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2 -3 months into DE shaving new guy with observations

I tend to go overboard. I bought a pile of razors and blades. Nothing that expensive. I found I liked butterfly heads for rinsing out, and adjustable, just because I could sometimes make the razor adapt to my bad technique :) Then I sent almost all my n00b razors, 14 of them, and 700 blades to my 6 poor brother in-laws in the Philippines in one of the giant boxes my wife sends down there. Half of it was $1.25 aggressive little things and $3.58 butterflies in cases from Temu. Then I bought like new Gillette Slim and Black Beauty. Also, a 1959 birth year replated fatboy from Back Roads Gold. So now I'm down to about 12 razors. Maybe 7 are adjustable. I have quite a few 10? different types of blades. Today I shaved with a very mild long handle Weishi or something using a BIC blade. The mild with the very sharp worked great! I think my face may be like iron from shaving in the dark, in the shower with generic Familly Dollar Astra clone cartridges for 25 years. I bought a big pile of them long ago 10 for $1. They weren't very sharp, so I pressed down and made multiple passes. I always thought my face was red from drinking too much beer, but when I went DE the red went away. I don't use anything fancy. Hot wet dishcloth to wet my face, then cheap shave cream. I've gotten BBS shaves a few times, but I don't remember how I did it :) Anyways. That's my history and current state. Trying various blades, normally in an adjustable, and seeing how they do. If I start documenting what works I might have a clue in another 2 or 3 months.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
You are one of us! Keep up the good work and God Bless you for your generous heart!

Happy Shaves!
Phil Hartman Yes GIF
 
Yep! you fit right in, my new brother. LOL

Make a spreadsheet on the computer or phone and start keeping track of everything. Including comments on the shave and how long each blade lasts, whether it was keen enough or not. After a while, if you are lucky, you might learn what works best for ya. But if you're like some of us you will keep buying new razors and blades and the fun, I mean the testing will never end. I've been at this for decades and have over 300 razors. I buy and sell razors left and right. I'd like to say I know what is my perfect setup, but who am I fooling? One day I think its a Tech. The next month it's a 13/16 Straight. Then the Fatboy does a great job and I'm back to square one. :mad2:
 
Thank you for the warm welcome! I think my problem is not using something enough. Like today I used a mild Weishi with a sharp BIC. It was almost BBS except on my chin. Because it is just my chin, that means it is a ME fail and not the razor. Also, the BIC is supposed to get sharper over the next couple of shaves. I keep trying things just once. I'll start a log and try to see how a blade/razor works for at least 4 shaves. Then again. Should a DFS on the first 1 -2 shaves, and then BBS the next 2-3 be acceptable? Or can you actually get a BBS on a blade from shaves 1 - 5? I'll try and start logging how I do it. Thank you for the great advice!
 
Welcome aboard!!

"I have quite a few 10?"

It's a good start!
I'm doing ok for a newbie.

Astra Super Platinum
Astra Stainless
BIC Chrome Platinum
Derby Premium
Gillette Silver Blue
Gillette Platinum
Nacet
Perma-Sharp
Rapira Platinum Lux
Voskhod
Wilkinson Sword Saloon

Oops, make that 11. I have 7 or so other blade types that came with razors that have only Chinese writing on them, and 9 out of a 10-pack of Shaving Revolution blades. I don't count those as real blades because my face hates gambling on the low end. And don't know how I'd buy more if I liked them.
 
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There is no way to go overboard! I am 7 months in and did very similar to what you did! I posted on another thread but yea its awesome and fun, its a hobby now and yes to the excel spreadsheet with notes plus another word document of notes, details, how well your shave was, how you feel afterwards, what blade, soap, razor, passes, angle, pressure, what adjustment did you use, the amount of growth you had prior to your shave. Yea sounds about right!
 
Welcome to B&B and may the shave be with you. I started about the same time as you and also got overwhelmed with choices and options. I have settled on about three razors. Enjoy the journey.
 
I tend to go overboard. I bought a pile of razors and blades. Nothing that expensive. I found I liked butterfly heads for rinsing out, and adjustable, just because I could sometimes make the razor adapt to my bad technique :) Then I sent almost all my n00b razors, 14 of them, and 700 blades to my 6 poor brother in-laws in the Philippines in one of the giant boxes my wife sends down there. Half of it was $1.25 aggressive little things and $3.58 butterflies in cases from Temu. Then I bought like new Gillette Slim and Black Beauty. Also, a 1959 birth year replated fatboy from Back Roads Gold. So now I'm down to about 12 razors. Maybe 7 are adjustable. I have quite a few 10? different types of blades. Today I shaved with a very mild long handle Weishi or something using a BIC blade. The mild with the very sharp worked great! I think my face may be like iron from shaving in the dark, in the shower with generic Familly Dollar Astra clone cartridges for 25 years. I bought a big pile of them long ago 10 for $1. They weren't very sharp, so I pressed down and made multiple passes. I always thought my face was red from drinking too much beer, but when I went DE the red went away. I don't use anything fancy. Hot wet dishcloth to wet my face, then cheap shave cream. I've gotten BBS shaves a few times, but I don't remember how I did it :) Anyways. That's my history and current state. Trying various blades, normally in an adjustable, and seeing how they do. If I start documenting what works I might have a clue in another 2 or 3 months.
I think you have completely gone overboard. Your focus during the first 6 months of traditional wet shaving should be working on perfecting your technique, not buying every razor and razor blade out there. Stop the nonsense and get back to the basics.
 
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