This post is to offer a little basic guidance, with some information from my comprehensive guide to gourmet shaving and my recommendations for a beginning shaving kit.

Problems with the shave usually have their cause in one of the essential steps:

Prep: beard must be fully wetted to soften---shave after showering, wash beard again at the sink, and apply a good lather to your wet beard. (Lather is always applied to a wet beard.)

Blade selection: crucial. Novices focus on the razor, but the razor is just a device for holding the blade and presenting the edge at the correct angle to the stubble. Different people require different blades. Get a sampler packet from LetterK so you can find the right blade for you.

Blade angle: absolutely critical. The blade should be ALMOST parallel to the skin being shaved, so that the edge strikes the stubble almost at a right angle. Where the skin has a lot of curves (e.g., jawline, neck, chin), you have to maneuver the razor a fair amount to keep the blade angle correct. Making short strokes will help you stay focused on blade angle. No matter how light the pressure, if the angle's wrong, you'll get a nick or cut.

Razor pressure: use very light pressure. Shaving with a cartridge either requires or encourages pressure, so this is a habit that must be unlearned. Often the weight of the razor by itself is enough to cut the stubble. Hold the blade to minimize pressure---e.g., by the balance point on the handle. When you rinse after the first pass, you'll feel quite a bit of stubble. This does NOT mean you should use more pressure---in single blade shaving, you eliminate the stubble by progressively reducing it over 2, 3, or 4 passes.

Your beard's grain (direction of growth): It's vital that you know this, since the sequence of passes is first with the grain, then across the grain, and then (if stubble is sufficiently reduced) against the grain. (If too much stubble remains for a comfortable against-the-grain pass, first shave across the grain the other way.) Generally, the beard on your face will grow downward---but not always. I have a couple of patches where it grows more or less sideways. The grain on the neck can be anything. To find the grain, wait 8-12 hours after you've shaved, then rub your face and neck. The direction that's roughest is against the grain. You'll find the "roughest" direction is different on different pars of your face and neck.

If you pay attention to these basic points, you'll enjoy your shaves. There will be a learning curve, as you make the transition from cognitive understanding to practiced skill, but you will at least know what you're trying for.

Happy shaves.

A must read!

Excellent post Michael!

He knows what he is talking about folks.

Look at that mug, BBS!

Thanks, Michael. Glad you (and your expertise) are here.

I am honored to have Leisureguy here.. I truly am.. Newbies, this man has some invaluable experience and is willing to share it.. He is a priceless gem!

Thank you Michael!

He has one helluva collection of stuff too

Michael.. how about a pic of a couple of your say, shaving soaps.....

NEWBS !
Listen up....Michael knows of what he speaks.
Now....if I may be so bold.
In my ...er. months of experience......I have determined THE most essential element to successful shaves is :
KNOWING YOUR GRAIN.
THIS, my friends, is absolutely crucial.
For, once you know your face you will begin to obtain the most excellent shaves EVER !
---------------------------------------------------------------
MY hierarchy of importance:

1. PREP. Most important....(See above
2. KNOW YOUR GRAIN and use proper reduction techniques.
3. Razor Pressure
4. Blade Angle
5. Blade + Razor combination....hear me now. Believe me later. This is key !

This is good information, but I am not exactly sure what knowing your grain really means.. I know that you can shave with the grain or against the grain. . my assumption is that you mean that you know how (in which direction) the hair on your face grows and you would adapt your own personal regime based on this..

How does this affect gentlemen who have beards that grow in multiple directions... (I almost said multi grain... ) ?

The best equipment and products in the world won't make up for poor technique. As in many things in my life this is very true. Leisureguy has been an inspiration as well as many others I have had the pleasure of reading on here and other places.

You can get away with shaving north/south or east west and each pass with reduce some stubble. To get the best shave though, you have to learn the directions your hair grows on your face and neck. Leisureguy is right. Feel your face after 10-12 hours of growth. Go up, down, side to side with your fingers. You will notice that sometimes it feels somewhat smooth and other times really rough. The smooth direction is with the grain (WTG). The roughest feeling is against the grain (ATG). In between is across the grain (XTG). You will really see how it helps to know your face in the quality of your shave in terms of closeness and without getting razor burns and nicks. It also helps tremendously when you do your "cleanup" work. Before I do my cleanup work I will put a little thin layer of lather on my face and rub my face with my hand. If I feel rough spots, those are the places I have to work on. Knowing which way the hair is going really helps to reduce the stubble to minimum without torturing my face.

I would also like to add....Patience!

When I started out in Wet Shaving (with a DE) I bought a Futur. Nothing wrong with that I say.....but apart from the sexy looks....it was adjustable.....and I REALLY wanted to open it out and show everyone just how good a shaver I was. I have noticed many others who have done the same. I got shaves better than those I had with my 4 blade razor ...but I still had nicks and razor burn. I ALWAYS wanted to open it that little bit more. I bought other razors which were non adjustable, and took the time to learn to shave properly. Now some time down the line...I can achieve a BBS shave with just about any quality razor. Take time to learn about your face and your razor /blade combination. Have Patience ....it's worth it in the end! It won't save you any money though.......you will end up buying everything anyway

MadMedic makes a very good point: approach adjustable razors with caution, and start with the non-aggressive setting, moving up notch by notch until you get a good shave. And stop there. It's not a contest.

I'll post some photos of the the collection later...

You know, I've never paid any attention to grain direction. I figure with four passes, I'm hitting every spot WTG, XTG, and ATG anyway. But just now, I rubbed my stubble (it's been almost 24 hrs since my last shave), and I've discovered that the grain on my neck actually seems to go from my chin towards my ear (except directly under my chin which seems to grown N-S). So that means I've been going ATG in those areas on my second pass. I bet I'd have better results if I make alter the sequence of passes there so I go ATG on my last pass, as I do on the rest of my face. I think I'll give that a go tonight.

My personal opinion on razors is that the best start is a fixed head Merkur. Most people recommend the Merkur HD. I started with the Long Handle Classic and found it to be quite comfortable transitioning from a Mach III.

The problem with adjustables are that you spend more time looking for the right setting rather than focusing on mastering cutting angle, speed, and pressure. Not that there's anything wrong with adjustables, I just personally don't care for them and learning with a fixed razor eliminates one more variable and unnecessary confusion.

My other tip is when you first start, try only lathering one half of your face at a time. Lather one side, take your time cutting it focusing on technique with complete concentration, then lather the other side and repeat. I rediscovered this recently when I started learning how to straight shave. By the time I finished one side of my face and started cutting the other the lather had already begun to dry significantly. Once it's out of the brush and sitting on your face it is exposed to more air and will cool quickly. Dry cold lather = bad bad shave

Knowing your grain pattern is a necessity. Even if you later on decide to dabble in Method Shaving where you focus on cutting forms instead of grain, it is still very usefull to know how your hair grows and how to manuver certain areas of the face, especially for finish cutting (blade buffing, etc).

Leisureguy and Mantic are my heroes! :happy096

Thanks leisureguy... I've been DE-shaving for about 1week.
You talking about the blade angle. For me it's very difficult at the chin especially, and also jawline. Very tricky places, since my chin is not very flat, it's pretty round actually. I've discovered it's very hard to keep the right blade angle, since the handle will point straight down, because of the slopes.... hehe, anyway I find it tricky, but fun. Any tips on keeping blade angle even here except short strokes?

Thanks... again

"Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving" book is excellent

I wanted to recommend the book "Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving, Second Edition" by Michael Ham. The content is terrific and laid out in a logical fashion. His writing style is excellent: to the point, clear, and with dashes of humor thrown in. I especially appreciated the reference to his online site where he maintains scores of handy hyperlinks to forums like TSD, vendors, and other sources of information.

Great to hear you like it