Thread: First DE Shave

Well I had my first safety razor shave this morning with a Merkur heavy duty and new feather blade in it, used taylors of old bond street sandalwood cream with a badger brush and so on. I had like a 2 day stubble going on, and I can vouch for the thing going through facial hair like butter and it doesn't take much.

Wife has shaved with these for forever and been riding me to use one as they beat disposables, and she's right they do. She even bought this Merkur for me like 3 months ago just for when I did break down and try it.

Great smooth shave with 3 passes, with the grain, across the grain and once again across the grain in opposite direction. She perched her small self on the vanity and watched me lol, instructing as I went and it went very well for my first ever shave with a double edge.

Though I did get a bit of razor burn I think, red splotches right?? She tried teaching me to build my own lather...yes I did it all myself with her instruction shaving, lather and all of that along with prep. I was proud that I made a super massive amount of lather in this huge mug we got and thought I had this thing in the bag, well turns out that I very likely picked up too much shaving cream from the tub on the brush and when the lather acted too thick or dry I had added too much water and thinned it out to where it did not protect my face as it should have so...she let me learn that one on my own lol.

No big deal it's not really bad but a handful of splotches and a bit tender to the touch, though her post shave creams likely saved me from being miserable. She said I would get the hang of making a good lather that would make it the best shave I ever had, well I think I got that this morning any way.

Also I think a contributing factor aside my lather making mishap is also what I will term as "unconscious pressure", I am a big guy at 6 feet and 220lbs...powerlifter and bull in a china shop. So I might be not knowingly placing pressure on the face, it is difficult for me to maintain a relaxed candor as I am used to pressure being a key factor but I think I will get the hang of it when muscle memory kicks in.

Congrats on your first DE shave and welcome to SRP.

Thanks, was meaning this to be a reply to the thread "I am on the fence now after the first DE shave"

But oh well, guess it can be a topic as well lol.

Oh and I gotta remember to tell the wife to get her own pics up on here, the ones she has up are good art, but her's is just as good. She hasn't yet uploaded any, and we have an appointment with a buddy of mine to get a couple professional pictures done as well. Only woman I ever seen with more ink than anyone I've met, another perk of being married to her, love exotic lol.

Light pressure is Key as you have noticed. The second shave with a Feather blade is always better for me.

Congrats and enjoy!

Lynn

Wife said the very same thing about these blades, 2nd shave on is great and that the first shave with a new Feather that they have some bite because they are so sharp. I've marveled for a very long time at the smoothness and the youthfulness in her legs, I mean really there as soft as our 5 month old daughters skin and that's not bad for both of us going on 32 soon enough!

Tyvm for the advice, I'll do my best to let the razor just sit on my face as I just trail it along and let the blade do it's job. This feels way diff than those Fusions lol.

Tartarus,

Sounds like you are well on your way as a DE shaver. Congrats. I like the Merkur HD. It was my first DE razor. I've acquired several ones since then, but its still my favorite.

You may want to try a DE razor sampler pack from one of the online vendors. You may find a DE razor blade other than Feathers that you like--for less money.

Told you that you would like it lol, and yes the lather was a bit too wet and also too much picked up makes it harder to get right. Oh well though it will come with practice might make your next lather so you will know what your looking for when making it, lathering is I think the only difficult thing with shaving but everyone will likely have a diff say in that area lol.

+1 on light pressure and congrats on your first DE shave. DE shaves can be great. I am a straight user but every once in a while I grab the DE and I'm always happy with the end results.

Yeah the lather thing is iffy for me atm, hard to tell when you have it right, I practiced a bit earlier just to see with a Proraso green tub soap, and it was a bit dry as cracks appeared, but not shaving today so am just making and lathering to see what mix works right.

Also with a shave soap or cream...is it better to get the brush in there and swirl around a bit and apply directly to the face, or is it a bit more accurate to use a mug? I know with the soap thats in it's own tub that a bowel might not be such a hot option or is it? Guess I am asking how diff methods work for diff stuff like soaps and creams and the like cause I have access to both atm, way more creams than soaps though.

Seems with creams I tend to get too much on the brush and then it's either dry or I add too much water to the mug I use to try and compensate, with the soap I don't want to flood the bowel it is in yet want to get a moist lather and am having troubles doing it and not sure to use a mug and try lathering in it after swirling the brush in the soap or what lol.

A little advice would be nice, the Proraso soap my wife doesn't use as she loves the creams so I pretty much am working on it atm till I pick up some good creams and soaps of my own not wanting to waste hers as I learn.

As for creams she has Trumpers Coconut Oil, Truefitt and Hill Limes, Taylors of old bond street sandalwood(her fave) as well as Almond, a tube or Proraso cream, a puck of Williams shave soap I bought...she giggled at that one lol. Not much available here in our town so, gotta buy online.

+1 on the Proraso green tub! I love that soap, cheap and easy to find. It may not be the highest quality item, but it gets the job done. If you find you end up using too much cream, you would definitely benefit from a soap. Sometimes you might be a little liberal with creams, after all how can a nickel sized drop make all that lather! For soaps a good tip is to soak your brush in hot water and then give it a quick squeeze. Then swirl it in the tub with a little bit of pressure. This will decently coat the end of the brush in soap. Then rinse a large mug with hot water and start swirling the brush inside the tub. There should be very little water at this point. Start adding small amounts of water, I find just cupping some with your hand works best. It should start to thicken up and start to look like lather. You'll want to stop adding water when there is a lot of lather and its standing up on its own. If it starts to run down the sides of the mug, you've added too much water.

As for shaving with a DE, minimal pressure is key, everyone has given lots of great advice on that. The only thing I would add is you might want to try different blades while you learn. Feathers can be very unforgiving and using Personnas could be a good blade to learn on. Your shave might not be as close, but for now you should concentrate on technique anyways.

Good luck!!!