Thread: First Shave

Originally Posted by Dipper7

Hey guys,

Thought it was time to introduce myself. I've been following the site for a few months now, but have not done much posting.

A few months ago, after some just brutal shaves with my Gillette Fusion blah blah I began looking online for some alternatives. I also have moderate acne, so I need all the help I can get. Shaving was more than a chore. Quite often I would just trim my facial hair with a Philips hair trimmer to avoid it all together. After doing some research quite a few sites suggested transitioning to an electric shaver. I went out shopping looking for one electric shaver in particular, a Philips/Nivea for Men Shaver (Philips HS8420/23 Nivea For Men Electric Shaver with Battery Indicator: Amazon.ca: Home & Garden). Am I ever glad I couldn't find it. I did some more searching and found multiple different forums and websites suggesting that a DE razor will give some of the most comfortable shaves you can imagine. The next question was, what the hell is a DE razor?!?! And so my journey began.

I ordered a Merkur DE razor online, along with some Proraso products suggested by GeoFatBoy. I was intrigued by how cheap the blades were and how many shaves I could get out of one blade. I don't know about other people, but I found cartridge razors lasted only a few shaves. When that little strip on top dissolved I found the shaves were terrible, but then again I really didn't know how to shave. The first few shaves didn't go so well. Too much pressure + poor angle = razor burn. I'm still by no means a pro with the DE razor, but for the first time in my life I looked forward to pleasant, relaxing, and irritation free shaves.

With my addiction I began flirting with the idea of buying a straight razor. I've spent days looking at beautiful razors online. The unfortunate part about living in Surrey, BC is that there is only one store I know about around here that sells anything related to DE and straight razors and the selection of straight razors is not that great. I fell in love with the Dovo Diamant Black Blade Razor (picture below) and waited until it was in stock again on a site I knew provided shave ready razor blades. My razor made it to the border and was then delayed. I found out later that customs cut the box open, looked all through the case my razor was in, resealed everything and sent it back on its way after charging me another $40. I look at it as proof of the fact that people either don't know what a straight razor is or wanted to take a peek at what they thought was an ancient artifact.

I tried following Lynn's guide for your first straight razor shave, but after shaving from sideburn to jaw line I could stop. I kept shaving, possibly in some sort of trance, and before I knew it I had shaved my entire face. I made one major rookie mistake. When attempting to shave my moustache, I didn't like where my blade sat down on my face so rather than lift the blade up and move it over I slid it along my face from left to right. That was my first bit of blood.

I love the challenge of learning something new and so rewarding. It's going to be an adventure and I am looking forward to it!

Oh my, someone with one post dug up a year and a half old thread, the OP hasn't posted since then either. lol