Thread: first DE shave

My wife had noticed that I had learned alot about shaving and wanted help with her shaving of legs and such. I am not sure a Straight is wuite right for her and she is a bit intimidated by that Idea so I picked up an old simple Gillette DE today and cleaned it up. I bought some cheap blades at the local grocers. A generic brand as that is all they had.
I did not feel right turning her lose with it if i hadnt at least tried it on my face so i decided to shave my cheeks and around my mouth, I didnt do much in the way of prep. just whipped up some taylors cream, slathered it on, and attacked with the DE.
My overall impression was BORING. Egads there was no adrenaline rush or need to concentrate like there is when you have 3 inches of naked steel against the face. I also noticed that it seemed to pull as much as my straghts though this may be due to the fact i didnt prep nearly as well as usuall.

Guessing, I would say that beard prep and blade choice are the two culprits. There are not many serious DE shavers who have respect for the American made blades. Those gaining the most respect are German, Japanese, Turkish, Israeli, and Swedish. Oddly, Gillette and Personna blades made outside of the US are favored by quite a few gents.

You would regret the lack of concentration with a Feather, Israeli, or Euro Gillette blade.

Also, shaving your whole face and neck is much different from just around the mouth.

Also, shaving your whole face and neck is much different from just around the mouth.

I'm sure thats true, but if i shaved everything smooth I wouldnt have had much to mow down this morning with my Straight

I didn't mean to knock the DE or its usage. I was just bloviating. I am sure it is a fine instrument, i just didn't enjoy it as much as I do my straights. For me the interest isnt so much in getting the best shave possible as much as it is creating something sharp enough to give me a good shave and learning the skill necessary to shave with a bare blade and not hurt myself.

the only reason i tried it was I wanted to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with it before turning my wife loose with it.

Heck, no offense taken here. To each his own. I happen to really enjoy DEs and straights. I use both regularly.

A DE shave isn't bad. I use one occasionaly. It's not as good as a straight but a DE shave beats an electric any day.

I would try putting the passion that you have for straights into your DE shave. Also getting better blades a bonus to. Pamper yourself and pull the skin tight just like with the straight. How come your straights are pulling?

Glen