New guy, first shave, intro and review
Well Hello from Massachusetts!
I have been reading through this forum for a couple weeks now after deciding I wanted to take charge of my facial care and shaving habits. A little bit about my previous shaving habits, I started shaving when I was around 13 (I know I was an early bloomer). Since I started shaving I have had some sort of facial hair, "lineup", "goat", etc... but have always used cartridge razors. The way I would do it was as soon as I got out of the shower and dried off I would wet me face down with hot water again and get to it, yea no cream or soap, just hot water and a cartridge. :dropjaw: To be honest thats how I was able to make perfect lines with a cartridge. Anyways, fast forward to today, I am 28 and for the first time in my life starting a little over a year ago, I have a job that requires I be clean shaven every day, enter the electric... I hate having no facial hair, if I wasnt paid good money with full benefits I would probably quit for this reason only haha. So because I am not set up for a BBS clean shave I use an electric thats maybe 10 years old but never used, so if I'm too lazy to shave the night before I shave in the parking lot. I hate this thing, dry flaky skin, itchy and raw, and I have more ingrown hairs then ever before in my life. So I made the decision that if I'm going to shave 5 days a week, I'm going to enjoy it and I'm going to make my face and skin healthier.
So after doing a whole lot of research I will be in the market for a Dovo "best quality" and a whole bunch of other goodies in the coming weeks but to get started I bought, get ready to cringe, the "magic razor". Yea I said it... and on top of that, CVS brand blades lol... I also bought the VDH starter kit just so I could get started. So having just made it through my very first wet shave with a shavette I have learned a few lessons and formulated a few opinions. First, I'm sure your wondering, did I chop up my face? No, only one small nick 1/4" on my right cheek(I am right handed).
So the razor, this thing is way too light, there is no "let the weight of the blade do the work" with this thing. The blade holder sucks, it slides out easily so you have to have a steady grip on this thing as to not slide your thumb outwards and you have to be very concious of checking the holder and making sure it hasnt slid out at all. With that said, its cheap and does the job but you can not go fast with this thing at all due to these issues. As for the blades, very sharp, very thin, and very flexible. If anyone has used these blades can you let me know what they might be equivelant to as far as name brand blades go?
The starter kit, standard boar brush, stiff does the job. Would I like something softer? yea maybe a pure badger but in my opinion it wasnt overly prickly like some say. The cheap clear plastic brush holder does the job, thats about it. The mug is probably the nicest part of this kit, solid, aesthetically pleasing. And the soap, I read somewhere that the VDH basic soap isnt that good but the luxury soap is good? does anyone know if the soap in this kit is the basic or luxury? because its not that good, doesnt lather well no matter how much or little water is in the brush and the lather is thin on the face and disappears quick and I was reapplying every couple minutes...
As for my experience, It was greatly enjoyable. I had fun, a lot of fun, and definitely think this is something I will pursue for the rest of my life. I only did one pass WTG and my face feels as smooth as it would with a 5 blade cart. No dryness, no itchiness, no irritation (besides the one nick which doesnt even hurt) my face just feels good. I'm going to get a little better at WTG and maybe at the end of the week or next sunday I will try XTG. Afterwards I used Pacific Shaving co caffeinated aftershave balm, I really like this stuff, smells great, slight cooling sensation and just a very smooth balm. The biggest lesson I learned with this hunkajunka shavette is always make sure to have the blade moving completely perpendicular to the stroke with absolutely no side to side movement.
All in all I cant wait to get a real straight.
Happy shaving,
Scott