My first dabble at DE shaving

dodgy_d

dodgy_d

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Ok well the blades arrived end of last week (bought and PIF)

Vintage razor was washed, cleaned, buffed and loved:heart:

Here goes:
Prep: Hot water splash (several times)
Razor: Gillette Aristocrat #15
Blade: Derby extra
Brush: shop bought jobby
Soap: Palmolive stick
Post-shave: nivea for men, styptic pencil

Popped the blade in and proceeded to hack my face to pieces LOL
Went for the derby after advised to work up to other sharper blades
I think the whole technique overwhelmed me (think I used poor technique with the cartridge razors all these years-which were more forgiving)
Anyhow first pass on cheeks was fine, but for slight cut (live with that) it's when I got to my chin that I managed to press too hard, rather than let the blade and razor do their thing- deep cut!
Finished the shave, though with a lot more respect for the blade, and only really struggled on the neck area. again it was through lack of technique.
I muddled through and finished up and believe it or not was quite pleased.:blush:

Am gonna look at more vids and read more on technique before shave two (saw one Mantric vid from you tube) and prob ask you guys questions...but I'm not giving up!
 
I think shave of the day is posted in the general thread, week commencing.

Cartridge technique is rather careless because its a safe system. With de I found short strokes the safest, as you get used to holding the razor correctly you will get better. I was lucky and didn't cut myself at all the first shave or subsequently. I had very minor nicks recently because I used a blade for too many shaves and it lost its edge. Ensure you have a nice sharp blade, which for me is 4 shaves max per blade.

Also I found that certain blades just don't work for me whatever technique I use.

Perma sharp blades provide me with a really smooth nick free shave.

Choice razor also counts, my Edwin jagger works really well. I don't get on with the vintage tto razors I think because they don't clamp the blade sufficiently for me.
 
Welcome and keep at it!
To steal an idea from a fellow TSR poster, you're almost trying to remove the lather as carefully as possible. Short strokes works. Keep washing the razor head to clear out shaving soap/cream gunk from the blade gap every few strokes. Lather should be quite thick and not collapse after a few minutes.
Sounds like you're almost there. I always take a bit more time with the chin given the angles (and the fact I have two!)
Good luck!
 
Congratulations & welcome.

Pressure & speed are the two things you really have to look out for.

The Aristocrat #15 is a very aggressive razor - if you struggle for more than a couple weeks, I'd recommend trying something more forgiving like a SuperSpeed or a Tech.

I have a usergrade SuperSpeed you can have if you want - just bung me a PM with your address.
 
There's 2 different ideas IMO as to the ideal first razor. One says to go with a mild razor initially as it's less likely to bite and you can learn without too many nasty cuts or too much razor burn. Conversely, the second is to use an aggressive razor - much more demoralising when you get it wrong, but it punishes bad technique and may therefore get your technique sorted quicker.
 
Well thanks for the feedback lads!
I've not given up just yet and will persevere....once cut , twice shy I think ;)
I can see this will be a trial and error process
 
Sounds like my first efforts.
I've never used the razor you have but I've used a whole bunch of vintage gillettes and the techs and superspeed types are very forgiving.
In the olden days in the army they would give recruits a razor and to start with teach them to lather and remove the lather with no blade. A sort of dummy run!
I second the just treat it as careful lather removal theory. It is gradual beard reduction with each pass as opposed to getting it off all in one scrape!
I still mainly do two passes. For ages I did two with the nap of my beard.
So knowing which direction your beard grows in is useful too.
Stick with it!!!
Read lots.
You will need two to three months of steady practice to set things up.
I've only just started to use a less a aggressive razor and three passes to get lovely results.
Actually the less I concentrate on the result the better!!
Enjoy and love each part of the process and the rest will follow.
Keep the faith
Slicktim
 
Hi dodgy,

Man.......that seems a bit odd to be typing. Maybe sometime you can mention how you came up with such an excellent forum name.......

So about your beautiful #15 razor: There's some good things about it and some not so good. It's a very sought after model that can provide a great shave to many, but not all members. I would be one of those who it probably wouldn't fit especially well. Never used a #15, but I can imagine how it would feel to some degree.

From what another members posted, the #15 has lots of bite. That means it's gonna be less forgiving and more prone to giving some nicks. It's no problem for an experienced person to adjust the technique, but pretty tough for someone new to a DE. The razor you have is best suited for an experienced shaver.

Sure, you can certainly start off with that thing, but it's gonna be a rougher road. I just don't want you getting discouraged if the shaves aren't what you'd hoped for after a few weeks. You might like to look for something a bit more mainstream till you figure everything out.

After a couple months you can revisit the #15. By then you'll have more experience and the start of a good reference point for what kind of razor suits you.

Good luck on your DE journey,

Martin
 
Thanks to BLKKNIGHT for a Gillette SuperSpeed- my scabby chin has healed, so I think I will try this razor tonight or tom morning. and see how I go for the next couple of weeks and maybe try the 15 again.
I will go with his few pointers and try to use the beard reduction method.
It's kind of like being a teenager again, learning how to shave!

Slick- sounds like the army taught some of those lads how to be men in lots of ways, never knew they taught them how to shvae too!

And Martin- it wouldn't let me have dodgy as a user name for obvious reasons, so i chucked a D on the end :)
 
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