First a bit about me.
Noob is a funny word, at 42 I am not sure if I ever dabbled in DE when I was a teenager as it was around that time my Dad switched to using carts and he was my provider of shaving stuff back then.
I have never been an electric shaving person. I tried it once but it just wasn't for me, I have always been more of a "gel foam and cart" type of guy. Like many others before and hopefully many after I stumbled upon the blast from the past that is "DE shaving". I got myself a cheap badger brush, some turkish shaving soap and an edwin jagger with some blades. Whilst I was waiting for those to arrive I needed a shave, so popped to my local boots and grabbed a Wilkinson Sword DE Classic for about £5. This is going to spend its life in the camper for the summer, though I will probably take some Derby blades with it as I prefer those at the moment.
Here is what I have learned so far.
Take your time, My first shave was pretty much the same speed as my cart shaving. My own verdict was it left me close in places and rough in others. Don't get me wrong, if you need a quick shave just to make yourself look presentable the DE can acheve that, but it can do so much more. Next time I took my time a little more, it was certainly closer, but a few splatterings of blood here and there and a sore neck. Third time was pretty much the same as the second although maybe a little sorer still due again to technique.
Finally, I took my time, I mean before I had a shave I really inspected my skin and how it lay on my neck. Mmmm, I had not realised this before and it seems so obvious, my skin is tight and solid at the sides of my neck and fairly loose and jelly like around the front. So I had a plan, to shave the sides of my neck and the front of my neck seperatly. Yes it would be a bit more tricky, and yes it would take longer, but it would enable me to shave the front of my neck using a lot less force than the sides. First I did the sides, then gently I shaved the front until all the soap was gone. Swilled my face and I could still feel a little roughness along the sides so grabbed my brush and lathered up the sides. Made another pass on those as well as the sides of my face which also needed more attention. Swilled again, better, felt a little more and I also spotted an area near my mouth that needed doing as well as a tiny bit at the front. Got the brush and went over those bits gently.
The result? My face and the front of my neck are way better than any shave I have ever had. The sides of my neck I still need to work a little on to get them to their smoothest but they are getting their.
And that is what I have learned. Take your time, keep lookng for things you can do to iron out the faults in your shave, be honest with yourself and do not claim victory just because you stuck it to the man by paying 10p a blade. Somewhere a long the line, like most things in life, we lost the skill of taking our time and let a designer tell us that high tech could do the job better, it may be true or it maybe a lie but one thing is for certain, using a DE blade forces you to learn about your face and that in turn helps you to improve your technique by showing you the flaws in your regular shave.
Noob is a funny word, at 42 I am not sure if I ever dabbled in DE when I was a teenager as it was around that time my Dad switched to using carts and he was my provider of shaving stuff back then.
I have never been an electric shaving person. I tried it once but it just wasn't for me, I have always been more of a "gel foam and cart" type of guy. Like many others before and hopefully many after I stumbled upon the blast from the past that is "DE shaving". I got myself a cheap badger brush, some turkish shaving soap and an edwin jagger with some blades. Whilst I was waiting for those to arrive I needed a shave, so popped to my local boots and grabbed a Wilkinson Sword DE Classic for about £5. This is going to spend its life in the camper for the summer, though I will probably take some Derby blades with it as I prefer those at the moment.
Here is what I have learned so far.
Take your time, My first shave was pretty much the same speed as my cart shaving. My own verdict was it left me close in places and rough in others. Don't get me wrong, if you need a quick shave just to make yourself look presentable the DE can acheve that, but it can do so much more. Next time I took my time a little more, it was certainly closer, but a few splatterings of blood here and there and a sore neck. Third time was pretty much the same as the second although maybe a little sorer still due again to technique.
Finally, I took my time, I mean before I had a shave I really inspected my skin and how it lay on my neck. Mmmm, I had not realised this before and it seems so obvious, my skin is tight and solid at the sides of my neck and fairly loose and jelly like around the front. So I had a plan, to shave the sides of my neck and the front of my neck seperatly. Yes it would be a bit more tricky, and yes it would take longer, but it would enable me to shave the front of my neck using a lot less force than the sides. First I did the sides, then gently I shaved the front until all the soap was gone. Swilled my face and I could still feel a little roughness along the sides so grabbed my brush and lathered up the sides. Made another pass on those as well as the sides of my face which also needed more attention. Swilled again, better, felt a little more and I also spotted an area near my mouth that needed doing as well as a tiny bit at the front. Got the brush and went over those bits gently.
The result? My face and the front of my neck are way better than any shave I have ever had. The sides of my neck I still need to work a little on to get them to their smoothest but they are getting their.
And that is what I have learned. Take your time, keep lookng for things you can do to iron out the faults in your shave, be honest with yourself and do not claim victory just because you stuck it to the man by paying 10p a blade. Somewhere a long the line, like most things in life, we lost the skill of taking our time and let a designer tell us that high tech could do the job better, it may be true or it maybe a lie but one thing is for certain, using a DE blade forces you to learn about your face and that in turn helps you to improve your technique by showing you the flaws in your regular shave.
