So this is my 2000th post, so I thought I would do something different.
If you had a time machine and could go back in time to when you had your first DE shave, what advice would you give yourself.

For example, I would tell the Newbie me
Blades- drop the Derby blades. DE shaving shouldn't be that rough. Use Gilette Super Blues instead.
Razor - Don't use the Edwin Jagger, get a Flair tip super speed. You'll find it easier to use.
Soap - Your going to spend 40 minutes struggling with Trumpers soap to make a lather, thinking you don't know how to do it. It's not you, its the soap. Stick with the Arko.

What advice would you give the Newbie you?

Congratulations!
My newbie advice would be: Forget the bowls, face-lathering is fast and easy and will make your skin feel better too.

Thank you

Hey, 2001 already. Keep up the good work.

Stick with cartridges - you'll save a lot of money that way

Dubs, while you are ordering the barber pole handle from Elite Razor, drop one more down and just get the R-41.

Im fine with my R-89 and will continue using it, but I foresee me getting the R-41 in the near future.

The R41 is a great razor.

That is some great advice...for you and probably most of us too

I wish I had turned the water off, my first few shaves were horrid. if I were to listen to the razor from the beginning, building technique would have been easier.
so David, slow down, prep better, turn the water off(your gonna be here a while), now listen to the blade. now that's better. and while I'm offering advice the lottery numbers for the coming week are ????(it is a time machine, I'd might as well end rich).

Congrats on 2000! Don't listen to all the people who said how hard MWF is to lather, I missed out on a great soap for over a year.

This a most subjective subject. I love Derby blades, got rid of my Edwin Jagger, and have yet to find a soap I cannot lather. It is in the technique and prep. I will gladly accept a PIF of the shaving gear that does not meet your needs.

Sorry. The Trumpers soaps were so bad I returned them to Trumpers and got their shaving creams instead.

Thanks. I have yet to try MWF because of all the people who say it's hard to lather.

First, congrats on the 2,000th post!

Next, on the shaving advice.

I would tell the newbie me,

Find GD Carrington's 30 day rule, and follow that advice to the letter.
You'll save yourself a bunch of dollars and trouble.

Don't share your printer's email address...

Rusty...enjoy every bit of what traditional wet shaving has to offer...and most important, enjoy the journey.

…and don't listen to the people who tell you to avoid The Veg!
Just because THEY happen to have an acute and refined olfactory sense is no reason you shouldn't liberally apply the post-shave tonic!

I would tell myself to beware that my bathroom would be converted to a den and all the cabnets will be loaded with wet shaving stuff to the point that it is an obsession. and also NOT SO MUCH PREASSURE!

Make shave soap in 3 lb. batches.

Congrats on the 2000th post=)

I would have told myself to start DE shaving a lot sooner =D I would have saved myself a lot of suffering.

Maybe not to listen to much to reviews of shave gear.