I have an affinity for "old fashioned" stuff....I started spending my Christmas and birthday money in antique stores when I was nine. So I've long admired the classic safety razor shaving gear, but until a couple of days ago, I never considered that it was something I could use myself--it seemed like male-only territory. Then I wandered into a sustainability blog and sort of bounced around the web reading message boards and reviews and VIOLA! Tonight I did my first wet shave. I found a nice cheap DE on Amazon--Japanese made, generic brand, but a long handle and good heft. I think I paid about $12 including shipping. It came with a packet of 10 Dorco blades, and I ordered a bottle of Crem0 and a tweezerman brush and off I went to the bathtub. I played around a little, making foam (I like the Dorco better with one drop of sulfate-free shampoo and a tiny squeeze of hair conditioner added) and feeling a little nervous. I am.....accident prone. There was the potential for some serious carnage in my pretty new shiny toy....BUT I did the first stroke, on my arm, WTG, and I was immediately hooked. I proceeded to shave EVERYTHING, even my underarms....even my "lady bits". I made it through with only two little nicks--one on the ankle when I just got distracted (wet shaving not recommended for ladies with ADHD) and one on the underside of my arm, near the elbow, where I was shaving blind and the blade was closer to my arm than I realized. I used an alum bar and it stung a little in some places, but overall, it was a great experience. This board is a great resource. Hubby was eyeing my new razor with a glint of interest...I just went to Amazon and got him one of his own...or a backup for me, depending. Things I would change: I used a lot of the Cremo. I was covering a lot of territory, granted, but it was still a LOT. I felt like the lather deflated quicker than I would have expected, as well--considering the claims printed on the tube about how it would change my life. I have never used canned foam with any success--they are merciless on my dry, super-sensitive skin. So I've been using hair conditioner for shaving for years and years. The problem there is that my hair is so super fine, that a lot of it just slides under a cartridge shaver if it's coated with something as slick as conditioner. I think the brush method will help with that a LOT. I also feel like the amount of nasty chemical stuff in the Cremo doesn't have the payoff it should to make it worth it....so I'll be checking out some more natural soaps and creams....or making some. I swim several days a week in a very VERY highly chlorinated health club pool--how painful should I expect that to be tomorrow?
Well, I can't address the pool issue, but welcome to the Den! I'm sure the ladies will be chiming in soon with advice! And keep working on your husband, get him converted.
One suggestion re: the drying lather. Do not lather a large area and then shave that area. Lather a patch that will not take more than 2 minutes to shave. Shave it and then lather another patch. Do not lather more than you can shave before the lather fades.
to TSD K.........I hope you like it here... on giving "traditional" wet shaving a try!! Unless chlorinated tap water hurts after you shave, the pool water although not great for your skin or hair I.M.O., shouldn't cause you any pain at all...Sweating immediately after you shave would be more of a problem(painwise) I'd think.... +1 on what Barrylu said and if I were you(based on my experience) I'd lose the creamo and try a better soap, there are "VERY" many to choose from, check out the TSD store for some choices and you can ask JoAnna or any of the ladies here at TSD for some help in choosing....You may even want to consider giving an Arko stick a try? Great shave soap,inexpensive and the stick application may help in covering such a large area a little at a time while keeping your lather fresh for your entire shave....
Hi! Welcome to the Den. Be sure to sign up for the November Newbie Give-Away. It took a while, but I finally converted my wife to using a DE. She now has her own Pink Star Lady Gillette, a hand-crafted pink badger brush, and her own tub of Victorian Rose shave soap from The Shave Den Shop. She's really enjoying the experience! Stick around, ask questions. Lots of great folks here.
Here are the ingredients to Cremo Cream: Source: http://www.drugstore.com/cremo-cream-shave-cream/qxp190633?aid&gclid=CPKph5-ZxLoCFUhb3godTXgA_g Water SodiumCocoyl Isethionate Stearic Acid Glycol Distearate Cetearyl Alcohol Macadamia Ternifolia (Nut) Seed Oil Polyether 1 Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride Allantoin (Comfrey Root) Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice Calendula (Calendula Officinalis) Flower Extract Xylitol Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract Linalool Limonene BHT Perfluoromethylcyclopentane Phenoxyethanol Ethylhexl Glycerin Titanium Dioxide Citric Acid Fragrance BTW: Titanium Dioxide is used as a substitute for Alum and is many times used in styptic sticks. There is a lot in this list that you could be sensitive to and others never have an issue. Good fortune in finding a combination that works for you.
Welcome to the Den! Try using some preshave oils and other creams/soaps. Also do yourself a favor and get a sample pack of blades. All blades are not created equal. Find the brand that works best for you. Your shaves will get better and better as your technique improves. Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.
Welcome to The Shave Den! Could you provide a link to the razor you bought from Amazon? I like to know exactly what you're using before addressing many questions.
Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CW51OG0/?tag=thshde-20 The logo on the top says "MISAKI Japan" in English and what I assume is Japanese. My daughter tried it today and liked it, but was still a little prickly after one pass WTG and one ATG--I think her angle was off...but she'll have to keep trying to find what works for her. I do have a sample pack of blades ordered. Looking forward to trying them. I also got an artisan shave soap from Etsy and a bowl of TOBS Avocado to try. I am a cosmetic crafter, so I'm at least vaguely familiar with most of the ingredients, and in time will probably make myself some shave cream and/or soap so I can adjust it to my preferences. I didn't get to go to the pool, so the jury's still out on the chlorine question, but I make a "non-petroleum jelly" pool balm that I cover myself with before I get in the pool. Vaseline is popular for that purpose with lifeguards and water therapists and people who work in water a lot, but that CAN'T be good for the skin or the body to be soaking up that much petrolatum.
Once I sat down and took a really good look at the Misaki, I realized it's actually pretty chintzy-looking, especially compared to the photos of "better" razors on this forum. I was definitely distracted by how heavy it is, which I love, but I've already had to repair it once because I dropped it and one of the doors popped off. Not hard to fix, but in looking at it closely, the plating on the doors is patchy, the edges are not smoothly finished, and there are angles where there should probably be curves. That's mostly cosmetic stuff, and it DID give me a very nice first shave. After much deliberation, I went to Etsy and ordered a vintage Lady Gillette for $21, which is probably what I should have done in the first place. Next on my wish list is a big honkin' Merker Futur. I worry a little about the lack of a textured grip, considering how klutzy I am, but it does not seem to be a factor in the reviews I've read. There is a local antique store with a pile of vintage DE's in the back that I'm itching to dig through, as well. Looking forward to today's shave. Sadly, I have to wait for a bucket heater to warm up my bathwater (we have an underground leak in our hot water line, and this is my temporary solution) and that takes about five hours in my big bathtub. So I guess I'll lurk a bit while I'm waiting.
Been there and done that with the underground hot water leak so I understand. When you get the Lady Gillette here is a tip that I received when I started with a DE and I pass it on because it works. THE 30 DAY RULE is as follows: Find a razor, then a blade that will not cause issues with your skin (that may take a few different blades in a sampler pack to find a suitable choice or it maybe the first out of the gate) and select a soap or cream that is easy to generate good lather. Once you find those, and it may take a couple of weeks to find this combination, order a quantity of that blade enough for 30 days, and then spend 30 days using nothing else until you build up your technique. (Note that only one brand blade is used for 30 days after each blade in the sampler pack is tested to make the decision on the blade brand to use for 30 days.) The 30 day clock starts when you have the right blade for you. Just like a golfer mastering his game with one set of clubs, you are building up technique. After 30 days, change one and only one variable and work for another week then change another after another week. At that point you should be able to make better decisions because your technique is now in place. This will help you to avoid buying too much gear and stuff too soon without having the technique down to enjoy it all. This really does work. Oh, and enjoy the lurking, the rest of us lurk on the site at times as well.
I got my TOBS Avocado yesterday and replicated my first shave on one leg, but used a very small amount of jojoba oil on the other. No itch issues, so the Cremo has been handed down to my daughter. I also gave her a second Escali brush (I think I said it was a Tweezerman before, whoops) that I'd intended for my husband, but he made grumpy noises about how he "doesn't have time to be mixing stuff up". Darn. I KNOW he hates shaving, and I'm sure he would love wet shaving, but clearly he's going to have to be broken in gently. As for the shave: I am completely in love with TOBS Avocado. It's brilliant. Perfect lather in seconds from a complete newbie, the smell is amazing, although unidentifiable...it's watery, but not oceany....water lily? Like melon without the sweetness, or cucumber without the...cucumber. It did fight with the oatmeal honey scent in my jojoba, so maybe unscented pre-shave oil in the future. I felt like the combo of the pre-shave oil and the rich texture of the TOBS lather gummed up the razor just a tiny bit. The side with the oil had a bit less friction, but I don't see any difference in the shaves 24 hours later.
Nice to see your getting along so well with your "traditional" shaving venture K.. Have you ever considered using "Corn Huskers Lotion" as a preshave? It's what I use and for me at least it works as well as Proraso or Jack Black preshave, but costs "ALOT" less, has no oil to gum your razor up and it's made in America... I see your into fountain pens also...Have you ever tried any of the Chinese pens? I have gotten several off of ebay as they are reasonably priced and seem to work quite well.....The one I'm currently using is a "baoer 508", I have to keep a health log so I use it a bit every morning..A trick I learned with the Chinese pens at least is to wash out the nib( I use warm water and Dawn and then rinse well with plain water) before you use them the first time to get rid of any contaminants that may affect ink flow..
Thanks everybody! 178-bplatoon, I have had mixed results with the Chinese pens. They mostly use the vintage-style "squeezeable" rubbery bladders to hold the ink, and those seem to degrade over time, especially if I let the pen "go dry" for an extended period. There are so many really stunningly beautiful chinese pens, some with really very nice nibs, and often SO inexpensive that I still take the gamble from time to time. If I have to do a lot of writing, I still stick to a noodler's or a really great Japanese pen called the "Dude", which is really, really nice for fast writing. I got into fountain pens for the looks and the love of all things "old-fashioned" at first, then because I have troublesome hands that cramp pretty severely when writing with a regular pen. The minimal pressure needed to write with a good fountain pen helps a LOT. Then I started collecting and mixing my own colors of ink, because what's more fun than having a color that is uniquely yours? Sorry, forum members, for the little thread hijack! I'd bet that we're not the only two on the forum into fountain pens, though. They seem like natural common interests.
For the TSD Fountain Pen Enthusiast ---> *click* I have over two dozen myself, about half of those vintage.
