Your story about your first steps in wet shaving

My first shave was with the Mach3 . I fell for the allure of the advertising, the promise of a fantastic shave . When my Dad was dying I tried to shave him using a Mach 3 and I admit although he got a shave , it wasn't the smoothest or a DFS / BBS. When my Dad died I went through old photos and saw that he was really smooth shaved and remembered him shaving using a safety razor , probably a gillette. This led me to re assess shaving until I bought a Merkur Progress , a tub of Proraso red and a decent shaving brush . My first shave using a safety razor was an epiphany. I couldn't believe how smooth the shave was. I am not a hobbyist- I shave just to wake up in the morning, and feel better .
 
Like others here, I always enjoyed the ritual of grooming but suffered a small patch of irritation on my neck from cart shaving. I had always been curious about the traditional way of shaving but assumed it was incredibly dangerous - my association of DE blades was as anti-zombie weaponry. Finally decided to take the plunge and never looked back.

Bought a 34C, Proraso Omega Boar and Proraso Red cream. First shave was very slow as I followed Brian's Executive Shaving video on how to wet shave intensely. Action, pause, action, pause - it gave me the confidence to do it.
 
I picked up on wet shaving from my Dad. He always used Palmolive shaving cream in a tube and a Gillette razor. It must have been something like a Tech. This was around the mid 60's and he probably used what he had used in the Forces during the war. He never used anything other than Old Spice AS. He was fanatical about only using boiled water to scold his razor first. I remember being fascinated by the metal cases that the blades came in, but at that time had no idea what they were for or how they 'worked'..they looked very 'technical'. (It must have been Gillette Blues or something similar...but I seem to remember cream coloured ones too).
Anyway, I adopted exactly the same approach when I started shaving in my late teens, but quite quickly moved on to a Braun electric foil razor as a student. I tended to use electric razors for a good deal of my working life and added cartridge wet shaving into the mix, eventually settling on Mach 3 when I had the time and an electric when in a rush.
Around 2014 (a couple of years before I retired) I decided to get back into DE shaving again...then I joined this forum.
The rest, as they say, is history!:)
 
My Dad shaved with a Schick injector, the cheapest can of shaving foam, and the Aftershave we would buy him for Christmas, Father's Day, and his Birthday. He would use Old Spice and Blue Stratos. I don't recall him using Brut. My Aunt once sent him Hai Karate, which my father found so disgusting it went straight in the bin.
 
The first steps in wet shaving were at the barber shop. He would smooth that warm, soft lather around your ears and the back of your neck and then carefully delineate the hair line. Face shaving now was a whole other ball game. That was a right of passage! Manhood was on the horizon! You had hair on your face! (Nothing on the chest yet, that would take a few more years.)

Now to get rid of it! Careful examination in the bathroom mirror, away from the prying eyes of your older sister and parents. Yes! You did have a beard! Well, kind of a mustache, if you looked sideways and the light was right, definitely facial hair. Facial hair is a beard, and if you have a beard, you needed to shave!

On to the medicine chest, what did the old man have in there? Razor, can of shaving cream, bottle of old spice after shave, you were ready. Hmm... Wet the face, check. Shake the can, check. Push the top. That stuff goes everywhere. Wipe up what didn't hit your hand. Smear it on your face. You looked kind of cool in the mirror, like a shaving cream ad. Oh, the razor. That thing looks kind of scary, not lying there, but in your hand getting ready to put it against your cheek.

Gentle stroke down the side. Not too bad. Hey, this is pretty nice! Try another one. Yes, pretty good. What's all the fuss about? Guess I should try the 'stache. Oop! didn't hit that one quite right. Easy! Easy! Darn! Did it again. Deep breath, relax, try the other side. Ow! did it again! This is kind of tricky. Do you have to talk nice to the thing to get it to stop bitting you? Red is vivid against white! Maybe that's enough for today.

Where's the toilet paper?

P.S. Old Spice burns!
 
Recalling my DYI attempts at using an Gillette Super Adjustable (black beauty) in the mid-late 70's, my efforts at economizing during the Great recession of 2008 provided no rationalization to continue buying Gillette Mach 3 carts. Unlike going to the local pharmacy, this time there was this internet think that I could 'relearn' how to shave.

Well who would have thought there were now videos showing why it was better to use a brush and make your own lather from a tube of shave cream, or even a puck of soap. Mantic59 quickly taught me everything I needed to know and Amazon provided an economical starter kit. A short time later I owned a Parker 91R, 7 A.M. razor blades, Williams mug soap,, a Tweezerman badger brush and a bottle of Clubman aftersahve.

Despite using a very aggressive razor, poor blades and a clipped badger brush and a soap where the lather disappeared on my face, I surprisingly got a pretty good shave and a few toilet paper patches. Over time I slowly, but economically expanded my kit and used less toilet paper.

Today I have a good mixture of budget gear all the way up a few luxury brushes and a few stainless razors.
 
I see lots of references to "toilet paper" - I know what is meant, but ....
I have learned not to use toilet paper for nicks and cuts, it's just annoying and prevents wounds from healing quickly. A generous pasting with alum is generally sufficient, followed by ASB/ASL. If it's still weeping let the body heal itself, i.e. let the blood clot and leave for a while then remove and the wound is healed. Also make sure you check persistent wounds and treat with Sudocreme or similar. Prevents scars from developing. If you constantly cut yourself and/or the wounds are large one needs to improve technique.
I have two visible scars as a reminder when I first started serious DE shaving about 10 years ago. Put me off for a few years, now I know how to deal with mishaps. This may not help you if you are in a rush to get to work but there are different strategies that can be employed, such as shaving the night before or just using a cartridge razor if you don't have enough time, though you can still cut yourself with those as well.
 
Claus3428 said:
I see lots of references to "toilet paper" - I know what is meant, but ....
I have learned not to use toilet paper for nicks and cuts, it's just annoying and prevents wounds from healing quickly. A generous pasting with alum is generally sufficient, followed by ASB/ASL. If it's still weeping let the body heal itself, i.e. let the blood clot and leave for a while then remove and the wound is healed. Also make sure you check persistent wounds and treat with Sudocreme or similar. Prevents scars from developing. If you constantly cut yourself and/or the wounds are large one needs to improve technique.
I have two visible scars as a reminder when I first started serious DE shaving about 10 years ago. Put me off for a few years, now I know how to deal with mishaps. This may not help you if you are in a rush to get to work but there are different strategies that can be employed, such as shaving the night before or just using a cartridge razor if you don't have enough time, though you can still cut yourself with those as well.
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My dad always used to tear corners from pages of the 'Daily Mirror'. I think most men used to use newspaper because at that time the only toilet paper tended to be 'Izal' which was shit, even from wiping your arse with. If newspaper was good enough to wrap your chips in then it was fine to stick it on your face!
 
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