What he said^^^. Your MicroTouch is about as mild as you are going to find. It is an issue of technique, and using the proper angle with the blade. You will get it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Thank you all for the great advice. By all means, Keep it coming. I'm reading all of the replies and trying to apply the methods therein...
I guess I need to update my blade selection. I'm using Astra blades. My first razor came with dorco and they seemed to pull...
Many folks recommend the Merkur 34c or the Edwin Jagger d89 for those of us getting into DE shaving. Both are very forgiving. I'm new at this and I am using the Merkur 34c - very happy with it. However - I am going through a fairly large sample pack of different blades. Even with a "less aggressive" razor - some of the blades still cause irritation. Just got to find the right combination.
None! And that might be part of the issue. Maybe the aggression you feel is more due to your technique than to the razor?
I have a vintage Gillette travel tech that is my most forgiving of razors. Those are pretty easy to find and even with more aggressive blades I tend to be able to get through a shave with little to no problems. On the complete opposite of the spectrum would be my red tip that I usually reserve for the times that I need to beard-bust. It works great for going through thicker stubble but can be too aggressive when used as an everyday shaver due to the amount of blade exposure.
Just because a razor is tagged as "mild" doesn't mean that you won't experience irritation. Likewise don't assume that an "aggressive" will cause irritation. I suggest that you get your technique down and explore some other alternatives. There are the adjustable razors out there for you to "dial in" your favorite blade exposure.
I've gotten better at shaving now. I'm up to 2.5 on my merkur futur. Still using astra blades. I think I'll try to buy some feathers......After the second pass I have to rub and touch-up spots. but I'm not bleeding much any more.....
For me, Futur + Feather = irritation and nicks. But I'd be interested to see if you have the same experience or not.
Good to hear! Repeating my earlier comment; when you wonder how hard to push the razor against your face, you're pushing too hard. "No pressure" is the mantra for a good reason.
The STAR 3-piece DE razor is horribly mild. First time I tried it, I thought I'd left the blade out. The ball-end Gillette Tech is mild to perfection for me. And my Slim adjustable at "3" works almost as well.
The micro touch rebranded weishi razor has a few draw backs with it that are easily found out. Namely the micro touch one has such a generous shave angle that you can easily learn habits that will lead to problems with any other razor. At the same time, I found my micro touch razor really wanted me to push down hard in order to cut facial hair. Not exactly a good thing to teach your hand.
I was alot like you when i was brand new. Some days I got really great shaves, other days bad ones with irritation. But everything Bama says in his post in right on the money. Its best to stay with one razor until you get the technique down, then you can venture out into other razors. The part about keeping a shallow angle is really key IMO, if you make a pass and it leaves alot of stubble then the angle is too steep, when you get the angle down youll know it.
And the part to really pay attention to is "ride the cap of the razor". Start your first stroke by touching the cap of the razor to your face. Then rotate the handle down until the blade edge just barely touches your skin while keeping contact with the cap the entire time. You're now at the right shaving angle. You then make your stroke with the cap riding in contact with your skin and the blade edge gliding along in front mowing down stubble. Any weight or pressure is on the cap and not on the blade edge. This keeps the angle shallow so the blade is slicing rather than "hoeing" the stubble and the lack of pressure on the blade keeps it from grinding or digging into the skin and causing nicks, weepers or irritation. I have found it useful to visualize it like a snowplow: All the weight of the vehicle (and the driving traction) is on the wheels or tracks under the vehicle body (the cap); the snowplow itself just hangs off the front gliding barely above the surface as it pushes away the snow without dragging on or digging into the pavement. That's riding the cap.
They say to start the razor at 90 degrees then angle it downwards till you find the right angle for getting the whiskers off. Then keep that angle throughout.
Yep. Start with the top of the cap touching your face, rotate it down until you hit the right shaving angle, and away you go -- riding the cap.
One other tip is to not rub your face or neck at all after you shave especially ATG. I know sometimes this flares up irritation for me. Your face after shaving is really susceptible to irritation cause youve been sliding sharp metal over it.
I find it so hard to resist touching my face after a shave. I just love feeling the smoothness of it. In fact, I was doing it right before typing this, I stopped typing to do it again, and I will do it once I have posted my reply. It is just so soft and smooth. I can't help it!