New to DE shaving - Can't get a close shave

Welcome. The advice from members is always worth considering. This is the friendliest and most helpful forum, make best use of it
 
Thanks all for the continued advice. For info, in case anyone is interested as it doesn't seem well known, the razor I bought is this one here which I chose after watching this video.

Timor Closed Comb Safety Razor – Executive Shaving

German made Safety Razors are the best in the world and this Timor Safety Razor continues this fine tradition. Get a close comfortable shave. Free Blades
www.executive-shaving.co.uk


Someone also asked about the brush I'm using and currently its just a basic Body Shop brush which I was only using temporarily until I purchase something else after payday. I was considering buying this one but would welcome any recommendations.

MÜHLE RYTMO Steamed Ash Pure Badger Shaving Brush

Shop at MUHLE UK for the RYTMO Steamed Ash Pure Badger Shaving Brush. The MUHLE Shaving Culture, made in Germany, since 1945. Purchase online today. FREE UK shipping options.
www.muehle-shaving.co.uk
 
There are synthetic brushes that will do the job for less money imo

YaqI make excellent synthetic and animal hair brushes, as to APShave co

You'll find YaqI brushes on eBay if you don't want to wait for shipping from China.

Incidentally, while you were in The Body Shop, you could have picked up some Maca Root Shave Cream.
It's an excellent cream and only costs around £7 for a 200ml tub.

I have no experience of the Timor razor you have, so cannot comment.
For around £25 you can pick up an Edwin Jagger DE89, a very good razor that is quite often bought by beginners to DE shaving, and enjoyed by old hands too.

Keep on keeping on and keep the faith - you'll soon be wondering why you were struggling to get a good shave !
 

Merkurologist said:
I think you are confusing me, I don't own a Timor razor, in fact, I had not heard of it before I read this thread.

Why would anyone recommend something so mild when there a 3 well known razors for beginners ?
Click to expand...

I am also confusded.

The original post user had a Timor razor.
I referenced your post as excellent advice
 

Hi Paul,

Persevere, I sometimes dont count how many shaves I get out of a blade. Take your time! If you find the the pass isnt doing it (which it may not). With practice you will get better shaves than one of those cartridge razors provide. Remember your only putting 1 blade across your face instead of 5 ...

Try a number of blades in a variety pack and get a decent (not necessarily expensive) brush.

Enjoy it! You'll get there, and eventually never look back.
 
I will echo what many have said. Practice, practice, practice. It took me a long time of trial and error to get the right technique, to get my skin used to the shave etc. You will notice a drastic change overtime. Make sure you do a proper face mapping to fully understand the way your beard grows. There will be many spots (at least that is my case) where it takes some weird directions. Don't think it's the razor's fault. If the head of your Timor is similar to that of the EJ89/Muhle R89 it can give you fantastic shaves and you can achieve a BBS but it won't happen after few attempts. Also try different blades. Once you get more confident, even sharper blades as many (including me) found those to work wonderfully in cc razors.
 
Hi @Profcool welcome to TSR! Lots of good advice here, for what its worth, I would also recommend looking at the Youtube shaving tutorials my Manic59: https://www.youtube.com/user/mantic59. Watching those was a game changer for me.

When my brain clicked that DE shaving is stubble reduction, one pass at a time, things also got better. As many have said preperation is also key.

All the best,

Chris
 
Hi mate welcome to the forum. i'm fairly new myself under a year however i don't get on with Personna blades. iv actually got a thread on here asking others their opinions and most came back as not liking these blades. Blades are probably the single most important part of your set up. have a few selections and see what your face likes.
also don't put any pressure on your razor,
hold it at the bottom and let the weight of the head do the work,
always remember it's very difficult for a lot of people to get a smooth shave, reducing the length on three passes should get you to roughly where you want to be.
you'll find through time i.e 5-6 shaves your technique will improve,
also if you feel your running the razor across your face and your not taking hair off then you have the razor at the wrong angle, this you will get through time
 
Hello and welcome.

There's been a lot of good advice already, mainly that surely nobody on their 2nd attempt has refined good enough technique to have nailed it.

However, as you're talking particularly about closeness of shave I think equipment seems a very likely factor. YMMV is very apparent, it may just be that particular razor and blade just isn't a good combination for you.

The reason you're probably nicking and cutting could be down to technique but I'd go one further and say you're likely overcompensating because you can't get it as close as you like i.e. applying more pressure than you should to try to cut closer. This is perfectly rationale. Alas, ultimately you can try everything but this razor/blade may just not be the answer.

My recommendation is to preserve with the same set up for maybe another 5-10 shaves and see if you notice an improvement to the point of being acceptable to you. If not, try a more aggressive blade. If that still doesn't work you could try getting either a more aggressive or better still, an adjustable (rockwell 6c has already been mentioned).

It's worth adding that I'm not much further along my journey than you and have/had a similar issue. I now have much better technique than I did a few months ago but it's still not anywhere near close. I'm now in the process of changing razor and expect that to make a noticeable difference.

Good luck.
 
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