Like all the others, I am new here. I came from a lonely land. As a teenage, barely needing to shave on a vacation to Ireland in the early eighty's, my electric razor burnt out due to the voltage differences. That may have been the start of something good, but no--my sister gave me a disposable razor and that was my first cut (in more ways than one). Once back from that trip, I quickly graduated into the cartridges of the day. I've been using them mostly every day since then. Lately, the price of these cartridges has now grown to over $30 a month at my usage, and with the other problems that I have had since forever.... Something's gotta change. I was never able to use shave cream except edge gel, and even then I have always had red bumps on my lower neck for as long as I can remember. It was worse with canned creams. all the way back into the 80's. A friend of mine said to look into trying a safety razor, and so I'm going to give it a shot. I am a tech-guy so I tend to research things before I form an opinion and I did that. I have a good feeling that a good wet-shaving process with a good soap, a proper blade and good form will not only release me from pricey cartridges AND relieve me of these red bumps on my lower neck. FINALLY. I've been watching and reading many threads for a while now. I've scanned some other boards. I have won an ebay auction for a lot of gillette razors of different styles and ages. I've learned what I need to clean them up. I've ordered a set of sample blades for trial and error to find the right one. I'm still trying to figure out brushes, brush storage and lathering. Of course... I say I've figured this out... but I still haven't set anything but a cartridge to my face yet... I have a feeling that I'll also probably need a refresher on a styptic pencil before I need it! --Bill
:signs046 Waves from Wisconsin DE shaving can and did solve many of my shave related skin problems. Lots of helpful advice here.
Welcome to The Shave Den Bill! If you have any questions be sure to ask away. Lots of nice people here that are eager to help. Be sure to sign up for the May Newbie giveaway.
Welcome to TSD, Bill! Have you checked out the mantic59 videos yet? These helped me a bunch. Sounds like you're on the right track. Have fun!
I have been through a number of Mantic59's video's, but I only had time to see about 5 of them. I did not have time enough yet to see if he has videos about getting lather from non-tube soaps, and if he talks to brush storage post-shave (while drying after shave.
Welcome to TSD! Lets see, you have some razors, some blade samplers, been told about the newbie giveaway and been pointed to the mantic videos. The Mantic videos will cover lathering. Brush storage... some people set their brushes whiskers up, some hang them whiskers down. As long as they can properly dry, it doesn't matter too much. Rinse out the soap, shake or squeeze most of the water out (I like to swirl mine on a towel as well) And yes, good technique and wet shaving will take care of a lot of irritation and bumps!
Yep, there's a great lather building video in there. In fact, I think there might be one for cream and another for soap. I'm sure Mark talks about brush drying somewhere, but if you're wondering just ask. You'll get a zillion responses to questions around here
Welcome to TSD! Sounds like you're off to a good start. While I won't make any predictions about saving money, you'll soon be getting a better shave.
Hi there, Just remember that this shaving thing takes some time to all come together, but it's a pretty interesting slide down the rabbit hole.......and rarely boring. Be sure to look at the Mantic video that covers a few emergency procedures such as how to use sutures and tourniquets. Good luck here, Martin Oh wait....... I seem to remember that video being unavailable now. Too gruesome I guess.
Erik -- At least I'll feel like I'm saving money because I'm not "feeding the plastic formed 3-blade--wait.. 4-blade... 5-blade...(wait let's add a battery&motor!! that'll be awesome)... cartridge makers. I can(will be able to) control a lather and a blade to my own satisfaction. Of course, I will need a brush to start, then a better brush, then a selection of soaps, not to mention creams, oh... and how could I forget my special occasion aftershaves, pre-shave oils, .. dot dot dot...dot dot dot... Well, I'm going to be getting a better shave overall, and I'm sure of that. That's why I'm here.
Here is some of the infromation you will need to know. 1) Razors - now that you have some razors and need to clean them up a bit try Maas or boiling them. Boiling them will serilize them cutting out any posibility of getting any disease from a former user. 2) Brushes - you have not said if you have one, try a basic bager brush softer then a boar but stil won't break the bank. 3) Blades - Try as many as you can get your hands on, I tried 26 brands before I found one that worked. 4) Soaps and Creams - creams are a bit more popular here and seem to do a bit better on me than soaps do. a) The most popular soaps are - Williams, Van Der Hagen and Tabac. The first two you can find in CVS for Williams and Rite Aid for Van Der Hagen. Tabac you will have to order on-line. b) The most popular creams are Taylor of Old bond Street, Truefit and Hill, Kiss My Face and CO Bigilow. Taylor of Old Bond Street and Truefit and Hill are from across the pond in jolly old england and you will have to order them on the internet if you want them. Kiss My Face is typically found at natural food stores (got mine at Whole Foods Market http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/) and Bigilow can be found at Bath and Body Works http://www.bathandbodyworks.com. Another popular one is Prorasso which you will need to order on the internet. 5) After Shaves - While not strictly necessary often help make things smell better, most are excellent and can be found at local CVS and Rite Aid. I do not have Wallmart or Wallgreens so I can not speak to them. These can also be found at beauty supply stores which is where I typically get them. My journey was similar to yours, just did not burn out an electric on a trip. Tried a disposable and will never touch one again. Came through the cartridge razors from the Fusion to the Mach 3 to the Sensor Excell to the Super Speeds. Hope you enjoy wet shaving much mroe than you did the mini lawn mowers that are electric shavers and those stupid disposables and cartridge shavers. :signs046 Washington, DC waves
Just to be clear, the C.O. Bigelow creme that he's talking about is the one in the green box, not the "elixer" varieties. Proraso makes the cream for C.O. Bigelow, so there's no need to look elsewhere for Proraso cream unless you're looking for one of their other varieties. Welcome to TSD and have a great shave.
