Today I purchased a new merkur adjustable safety razor and brush kit. I think I may have over done the amount of stroke used as under my chin is a bit raw. Glad to have some across this site. Cheers, Eric
Welcome to the Den Eric...and best of luck on your journey. Plenty of info on here and a great group of people to share your experiences with. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Enjoy.
It's also quite possible that you applied some pressure when shaving. Rule #1: Don't apply any pressure. It might sound odd at first but try next time.
Welcome to the TSD forum! There are a number of rules that you need to consider when shaving with a safety razor in order to get the best results. Did you check mantic59 videos on YouTube?
Welcome Eric. I too have the goal to shave like my grandpa. Even better, we are carrying on a tradition of outstanding shaves and the resulting admiring glances from our women
Welcome Eric. I, too tend to "overwork" areas on occasion. I've found that sometimes "good enough" is just that. Good luck, there's a learning curve.
Seabs and welcome aboard!! Yep, easy on the pressure, especially on the neck and around the chin. Let us know how it's going!
I haven't checked the videos yet. But good suggestion. I bought a merkur adjustable long handle. Because it had a little more weight and fit better in my hand at the store. But after one shave, I'm interested in other options in razors. Is that normal or just me exercising my odc? Lol
Hello Eric, and welcome to The Shave Den ! I'm glad you are here. This is a great group of folks, and they have much shaving knowledge to share. @GDCarrington will be along soon to tell you about the 30-day rule. It is a fine way to begin your traditional shaving journey. Also, be sure to check out geofatboy's YouTube channel. Enjoy!
I would suggest to stick to one razor for now, even if it is hard to resist Learn the ins and outs of it before buying the second one. Read as much as you can on this site, there are tons of info... After a week or two you'll get it, it's only shaving.
I agree. Especially since your first is an adjustable (Progress?). Spend a few weeks on the same mild setting and when you start getting consistent shaves, then you can easily spend another few months exploring the other settings. After 4 to 6 months (if you can wait that long) of experimenting with the adjustable and researching other razors you'll have a much better idea of what you want to try next.
That buy one and stick to it for a while is the best advice - but very few of us stick to that - -it the fun of trying new things and trying(but never obtaining) the perfect combination of hardware and software to make the chase exciting- I mean how do you know if you don't try em all???
Thanks Charlie. As Charlie has stated the 30 Day Rule is a method that allows you to concern yourself more with your Technique than Tools. Sooner or later you will learn the three Ts which stands for "Technique Trumps Tools." Now I mention defective products, no amount of technique can overcome a defective product. The products must be ones that can work correctly. No out of alignment razors, or poorly manufactured blades that have bad edges, can be overcome by technique. Here is the advice I received when I started with a DE and so I freely give it to new users. The most important things in shaving are, your skin and technique. All other things fall in line behind those two things and to support them. Since the skin is a given fixed item, the next major item is technique. It is called THE 30 DAY RULE. THE 30 DAY RULE is as follows: Find a razor, then a blade that will not cause issues with your skin (that may take a few different blades in a sampler pack to find a suitable choice or it maybe the first out of the gate) and select a soap or cream that is easy to generate good lather. Once you find those, and it may take a couple of weeks to find this combination, order a quantity of that blade, enough for 30 days, and then spend 30 days using nothing else until you build up your technique. (Note that only one brand blade is used for 30 days after each blade in the sampler pack is tested to make the decision on the blade brand to use for 30 days.) The 30 day clock starts when you have the right blade for you. After 30 days, change one and only one variable and work for another week then change another after another week. At that point you should be able to make better decisions because your technique is now in place. This will help you to avoid buying too much gear and stuff too soon without having the technique available to enjoy all the gear. Oh, and one last thing ... Welcome to the Den. We know you'll fit right in. So grab yourself a comfy chair, and give our threads a spin! Burma Shave
Welcome, Eric! You'll fit right in around here! Plenty of helpful, knowledgeable folks here willing to help with any questions you may have. We've all been there (new to wet-shaving) so don't hesitate to ask. There are no dumb questions regarding wet-shaving; only those that go unasked. By the way: regarding shaving like my grandpa, my grandpa learned to shave (circa 1905) with a straight razor, then at about 25 years of age or so, changed over to a Gillette safety razor. In my journey, I've done just the opposite of my Grandpa's experience: I began wet-shaving with a Gillette DE razor, then switched over almost exclusively to the use of a straight razor.