Thread: Disposable: DE or SE

nice pics! it looks like you got the cheeks pretty good, the neck looked a little scraped in the middle and it looks like your chin hairs are pretty thick. i am still trying to perfect my neck technique, but finding the right stretching spots and directions is a key and has melped me a lot. my chin isn't as thick as yours but it is still thicker then the rest of my face, i find that light pressure is especially important on the chin and i tend to try and hit every direction while keeping the skin real tight.

other then that its just going through the motions and learning your own face. looks like you had a good start though

Most of my Adam's Apple scratches are actually pokes. My neck has a concave area and while trying to shave that area I need to pull it further so I don't nick my apple. Some of them were from trying to half swallow and not holding it the whole time. My chin has extremely thick hair and a lot of it.

Part way through the shave I realized my face was really not slippery, it had a lot of friction and tackiness. Should I be rinsing the Proraso before applying lather? Or is this something to do with my lather?

BTW, future Slant owners. It doesn't seem to present a bigger problem than other newbs have had. I am curious to use an SS and I know someone is offering it $12 shipping included. I really want it but I dont have the 12 yet. I will see if I can get my brother to buy it for me.

It's pretty well agreed that the Merkur blades are crap. I would move to feather blades, I think they're the best disposable blades out there. They're the sharpest, but in a good way where then won't leave all kinds of burn and pain all over your face. Merkur did a hell of a number on my face when I was using Disposables, after I found Feather and I never went to anything else for 8 months until I used straights.

My favorite disposable razors:

The gillette NEW open comb
The Gillette Fat boy
The Gillette Slim adjustable
The Gillette Red Tip Super Speed

GEM Micromatic
GEM G-BAR
Gem 1912

Any of those are great razors. Merkurs are good too, but I am a vintage guy. The blades, like I've said, are a different story. Your lather also sounds dry, there shouldn't be any kind of tackiness on your stroke, try more water, but the blades can be the issue too.

Also do a Google search for Country Joe's collectables. He sells all kinds of old razors for very cheap on his site. I've gotten all my razors off him.

Great. I purchased some sample packs from the shaving shoebox. Haven't received them yet, but I will be sure to use the feathers and make a note of how they feel. I was told to way until I get a better handle on technique before using feathers, so I will have to think about it. I'll take the cautions and maybe be really careful, like when I bought the unrecommended for newbs Slant.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking the blades were shoddy. I tried stropping them on my palm, don't remember who said to do that. But it helped as the next shave was better in the beginning.

Originally Posted by Disburden

It's pretty well agreed that the Merkur blades are crap.

Maybe, but only relative to the better alternatives. I bought a whole bunch of blade types with my Merkur Futur. I started with Merkur blades as I planned to work my way up to the Feathers. The shaves were wonderful.

I changed to a straight within a week, so I never found out if/how much better the other blades were.

But I know a DE loaded with Merkur blades is better than a Fusion (or any other cartridge razor I've tried.)

Originally Posted by Kentington

Great. I purchased some sample packs from the shaving shoebox. Haven't received them yet, but I will be sure to use the feathers and make a note of how they feel. I was told to way until I get a better handle on technique before using feathers, so I will have to think about it. I'll take the cautions and maybe be really careful, like when I bought the unrecommended for newbs Slant.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking the blades were shoddy. I tried stropping them on my palm, don't remember who said to do that. But it helped as the next shave was better in the beginning.

You can wait to use them if you like, but I wish I used them sooner when I was using my DE razors. I don't see the problem with a new guy using Feathers, to me they're a lot less irritating than any other blade I've used. They may be sharper, but they're smoother too. The hand stropping thing never worked for me.

Originally Posted by Kentington

Part way through the shave I realized my face was really not slippery, it had a lot of friction and tackiness. Should I be rinsing the Proraso before applying lather? Or is this something to do with my lather?

i find i get best results when i rinse my face with water that is as hot as my hands can stand right before i lather and then i really work the brush, i do this in between each pass also.

BTW, i don't mind the Green Proraso, but i will admit that i like the White much better.