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Hello,

Today I have just embarked upon my first ever DE shave. All I can say is ouch!

Firstly, the kit:

Merkur 23C with one included Merkur blade.
The Friendly Soap Co shaving bar
Synthetic brush (I'm a vegan)
Bowl to lather

I've watched lots of videos and read plenty of advice, so I was expecting my first DE shave (and, incidentally, my first wet shave in years) to be, well, difficult.

Ordinarily I use a Braun 3040s electric shaver which, while not perfect, does the job. Prior to this I used the cartridge style razors (Wilkinson Sword Titanium with five blades.) The cartridges left me a little red, but not bloody, hence switching to the electric shaver.

It's not cut anywhere near as close as I was expecting. Though my cheeks are better than my neck, but still scratchy. But it looks as if I've taken a bread knife to my neck, and I'm now very sore.

I suspect this may partially be down to my technique, and partially due to the soap. No matter what I did, the lather disappeared rather quickly.

Have a look at the attached photos, and tell me - is that normal for my first time?! Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, did your shave get better?

Thanks all!
 

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A few things at work here:

Technique, it's a whole different kettle of fish than a cartridge razor.
Blade, the Merkur ones are crap, quite the worst blade I've ever tried.
Soap, I've never heard of it. It's just possible that it's an undiscovered gem but more likely is that it's not good for shaving despite what it's sold as.

While your technique will need to improve, if you're using awful blades and soap you're going to be hobbled from the get go. Unfortunately I can't recommend a soap as all my best-performing ones contain tallow, but get a sample pack of blades almost anything will be better than the Merkur. Astra SP and Gillette silver blue are good ones.
 
Agree about ‘mapping your grain.' Let it grow for a few days and study what direction the stubble grows out in all over your face & neck. Also all I've heard about Merkur blades is that they suck.

Gentlemen's Face Care Club cream is good and about £7 a tub on eBay. Perhaps the Nivea supermarket shaving creams are ok, never tried them though. This is a good video on lathering creams. Think they do a soap one too. Add water as needed after a few swirls of the brush. If you do this properly and use decent cream / soap it shouldn't dry out quickly

 
Thanks guys! I'll try a different blade next time (once my neck has stopped being sore :eek::rolleyes:!)

The Friendly Soap company mainly make standard soap bars - and they are brilliant, as is their shampoo bar. I've used the shaving bar before with cartridges razors, but perhaps it's not up to the task for a proper DE shave (or more likely my technique is appalling!)

It was a couple of days growth, and I took a look before I started, but my hair on my neck grows in all different directions depending on which part of my neck it is :rolleyes:

I'll have to re-learn everything I know about shaving! :D
 
Agree about ‘mapping your grain.' Let it grow for a few days and study what direction the stubble grows out in all over your face & neck. Also all I've heard about Merkur blades is that they suck.

Gentlemen's Face Care Club cream is good and about £7 a tub on eBay. Perhaps the Nivea supermarket shaving creams are ok, never tried them though. This is a good video on lathering creams. Think they do a soap one too. Add water as needed after a few swirls of the brush. If you do this properly and use decent cream / soap it shouldn't dry out quickly


I've actually seen that video, but obviously forgotten the entire lesson! My lather wasn't like that, (that's) for sure... :( I'll probably watch the video as I'm doing it next time :D
 
Hello,

Today I have just embarked upon my first ever DE shave. All I can say is ouch!

Firstly, the kit:

Merkur 23C with one included Merkur blade.
The Friendly Soap Co shaving bar
Synthetic brush (I'm a vegan)
Bowl to lather

I've watched lots of videos and read plenty of advice, so I was expecting my first DE shave (and, incidentally, my first wet shave in years) to be, well, difficult.

Ordinarily I use a Braun 3040s electric shaver which, while not perfect, does the job. Prior to this I used the cartridge style razors (Wilkinson Sword Titanium with five blades.) The cartridges left me a little red, but not bloody, hence switching to the electric shaver.

It's not cut anywhere near as close as I was expecting. Though my cheeks are better than my neck, but still scratchy. But it looks as if I've taken a bread knife to my neck, and I'm now very sore.

I suspect this may partially be down to my technique, and partially due to the soap. No matter what I did, the lather disappeared rather quickly.

Have a look at the attached photos, and tell me - is that normal for my first time?! Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, did your shave get better?

Thanks all!


That is exactly how I look when I go against the grain. So I just do a with the grain and across the grain passes.
Works for me. hope you get it sorted. :)
 
I agree with everything that has been said this far :)

What was most useful in improving my technique when I started:
  • Learning the exact direction of hair growth in various parts of the neck
  • Letting the weight of the razor do the work, without applying any pressure
  • Making a better quality lather
You'll definitely get there. Take your time and make sure to let your sore neck heal before your next shave.
 
I agree with all those who have replied so far, but believe me things will only get better as you progress and learn to refine your technique. Also get to know your face and which way your hairs actually do grow. This will make a huge difference. After that the only other hint I can give is take your time and don't expect perfection. This will come in time. I am having to learn new things with a recent adventure in to straight razors. My first time out came with uglier results than in your photos and this is after years of shaving with DE and thinking I knew what there was to know about shaving. I was probably expecting shaves as good as a DE can deliver and pushing barriers doing so.

If you do feel irritated and sore 'Witch Hazel' will go a long way towards making you feel better about life and shaving.

Stick with it. Patience and being learned will get you where you want to be
 
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