost taking as much off as I was putting on!

Second pass I went straight to face lather and I was very happy with what I got, pretty much just how I wanted it. Managed to get a really smooth pass on my cheeks, at this point it was going well. But it all comes unstuck trying to do the neck. I find it so difficult to get this right. What was happening is getting the angle completely wrong a couple of times going straight down which resulted in all the shaving cream being removed, then my neck exposed. The razor was just wiping the cream off as I didn't have is pointed into my neck anywhere near enough.

3rd pass there was no need to do anything more other than my neck. This was a better effort. Nowhere near close but passable. In my first shave I'd already lost patience by this point and started going against the grain in my cartridge technique which resulted in a red hot neck an hour or two later for the rest of the evening.

At this point I'd already been fighting the urge to go against the grain on my neck for a while and just couldn't resist. Rather than last shave when I was completely reckless, I was much more careful just to do 1 pass. What I found was it was so much more easier going up my neck to adjust the angle, both because I could see the blade and also the feel of it on my neck. I quit at the point I nicked myself doing this, which was no more than I deserved. I did however feel that I got the angle right with a couple of swipes up the neck.

I went to the pencil and what was interesting is that there was no reaction at all on my cheeks, so at least I got that right. As you can imagine it as zing central on my neck.

So yeah, A LOT of work to do. I still enjoyed it. The thing I felt most sorry for was the Astra SP! I've got some treet platinums on the way so will give them a try next.

Any tips for getting the neck angle right? I've watched enough videos which make it look so easy but it's different in practice when I come to do it myself!

The good news is that it wasn't put me off having another go in a week or so's time.

Thanks as always guys.
 
Well fellas, how about this for thread resurrection? Rather than create a new one, considering it's basically the same thing I thought I'd carry on where I left off.

First DE shave in 4 years and I think...3rd in my life. My first one was a complete disaster and I feel like I made good progress as this one was somewhere between a complete disaster and just a standard disaster.

Merkur 41c, Proraso red, Astra SP. 1 1/2 weeks of growth but my beard isn't very coarse and doesn't grow particularly fast.

First pass was abysmal. From not getting the lather right, to scratchy performance, to missing most of the hairs on my neck. But in fairness I learned well for the second pass. First pass, I struggled to get the lather right in the bowl, then face lathered but knowing what I know now, pressed on too hard with the brush and was almost taking as much off as I was putting on!

Second pass I went straight to face lather and I was very happy with what I got, pretty much just how I wanted it. Managed to get a really smooth pass on my cheeks, at this point it was going well. But it all comes unstuck trying to do the neck. I find it so difficult to get this right. What was happening is getting the angle completely wrong a couple of times going straight down which resulted in all the shaving cream being removed, then my neck exposed. The razor was just wiping the cream off as I didn't have is pointed into my neck anywhere near enough.

3rd pass there was no need to do anything more other than my neck. This was a better effort. Nowhere near close but passable. In my first shave I'd already lost patience by this point and started going against the grain in my cartridge technique which resulted in a red hot neck an hour or two later for the rest of the evening.

At this point I'd already been fighting the urge to go against the grain on my neck for a while and just couldn't resist. Rather than last shave when I was completely reckless, I was much more careful just to do 1 pass. What I found was it was so much more easier going up my neck to adjust the angle, both because I could see the blade and also the feel of it on my neck. I quit at the point I nicked myself doing this, which was no more than I deserved. I did however feel that I got the angle right with a couple of swipes up the neck.

I went to the pencil and what was interesting is that there was no reaction at all on my cheeks, so at least I got that right. As you can imagine it as zing central on my neck.

So yeah, A LOT of work to do. I still enjoyed it. The thing I felt most sorry for was the Astra SP! I've got some treet platinums on the way so will give them a try next.

Any tips for getting the neck angle right? I've watched enough videos which make it look so easy but it's different in practice when I come to do it myself!

The good news is that it wasn't put me off having another go in a week or so's time.

Thanks as always guys.
Practice makes perfect! Stick with it.

I personally struggled with the 41C although I love the look of it. I was using it only a few weeks ago if I recall correctly. I don't want to open the floodgates to razor recommendations but there may be something a little easier to master your technique with. Nonetheless, enough practice with the 41C and you'll get there.
 
Well fellas, how about this for thread resurrection? Rather than create a new one, considering it's basically the same thing I thought I'd carry on where I left off.

First DE shave in 4 years and I think...3rd in my life. My first one was a complete disaster and I feel like I made good progress as this one was somewhere between a complete disaster and just a standard disaster.

Merkur 41c, Proraso red, Astra SP. 1 1/2 weeks of growth but my beard isn't very coarse and doesn't grow particularly fast.

First pass was abysmal. From not getting the lather right, to scratchy performance, to missing most of the hairs on my neck. But in fairness I learned well for the second pass. First pass, I struggled to get the lather right in the bowl, then face lathered but knowing what I know now, pressed on too hard with the brush and was almost taking as much off as I was putting on!

Second pass I went straight to face lather and I was very happy with what I got, pretty much just how I wanted it. Managed to get a really smooth pass on my cheeks, at this point it was going well. But it all comes unstuck trying to do the neck. I find it so difficult to get this right. What was happening is getting the angle completely wrong a couple of times going straight down which resulted in all the shaving cream being removed, then my neck exposed. The razor was just wiping the cream off as I didn't have is pointed into my neck anywhere near enough.

3rd pass there was no need to do anything more other than my neck. This was a better effort. Nowhere near close but passable. In my first shave I'd already lost patience by this point and started going against the grain in my cartridge technique which resulted in a red hot neck an hour or two later for the rest of the evening.

At this point I'd already been fighting the urge to go against the grain on my neck for a while and just couldn't resist. Rather than last shave when I was completely reckless, I was much more careful just to do 1 pass. What I found was it was so much more easier going up my neck to adjust the angle, both because I could see the blade and also the feel of it on my neck. I quit at the point I nicked myself doing this, which was no more than I deserved. I did however feel that I got the angle right with a couple of swipes up the neck.

I went to the pencil and what was interesting is that there was no reaction at all on my cheeks, so at least I got that right. As you can imagine it as zing central on my neck.

So yeah, A LOT of work to do. I still enjoyed it. The thing I felt most sorry for was the Astra SP! I've got some treet platinums on the way so will give them a try next.

Any tips for getting the neck angle right? I've watched enough videos which make it look so easy but it's different in practice when I come to do it myself!

The good news is that it wasn't put me off having another go in a week or so's time.

Thanks as always guys.

IMO, it sounds like the lather isn't quite right to begin with at least.

What brush are you using? Is there any chance you could another shaving cream or something? I'd recommend getting the Palmolive green cream you can get from supermarkets as it's cheap and reasonably easy to get a good lather with. I'd recommend getting a synth brush if you don't already have one.

As for the angle, I find it's best to 'ride the cap' ie start with the top cap parallel to your face and turn the razor in towards your face to find the angle to remove hair; I'd recommend finding the most shallow angle which cuts hair to be the one I use.
 
IMO, it sounds like the lather isn't quite right to begin with at least.

What brush are you using? Is there any chance you could another shaving cream or something? I'd recommend getting the Palmolive green cream you can get from supermarkets as it's cheap and reasonably easy to get a good lather with. I'd recommend getting a synth brush if you don't already have one.

As for the angle, I find it's best to 'ride the cap' ie start with the top cap parallel to your face and turn the razor in towards your face to find the angle to remove hair; I'd recommend finding the most shallow angle which cuts hair to be the one I use.

I'm using a Progress Vulfix 660S which I believe is a pretty good brush.

I'm 99.9% the issues were all down to technique. The later was pretty good from 2nd pass onwards although I do have the palmolive green as a back up lol. I quite like the Proraso and I expect next time to have it good from the get go.
 
Practice makes perfect! Stick with it.

I personally struggled with the 41C although I love the look of it. I was using it only a few weeks ago if I recall correctly. I don't want to open the floodgates to razor recommendations but there may be something a little easier to master your technique with. Nonetheless, enough practice with the 41C and you'll get there.

Interesting, why did you struggle with the 41C? I had no idea it was considered more difficult than average to use?
 
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