First venture into DE shaving!

Ben88

Ben88

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Location
South East
Afternoon chaps!

I'm very much new here and new to DE shaving in general! After shaving with a cartridge razor for 10 years i made the switch to DE and gave it a go for the first time last night. Thought I would share my experience as i found it less daunting than some people had made it out to be!

I'm going to keep a diary like note of each shave for a while so I can look back on each shave and see what worked and what maybe did not. Here's a quick few notes I made last night after shaving with my new BlueBeard Scimitar:

Hot shower, face washed with soap, let razor sit in hot water whilst I put hot flannel on face. Brush dipped in water and lathered. All gear used as per normal, (Derby blade). Once finished rinsed face with hot water, used alum block whilst face wet, left for 30 seconds then rinsed with cold water. Plenty of BB post shave balm.

Comments : Not overly comfortable as expected but lacked confidence and went slow. Due to this soap dried on face which made razor drag and had to re lather. Need to be quicker in future. Shorter strokes. Angle of razor not bad. No cuts. Had to go over the same place a few times over due to poor angle. In places shave feels very close and better than cartridge shave. Attempted to shave down neck with the grain but seemed to tug in places so stuck with against upwards toward the chin. Stick with down from the chin next time as easier to maintain angle.

Overall face feels sore in places, slightly dry and tight. Does feel as if it might end up in spots/razor rash but time will tell.

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Despite the discomfort it was enjoyable and I managed not to cut myself which I was fairly chuffed with. Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more here and would welcome any advice/comments.

Thanks

Ben
 

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Welcome!

Your lather should not dry out on your face even if you take your time. How much cream did you use, and how are you making your lather? Lather quality is the key to a good shave, if that's not right you won't get the best results.
 
A couple of observations mate.

No need to soak your razor.
Soak the brush though whilst in the shower, I always squeeze the bristles under water to make it sink.

If you like the derbies fine, but I'd get a sample pack or at least buy some astras, astras a great middle blade that not many find fault with. Those derbies may or may not but probably may have something to do with your soreness.

Some people like to swirl that brush in the cream tub, I prefer to get a splodge on my finger rub it in on my wet face (similar to gel then get the damp brush all over the face building lather that way.

Just my 10p worth
 
Thanks guys. I will watch a few more of the lather tutorials. I must admit, I thought I'd got it fairly good but obviously not. The lather certainly wasn't dry and it wasn't running off my face either so I felt the consistency was middle ground. I bet the lather was on for 15 minutes though as I was very hesitant being my first attempt. Im using about an almond size amount of cream, maybe just a tad less. And I used the Taylors of Old Bond Street Sandalwood soap. I don't like lathering the brush in the tub itself as it gets messy, personal preference I suppose!

Reassuring to know it's not just me. Face is still a but uncomfortable today but nothing major. Always difficult going backwards before going forwards as I was achieving little or no razor burn/rash recently with my cartridge razor just before I switched. As for the blades, I have Derby's, Wilkinson 7'oclock yellows and some Feathers. Thought I would start with the Derby's as they were the least aggressive and heard fairly good things about them?
 
Ben88 said:
Thought I would start with the Derby's as they were the least aggressive and heard fairly good things about them?
Click to expand...

:icon_eek:

well i would say the majority disagree with that statement. Personally have given away every box i had to a mate for use cleaning his fishtank.
 
You could just lather part of your face at a time until you've got the hang of building a lather and are more confident shaving. It seems strange that it tugged when going with the grain on your neck but not against the grain, a lot of people have the hair on their neck growing in odd directions so it might be worth spending a bit of time working it out.
 
Yup, the Debys are crap and most likely the source of the crap shave (IMHO)
Some like them, but most seem to be people with a fair few shaves under their belt and know how to get everything else right. I would go with the above suggestion of the Astra SP, a very good all round blade that works pretty well in just about every razor I have used. Not a BRILLIANT one once you get to know some other makes, but a very good starting point. Send me your address via pm and I will send you a pack to try, along with a couple of others.
daz
 
Almond-sized blob sounds about right. If you're face-lathering you can either smear it on your face like Al suggested, or I prefer to drop it into my brush. Either way works fine. I like to get my lather to a consistency similar to yogurt (the nice thick Muller stuff). Don't be afraid to practice lathering, that cream will last a long time. 15 minutes is not an unusually long time, so if your lather's drying in that time something's not right. The dragging razor suggests to me that your lather was too dry to begin with.

As for the Derbies, to me they feel like shaving with the lid off a tin can. Astras in the green wrapper are a good blade for many people, I quite like them myself. Of the ones you have already I like the 7 O'Clock yellows best, but blades are one of the most subjective aspects of shaving and it would be worth trying a few different ones to see which work best for you. There's a sort of scale of sharpness of blades and it's generally agreed that Derbys are among the least sharp, and Feathers the most. Astras are a good middle ground.
 
Thanks for the advice, it's all appreciated. After all, we all start somewhere!

Maybe I will try the 7's next time. I'm hesitant to try the Feathers until I'm a dab hand and my face isn't like a piece of leather and I've heard from everyone they are very sharp! Daz, that's awfully kind of you, I will send you my address and will happily pay for them.
 
no need to pay mate, theyre not expensive and the postage is pennies. The feathers are good blades too mind, usually better on the second shave once they have dulled a wee bit, a good trick is to pull the blade through a bit of cork once or twice, gives you an excuse to buy a nice bottle of wine :)
 
Friday 8th August

Prep was exactly as above. Only difference was I used a Gillette 7 o'clock yellow blade.

Made my lather in the bowl after soaking the brush and shook out 75% of the water. Lather took a while to build, added a few drops of water but got lather with nice peaks.

Lathered up and the first few passes were great. However lather had dried alot again before I could reach my neck so ended up nicking myself twice (very very minor). Ended up missing a few spots on my neck, only went against the grain up to the chin this time.

Lathered up again the shaved across the grain on my cheeks. Finish was exactly as above, alum stung. Seemed to have less irritation in areas this time. More confident with the razor and seemed to keep the angle a little better.

Not happy with the lather so made up a test lather afterwards. Didn't shake as much water out the brush this time. The lather started almost soapy with lots of air bubbles. After a minute or two of working the lather I built a thick shiny lather which still had some air bubbles but lots of peaks. Let this sit for 10 mins and it didn't seem to dry out as much. Slightly concerned this was too watery though?
 
This is what I find with soap/bowl lathering, loads of crap airy lather..
I find face lathering with cream/stick far more productive of a creamy slick lather...
 
Try building lather slowly. If it's watery then add more product, if it's thick add more water. You'll 'know' when it's right.

I usually start my lather watery and soapy as you say. A bit of work and it's perfect though.
 
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