Thread: I just scraped my face off.

Hey all, I bought a DE to finish up my shaves, rather than spend the same amount of money on cartridges.

The razor is an Edwin Jagger DE89, with an astra blade (blue packaging, superior I believe).
Prep: Shower, proraso pre-shave cream. Shave: proraso white soap.

So, I was careful to just use the weight of the razor, and I ended up with a fair amount of blood, and it felt like it was pulling.

Now it's likely that I'm the problem, as I'm new to it (same with the straight), but I'm going to try a derby blade next time to see if that makes a difference.

Any thoughts? I also can't seem to figure out what lather is supposed to be like on my face. Maybe it's too thin?

Thanks,

Patrick

Lather should be light in weight and texture but firm. IOW not dripping off your razor or face as you're shaving. I don't know how else to describe it, my preference anyway.

Are you stretching skin ? Skin should be stretched snug. Doesn't have to be pulled until it won't go anymore, just taut. Try the Derbys, they are more 'forgiving' IME.

I'll let my face heal up a bit and then try again. I did some skin stretching, but maybe not enough. I really want this, and more importantly my straight, to be an awesome experience. So far that hasn't been the case, but I'm not giving up!

Remember: Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

The DE you're using is pretty tame really. You need to work on you stroke with angle and pressure the key words there.

Probably too steep of an angle. Start with the handle parallel to the floor and slowly increase the angle until you find the shallowest position that will still cut hair. That is the angle you want to maintain throughout the shave.

I was where you're at a couple of months ago, and decided that I'd do a lot less damage to my face if I scrubbed mercilessly on the hard spots with the straight rather than the DE. Looking back on things, I don't really understand why DE was considered an upgrade at the time--every time I've used one it's done a lot more damage than my straight.

Lose the DE, and don't look back.

I too had a fair amount of blood when I first made the transition from cartridge razor to DE. I didn't know exactly how much to press (which you know should be almost not at all) and the proper angle yet. thing I noticed was that almost all the cuts I had gotten were over spots where I had ingrown razor bumps. (from cartridge razors of course) It had actually opened up all of them. Haven't had one since. My technique has gotten better over time but it will just come with practice. This is probably super contradictory to what most will tell you, but try a Feather blade. What I have found is that super aggressive blades will really put into perspective how little pressure is actually needed when you shave. Of course the flip side of that, which most people will attest to, if you give the slightest hint of too much pressure with a feather blade it will light your face on fire. Keep it up man, the muscle memory comes pretty quick actually.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The DE you're using is pretty tame really. You need to work on you stroke with angle and pressure the key words there.

I beg to differ, it's a middle of the road razor. Quite aggressive compared to Merkur OC, iKon OSS, Feather… It has a blade gap of a Progress on 3. You need good technique to keep from getting cut. If you have razor burn from the EJ your angle is wrong and your using some pressure. If you have smooth skin then by improving your technique you will get a good shave. If not, you may want to consider a milder razor.

Originally Posted by mdarnton

I was where you're at a couple of months ago, and decided that I'd do a lot less damage to my face if I scrubbed mercilessly on the hard spots with the straight rather than the DE. Looking back on things, I don't really understand why DE was considered an upgrade at the time--every time I've used one it's done a lot more damage than my straight.

Lose the DE, and don't look back.

I'm not looking at the DE as an upgrade, but right now I can't manage my whole face with a straight. That, and there will be days where I simply don't have the time for the full ritual. I bought the DE for those reasons.