Ah perfect, thanks. I guess they're worth a try along with the other types of blades to see which razor/blade combo gives me the best shave and least irritation

Hmmmm, could be a number of things. Are you using any pressure? It can be difficult to not press down at all when doing an upward ATG pass. Also, were they Astra SP blades? It may sound odd, but your skin may just disagree with platinum coating (which both Feather and Astra SP blades have), and thus it causes a lot of irritation. Also, how is your lather holding up by your ATG pass? Is it getting thin or dissipating? It may also be that the razor you have (I'm not familiar with it, so not sure), is too aggressive for you. You may want to try a more mild razor. Upon doing a little research, I'd say try a different razor. Maggard has some well balanced razors, as does Parker; and I hear the Matador "El Gordo" (with the mild head) is good. And one of the most used Razors I've seen is the EJDE89, great razor. My WSC razor is the exact same thing, and I never have any irritation, but get a very smooth shave. And none of these razors are very expensive; about $25 for any one of them (or you can grab a starter box from WSC for $25 and get some extra goodies for your den too). Just some things to consider trying; and you cant really go wrong with any of them.

Hope I've been of some help. =)

to TSD "DoubleTapThat"

Sorry for the late greeting.

Good bump!

Hey @DoubleTapThat, would be nice to hear if your shaves have improved and what helped to improve it!

Always good to hear how people have cured shaving problems as noob's as many have similar experiences at the beginning.

Welcome!

Sure thing

Once I truly realised and dialled in to the fact that my blade angle and pressure were completely wrong, things started to improve almost immediately. I also worked on my lather and realised I was getting it either too watery or too thick and it was clogging the blade. I'm currently trying different blades thanks to Mike (Bristle Me) who kindly sent me a load, but most blades seem to work well now i'm improving the technique. I still get irritation sometimes, but I will often have an irritation free BBS shave if i'm focusing on technique. The advice i've received here has been invaluable. If i've had a poor shave, the alum sure lets me know so theres an incentive to improve

Thanks all once again.

P.S. i've now got the bug, i'm gonna need a separate building soon to store all the shave gear.

Awesome! Glad to hear things have vastly improved for you because wet shaving is so enjoyable one you get the techniques and procedures down!

I don't think you ever truely eliminate an occasional bad shave or irritation but you get to the point where it happens very little. The vast majority of my shaves are clean, enjoyable and pain free now after about a month and a half of trial and error.

Any other help or ideas you need, be sure to shout out and ask! Lots of knowledge and help here. I recently started using @Sara-s homemade PSO and it has helped me achieve an even smoother more comfortable shave. Go to the tutorial section and read some of the thread, you may like it!

Good luck, enjoy your shave!

Very late on board the welcome wagon, but Welcome! I'll not repeat any of the excellent advice you have already received here, but will add a few points and a product recommendation.

I shave with a straight (cutthroat) razor almost exclusively, but used a DE for about 20 years prior to that. The two things that straight razors have really taught me are blade angle and pressure. The pressure bit is pretty obvious when you have a naked blade with no guards against your skin; the angle takes a bit of learning. Roughly speaking, I tend to keep the blade at about 30 degrees (from the skin, not the vertical) when shaving with the grain, lower to maybe 20 degrees when going across the grain, and as low as 10 degrees when going against. Bear in mind that because a DE has a handle, the handle angle will be close to 90 degrees more than the blade angle. In all cases, the angle is adjusted on the fly based upon feel and sound - you will learn to tell when it is cutting optimally and subconsciously adjust to keep it so.

A second point is speed - let the blade do the cutting and do not force it. I have fairly tough hair on my lower neck but very thin and sensitive skin there. If I try to shave just as quickly as on the rest of my face, I get poor results and irritation. However, slowing down and allowing the razor to cut at its own pace gives excellent results and zero irritation.

I do 3 passes: with the grain, against the grain, and a final cleanup pass with the grain again. I skip the upper lip and chin the first pass and just let the lather sit and work while I do the rest. I only do two passes on these areas and never against the grain.

Finally, I have a product recommendation: Baume.be shaving cream. I use their pre shave gel and after shave balm as well, and always get excellent results. Look at www.baume.be to see who sells them in the UK.

Good luck and keep up the good work!

Thanks for the advice its much appreciated. Im really paying attention to angle and pressure now and things are improving drastically. The most important thing is im realising when the angle is off before its too late.

Ill check out the products too, thanks

I just started DE about a week ago after shaving electric for 20+ years. I have shaved every day but do not go for a 3 pass BBS every day. My daily goal is to look presentable. Once or twice a week BBS is good enough for me.

my guess would be the amount of pressure on the razor. at least with me it doesn't matter what razor I use I can get a decent shave with it. I would use something else other than the feathers because those are suppost to be the sharpest, and I would not go over the same area without cream on the face. that's just my 2cents