I have given up trying to convert my wife but my 14 year old daughter is showing promise. On my open invitation she tried my brush and soap (it's an unscented soap that my barber gave me and I have no idea what it is) with the Fusion razor that I no longer used. She loved it and would like to try my Merkur. After smelling all of my creams and soaps she liked my Crabtree/Ev. Nomad soap. I know nothing about shaving legs. Other than the techniques I've learned from the Mantic videos, great advice from this site, and my few weeks of experience is there anything different about shaving legs?
Moved this into the ladies section for you. I cannot offer any of the advice you seek, but I will tell you that my 12 year old daughter wetshaves and loves it. She has acquired several razors, D/E's and S/E's from me, and loves to use them all. She now owns a blue Lady Gillette razor that used to belong to her late great grandmother.
She already knows how to shave, right? Then other than teaching her lathering and DE razor technique, DE is just the same as shaving with a cartridge.
I'm still a newbie at DE shaving, but to me, it is a bit different that using the quattro I used to use. More time taken with lathering, going slower with the razor, oh and the pressure is a bit different as well. But... as long as she starts out slow she should be fine. Its a more comfortable cleaner shave than the quattro was, but takes a little bit longer for me to do. It is worth it though.
Thanks! She does know how to shave, she's using this pink thing with one blade that would blow across the room if you sneeze. She loved using my Fusion, I'm sure she'll like my Merkur better. She's going to give this a go some time this weekend. I hope it spreads to my wife and son. I have enough soaps and creams due to my AD's to last a few life times-with more on the way.
I would guess females would have the same tendency that "plastic crap" conditioned men do to apply too much pressure to the blade. I'd make sure she was aware of the "no pressure take it slow" mantra then tell her to have at it.
Tell her just let the weight of the razor do the work while she relaxes and enjoys the smell of the soap.
I'm sorry, I took the question as "Is there any difference in shaving for women between cartridges and DE?" For that question my original reply is my answer. Women shave one ATG pass on their legs with a cartridge, and it's the same with a DE. No pressure falls under teaching her DE razor technique, too. Learning to use a DE is no different for women than for men. Same techniques. Just trying to explain my original answer as it seems no one understood it.
To me your simply left the issue of the number of passes and direction unclear. For us guys, part of DE technique is starting with a WTG pass.
Yes JoAnna the original question was the difference between cartridge and DE. The DE technique I think I can handle, even at my primitive stage.
Success! Her first run went well. No cuts or nicks. It probably could have been a closer shave but she was cautious and slow-more so than me, I guess females are more patient. Now I need to get her one of those lady Gillette razors before she steals my Merkur. Thanks for the guidance.
Because the advice was being given through a man, I thought it should be clarified. If I wasn't for TSD, I wouldn't have know that's how all, or at least the vast majority, of women shave.
D'oh! I meant I know how she shaves. I just didn't know how other women shaved. She could have been totally different than normal in terms of shaving for all I knew. I'm sure some men have watched several different women shave, but I've been lucky enough to find one for the long haul.