Second SR shave and first DE completion

Well,
I'll explain the title.
Because I cut myself being to enthousiastic the first attempt, I decided to listen to the advice given by multiple people, first sideburns with and SR, rest is for later.
Last time I used my fusion to complete the shave, now I did it with a Merkur.
Hence the title.


Well, the SR with the right hand went very good, well, at least i thought so, on the second try.
The left was annoteer story, I couldn't get the angle right, I went over a small piece of skin and the hairs weren't cut very good. Not wanting to tempt fate, I decided to leave the SR and continue with the DE.


First of all, a little question. Is it possible to put a blade in a DE razor upsidedown? Or doesn't it matter? Not that I think I did, just want to be certain everything is ok.


The shave itself went surprisingly good. No cuts, ni nicks. I was a bit afraid because my brother once told me he would rather try a SR the na DE razor because he tried a DE once and had nothing but cuts. So it must have been a very wrong technique.


I also tried alun for the first time. It does sting a bit, but I don't look like an Indian dancing around a campfire, so it went right I think.


The result is far from perfect, but I'm very pleased with the shave.
The zen part is starting to make sense.

most learn to shave with one hand first. that way the comfort level is there. like anything else practice practice practice. i never started with just sideburns, i did the complete shave. everybody is different.

de blades go in either way however you always have those that believe that if you put the blade in with the writing up it will shave better, or if the blade faces this way or that..... i am not a superstitious person believing that those things work or not. that way i don't throw away blades thinking they don't work or i ruined them because they were backwards or upside down. (if you are that person then keep shaving the way that works for you.)

my first shave with a DE was worse than with a straight. lots of nicks, cuts, burns, etc. wrong technique, to much pressure, to much angle, not enough angle, strokes were to long.

good luck!

darren

I'm about 2 months in shaving with a straight, started using both hands and it only takes a few shaves to get comfortable with the left, I was surprised by this I was actually getting a better shave with the left hand I think it was because of using less pressure than I was with my dominant hand. good luck and keep at it that left hand will come around quicker than you think

Most people nick themselves to death with a DE because it feels so much like a cartridge razor. They use as much pressure as they would with a cartridge razor and it slices them to death. Especially those who start by using Feather blades! lol The truth about DE's is that you shave with about the same pressure that you do with a straight. Super light, and using pretty much just the weight of the razor. And to echo what's already been said, there's no such thing as having the blade in "upsidedown".

For me, using two hands from the start was natural for me, and in terms of the importance of stretching the skin, you have to use the proper dominant hands in order to get the skin stretched so the blade can come in firm contact with the beard.

In terms of nicks, I have an old Gillette Aristocrat DE, I had bad memories of DE's, coming out of the bathroom with dozens of tiny pieces of tissue stuck to the various nicks and cuts. Took me a few times, but when I use a DE, while it's an effortless BBS shave, I get some fairly good neck and face irritation that I never get with a straight. I really feel the alum block after a DE shave - the burn!!!

So the idea of learning the straight on the easy parts, and finishing off with the DE on the difficult areas until your technique improves is a great idea...a DE still demands respect or it will bite you, so as was mentioned by quicksilver, you should use about the same amount of pressure, let the razor do the work.

Good luck, and remember, the fun is in the learning, it's the journey, not the destination...

Cheers!