Hello and Welcome! You've got some great advise so far and with a little bit of time and practice you will be getting some great shaves! I have the VdH set and razor in my collection and they are quite capable of providing great shaves. Hope to see you in the 30 day focus thread!
Welcome to TSD. Plenty of sound advice above so all I'd add: 1. + 1 Astra SP blades. One of my favourites but it's about finding which blade best suits you. I'm not a fan of Feather blades either, others swear by them. I haven't used Voskhod yet but they will be next up. I've also found any Personna blade good for me. 2. The best advice I've seen regarding shaving pressure is to "shave the lather". Remember you're trying to reduce your whiskers by successive passes, not mow it all off in one. You're on the threshold of a lifelong, fascinating hobby and you seem to have better off the shelf availability in the US for blades than we do in the UK, generally. Keep at it, don't get discouraged by occasional setbacks, one day it will all click and you'll be nursing addictions with the best of us. Regards, Chris
Welcome to TSD! I'd say get a vintage Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip from a seller on eBay for $20, buy a RazoRock Plissoft brush while your on eBay for under $15 great brush!! The soap is good but you'll find much better, get a blade sampler from tryablade, oh, you'll need a good aftershave so you go out the door smelling fabulous! For a GREAT soap check out Route 66 http://www.retroshaveshop.com Again Welcome! Kerry
Welcome to TSD. I am alos a newbie when it comes to DE shaving (only done 2 shaves so far). This forum is great for advice. My first shave was not great. I was all irritated on the neck. My second shave last night was a lot better. I did a cold water shave (with ice). So much better with no nicks. If you have sensitive skin like me, you may want to try that. There is a thread somewhere on here just for cold water shavers.
I think so. But if so, it only proves what we already know - not all blades are created equal, no matter who makes 'em, or where they're made.
Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I can't get this stuff to lather up that much. I've been mixing for, like 10 minutes and this is the best it'll go. It seems like the brush is sucking up the whole thing, so when I mix I'm not really moving it around because it's all in the middle of the brush. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?