Thread: DE Newbie here...

Thanks everyone,

So far I've been shaving with the DE every morning and I am noticing WAY less acne and ingrown hairs on my neck/chin area (My GF has even commented how much better my face is now that I'm doing it) to be honest I never thought that my shave could be contributing to acne and I tried everything to get rid of it (Clerasil, Proactiv etc) nothing worked until now.

I am now getting almost consistent shaves from my Merkur and find myself dialing up the aggressiveness slightly, (Currently at a 3.5 and that seems to be comfortable for me) Still perfecting my technique but so far I find that 2 passes WTG and 1 ATG then some light touch up and I get a consistent BBS shave. I even find that I don't have as much stubble at 7pm as I used to...

As for the routine, I always take a hot shower before I shave so my prep is as follows:

1) Before the shower, I fill the sink with hot tap water (our tap water is pretty hot) and fill my latte mug that I use for lather with hot water and sit ti in the sink to warm
2) In the shower, wash my face, then rinse and apply hair conditioner to my beard area (Even the moustache and goatee I keep, makes it silky ) and let the conditioner set while i wash everywhere else etc..
3) After the shower I leave my face wet, apply the pre-shave oil and then build my lather in the cup (the Art of shaving stuff lathers like MAD)
4) 2 passes WTG and 1 ATG re-applying lather inbetween passes
5) Touch up areas that need it
6) Witch hazel to my face to soothe
7) Apply the Art of Shaving after shave balm and let air dry..

Seems to work for me but I do want to start experimenting with other creams/soaps etc however I don't want to get too many variables into the mix as I am still learning, once I perfect my technique I will start to play

SR's fascinate me and at the same time make me nervous, I wasn't willing to plunk down tons of cash for a SR as I was worried I'd ruin it etc. but after doing research I came across whipped dog's site and got a shave ready razor plus poor mans strop for under 50 bucks so I will be giving SR shaving a shot... I don't always have the time for it every day but I figure I can use the DE daily and have my sunday morning "Treat" with the SR if it goes well and I find that I like it....otherwise the DE works amazing for me and it will be my razor of choice for life!

Thanks again everyone! Loving this art/hobby

Awesome that it works out so well for you! And thumbs up for buying a straight, that's the spirit.

You should use the straight often when you get it, once a week isn't enough when you are new to them. Try doing one wtg pass with it every day, and dedicate the Sundays to full straight shave day or something.

I will give that a shot, the problem is one of time Usually I am running late in the AM for work (I am not a morning person so getting up earlier is just not an option for me) So I have enough time for a DE shave, but maybe not a SR...but I'll give it a shot and see, who knows

the SR should arrive this week, looking forward to it I got WhippedDog's sight unseen deal which included the razor (shave ready) and a poor mans strop kit. He even said that if I dont like it I can swap it out for a different model for the cost of re-honing the razor (13 bucks) couldn't pass up a deal like that!