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First Wet Shave: Didn't Go So Well (Long)

A little about myself: I have to shave every weekday and my beard grows pretty fast. I guess it's probably about medium coarse, but I'm not sure how one judges that.

I know I was shaving by the time I got to college, but can't recall if I was shaving in high school. I remember getting that box of free stuff freshman year and I recall the razor being the highlight but I don't recall which one it was. Whatever was Gillette's newest in 1980, no doubt.

Stepping back, my first ever razor was a Trac II. They sent it to me unsolicited when I was in jr high. It came in a cool thin metal tube shaped like a Red Bull can. I recall wondering how they knew I even existed. But there it was, delivered by the postal service with my name on the label. I used it to cut cardboard.

Over the years I recall using disposables a bunch because they were cheap. One day after quite some time I recall coming to the realization they were not comfortable. I used the Gillette 4-blade that came out before the Fusion (I think) -- because I was told over and over that it was the best a man could get -- and recall being pretty happy with their performance but not the cost.

When my old man passed away about a decade ago I found some of his kit. I think I threw out all of his DE's without giving them a second thought. Arg! But there were a lot of these off-brand 3-blade carts that I really liked. Most comfortable shave I had ever gotten. Turns out they were the Personna Matrix3. More recently I had pretty much settled on them and I was completely satisfied.

Then, somehow, I wandered in here.

When I get into a new hobby I tend to do a bunch of internet reading. So I took my time and assembled my DE kit based on what I read here and some other forums.

About a week ago I went for my first wet shave with the following accoutrements: Neutrogena pump glycerine soap for a face wash, King of Shave oil, Katie's Bubbles (Terra lavender and patchouli something or other), RazoRock RR 400 brush with 20mm synthetic knot (Plasson type but black and supposedly just a touch more backbone), my son's Bob The Builder plastic bowl, Feather AS-D2, Feather blade from a sampler pack (don't recall exact designation but I presume it was the same as the one it comes with), alum block, Snake Bite, and Nivea sensitive skin balm.

To be continued...
 
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Welcome to B&B, do let us know how your shave went.

I have just changed my blade to Croma yesterday, with my AS-D2. Last week was a Feather for 5 days, some neck irritation. They are sharp...
Personna blues for 2 weeks before this, great shave & comfy. But losing a bit of edge on day 4 ~ day 5.



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When the moment struck, I had about two days' growth. I hadn't showered so I washed my face in the sink and tried to soften my whiskers by splashing warm water on them. (I did not press a hot towel on my neck.). Then I applied the shave oil, unevenly. Then I face lathered the cream. All of this was brand new to me. The lather was not so great. It was kind of watery. There was plenty of it, but it was kind of opaque and thin. Not like paint. More like whitewash. This was not off to a good start. In retrospect I should have aborted right there.

But I was so damn curious to see and feel what it was all about. My new Feather was going to sing when I got the angle right. I was going to emerge from the third pass almost BBS with no irritation to my neck -- which for some reason had just recently been experiencing razor burn when it never had before (I had only recently switched from the Matrix3 to the Mach3).

I tentatively touched the top of the cap to my sideburn edge, rotated the razor into its attack angle, and tried to let the head's weight do all the work. I made one or two N/S strokes on the cheek. Nothing happened. At least nothing I could tell. I resisted the urge to apply pressure. I rinsed the razor without carefully inspecting it.

I tilted the handle different directions looking for the sweet spot and focused on not applying pressure. I listened hard for that sort of dry, scratchy sound I'd heard on the videos of stalky whiskers being mown down. I maybe heard it a little. I tilted the handle so shallow the blade was almost on its side. I tilted to different degrees in the midst of a single stroke. I was not in the groove.

Like the dunce who sticks his hand in the flame to see if its hot, I decided to move down from my cheek to the side of my neck, where there is a solitary little mole
that generally flies below the radar of a cart's blades, and was therefore overlooked until the edge caught. Luckily I was not applying any pressure. It cut. Now I could tell how sharp that blade was. But not even half way through. So, it was cutting after all. It was game on.

I went back to the other cheek. Light touch. No problems. I came to the chin. My razor hung like a skier about to launch down a double black diamond. Over the edge and ... wait for it ... ouchie! A nic. Same sense of sharpness.

Okay, a couple bumps but I was still in the game. I decided to complete the pass and stop. In doing so, I must have struck 4 or 5 weepers.

My skier was hanging upside down in a tree. Send the Ski Patrol!

I rinsed off to a few stings, applied alum to a few more, slapped on some aftershave (for the first time) to a few more, and then quenched it all with some Nivea.

Upon final inspection, even the flats of my cheeks were not closely shaven. Not a great experience. A foothold, perhaps. That was about a week ago. I'm not capitulating. Just healing. I shall return. And I'll write about it when I do.
 
Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. Don't give up--it just takes some time and practice. The AS-D2 is an excellent razor, but it shaves at a different angle than most razors. You need to have a very shallow angle of the blade to your skin. Also, remember that your face is not flat, so the angle is changing continuously as you move the razor over your face.
 
safety razor is very easy to master you will do that in no time at all....practice practice....i use a safety a shavette and disposables....getting a cut throat in april....so far safety is easiesy and closest best shave...shavette second...disposables last...once you do it for a while you will get better shaves than a mach 3 or a fusion...at first i got cuts scrapes took a chunk out of my chin cut the top of my lip doing a fools pass lol (guess i found out why its called that hahah) cut my cheek....maybe on neck as well...used to get bad razor burn also and couldnt really give myself a shave if my life depended on it...now like er 7-9 months down the track i can do 3 passes w fools pass no problem bbs no hair showing no grainy feel after anywhere...i used to think disposables were the best thing invented until i jumped into DE shaving...i still use them for days when im in a rush with a can of gel or foam... One tip i found super helpful is shave in 1 inch parts....instead of a full stroke...also map your beard growth and follow with the growth....pre shave prep is also super helpful in helping that razor glide...keep at it man ita just practice and time and u will master it in no time probably take a month...two tops...
 
Welcome to the forum.
Looks like you found the pitfalls of not respecting how sharp blades are. Stick with the correct blade angle, regardless of the sound, and you will achieve good shaves. Steep angles cause more chatter of the blade and hence sound louder. Unfortunately that causes razor burn.
 
When the moment struck, I had about two days' growth. I hadn't showered so I washed my face in the sink and tried to soften my whiskers by splashing warm water on them. (I did not press a hot towel on my neck.). Then I applied the shave oil, unevenly. Then I face lathered the cream. All of this was brand new to me. The lather was not so great. It was kind of watery. There was plenty of it, but it was kind of opaque and thin. Not like paint. More like whitewash. This was not off to a good start. In retrospect I should have aborted right there.

But I was so damn curious to see and feel what it was all about. My new Feather was going to sing when I got the angle right. I was going to emerge from the third pass almost BBS with no irritation to my neck -- which for some reason had just recently been experiencing razor burn when it never had before (I had only recently switched from the Matrix3 to the Mach3).

I tentatively touched the top of the cap to my sideburn edge, rotated the razor into its attack angle, and tried to let the head's weight do all the work. I made one or two N/S strokes on the cheek. Nothing happened. At least nothing I could tell. I resisted the urge to apply pressure. I rinsed the razor without carefully inspecting it.

I tilted the handle different directions looking for the sweet spot and focused on not applying pressure. I listened hard for that sort of dry, scratchy sound I'd heard on the videos of stalky whiskers being mown down. I maybe heard it a little. I tilted the handle so shallow the blade was almost on its side. I tilted to different degrees in the midst of a single stroke. I was not in the groove.

Like the dunce who sticks his hand in the flame to see if its hot, I decided to move down from my cheek to the side of my neck, where there is a solitary little mole
that generally flies below the radar of a cart's blades, and was therefore overlooked until the edge caught. Luckily I was not applying any pressure. It cut. Now I could tell how sharp that blade was. But not even half way through. So, it was cutting after all. It was game on.

I went back to the other cheek. Light touch. No problems. I came to the chin. My razor hung like a skier about to launch down a double black diamond. Over the edge and ... wait for it ... ouchie! A nic. Same sense of sharpness.

Okay, a couple bumps but I was still in the game. I decided to complete the pass and stop. In doing so, I must have struck 4 or 5 weepers.

My skier was hanging upside down in a tree. Send the Ski Patrol!

I rinsed off to a few stings, applied alum to a few more, slapped on some aftershave (for the first time) to a few more, and then quenched it all with some Nivea.

Upon final inspection, even the flats of my cheeks were not closely shaven. Not a great experience. A foothold, perhaps. That was about a week ago. I'm not capitulating. Just healing. I shall return. And I'll write about it when I do.
Welcome and keep us updated
 
Second shave went much better!
Same razor. Same blade. Same two-day beard. But to cut down on other variables I used my cart pre-shave routine: face wash with Neutrogena glycerin and then canned Nivea gel (I really like that stuff).
I took my time and sat in the tub with a hand mirror. Could definitely hear/feel the hairs being cut. Didn't even think about pressure until the end of the second pass when I realized I was indeed pushing some but it wasn't causing a problem and even seemed to help. Gave the old mole a wind berth. Did three passes and at least two touch up runs. Only had two weepers on the three passes. On the touch ups I got some nicks, but by that time I was just goofing around going after BBS and stuff. I learned that I need a lighted magnifying mirror if I'm ever going to be able to shave in the shower. My eyesight just doesn't cut it when standing in front of the sink or even when holding the handheld in certain positions. Finished off with Nivea sensitive balm, alum block, then Snake Bite. I would've applied the Nivea last but I couldn't get to everything when I wanted to. I very much enjoyed my shave and am already looking forward to next weekend. Oh yeah, and my Rockwell Model T!!!
 
Welcome! Two suggestions:

#1. Don't give up. This is a skill that takes awhile to master. Worth the effort for sure!

#2. I suggest you read through the wiki. It has a ton of useful information!
 
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