Yet another DE Rookie - in need of advice.

I've been reading a couple of hundreds threads about DE advice and watched Manti and geofatboy YouTube for hours but never did find the DE rookie videos - so if anyone got some direct links I would appreciate it highly !!

I've wet shaved with Gillette Sensor, Mach 3 and Fusion for 20 years.

Will try DE next week for the first time.

I like Fusion shaves a lot, just wanted to try DE for the fun if it.

Fusion shaves 3-4 days a week gives me great nice BBS shaves in 10 minutes with little to ZERO irritation.

But must try DE :lol:
Will also try Straight soon

But need to be able to walk before I can run !!

So bought Mühle R44 Black Resin Fusion and R44 DE along with Sophist Black Resin 23 mm Silvertip badger and dual stand with bowl.
R44 is a closed comb DE SR.

Bought 25 Derby Extra bladed, 25 Wilkinson Sword blades and 25 Merkur Super Platinum Blades.
What should I start out with of these 3 blades ?

Thx

Try this one for the very basics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufG1dPmVo8Q

Which Wilkinson blades have you bought?

These:

Thanks - very informative video

I don't know which blade to recommend. I'm not a fan of any of this three.

The Wilkinson would be the mildest of three. I have had used the Derbys they smooth and provide a great shave. I do not know anything about the Merkurs. I suggest reading posts in the about blades.

I haven't tried hte Wilkinson, local stores sell the packs for $15. I am not a fan of the Merkur, they are not right for my skin type. I started with Derby's then moved on to Personna Reds. Just a note on getting the blade angle right (I do this anyway to test sharpness of my Rolls Razor blades and to get the angle), practice shaving a bit of hair from teh underside of your forearm. Then you can see the angle for the razor and get a bit of a feel for the blade. It's by no means perfect, but I do it anyway.

First, when it comes to blades don't pay attention to anything posted, and for Gods sake, don't ask about blades! Buy a blade sampler and test blades for yourself. No one, not even me, can tell you what works for you. It's definitely a YMMV (your mileage may vary) subject. OK, that having been writen, Dorcos suck, so steer clear of 'em.

You asked about blades, but as a noob you should have asked about the "how" of shaving. Technique is everything with blade shaving. Get technique down and you can shave with pretty much any blade (some will be better than others though). Frankly, your noob technique is going to be the pits since you're coming to blades from a cartridge, so the blade won't mean anything for awhile. Just pick one.

You will need to fight the habit of putting pressure on the razor in order to get a shave. NO PRESSURE! Yes, I was shouting because it's so important when using a blade. After that is angle, but NO PRESSURE is what you need to concentrate on. If your angle is wrong the SR won't allow you to cut anything, even whiskers, if it's off a lot. NO PRESSURE is what what will save you from razor burn and much grief in the form of blood. Bad angle won't hurt as much as pressure on the razor.

OK, we always tell noobs no pressure, but obviously you need some. It's been described as "only the weight of the razor" and that description will do. I use lightweight razors a lot, so I describe it as holding the razor firm against the skin, but apply no pressure. If the razor is held limply it'll bounce and you don't want that.

Other things that matter are lather (practice making and trashing lather until you have it down), and knowing in which direction your whiskers lie. For now just do N/S strokes and concentrate on everything else (NO PRESSURE, angle, and lather). You can face map later.

Thanks for the rookie info - all help is highly appreciated

I have noticed that that a lot of fresh starters don't cut themselves so much with blade angle as they do with the razor head and blade moving horizontal. Yikes! Slice-a-Rooni time. Make smooth, multiple stokes; tougher and trickier to do those loooong strokes with the DE vs the Gillette. If you use as much pressure with a DE as you have to use with a cartridge razor--theDE will peel and roll your skin up like a sod cutter. Try to respect the blade and not fear it; the blade doesn't cut you, you cut you. Another added bonus with the DE--when you cut yourself you generally don't feel it---you find out when you look down and see a drop of blood land in the sink and your ear floating next to it. I think Van Gogh used a DE on his ear. Shaving with a cartridge won't make you a better DE shaver but a DE will make you a better cartridge shaver. DE is win. win--minus the scary blade, cutting and blood thing....

Remember----Relax and Enjoy

Ouchhhh..... I think I might start out with doing a hybrid of my beloved Fusion and DE based on what you write :lol:

There's a very good reason to why I chose to buy ONE Mühle Sophist 23 mm Silvertip Badgerbrush but 2 Mühle Sophist razors - one Fusion and one DE

Will use the Fusion on neck, under the nose area, lip area and ATG the first times and only use the DE on the basic cheek area the first 15-20 times until I get the hang of the balance of the DE razor and find the correct amount of pressure, blade angle and learn to prevent the longer diagonal strokes !

Sounds like a great plan and approach. Keep us posted on your progress.