1st week update, TIps helped a ton!!!still need help

Hey gang
As some may know I have gotten an old Gillette from when my dad shaved a 100 years ago. Ever since I can remember he had a beard but I've seen pics of him clean shaven. Looks like a stranger...but I continue.
http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps45e1bf56.jpg

So I had some issues early on as most of us do/did. I had done a ton of thread reading and video watching, Geofatboy, Shavenation, and some NY/NJ Italian kinda guy. Some super tips there. The lip real tight to the nose, pulling the skin to get the bottom edge of the jaw line, grabbing the razor high under the blade at times has been a super tip as well and so many more.

I pulled the trigger and bought a "cheap" kit. Van Der Hagen w/boars hair brush way not fancy. But gel wasn't cutting it.
Witch Hazel was a win as well. Tried getting Alum bar but couldn't find one local, brick n mortar.

Back to my rant. I can get a decent shave on my face area without letting a pint of blood and very minimal nicks. Many times no nicks.
My hard area (common) my neck more so vertically under my jaw hinge. It also seems my hair grows 3 different directions down there. I get what looks like a pimple and red irratation, razor burn I'm guessing. Any tips here. Not sure if I need a sharper blade. I think my technique is good as I"m not ripping up my face any where else including not wrecking adams apple area.
I can't go over it in 2 passes like I do my face. I'm going to try more blades I haven't yet. I just bought ones from CVS made in Israeli not sure how good they are or if I need sharper ones. Gonna try others just haven't gotten there. I will also be changing to a new blade today. I have about 4 shave on the current one in the razor.

Next: making lather :cry: I can't make my soap lather for Shi**-&^^ I tried a tip of put a little water in it before I shower. Not much difference. I do soak my brush as well not much difference. The videos make it look so simple swirl around on soap - swirl around in dish. I did get some lather but I had to squeeze it up from the bristles while I squeezed them together. I think defeating the purpose or procedure.

So I hope I shared enough infor for some great tips from you veteran hard core shaving guys.

1 use a preshave oil before using the lather.
2 get a quality soap asap , I use arkon , proraso , van derhagen ,
etc.
3 I use the following brands of double edge blades.derby , merkur , feather, Persona ,etc.
4 buy a post shave non alcohol balm .
5 first pass with the grain and use light short strokes .really light...
hope this helps mate , oh yeah use cold water to rinse your face after shaving and pat dry,do not rub your face.salute .

Make sure your first pass is with the grain. Use short strokes in the tricky area but make sure your only using the weight of the razor. If you push too hard your actually shaving layers of dead skin cells and exposing the hair follicles which causes the bumps. Also make sure when you apply the soap to your face you massage it in to your face, this helps for me anyways to get the hair standing up better. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Additional hints and suggestions:

*Nivea for Sensitive Skin for after shaving. Gentle soothing.
*A dab of Cremo or Kiss My Face as a preshave rubbed into your stubble on a wet face just before lathering.
*Three or four drop of glycerin in your lather bowl first and make sure you spend at least 20 seconds lightly swirling your damp brush on
the soap puck before building your lather.
*And last but not least, try a cold water shave - it what they did in the days of no running water. It does great in keeping irritation dow.
*Try to get an Alum block. Use it between last pass and rinsing your face. It will seal small nicks and let you know where you might have
used to much pressure (major cause of irritation).

Keep us posted.

all great tips thanks.

I think I'm doing good so far. 1st pass always WTG 2nd XTG I even tried "J-Hook" method a little and that was fine.
Yes I am very good at not pressing the razor and letting the weight of razor and blade do the work.

Razorfeld I did read up on the cold shave I might try that tonight. I don't want to make to many changes at once. I like to stick with a change for a few days just to make sure right/wrong I might be doing.

BhornBeck yes using short strokes in my risk area the rest are just gentle passes and seems to be going fine there.

I"m taking this all in and it will take time as well to dial in what everyone says from all the threads and vids been reading/watching.
keep the tips coming and I will keep everyone posted. Feels kinda weird asking for help on shaving when one has been shaving for 30+ yrs but shaving wrong for that many years takes time to break bad habits

I've been shaving for 65 years with one contraption or another with years of beards here and there. I'm an old dog learning new tricks and I'd swear that's what's keeping me young of mind. Bad habits aside, because they are part of the learning process, if we didn't have them we would never find out new things. Why I remember when it was finally proven to me that the moon wasn't made of blue cheese.:rock:

Well week 2 I just thought I"d post up a little update.

I have found that XTG is what my face loves :rock:
The soap I have is a begginer kit I have found that I need much more water than the videos really showed. I have also ixnayed the mixing bowl and just use the lather right out of the soap container. This has also made my face happy. Might be do to the fact of the entry level lather or my technique or both. But I have found a way to make it work.

I have yet to get some other blades to try. This is my next step. I hear to much "noise" during the cutting stroke. Not sure this is normal or not. Seems to be catching or dragging, which may mean I have a more course hair than I originally thought.

Keep the info coming and thanks for all the help

OH the cold water shave seems to like my face as well thanks Blistersteel !!!

The noise you're hearing is probably due to the XTG pass. The blade hits more resistance going XTG. But if its more comfortable, rock on man. Cant remember if this was said already, but if the noise bothers you maybe a nice preshave oil would do the trick to soften the hair first.

As far as the blades go, my preference is astra premium platinums. Pretty sharp and economical. Right now amazon has a 100 ct for $12. But the way I started trying out different brands was buying the variety packs on amazon. Usually you can find a nice variety of the big brands, 50 blades for $20 or something like that, with 5-10 blades from each brand.

All the fun for me is trying out new equipment. Glad to hear its working out for you. Happy shaving my friend! Have fun with it. [emoji106]

Ok, sorry i am late to the party, and as i have currently been awake for 24 hrs (almost) on 5 hrs sleep i might have missed a lot of stuff.

1- as you have discovered, play around with your ratios of water and soap, use a bit more soap than you think you need, you can always add water, the VDH soap i have is fine, (thank you richard) so i wouldnt imagine thats going to give you dramas. Bowls are good to save mess, but if you have face lathering down, then all the better, one less thing to clutter up the bench.
2- stretching, necks can be awkward, most people seem to have various grain directions on their necks, try to move the skin to a location that is easier to shave, and pull it nice and tight.
3- blade angle, remember YOU control the angle at all times, cartridge razors do this for you, therefore you will possibly need to adjust the angle during the stroke.
4- you could try a vitamin e cream, as a pre and or post shave, the vitamn e promotes healing.
5- if you have a rash still when next you shave, leave the area alone.
6- accept good enough and comfortable, smooth will come on its own.

Get rid of those CVS blades & buy some quality blades that they have mentioned above. Use a pre shave oil as it does help to loosen up the stubble. Use short relaxing strokes & rinse. Following this & all the pre mentioned instruction should be best for your face. Good luck & happy shaving. A happy razor = a happy face.