I've only been wet shaving for about three months after my last electric razor finally died. A friend suggested Harry's. Target carries Harry's without needing to subscribe. He also suggested watching a few YouTube videos before trying to wet shave. I tried Harry's with some shaving gel and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Before wearing out the cartridge, I was getting BBS shaves. BUT, YouTube had lots and lots of videos on DE shaving. I decided to try DE shaving again (remembering all too well the blood letting that I experienced fifty years ago when I regularly used a Gilette DE razor. I followed instructions from some videos by washing my face, using a warm wet cloth to soften the whispers, applying lather with a brush, and then making three passes. The shaves were pretty good. No major blood letting, but still an occasional nick and still too much razor burn. I tried Prorazo white pre-shave. Major improvement. Then I read that Noxzema can be substituted for Proraso pre-shave. It can and it works just as well for me. I kept trying different things, without noticeable improvement until I did this: I wet my face and then wash my face with Noxzema. While it sits on my face, I make a good lather with Van Der Hagen soap (load a boar brush and then work up the lather in a bowl). I rinse off the Noxzema, apply a small amount of Corn Huskers Lotion, lather my face with the Van Der Hagen, and let things sit while I rinse out my brush, clean out the bowl and make a new lather with Proraso soap (I rotate through Red, Green and White). After the new lather is ready, I wet a wash cloth with very warm water, apply it to my shaving area for about thirty-seconds, then use it to remove the first lather. I rinse my face with warm/hot water and then lather up with Proraso. I've had perfect shaves since using this method. I typically use a Mercur 34C or Edwin Jagger 89L. I use Astra, Personna or Voshkod blades, using each blade just one or two times before discarding. After shave is a warm water rinse followed by a cold water rinse, a splash of Witch Hazel, some Nivea balm and finally a splash of Old Spice or Brut aftershave. The routine takes 10 to 15 minutes for a 3 or 4 pass shave with some minor touch up.
First - welcome! B - glad you found what works for you. The saying around here is, "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."
Welcome Mike @Mike Richards! Sounds like you've experimented, tried some different things, and found a routine that works well for you. You mentioned Vintage Gillette razors. Are you using one now? If you have a moment, visit The Welcome Center and drop an Introduction message. This thread here is going to end up being one shortly otherwise! If you'd like a shot at some internet spending credits visit The Newbie Giveaway. Read the rules to be sure you qualify. My preshave routine evolved to... nothing. I tried preshave oil, hot towels, etc. My comfort arrived with cool water lather. Somewhere along the learning process riding the razor's cap helped reduce my irritation, too.
my preshave is simple---warm water applied to the face several times while getting things ready and massaged .then shave with cool water.
Welcome aboard @Mike Richards . Good to have you here, and back into DEs. I've seen Noxzema referenced a few times in other posts too. Which product of theirs are you all using? Has me intrigued...
I use their Classic Clean product. Strong smell, but it works good. My local grocery has it on sale, 4 jars for $10, so I have a lifetime supply.
