Hi all, Just started to Shave with a DE safety razor, tried several Gillette cartridges over the years as well as electric shaving. I mainly tried electric shaving because of razor burn with the Gillette's, but was quickly turned off by the fact it never went close enough to the skin. So this is an eyeopener for me, and quite a discovery. I found 2 razors at the antique mall here in Edmonton 1 was a Valet autostrop, still in it's case, the other a 1948 Gillette Milord. The milord i bought for 14 bucks, and has only 2 scratches and most of the plating intact so i was thrilled with that find. I am using it right now with some heavily overpriced Wilkinson blades, still a better shave then i've ever had. Well that's where I am at right now, trying different directions of shaving, different texture of shaving cream, etc, etc. Will have a lot of fun learning and exploring here on the forums Cheers
to TSD Dr.Wybert....I hope you enjoy your stay... The Gillette Milord is a nice razor. You should consider getting a large blade sampler pack , the more different blades you try the sooner you will find the blade/blades that work best for your face. What soap and brush are you using? Van der Hagan Delux is sold locally here in America, it's inexpesive and lathers well. I use a bestshave #6 Horse hair brush VERY inexpensive,but the QC is sometimes lacking. I own several and all lather well..Other than that Time,Technique,Practice and Patience will get you to your goal of a smooth, close and irritation free shave..
Not only that, another Edmontonian! That makes three of us now! Welcome to TSD! It's awesome to see another Albertan here! What mall was it, Old Strathcona, Rocky Mountain? As you found, there are some awesome finds here in the city, every now and then.
Since you are new to the Double Edge world, 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 down to enjoy it all. This really does work. Oh and one more 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
I hope you enjoy traditional shaving as much as we do. It's something that takes a little bit of trial and error before you can reap the benefits. I hope you enjoy your journey as much as I'm enjoying mine. TSD will help guide you from start to finish.
Thanks for the warm welcome. I received my samples from Razor blades & more.com. The reason i got them from there was prize and the fact they had the blades for my valet, single edge feathers.Iradke gave me some advise on using it, but it has a bit of a mean streak compred to my Gillete. Something to work on, or to enjoy from a distance. I've tried the unmarked israeli blades that came with the pack. Quite an improvement over the wilkinsons..allthough that might not be that hard.Also getting better at building up lather with my prorazo white. So i will be busy for awhile I might try that 30 day rule, GDCarrington. I would like to find a dutch razor, but i think they might all be german or gillete over there. I am afterall a Duth import myself, so would only be fair.
