Good first razor?

L

Latherman

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28
Hi guys. Im brand nbew to DE shaving, and am using a plastic crappy boots DE razor atm which is geting on my nerves.

I want to upgrade, but am really befuddled by the diferent ones out there. What would you pros reccomend as a first venture?
 
Either a Merkur 34C or Edwin Jagger DE89. That's what most people start with as they're cheap and readily available.

If you fancy something vintage a Gillette Superspeed is an excellent starter razor.
 
Mine was the Jagger. Even though an 'ideal' first razor, like all of them the potential is there to cause apocalyptic carnage to your face.

Learn about your face and learn how to shave. Excellent advice and guidance on here as well as great vids on Utube will help your technique no-end.

For now, keep it wet and don't press hard.

All the best
 
How are you finding the boots de?

Anyone else have experience of this razor, should make a suggestion following what your response is.

I started out with the Edwin Jagger, which I found to my liking, and then various vintage Gillette and new merkur razors, but realised I preferred the milder razor with a Sharp blade. Now I use a feather as-d1 and an ikon handle with a tech head.
 
The Jagger DE87 is pretty benign and shouldn't cause damage if you're reasonably careful. It's also good looking and well built.

The 34C if you fancy something with a little more bite. You may find that you never need another razor.... because you've already used the Boots then you're already past stage one, so given that I'd get a Merkur.
 
I have a boots de and it's kinda aggressive. It's also light, so it's hard to get the zero pressure idea.

The EJ is night and day smoother.
BUT I'm not convinced its the closest out there.
I have a thick beard and need 3 passes to get baby bottom smooth (bbs)
2 passes gives passable results during the week, but at the weekends a 3 pass shave feels great.
I wonder whether the Merkur may get better results with 2 passes. But be slightly less forgiving with a bad technique? Both would be nicer than the boots one.

The EJ is also quite a bit cheaper ;)
 
I am a week into DE shaving and bought a Merkur 34C and a blade sampler pack from Conaught. I am delighted so far. Mainly two pass shaves and so far no nicks or weepers. It works well for me!
 
All good advice. My choice if you could do it, would be an adjustable. Gillette or Merkur. Just gives you a wider range of opportunity.
 
Any maker you prefer with the 89 head. The 34 Merkur is very nice, but quite individualistic I'd say. The 89 is more of an all rounder.

JohnnyO. \:icon_razz:
 
Just while we're on the subject, how come everyone either owns or has owned the 89 but no-one ever mentions the 87 or 86? Are they really that much less common? (I know it's the same razor, just a different handle).

The "ivory" handled 87 was a well known bargain a year ago... £17 on Amazon, so I'm always surprised not to see more knocking around.
 
Canuck said:
Just while we're on the subject, how come everyone either owns or has owned the 89 but no-one ever mentions the 87 or 86? Are they really that much less common? (I know it's the same razor, just a different handle).

The "ivory" handled 87 was a well known bargain a year ago... £17 on Amazon, so I'm always surprised not to see more knocking around.
Click to expand...

Speaking personally (only started in February) it was because there are loads of reviews out there for the 89. As with most people, I found Mantic's videos before I bought my razor and from there found Sharpologist and then Shaving 101. The 101 site does a comparison between (I think) a Merkur and the EJ89 and finds the 89 as marginally the best starter razor.

I then followed up with plenty of searches for the 89 and found nothing but good reviews. That made my mind up really - I didn't bother to look for much else. Add in the fact that 89 is a higher number then 86 and 87 (and bigger is better, right?) and it's going to be the best seller!

What is the difference between them, btw?

P.s. I may have paid a pound or two more, but I don't regret the 89. It's a beautiful shaver!
 
ChopperHarris said:
What is the difference between them, btw?
Click to expand...

86: Black plastic handle
87: Cream plastic (or imitation ivory!) handle
89: Chrome handle (smooth)
89L: Chrome (lined)
There are a couple more handle options but them's the basic / popular ones.
 
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