What to do with all the cartridges!

A

Aerotec

Guest
Greetings all! Post No 1!

Having a heavy beard and fed up of razor burn I took the plunge and invested in my first DE system. I had recently moved away from the Gillette systems and tried the Azor. I enjoyed using it but still craved a better shave and was keen to try a more traditional system.

I ended up getting a Merkur 34C, EJ Best Badger Medium brush and some Crabtree & Evelyn Shaving soap. Had my first shave today with 2 passes and got a superb shave with no nicks! My hands were shaking as I was convinced I was going to cut myself to pieces.

Only thing I reckon I did wrong was to not build up a rich enough lather and it was drying out. Can I build up the lather in the soap bowl or should I get soap on the brush then move to a shaving bowl to whisk up the lather?

Anyway, if something is worth doing it is worth doing right hence why I searched and found this fabulous website! Let the learning begin!
 
Good morning Aerotec. Hard soaps are a tricky start for some, they just take a tiny bit more effort to lather so have a look at the guides, in particular have a look on youtube for Mantic59's videos, his clip on how to lather "Mitchell's wool fat" is a good guide to any hard soap. Sounds like you're not hydrating it enough, but see how you get on.

You're in the right place anyway, welcome to TSR, some good kit you have there.
 
Thanks all! Looking forward to my second shave later today. Will try to build up more of a lather. I think I had way to little. Might try using my hand as a bowl to mix up the lather. I am sure I saw someone somewhere do that?
 
welcome aboard fella

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7Aj9vwrtc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7Aj9vwrtc</a><!-- m -->

ALL his videos ;)
 
Aerotec said:
Thanks all! Looking forward to my second shave later today. Will try to build up more of a lather. I think I had way to little. Might try using my hand as a bowl to mix up the lather. I am sure I saw someone somewhere do that?
Click to expand...

Hi & very welcome Aero. Use your hand for lathering eh ? I'm almost sure that PigCat may be the man to speak to about that particular habit.

JohnnyO. \ ;)
 
Hi, I was using Crabtree and Evelyn shaving soap as well. But that was with the Azor, and I got quite bad cheek burn. I don't think the Azor is designed for soap use; and cartridge razors, I reckon, are more for gel use. I did find that the Azor worked well with its own KOS gel though. I don't usually get on with shaving soaps, but Crabtree and Evelyn are a good make and I have a shop near where I live. I now use a Chatsworth Barley chrome razor with Ingrams shave cream, but have some Edwin Jagger cream ready for later.

As for the Azor cartridges? I may use them up at some point to give the Chatty a 'rest'.
 
Interesting. I have had 3 shaves now and have been getting cheeck burn. I wonder if my lack of good lather and using the C & E soap is not a good mix for a starter?

Tim B said:
Hi, I was using Crabtree and Evelyn shaving soap as well. But that was with the Azor, and I got quite bad cheek burn. I don't think the Azor is designed for soap use; and cartridge razors, I reckon, are more for gel use. I did find that the Azor worked well with its own KOS gel though. I don't usually get on with shaving soaps, but Crabtree and Evelyn are a good make and I have a shop near where I live. I now use a Chatsworth Barley chrome razor with Ingrams shave cream, but have some Edwin Jagger cream ready for later.

As for the Azor cartridges? I may use them up at some point to give the Chatty a 'rest'.
Click to expand...
 
Aerotec said:
Only thing I reckon I did wrong was to not build up a rich enough lather and it was drying out. Can I build up the lather in the soap bowl or should I get soap on the brush then move to a shaving bowl to whisk up the lather?
Click to expand...

Not in the soap bowl. It takes time to build up lather. If you do it in the soap bowl you'll constantly be loading more product which will: (a) use it all up; and (b) stuff up the soap:water ratio.

So, second bowl or directly on the face. Load the soap for about 30 seconds first. While whisking up the lather, it's almost certain that you'll need to add a few drops of water once or twice.

I prefer bowl-lathering creams and face-lathering soaps, but that's just me, and not even based on much experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom