I've been wetshaving for a while still using my cartridge razor while I waited for my DE razor and blades to get in. This morning I had the equipment, and the time to take my first full DE shave. Equipment: Lord Tech razor Derby Extra blade VDH soap + squirt of KMF Mint cream VDH boar brush Nature's Gate Tea Tree Conditioner pre-shave Microfiber face towel Witch Hazel Nivea After Shave Balm Master Bay Rum AS I took a nice long, hot shower as my brush and mug soaked in a warm water bath in the sink. I finished the shower, and leaving my face wet put on a dab of the Tea Tree Hair conditioner, paying close attention to the spots on my neck and chin that I always have issues with using my cartridge system. Next I started my lathering process with the brush. I haven't used the VDH puck in a few weeks as I've been using either my C.O. Bigelow or KMF creams, but I recalled how nice the VDH lathers and wanted to use it. I pulled out the Lord Tech and Derby combo ( forgot to cork the Derby like I planned ) and started on my right cheek near my sideburns, working in toward my mouth down to my jawline. I then did the left side in a mirror fashion, taking things slow and with shorter strokes. I tried to let the razor do as much of the work as possible, but as the reviews told me the Lord Tech is a touch light so I had to use a little more force than I had originally thought. So far so good. No nicks, cuts, weepers, irritation etc. The reviews of the Lord are correct, very non-aggressive and the Derby ( vertical ones even ) seemed sharp and fairly smooth. Now I did my upper lip and chin area. Upper lip was surprisingly easy and smooth. I often seem to have issues there with my cartridge razors not doing a good job. My chin area was not as smooth as I have some tricky angles there. Worked through it as carefully as possible and moved on. Still no injuries so I'm feeling good. Now to my neck. The reason I dislike shaving in the first place. Slow and steady, and observing the idea of staying WTG in this area. I got through this area without any noticeable problems. At this point I stepped back and took a good look at the current results. Face, cheeks, and upper lip was basically DFS with one pass. My chin area and neck needed a little work. I wetted those areas down, relathered, and started WTG pass #2 just on those areas. Worked through that until complete, and then re-evaluated again. I had one small red spot on my right neck which I'd barely call a weeper. The only issue with the entire shave was that I never quite seemed to get the technique down on my chin. Right where a Fu Manchu beard would wrap around a jawline is always a tricky spot for me, and with this razor I really didn't do a great job, though it was by no means terrible ... just not up to the quality of the rest of the shave. I think I'm going to have to come up with a skin pulling procedure there to get that spot on a vertical plane when the razor moves across it. That is also the place where my stubble seems to be at it's thickest and most robust on my face. Finished up with a cold rinse, a witch hazel splash, a dab of the Nivea balm, and then the bay rum. Skin felt good then, and now a few hours later I have nothing to complain about either. If I had to rate this shave I'd call it a semi DFS with spots of solid DFS( my face is niiiiiice feeling now ). This was basically a 1.5 pass WTG procedure with a notoriously non-aggressive razor. The result was easily the equal of some of the better efforts I've made with any cartridge system. I'm going to keep working on my technique until I get a procedure down that works for my face. Thanks for all the information here that has led me such a good result.
Sounds like a great 1st shave to me. My 1st wasn't very smooth but only 2 months into it I get a BBS most days, I'm still refining how I tackle the areas below the jaw line but strokes that initially felt awkward are becoming much easier, I think its known as developing muscle memory.
