New guy here. Used to shave with a straight that was my grandfather's until the airline lost my luggage. Cartridge/Safety razors will not pull thru my beard. Had a problem with ingrowns and someone suggested a good quality electric. At the time I had 3 in the cabinet that were worthless, two with the motor burnt out. I bought a Braun Activator and it was OK, ingrowns were not happening anymore, but there was a downside.

I changed companies in April '06 and took over as CFO. The CEO of this company is a GREAT guy, but can be a strange duck at times. With an electric, I was getting a 5 o'clock shadow at about 9AM. This drove him crazy! I had to bring the shaver to the office and re-shave at about 9AM and 1-2PM. Got old quick. My beard grows low into the neckline and stubble that quick was also ruining collars on my nice shirts.

Well, about two weeks ago the Braun burnt out and I started doing research. I found out my technique had a lot to do with the ingrowns. Went to a local shop here in Nashville and bought a new razor. Nothing fancy, just a $79.99 no name with a solingen blade. Plain Jane handle. He honed it for me. I did buy a new strop since mine was with my old razor in my suitcase.

I'm back to getting a good close shave, no ingrowns at all so far. No razor burn. I don't even use aftershave, just Williams soap in a mug with a boar brush. My face actually even looks a lot healthier. I think when you use an electric exclusively, you lose that daily exfoliation that takes place. I notoriously have normal to dry skin and it was getting very oily. My 5 o'clock shadow holds off 'til about 3PM now. Boss said he could live with that, that's what men do. He hated that I had to shave so often. He said no man should have to shave 2-3 times a day.

I'm fixin' to order my Norton 4K/8K from some wood working place in Brooklyn, NY for $68.xx, cheapest I found, hope I didn't miss a better deal. I don't know if I over looked something, but haven't seen shipping charges yet.

I know this was long, thanks for bearing with me. Great site with very friendly people I noticed from lurking.

Have a great shave!
Brad