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Help with buying first DE razor

I ditched the cartridges and canned goop a year ago. I am very glad I did. Shaving has changed from a dreaded task to a wonderful hobby I truly enjoy. If I could start over, I would have started with a Rockwell 6C. In my opinion it is the best starter DE. The multiple plates allow you to adjust, but still have the simplicity of a three piece razor. Just my two cents. Enjoy the journey!
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Welcome
Good luck with your purchase. So many choices it might not be your last and hard to go wrong. The problem might be rad.
 
As a newbie myself...less then a year.
I will suggest that I have found the biggest change has little to do with the razor or blade and FAR more to do with the lather generated with a decent brush and soap.
I have used the same razor and blade combo and had a totally different experience depending on how well I lathered my soap.
If I was starting again right now with the knowledge I have gained in the last year, and was shopping on Italian Barber.
I would buy:
Razorock Gamechanger .68p
paired with Nacet or Rapira blades
Razorock Bruce plissoft brush
Any of the Razorock soaps;
XXX, Mudder Focker, Emperor are my choices.
A bowl to lather in would be helpful to start...I use an old catfood dish with some coins siliconed to the bottom.

I could shave with those items happily for the foreseeable future.

Goodluck in your search
Jay
 
Welcome aboard. As you can already, this is a great forum.

I started with a Merkur 34c. Great choice. Unfortunately(?), I later fell down the rabbit hole for soaps, brushes and higher end razors (if you ever get to that point, Timeless is a good choice).

My real advice: listen to the other members and then draw your own conclusions. Don’t go crazy looking for the next best new razor. You can get a great shave as long as your technique is good.
 
Any Gillette Tech, Super Speed or Slim, excellent choice. In new, I can heartily recommend the Lord L5. Best DE shaver in my den for less than $10.

The best razor in the world is the Schick E2; a Schick G is another excellent choice.

Any of these razors will provide perfect BBS shaves for a lifetime. Resist RAD. Buy a good one now and use it forever. It’s more about technique anyway.

Yep.

Just bought another nickel pre-war Tech at an antique store today for 10 bucks. It's a backup to my backup.
 
Hi! I ended up ordering a pearl flexi off Amazon for 70 bucks. I'm hoping it's not too heavy but I do like the idea of adjustable so I can start off mild and work my way up. Also got the plissoft Bruce, some razorock soaps, shaving bowl (with the lines on the bottom) and I'm ready to rock whenever the razor arrives.
 
Hi! I ended up ordering a pearl flexi off Amazon for 70 bucks. I'm hoping it's not too heavy but I do like the idea of adjustable so I can start off mild and work my way up. Also got the plissoft Bruce, some razorock soaps, shaving bowl (with the lines on the bottom) and I'm ready to rock whenever the razor arrives.

Unfamiliar with that one, but I'm not well acquainted with adjustable razors. Would love to hear about your experience once it arrives! I'm sure others have suggested, but it's a good idea to start a shave journal to keep track of your development and document your progress/process. Welcome to the forum and happy shaving, congrats!
 
Okay so I got the pearl flexi on Thursday and immediately shaved with it. Didn't have any shave soaps yet so I used my barbasol. Put in a gillette Wilkinson sword I had the razor on pretty low at like 1.5 setting. And I didn't feel like it was cutting, so I think I pressed harder than I should have because there was definitely razor burn. No nicks or anything. I tried the wtg xtg and atg passes but technique matters a lot apparently, because I didn't really get a good result. Was pretty discouraged to be honest. All this hype for de shaving and I had more razor burn and a worse shave than my cartridge razor!

But I tried again today and set it at around 4 for the wtg/xtg and 2 for atg. And this time I barely put any pressure. And much better result! No razor burn at all and shave result is way better than any cartridge razor result I've ever had. I can't wait to get my brush and soaps to see if that will help with comfort vs barbasol. I'm actually going to try the highest settings because I found it easier to not press in when I used the higher setting then when I had the lower setting and didn't feel like it was cutting.
 
Okay so I got the pearl flexi on Thursday and immediately shaved with it. Didn't have any shave soaps yet so I used my barbasol. Put in a gillette Wilkinson sword I had the razor on pretty low at like 1.5 setting. And I didn't feel like it was cutting, so I think I pressed harder than I should have because there was definitely razor burn. No nicks or anything. I tried the wtg xtg and atg passes but technique matters a lot apparently, because I didn't really get a good result. Was pretty discouraged to be honest. All this hype for de shaving and I had more razor burn and a worse shave than my cartridge razor!

But I tried again today and set it at around 4 for the wtg/xtg and 2 for atg. And this time I barely put any pressure. And much better result! No razor burn at all and shave result is way better than any cartridge razor result I've ever had. I can't wait to get my brush and soaps to see if that will help with comfort vs barbasol. I'm actually going to try the highest settings because I found it easier to not press in when I used the higher setting then when I had the lower setting and didn't feel like it was cutting.

Sorry to hear that your first shave went badly. Personally, I would never recommend a Flexi to a first-time DE shaver, or anyone for that matter. The razors have a fairly well documented history of blade alignment issues.

I recently bought one, and it is terrible - the blade gap is wider on one side than the other, which is not a good place for a new shaver to start.

Your Flexi may be fine, but if not, it may be difficult for you to get a comfortable shave. The Flexi is a beautiful razor but if you wanted an adjustable razor a vintage Gillette Fatboy or Slim may have been a better place to start.

It is possible that your poor result was merely bad technique but it is hard to say since you are using s razor that could very possibly be defective.

Best of luck. 🙂
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
You listed a couple of real winners...Game Changer and Lupo. I'd go with a personal preference and don't look back.
 
Don't see any blade alignment issues. Like I said the second shave went a lot better so I'm pretty sure it's technique. It was a lot easier on the more aggressive setting. I kind of wanted to get a feel for how aggressive a razor I wanted to use before buying a fixed razor which is why I went with adjustable. Slim and fatboy I've read are pretty mild. Plus prices for a fatboy seem pretty high. Anyway, it seems from the two shaves I've had that I'm leaning toward more aggressive razors. Lupo .95 maybe in the future? I'm going to keep shaving with pearl flexi for the time being. It honestly does look fine on alignment to me.
 
Don't see any blade alignment issues. Like I said the second shave went a lot better so I'm pretty sure it's technique. It was a lot easier on the more aggressive setting. I kind of wanted to get a feel for how aggressive a razor I wanted to use before buying a fixed razor which is why I went with adjustable. Slim and fatboy I've read are pretty mild. Plus prices for a fatboy seem pretty high. Anyway, it seems from the two shaves I've had that I'm leaning toward more aggressive razors. Lupo .95 maybe in the future? I'm going to keep shaving with pearl flexi for the time being. It honestly does look fine on alignment to me.
There is nothing mild about the 195 and Slim, especially at higher settings.

At setting 7 a 195 or Slim is .97 in terms of blade gap.

At setting 8 it is 1.04

At setting 9 it is 1.14

Double-Edged Safety Razors Ranked by Blade Gap - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/Double-Edged_Safety_Razors_Ranked_by_Blade_Gap

These gaps should be quite sufficient for most men, paired with a mature technique.

In my opinion a good and evolving technique actually lessens the need for an overly 'aggressive' razor with many shavers.

I would recommend you pick a Slim or 195 up. Apart from being beautiful masterpieces of industrial design they give excellent shaves. The Slim is more affordable if you have a tight budget.

The great thing about them is that span all the Gillette vintages in one package. A 1-2 setting will give you a mild but efficient Tech shave. 3-6 will give you all the Super Speeds including the Red Tip and English Rocket vintages' shave experience. 7-9 betters the Merkur Progress.

You should be able to pick up a Gillette Slim in great condition for $40 if you keep an eye out, and you will own a true classic of DE razors. A 195 would be even better, and some go for the same price if you get lucky.
 
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I ditched the cartridges and canned goop a year ago. I am very glad I did. Shaving has changed from a dreaded task to a wonderful hobby I truly enjoy. If I could start over, I would have started with a Rockwell 6C. In my opinion it is the best starter DE. The multiple plates allow you to adjust, but still have the simplicity of a three piece razor. Just my two cents. Enjoy the journey!
My Rockwell 6C is on the way as we speak. (Okay, technically not on the way. But ordered!)
And you're right: shaving is more fun now that I've picked up on wet shaving. I'm experimenting with razors and blades while trying to do it in a logical manner to eliminate too many variables. And I'm having a ball.
I'm a very simple person. :laugh:
 
@buffpandabear you are absolutely right, it is the technique. If I could do it over again, I would not worry about the quality of the shave at all for the first few weeks. I would only worry about the technique and would live with crappy shaves. Counter-intuitively, I think that is the quickest way to get to good shaves.

By that I would recommend focusing on your angle and no pressure at all. So little pressure you are counteracting the weight of the razor. Just do a 2-pass shave, WTG and XTG, leave against the grain for later. Learn your beard grain for all parts of your face.

By focusing on technique like this, I bet the quality of the shave will naturally improve and do so faster than focusing on the result. Just advice I wish I had when I started.

Happy shaving!
 
My Rockwell 6C is on the way as we speak. (Okay, technically not on the way. But ordered!)
And you're right: shaving is more fun now that I've picked up on wet shaving. I'm experimenting with razors and blades while trying to do it in a logical manner to eliminate too many variables. And I'm having a ball.
I'm a very simple person. :laugh:
Congratulations on the new razor! I hope it works well for you. It sounds like you have the right idea. I jumped around a lot at first with the excitement of trying new things. It didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to stick with one setup and learn technique. After I got more experience I would only change one thing at a time. I enjoy this hobby more all the time.
 
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