Thread: First DE Shave I am a believer!

Hi All,

Today I had my very first DE shave and I must say it has thus far been the best shaving experience of my life. What the hell was I thinking for the past 35 years of my life . It went so smoothly and everything from the sound to the feel was absolutely perfect. No cuts no burn nothing. I must say though that I read a lot and watched a lot of youtube videos on technique before attempting my first shave. I used an Edwing jagger regular 40 dollar ivory handle razor which was superb combined with an Edwin jagger shaving soap which smells and feels wonderful. I forgot to use my art of shaving preshave oil, I wonder how much better the experience would have gotton with it.

It is such a shame that DE razors don't get enough publicity, they are so marginalized that guys like me must stumble upon the correct website to get my interest awakened. Instead you got high profile athletes putting their faces onto way inferior multi blade razors that gets the masses thinking that this is the way to go spending way more than they should.

My Edwin Jagger though not the most expensive razor feels so sturdy that i can see it last a lifetime and I wonder if a very expensive razor could yield to an even better shave.

Another added bonus is that my wife won't steal my razor now .

I am a believer now and my mission is to make every man I know one as well.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for all the valuable input.

Cheers,

I started shaving with a DE one week ago. It has been much more enjoyable than shaving with any of the other contraptions that I have used. I am looking forward to getting some better products to use for my shave, but even with just my walmart Van Der hagan specials it has been great.

The way I look at it, I purchased my EJ DE89L that came with a 15 blade sample pack, and a 10 pack of Merkur platinum blades online for about what 20 cartridges for my Fusion would have cost. So far I used one Lords platinum blade for 3 shaves, and a Merkur Platinum to finish off the 3rd and for the fourth shave. I shave both my face and head so if you only shave your face you will probably get a lot more mileage out of your blades. So far I am still forming opinions of the blades, but so far both are far better than my Fusion.

I hate to promote another forum on this one, but badgerandblade.com seems to have a little more information on DE razors and blades, so before you go spending too much more on blades you might want to look at ther blade reviews.

Good luck,

Hal

Can't go wrong with a nice DE shave. Actually, I use one of the old Schick Injectors with the Bakelite handles from the 1940's when I travel. There are a ton of folks here who started with DE's and I'm sure would be happy to share their experiences with you. My Dad gave me a Gillette adjustable as a kid when I first started and I have a few of these areound the house along withthe newer Merkurs. That long handle Merkur has a great feel.

Don from the forums really has some in depth knowledge on DE's too. You should hit him up with questions. He is like a walking DE Encyclopedia.

Good luck guys,

Lynn

shaviar,

You are not alone in your favorable opinion about DE razor shaving. A DE razor with a quality blade makes shaving quite enjoyable. Additionally, DE shaving has been reputed to offer a shave that is almost as close as a str8 razor shave.

As an aside...I persuaded a good friend of mine to switch to a DE razor last month. He wound up buying a DE razor for himself, his sons and all of his brothers for Christmas. He is raving about the closeness and comfort of the shaves he gets with his new DE razor.

Happy shaving!!!

I agree. I have a '48-'50 Gillette Aristocrat that gives a great shave, and I feel guilty for not using it more now that I have started shaving with a straight! Maybe that will give me a reason to start traveling...

I have a Merkur DE that I use on days when I'm in a rush (used it today in fact!), or when I'm travelling with hand luggage only.

DE shaves are much better than cartridge shaves, and give much less irritation. The only thing I can think of thats better is a straight razor shave..! Hehe!

Congrats!

Originally Posted by Stubear

DE shaves are much better than cartridge shaves, and give much less irritation. Congrats!

Absolutely. I know that alot of folks on here have made the jump from cartridge to straight without using a DE, but in my case I think that the time spent using a DE (although short) really gave me a jumpstart. If nothing else, it got me to a point where I was not having to really concentrate on prep and could focus on angle, stropping, etc.

Congrats on your first DE shave! With some time and work on technique, you can expect the shaves to get even better.

if you have one of the new EJ89L's with the new MP head, its a REAL steal of a razor.
Its my current favourite.

Most people that I talk to have viewed DE's as an inferior and even archaic method of shaving compared to the modern multi-blade razor, and even compared to stra8 razors. I frankly didn't understand their history and the quality that you can get from them until I started looking at this site. I'm loving my Dovo stra8 razor and I am curious about how a shave feels with a DE, but my wife will kill me if I buy any more shave related stuff right now (she doesn't see the point of men "primping" and spending so much time shaving). Oh, and we gotta save up for our baby that is due in a few months. I also want to get more stra8 experience under my belt.
It looks like the angles are different with a DE than using a stra8, and like it would be harder to control and not cut myself.