1st DE Shave - not good

Lots of good advice here.
So enjoy your shower.
Enjoy the feel of the brush on your face.
Enjoy the lather and the smell.
Enjoy the razor in your hand.
Enjoy shaving like our dads Nnd grandees did.
Enjoy not being with the corporate gillette herd.
Enjoy the practice. Your gonna need it.
Forget about the end result it sill come and sneak up on you When you least expect it.
Take it slow. Go slow motion and feel every bit.
Your learning something new, cool and funky.
Esoteric shaving!!
Keep the faith.
Timslicknigel
 
Mr Glove...you are probably correct. With Carts I don't even think about pressure at all and the angle is sorted by the flexible head, and this has transferred to my DE shave even though I was really trying to be light and careful.

My main driver to switch was to enjoy the whole shaving experience more. Rather than the rushed, half asleep fumble it is at the moment.

I'll get there, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Thanks again....
 
All good advice here as per usual - I would say at this stage stick with the same prep, brush, soap/cream, razor and blade for a couple of weeks if you can. that way you can concentrate on technique. do not even think about against the grain passes at this stage.
As for blades if you have a sampler pac from Connaught, the RED IP blades are sharp and smooth and generally have a good reports from the gents here. That would be a good blade to start with. the only place for derby's is the bin (IMO).

and welcome to TSR.
 
Mabbsy, welcome.

I suspect you're forgetting something important. The DE razor is really just a cut-throat with two bits of metal either side. You're probably trying to use it like one of those modern cartridges that's started to go blunt and you press a bit hard with it.

The key is to not press hard at all, just hold it loose and let it do the work.

My routine is to go with the grain, against the grain and the xtg. I'm still kinda new, been at this lark for about a year, after all this, I'd say my early mistakes were pressure related. Either pressure to get to work on time or pressure on the face.

My first DE razor was a piece of crap plastic thing off the shelf in a chemist. Putting a Derby blade in that really can scratch the face. It's not till I recently got a Bluebeards' Scimitar that I've found real pleasure, even with the Derbys, so with blades there really are different strokes for different folks.
 
BlkKnight said:
My routine is to go with the grain, against the grain and the xtg.
Click to expand...

The common conscientious is to leave the ATG to the last pass. Everyone is different however.
Click to expand...

I was going to add that, the only reason I say is because I do it differently. I'm not sure why I started shaving in that order, I think it's mostly so that I get that weird bit on the jaw with the XTG pass at the end. I hardly catch anything else during this phase other than my wife eating up my data allowance on my mobile phone.
 
Mabbsy said:
My main driver to switch was to enjoy the whole shaving experience more. Rather than the rushed, half asleep fumble it is at the moment.

I'll get there, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Click to expand...

Hi there,

Figure on it taking about 10-15 shaves before things start coming together a little bit. After that it gets easier, but in the beginning there's lots to learn. You have a trial and error period to go through (mostly error), and then eventually muscle memory will kick in to help smooth the shave out.

A quick tip for checking your lather is to try using your cartridge and see how that performs. If it's a rough road even with that thing, you know there's a tweak you need to make.

Your razor/blade combo is fine. No problem if they don't end up being your first choice later on, but this combo will act to give you a reference point for later. Then, when you try a different sort of blade you should probably notice a difference. Since you don't know what's gonna fit you best anyway, the Derby's as good a place to start as any. Hell, you might end up liking those.

So give yourself two weeks with the same set up for the shaving rebraining process to begin to kick in. Every day it'll get a little easier and you'll learn a little more.

Martin
 
Mantic recommends not going ATG for about three weeks!

No one ever waits that long but what I did when I started was just used the DE for the first WTG pass for about a week to get used to how it felt and find the right cutting angle.

I think if you're going for the full monty right away you will suffer as it will take time for your skin to get used to a DE razor.

It will be worth it in the end though, and you'll never look back.
 
[attachment=3548][attachment=3547]The set up sounds okay to me. I was wondering if the skin problems you have had may be a leftover from using cartridges. When I started DE shaving around 3 and a half months ago shaving was pretty painful - this was from using the King Of Shaves Azor razor - 4 blades. This was okay for months, then suddenly things flared up, with red cheeks, neck rash, flaky skin. Ouch.

When I began DE shaving (actually, I DE shaved in the 1990s, stopped then began again last June) I still had some rash, but this gradually cleared up, and I have had no problems since.

I started with Derby blades, and they were good. I also used Wilkinson Sword Classic blades, and they are very mild and feel as if nothing is happening. So avoid the temptation to press.

Begin with one pass with the grain. Then try a second pass across the grain a couple of weeks later, once you have got used to DE shaving. Also, try a shave free day now and again.

And - change blades every 3 or 4 days. A blunt or dull blade can cause skin problems.

Don't forget to shave at the right angle. Hold the razor such that the cutting edge is perpendicular to the hair.
 

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Well, I had my second DE last night and it went a lot better.

Using the exact set-up and prep I had used previously. I did 2 passes WTG, I've got a couple of grazes on my neck again but nothing like what it was on the previous shave.

Before the shave I took time to map the direction of growth and made a real effort to follow that. I think this, along with trying to be a lot gentler with the razor has helped me no ends. It's not the closest shave I've ever had, but I'm now really positive moving forwards now. I'm going to stick to 2 WTG passes for a couple more shaves and then move on to add an XTG...eventually then moving on to WTG, XTG and ATG.

Thanks for the advice chaps....it has helped.

Cheers.....

Mabbsy
 
Sounds like you're on the right path. Good stuff.
If you want to try out some other blades at some point send me a message on here and I'll PIF you some (post you out a few for free in the hope that one day you will pass that gesture onto someone else). I have a few I can spare of most of those out there.
 
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