Please Help. Newbie to the forum and going desperate for some help

There have been wars fought & won in less time than he is taking. I refer him to Youtube to watch videos as even with a Tech he is either taking too many passes or using too much pressure and obviously way too much time with little things that are as meaningless as they are useless. Skip the pre-shave treatment and towels as well.
 
There have been wars fought & won in less time than he is taking. I refer him to Youtube to watch videos as even with a Tech he is either taking too many passes or using too much pressure and obviously way too much time with little things that are as meaningless as they are useless. Skip the pre-shave treatment and towels as well.

That's it man, less is more.

Bet yer grandpappy didn't waste half the day in front of the mirror. ;)
 
I agree with a lot of the other comments - a lot of prep is papering over the cracks of basic technique faults.
Anyone should be able to get a great shave just lathering up after a nice relaxing shower. There's no need for pre-shave this & pre-shave that.
I often lather after a quick rinse with warm water. 5 minutes or so from start to finish & the 3-pass shave is done.
Just concentrate on getting the right angle with the razor, and using as little pressure as possible.
Imagine you're just trying to remove the lather off your face with the blade.
Avoid doing an against the grain pass until there's no irritation after going WTG & XTG.
 
One more thing do not over tighten your skin or push it with tongue. That way you are pushing hair out of the skin and shave it more deeply that when it returns to normal position goes under the skin.

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That lather looks pretty good to me, it has a few air bubbles but the gloss suggests that it's well-hydrated and it looks to be a good thickness. Certainly I don't think the lather's the problem and I would shave with that.

Agree on the excessive routine, I shave after a shower and I just splash my face and head to make sure they're wet and then face-lather and shave. Post-shave consists of rinsing. Once I'm out of the shower shaving my face and head takes about ten minutes.

How long does the actual shaving part take once the lather's on? If you're taking too long over it the lather could be suffering but I'm thinking it's most likely down to technique.
 
@Maximo77w Firstly, welcome to TSR.

I have been speed reading through this thread and saw a great deal of good advice from fellow members but one thing that caught my eye is your pre-shave method.
Some people swear by cold water shaving but in your case I would suggest you only use warm water in your prep. Your skin reacts so differently between warm and cold water.

Try it, you may find it helps.
 
I've read this entire thread and it seems you are putting too much emphasis on your pre shave.

Bathe/shower as usual

Load brush with soap

Wet face

Face lather (dipping tips of brush as required (takes no more than 60 seconds)
Leave lather on your face for a minute or two

Use your Merkur 34C HD with Voskhod blade

One pass only WTG (slow short strokes with minimal pressure)

Rinse with warm water

Pat dry with soft towel

Use balm (or) aftershave


Hot/cold towels not necessary at all.
Pre shave oils creams are nice to use, but again, not compulsory

Aim for your entire routine to take five minutes (ten at most)
 
I've read this entire thread and it seems you are putting too much emphasis on your pre shave.

Bathe/shower as usual

Load brush with soap

Wet face

Face lather (dipping tips of brush as required (takes no more than 60 seconds)
Leave lather on your face for a minute or two

Use your Merkur 34C HD with Voskhod blade

One pass only WTG (slow short strokes with minimal pressure)

Rinse with warm water

Pat dry with soft towel

Use balm (or) aftershave


Hot/cold towels not necessary at all.
Pre shave oils creams are nice to use, but again, not compulsory

Aim for your entire routine to take five minutes (ten at most)

Yea I'm definitely taking around an hour an a half for an entire shaving routine including a shower so definitely taking wayyy too long. Just trying to make sure I don't screw up but either way I screw up


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Yea I'm definitely taking around an hour an a half for an entire shaving routine including a shower so definitely taking wayyy too long. Just trying to make sure I don't screw up but either way I screw up


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Try to not over-think it
you managed ok with Mach 3 or similar razors, I assume ?
it's the same principle, but a different razor.
As said previously, give your skin a few days to a week to settle down and try again, but with the 34C. The Tech is definitely a good razor, but they're very light and may be causing you to apply pressure or, the opposite, with not enough pressure which will make the blade skip and bounce off your beard growth until you correct it with too much pressure, causing damage and irritation.
When you next shave, aim only to remove the lather from your face, and forget about how much growth you are removing. This often helps to improve technique.

When I said to ago for your routine to take 5=10 minutes I meant actual latherIng, shaving and applying balm/aftershave.

Lastly, please don't give up. You will eventually be rewarded with the best shaving experience !
 
Try to not over-think it
you managed ok with Mach 3 or similar razors, I assume ?
it's the same principle, but a different razor.
As said previously, give your skin a few days to a week to settle down and try again, but with the 34C. The Tech is definitely a good razor, but they're very light and may be causing you to apply pressure or, the opposite, with not enough pressure which will make the blade skip and bounce off your beard growth until you correct it with too much pressure, causing damage and irritation.
When you next shave, aim only to remove the lather from your face, and forget about how much growth you are removing. This often helps to improve technique.

When I said to ago for your routine to take 5=10 minutes I meant actual latherIng, shaving and applying balm/aftershave.

Lastly, please don't give up. You will eventually be rewarded with the best shaving experience !

Thank you Paul, appreciate all your help


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I was going to reply to this thread earlier but got way laid. Bloody work eh.

Some great advice and especially from @Paul L . Definitely use warm water throughout until your final rinse with cold water.

When I first started traditional wet shaving three years ago, my shaves did take a long time. So don't worry about that. It takes me on average 35/40 minutes from the time I start my shower to tidying/cleaning down.

When starting out you are extra careful and can go overboard with your pre and post shave.
I've seen a number of YouTubers do this and it really is overkill, especially post shave.

Prep:
Warm shower and use a face wash like L'Oreal charcoal face wash or something similar from Nivea.

(Occasionally) I will use a face flannel and run it under hot water and "hot towel' for 10/20 seconds and repeat a couple of times.

I did start off using shaving oil but once it ran out I never bought anymore and haven't missed it.

Create lather, apply lather. Three passes, WTG, XTG and ATG.

Rinse off with warm water and then cold water. I then clean my gear and sink. I use only one post shave product only. Either an aftershave splash or aftershave Balm.

As noted earlier. Using a mild shaver can lead to irritation. Either you are going over the same areas without any lather or you are overcompensating and using too much pressure.

It does take time but you'll get there. Stick with it.

Cheers
Rob
 
Those photos look sore. There's a lot of advice already on this thread but I'm going to add to it with some of my own as I had a similar issue recently and I fixed it very simply.

First of all, rest your skin. Don't shave for a week to let it recover. Consider shaving less frequently. I get waaaay better and closer shaves with zero irritation when the blade has sufficient facial hair to work with. I couldn't shave every day.

Only use cold water. This is counter to what some have recommended but it is the single most beneficial change I made. If I use warm water on my face or when showering it irritates my skin. I was recommended to use cooler water when showering as warm water inflames sensitive skin. This is true for your face too and there are articles that explain why cool water can help.

Find a razor and a blade that works for you and stick to it. Aggressive razors and sharp blades seem to work well for me.

I do one pass WTG and then one more XTG on my face only. I leave my neck alone as that's where I have trouble. My actual shaving time is less than five minutes.

Hope you find something that works for you.
 
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