Benefits of DE

Hi guys,

I've been cartridge shaving for 10+ years now and have recently contemplated converting to refined shaving. I have a couple of things I need your advice on:

1) Time: How does DE shaving compare to Cartridge shaving as far as speed goes? I don't really have too much time in the morning.

2) Quality benefits of DE vs. Cartridge? Is it true that DE results in lesser ingrown hairs and razor burns?

3) Finally, are brushes necessary?

I appreciate any advice you guys might have. Thanks in advance.

 

First, welcome to the Den!!

1) If you're looking for fast, I'll let others chime in. I get up early so I don't have to rush. My morning routine is get up, hit the latrine, pour coffee, hot shower, shave. That takes me an hour. Like I said, I don't like to rush!

2) Benefits? Yes, DE shaving can be cheaper than cartridges, IF you can avoid the various addiction disorders! Yes, less razor burn. I can finally go against the grain on my neck for a closer shave and not have any irritation. I make three passes for a super-close shave and don't have any problems with ingrown hairs or burn.

3) No. But whipping up a creamy slick lather with a soap or cream that simply smells fantastic is half the fun of doing this. For that you'll need a brush. There are brushless creams out there. I've only tried Burt's Bees and did not like it one bit - I put it on, took three swipes with the razor, and promptly washed it off and lathered up with a proper soap (but that's me - others like brushless).

Again, welcome to the Den.

Have fun and read lots. There's a TON of great advice and ideas here from some fantastic folks.

 

My answers are in red below.

Or ignore everything I typed and just use Steve's fine answers above! :rofl

 

1. Welcome!
2. Bad news here. It takes a little while longer.
   
   Now the good news. Many of us have had the same concern but what I did was learned how to shave first which added a boost in speed than the initial curve, then I liked shaving so much that waking up the 5 minutes earlier it takes over cart shaving was no problem.
3. I really never was an ingrown hair sufferer but heard that there is a marked improvement. As for razor burn, once you get the technique down, there shouldn't be a lot of that, but yes you can and will get razor burn until you learn the ways of the master, grasshoppa::kar.
4. Brushes are NOT necessary, but I wouldn't think of lathering up any other way now.

Basically, you do what you like. But there is a general consensus that some tools are more preferred than others, such as a DE razor and a blade of your liking, a good soap or cream, a brush.

DE raor: obvious. Its hard to DE shave without one.
Blade of your choosing: I have found that this is perhaps the singlemost item directly related to comfort. There are many and everyone's face is different so what work for one person may totally suck for another.
Shave soap/cream: Simply put, canned stuff and gels blow. They have all sorts of stuff in them to make them gelly or foam once out of the can that add nothing but a discomfort factor to your shave before the blade even touches your face that it isn't even an option for me, and I would venture to say 99% of us. The quality and luxury of the worst soap/cream trumps canned goo hands down.
The brush: In order to make the above soap/cream step happen properly you need one of these. The good news here is that you can pick them up relatively cheap to begin with and you'll learn whether you like it or not. Badgers can be had from as low as $15 up to a whole lot, good starter brush though, ~$20. Boar, you can get an awesome boar for~$20ish, starter boar $3ish.





Anyone else, feel free to add or correct if I went astray

 

lol, we pounced didn't we?

:happy023

 

:rofl :happy097 Just let 'em try to get away! :happy097 :rofl

 

Welcome to The Shave Den :signs046

You've come to the right place for all your questions and answers about the fine art of wet shaving :happy088

I couldn't agree more with my fellow Den member

It's not a race, to slice your face and shaving should be fun and therapeutic........ At least for me it is :happy088

 

The responses already given are better than what I can come up with but I'll give 2 coppers worth. Starting out with a DE takes longer because of the angle you have to hold for it to cut, I can do a wtg as fast as I can do a pass with a cartridge. I promise you with no pressure you will cure bumps and ingrowns, but if you don't respect the razor it'll bite you and you'll have a burn grater than what a cartridge will give you. You want the prep a brush, soap/cream will give you, it makes everything better. You've come to the right place though and I wish you great shaves!

 

Wow. I stepped out for lunch and came back to such a friendly response Looks like I came to the right place!

I recently got a Proraso shaving cream (green tube) while on holiday in Florence and I must admit that's what got me into refined shaving. Needless to say, that can of Gilette foam found its way into the bin pretty promptly.

After the shaving cream/soap, what would you guys say is the next item that would add most incremental value as far as increasing the quality of my shaves go? I would guess either the DE or brush.

Thanks for the advice gentlemen!

 

For 40-50 $ you can get a top of the line 3 piece razor and omega boar.

 

Since you already have the cream, I'd say get the brush. You can get the hang of lathering properly while you are picking out your razor. And using the cream without lathering with a brush is kind of doing it an injustice. As soon as you lather it you'll know immediately what I mean.

As far as the razor goes, vintage or new, both/either will do you well. You can get on amazon.com and find a kit that will get you all you need (brush, razor) for under $30. If money is tight, or you feel like hunting, go antiquing, you may land a really good vintage razor for a few bucks. I prefer that method personally, but new stuff is always nice too.

 

Bill "Dridecker" has gathered some great info, all to be found right here.


Do yourself a favor before you go any further - go grab your favorite beverage and something to munch on, come back here and make sure you're chair is nice and comfy, then click on the link I just gave. Before you know it it will be tomorrow already! :happy102

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I have quite a bit of reading to do but I'm sure it's worth it.

I've decided on a razor: Merkur HD 34c. Since I'm in London I save quite a bit on shipping costs.

On a side note, what do you guys use to carry this bad boy around when travelling? This caught my eye: h**p://connaughtshaving.com/dovocase.html

 

evening shaves

Welcome to TSD!

I'm a newbie here myself, and there's more wisdom it what's been said before. So I won't add anything.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is shaving in the evening. I don't like to get up early and I always take a shower in the evening. So...after my shower I shave. Once you start to get close shaves with your DE it may last you all day and possibly into the next day.

Whatever you decide, you'll probably like the DE once you get used to it!

Good luck and smooth shaving!

 

Just got my DE the other day. An old Gillette for $5 at an antique store. Don't have a brush yet. I will get one soon. Picked up some Williams soap. It's cheap and all I could find. It burns my face. I used a brush to get a lather, but it's not a shave brush. I wont tell what kind of brush out of embarrasement. :ashamed001
I usually use a Mach III. Never go against the grain as I end up with in grown hairs and burn. I tried it with the DE and still have the same problem. The blades I got are from the grocery store.
With better blades, a proper brush and better soap or cream, I expect better results. I will eventually move to straight razor as well. Which will be different I'm sure.
One question hopefully some one else can answer. Which has probably been answered in another thread. If you have problems shaving against the grain, does it get better if you continually do it? Like shaving with an electric.
Sorry if I hijacked the thread. :transport035

 

1) Time: How does DE shaving compare to Cartridge shaving as far as speed goes? I don't really have too much time in the morning.

YMMV. I actually can shave FASTER with a DE than with a cardrige. If I use a DE and aren't going for bbs I can do a pass in under a minute. 2 minutes to whip up a lather, put on some aftershave, and clean up and about 3 minutes to shave= a 5 minute shave, which is pretty normal for me. A lot of days that's what I go for, and it is a good shave, more comfortable, and at least as close as I can get with a multi blade.

That said, if I use a slow lathering soap instead fo cream that's an extra minute, and if I want to do touch up for a slightly closer shave, that's a minute or so extra. If I use my SE, or shavette style straight... well, my 5 minute shaves are pushing 15 or 20 minutes easy. :>

TLDR: A quick shave with a de is very possible for many guys, but quick shaves aren't nescessarily as much fun, so even those of us who CAN do 5 minute de shaves sometimes enjoy takeing half an hour or so :ashamed001

2) Quality benefits of DE vs. Cartridge? Is it true that DE results in lesser ingrown hairs and razor burns?

I'm not inclined to either razor burn or ingrown hair, but wetshaving does give a shave that is as close or closer AND more comfortable ( though it does have a bit of a learning curve)


3) Finally, are brushes necessary?

I've done cartridge on one side and de on the other with lather, and canned on one side and "good' lather on the other, and I can honestly say that the lather makes a huge difference, at least as much as the razor. It seems strange to a newbie ( myself included, when I started out), but a decent brush and soap or cream really helps. I tend to favor boar for soaps and badger for creams, as do a lot of others, FWIW.

TLDR: yeah, but a $10.00 omega boar and a puck of VDH is good enough.

 

I feel like my opinion of this is pretty unbiased so I'm gonna share it.
since I was 15 I used an electric razor. (I'm 19 now). As I began to get more hair my electric razor couldnt cut it without irritating my skin making it red for a few hours after each shave. I tried multiple electric razors ranging in price of 30$ to 80$ and none of them could cut my hair (especially neck hair) without my skin getting all red.

I then tried a gillette mach 3 and a gillette mach 5. Both of these gave me a really smooth shave but left my skin being irritated if I wanted a really smooth shave. I only shaved with these razors about 5 times each, I couldn't justify using them over my just as bad electric razors since they were both equally bad but electric took less time.

As of the last week I've been shaving with a couple different safety razors (gillettes from the 40's to the 70's). The first shave I got was almost baby smooth and I had ZERO irritation. The second shave was even better, with the third shave being baby smooth!

It makes me so happy that I can FINALLY shave without irritation and I can have a heck of a fun time with the whole shaving process as well.

Up until now, my shaving experience was one of frustration. I could either leave hair on my face and look scruffy and feel gross, or I could shave it all off and have a red razor burned neck. It was a hassle of two losing options.

Safety razors for the win!

And for the record (even though I might eventually switch) I don't use a brush now. I just use shaving gel from a can with my hands and it works just fine. It may be a little less fun and effective, but it works great either way!

 

I have upgraded since and had much better results.