Well, my first 2 DE's with my Futur and Merkur blade are done. I don't like the cheap VDH brush at all, but that might be technique. I did Truefitt and Hill Trafalgar from my samples on the first shave last night. Love the smell, but the A/S didn't do anything that I could see. This morning I used Speick and the cold rinse and got down to 2.5 on the Futur. I had 2 nicks but I'm lovin' it for my first times! Love the Speick and the Proraso pre/post shave was so invigorating, and my face feels much better than yesterday. I totally spaced loading a fresh Feather in, but it is loaded now! I put on some Truefitt Freshman to complete the package. Now to find a great bodywash and pitstick!! Oh, and a brush.....duh! My Old Spice After Hours seems too sweet and kid-like now. All of this because I watched a short How It Works show on razors and blades from Merkur. Well, AND reading up on this wonderful site.
We love to hear success stories, and as Jeff said, it will only keep getting better. :signs107 As for the VDH brush, while it has its fans, there are also many folks who just never really come to terms with it and move on to a different brush.
happy088 Yup! They only get better. I'm not a fan of the VDH brush, either. As for the Futur, and all my adjustable razors, when I first got it I started a bit on the low side (1.5 on the Futur and 3 on the Fatboy). I did my first shave, all three passes, on the same setting. The next day I took it up a notch and again did all three passes at that setting. I continued that every day until I reach the "one notch too far" shave. Now I keep my Futur locked at 2.5 and my Gillette adjustables locked at 6. Every razor is different, so experiment and you'll find what works best!
Good start! As far as the brush goes, I'm a fan of them and they're great when you get a good one. That said it takes an awful long time to break them in, mine took a good 2-3 months to reach peak performance levels, so you have to be patient with them. Once they're broke in they become lather monsters which can whip any soap or cream into luxurious creamy lather just by looking at them.:happy102
Arrrghh. This is so addicting. I had to go to Nordstroms, and L'Occitaine today. I think I wore my sniffer out. The only reason I didn't come home with something from John V., Tom Ford or L'Occitaine is becaus I still need more shaving gear first and need to pace myself some. ashamed001 Someday it will be nice to have some skills to go with it all. In time.....
Whoops, forgot to say that I took the assorted new stuff I just got to let my dad check it out. My Proraso cream didn't make it back home.
Yeah.... things have a tendency to not make it home when shown to others. The VDH is a very basic boar brush. While it is breaking in, they have a tendency to lose a lot of hairs. Once it breaks in, it will be better. However, it is certainly a low end brush.
Well, I got my first BBS with the Feather loaded. I also followed the WTG with an ATG, which made the difference at this young stage in my DE adventure. No nicks other than a friggin mole that I just can't seem to miss. :ashamed001 The sad thing is, the shave is closer and as a bonus, just as fast. My Braun, which is at least mid level or better, just can't take the stuff under my chin and neck down worth a dang. So, I'd stretch, twist, grind and drag the thing and eventually get it passable. This is so awesome. I can't wait until I get consistent and MORE STUFF! I've got to figure out how to get my PayPal account to let me associate my card with two accounts.
Yeah, I used to have a mole on my right jawline that I always managed to nick back in my cartridge days, finally got so fed up with it I had my doctor remove it. Best choice I ever made as I'm sure it would've been a real PITA once i had switched to D/E's. Nope, they haven't. Tried to do that just recently when I was trying to buy the wife a new color Nook off of eBay with the B&N $50.00 off coupon, under her own eBay account, and PayPal would have none of that. Finally just had to have a friend purchase it for me, then reimburse him for it.
How good, your first combo was the same as mine, except I used MWF and a Franklin finest badger, once you get used to the Futur (shouldn't take too long) you will start to see very quick improvme ts with your shaves. This thread actualy makes me feel like returning to my roots and putting down my super speed for a few days. Keep at it and enjoy your shaves
Thanks for the update. I'm trying to square the PayPal away so I can buy some stuff right here on TSD, but I will have to use my wife's account since that is where my card is tied to anyway. She's loving this...lots of new smells and a closer shave! My mole is high on my cheek and one of those low ones, so my doc says it might scar badly...IIRC. I'll have to revisit that. You'd think I could miss it there, but I'll get there or have it burned off or whatever.
If I didn't have the goatee, I'd have nicks and dings. I'm lucky in that way. Thanks again guys. Love it here!
