So I just performed my first wet shave ever. I see that I have some work to do. The hardest part for me is to remember to let the weight of the razor do the work. I kept finding myself using pressure during the shave. Also need to work on keeping the angle so the blade has constant contact. My thoughts: 1) I will probably never go back to cartridge shaving. I almost said regular shaving, but this should be regular shaving. 2) My Omega boar hair brush smells, well like a boar. Dang! On first opening the box and smelling it I thought "What's the fuss?" Then I wet it. Found out about the fuss. I know the smell will fade. I love the feel of applying with a brush. It felt really good. 3) Proraso shave soap smells really clean. After the first pass I really felt the menthol and eucalyptus. Refreshing. 4) Now I don't have much to go on here, but my first shave was with a Bluebird blade. Nothing to compare it to yet, but it felt smooth to me. My shave today was with four days growth. There was a little tugging just under the chin, however I'm not sure if that was the blade or my technique (which sucks right now). I am giving myself some leeway, but I seem to have not got as close in some areas. I just told myself "In time young padawan." 5) Styptic pencils rock! 6) The Merkur 34C is very easy to use. I love the weight. As with everything else, it will take time. I must get used to such a short razor and find my technique. Holding my pinky on the end for stabilization seems to really work for me. Did three passes, or my attempt at such. My hair flows in many different directions all over my face that I will learn for the different passes. So overall I am pleased with my first experience. I'm sure swmbo will fret a little when I start "having" to buy new soaps and gear in general, but whateves! A man must shave!!
Welcome to the Den! Sounds like you are off to a great start. If you haven't already you should check out Mantic59 on youtube. He has some great wet shaving videos. By the way, how did she like the Clubman AS? My wife loves it.
She likes the Clubman. She said it was subtle but smelled good. She also likes vanilla so I'm thinking about picking up some Clubman vanilla. I have not smelled it and stores here only carry original so I'm going in blind.
to TSD "GooseCretian" Time, technique, practice and patience will get you to your goal of FANTASTIC shaves, so just hang in there.. What I did in the beginning was to concentrate on irritation free shaves rather than super close BBS's. An irritation free DFS beats an irritation filled BBS everytime IMO. I also very much like Clubman, I use Original, Virgin Island BayRum and the Veg. I haven't got to try Vanilla yet, but its on the list..
I personally don't have experience with boar hair brush, but I do have a Simpson pure badger brush The first few weeks it smelled like I was rubbing a wet dog all over my face. Good intro to wet shaving. After each shave, I shampooed and conditioned the brush, and now it just smells like whatever I am shaving with.
Well I have to say that my technique is definitely getting better. And yes my boar hair brush is smelling much better. I have to say I am quite impressed with this forum. Everyone seems very approachable and understanding. I have found that this is a rare quality in any type of message board. So thank you to all who took the time to respond to this thread. The knowledge and experience here is helping me greatly.
