- Joined
- Wednesday June 2, 2010
Hi y’all,
It’s been nearly 3 weeks since I got my Merkur Progress, blade selections and creams. I have to say I have learned a lot.
The first thing I have learned is this I still have a lot left to learn.
The reason I have gone through this whole change is to stop the rash and redness on my neck that I was getting with my Gillette and “gooâ€Â. I still get some redness and its still not shaved to my liking – it might be a fear thing.
As I have said before in a previous post I kind of started with a cheap cheap plastic DE razor just to get some of the basics down. I think I have some of the basics sorted out but I do get my angle wrong sometimes and the pressure can be a little . . . hard.
Last week I tried a feather blade. It was very different from the Merkur blade that came with the razor. I think my pressure was very wrong and perhaps so was the setting on the razor (2). I went WTG, XTG and then ATG re-lathering in between. It left my face rather sore for the whole day even in areas that I don’t normally consider problem areas. Even my nivea anti irritation post shave balm stung like hell. This has taught me that perhaps going for the complete eradication of stubble was not something I should focus on.
One thing I did notice is that the feathers are a bit of a loose fit and was at a slight angle. I think I centred it correctly. Is this something others have noticed?
I then went on to iridium’s and found they were a bit better. This morning I swapped to a Derby and decided not to shave in the shower. After my shower I started with a pre-shave oil (I stole the recipe from Fido - 70/30 mix of olive oil/castor oil). I went WTG, XTG and then ATG (re-lathering in between using Proraso) and got a relatively good shave. A few parts around my jaw line got missed and there is still the issue with my neck. There was less sting when rubbing the alum block over my face (does anyone else think it tastes sweet?) and no sting with my balm. After 5 minutes - a splash of Tabac a/s lotion to give me a little bit of a scent.
Here’s what I already knew:
It’s been nearly 3 weeks since I got my Merkur Progress, blade selections and creams. I have to say I have learned a lot.
The first thing I have learned is this I still have a lot left to learn.
The reason I have gone through this whole change is to stop the rash and redness on my neck that I was getting with my Gillette and “gooâ€Â. I still get some redness and its still not shaved to my liking – it might be a fear thing.
As I have said before in a previous post I kind of started with a cheap cheap plastic DE razor just to get some of the basics down. I think I have some of the basics sorted out but I do get my angle wrong sometimes and the pressure can be a little . . . hard.
Last week I tried a feather blade. It was very different from the Merkur blade that came with the razor. I think my pressure was very wrong and perhaps so was the setting on the razor (2). I went WTG, XTG and then ATG re-lathering in between. It left my face rather sore for the whole day even in areas that I don’t normally consider problem areas. Even my nivea anti irritation post shave balm stung like hell. This has taught me that perhaps going for the complete eradication of stubble was not something I should focus on.
One thing I did notice is that the feathers are a bit of a loose fit and was at a slight angle. I think I centred it correctly. Is this something others have noticed?
I then went on to iridium’s and found they were a bit better. This morning I swapped to a Derby and decided not to shave in the shower. After my shower I started with a pre-shave oil (I stole the recipe from Fido - 70/30 mix of olive oil/castor oil). I went WTG, XTG and then ATG (re-lathering in between using Proraso) and got a relatively good shave. A few parts around my jaw line got missed and there is still the issue with my neck. There was less sting when rubbing the alum block over my face (does anyone else think it tastes sweet?) and no sting with my balm. After 5 minutes - a splash of Tabac a/s lotion to give me a little bit of a scent.
Here’s what I already knew:
- 1. Hot water is a must
2. Preparing is paramount to a good shave
3. Shave WTG first, re-lather and then go in another direction (I used to go with and then against)[/list:u]
Here’s what I have learned:- 1. I’m not an expert
2. Light touch needed
3. Angle is important
4. Start with low setting on my Progress
5. Don’t expect to be BBS right from the beginning
6. Add more water for making a lather – if the lather delaminates when being applied it’s too dry
7. Go across the grain before thinking about against
8. My beard grows in strange directions- a. Cheek basically grow straight down
b. Chin grows down and away from the centre a bit
c. Centre of my neck (from the chin down) basically grows down
d. Either side of the centre grows from left to right going up slightly
e. I have a ‘spiral’ at the bottom left near the centre[/list:u]
9. How to put lists in on this forum
[/list:u]
Things I still need to learn- 1. How to be consistent
2. How to shave the ‘spiral’
3. How much of a light touch
4. Correct angel
5. The right setting for my on my Progress
6. The right pre-shave preparation for me[/list:u]
I’m sure I’ll find more tips on here – y’all seem to be a nice bunch so far . . . .
- 1. How to be consistent
- a. Cheek basically grow straight down
- 1. I’m not an expert