First Day of DE Journey -- Advice?

[gamingmouse]

My Merkur Heavy Duty DE arrived by mail today, and I had my first true wet shave. Afterward, I put my Fusion under the sink for good, but I can tell I still have some learning to do.

I started with a 10 minute hot shower, and applied some HIS shave oil as soon as I turned the water off. Next began the shaving preparations: Ran hot water in the sink, wet down my Badger hair brush, and mixed up some Crabtree and Evelyn Almond Oil shave cream. Splashed my face with hot water again, and lay on a thick coat.

I took it very slow at first, moving the razor slowly in small strokes with the grain. No problems or nicks, but the first pass did not produce a very close shave, as I knew it wouldn't.

More hot water, coat two. This time cross grain, and I'm getting the hang of it a bit more. I settle into a slightly faster, almost scooping stroke with the blade, but now, with this scooping method, even shorter strokes.

Since this goes well too, I decide to try coat 3 and an against the grain pass. This works fine on my cheeks, but I get some bloody nicks on my neck. I should note, though, that this happens with the fusion too when I shave against the grain. Even though my neck is dotted with blood after the last pass, I notice that it does not BURN nearly as much as it did after an against the grain fusion shave.

So.... any tips for the neck area? How does my stroke technique sound? Here is a picture taken right after the shave, which makes things look alot worse than they felt. Now thirty minutes later, my skin has mostly settled down.....

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/6606/shaveburnqi2.jpg

Thanks for any help,
gm

[mlebarron]

I had the same problem on my neck. The only thing that really worked for me was VERY VERY VERY light strokes... almost like everytime it touches skin I pull it away. Like I'm just brushing the skin lightly.

I also go many different ways before going against the grain on my neck. In a couple spots, looks like the same spots you have trouble with, I put cream on my fingers and just rub the cream on, and do short quick strokes in nearly every direction, constantly putting cream on, then go against the grain.

I hope that makes sense... it's pretty much the only thing that works for me in that area.

[Edcculus]

Man, thats nasty looking...:eek:

First of all, you probably want to stick with only with the grain (N-S) passes for the first week or so. It takes your face some time to adjust to a new shaving routine. It also takes a little while to develop technique.

When I started, I did 2 WTG passes. It is definately tempting to want to do more, but dont. After a week, I got impatient and threw in an across the grain.

Also, remember to take it slow. The scooping method is probably a bad idea. If you watch Mantics videos, he describes the stroke as being more like a scythe then a hoe. You dont want to dig in, just glide across.

Good luck.

[kuzmo]

that's right .... almost NO pressure and only WITH the grain .... try not shaving that part of neck so often as other parts of your face

[Jim]

Drop the against the grain and add an accross the grain- what blade are you using? what soap/cream?

[TomH]

Hi GM,

try at first only with the grain, then across, let the razor weight do the work, no hectic or stress, keep it slow.
You have to configurate your skin (oh heck!:confused: Don't know how to explain it exactly), but I think you know what I mean.

No hurry...and good luck...

Thomas

[Austin]

Drop the against the grain and add an accross the grain- what blade are you using? what soap/cream?

I agree with Jim.

[castlecraver]

Drop the against the grain and add an accross the grain- what blade are you using? what soap/cream?

Also agreed. I tell people its amazing what a well-executed across the grain pass, with maybe a little tick of against-grain angle (possibly NNW or SSW to your beard growing E-W) can do. Since youre new to it anyway, I'd definitely forget the against-grain pass for the short-term.

[vespergo]

with my neck i do the first pass n-s, then the last two i do a s-n, and it works fine. when i first started with the DE, i was getting similar results as yourself. i was using too much pressure on the neck because i was having to apply pressure to make it go upward. at the beginning of my DE journey I was focused mostly on the angle of attack. now i focus mostly on the pressure though it's kinda innate now, but i remember that the day i focused #1 on light touch is the day that the razor bumps on the neck started dissappearing. so try to focus more on light pressure as opposed to your angle especially when you get down to the neck area.

[MBlatt]

Neck is always a trouble spot. Drop the S-N pass and go with a couple across the grain passes instead. NO PRESSURE and make sure to keep up your prep.

[rtaylor61]

Give your face at least ONE WEEK to adjust to your new razor. I'd suggest two weeks. Go with two "with" the grain passes for one week, then add the against the grain passs. After two weeks, start going against the grain for the final pass. Take Sunday off from shaving. And remember, the old saying "it's all in the wrist" does NOT apply with shaving. Flexing the wrist will change the razor angle, and that is how you will get too many strikes!

Randy

[_JP_]

As you are finding out, your skin is different on the various parts of your face and neck. The cheeks are usually more tolerant, so doing more than one pass there is something that you might get away with right now. Until the skin in the trouble spots is "trained," you might want to stick with one pass only on those locations. As you work up to it, you could do multiple passes on one day, rest it by doing on a single pass for 2 or 3 days and then try another session with multiple passes. You'll start learning how your skin reacts as you practice.