30 days in: Thoughts + lessons

[MississippiTom]

Hi gang. I’ve been DE wet shaving for a month now, and wanted to share my thoughts and experiences so far.

1.) First lesson: I have learned to use real soaps instead of canned foam—nice improvement and ups the fun factor. Proraso is my go-to, but I haven’t tried my Arko yet; I’m looking forward to that.

2.) I started with a Van Der Hagen razor from Wally World, and had a pretty good first experience with it. But I also have been experimenting with vintage razors: a red tip, a knack, and today a Slim Adjustable. I’ve honestly been having difficulties with razor burn and nicks but have chalked it up to inexperience. But after using my new adjustable (N-1) this morning on setting 1 (mildest), I just learned that my problem was more due to wrong equipment than technique. Wow! What a great improvement with the 1 setting: no razor burn, and honestly cut hair just as well as the more aggressive razors, without irritating my skin! I just expected that with the razor set to 1, I’d be leaving too much hair on face: nope. Now I’ve been a good boy (well, sometimes at least) and Santa is bringing me an O-1 Super Speed Flare-Tip, which I’m looking forward to. Lesson: I actually needed a mild razor; so fellow newbies: take your time and find the right equipment that you need for your face to get good results.

3.) bowl lathering for me is harder to get the right consistency, compared to face lathering: face lathering gets the right amount of slickness very quickly.

4.) I’m still cold water shaving for now. I’ll try warm moist shaving once I really get technique and equipment nailed down. Alum block is nice to use, but my two favorite after shave items are my Thayer’s Witch Hazel (love the smell!) and my Pinaud after shave—manly, not powder-puff smells.

5.) since I’ve got old razors, I have a spray bottle of alcohol to drive off any water from the razor and blade.

6.) haven’t figured out when I need to replace my blades, but expect I’ll be getting at least 6 per blade. I’m Still using my Astra blades but am also trying a sampler pack every other blade change. Nothing so Far tempts me away from astra blades.

7,) wow! Real shaving sure is exfoliating my skin, and making my skin feel so much nicer now; I’m hooked!

That’s all I can think of for now. Looking forward to posting my lessons learned at 60 days out.

 

[Russrat]

Welcome and enjoy!

 

[ackvil]

Welcome to B&B. Nice collection.

 

[MississippiTom]

I guess I’d say I’ve officially had my first

Damned Fine Shave.

 

[Frozenshades]

I guess I’d say I’ve officially had my first

Damned Fine Shave.

Good stuff. I too am a fan of Astras, and over time you'll find which blade/razor combos you like.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Good to hear you're settling in to traditional shaving so well. Things will keep getting better.

Enjoy

 

[ajkel64]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the DFS. I like milder razors myself as I have sensitive skin. Glad that you are finding out what works best for you.

 

[Twelvefret]

 

[Macsen]

Welcome and great report! congrats on the DFS, and enjoy the shaves

 

[BigJ]

Great progress!!

 

[xxvaleria]

Glad to hear that you're enjoying yourself. Congratulations.

 

[Ron R]

Welcome, DE and SE are great razors and like you mentioned the soaps are great enjoyment.

 

[Davidkimberly]

Welcome. I'm in New Orleans but spend time in Mississippi as we have a camp on the Pearl River between Picayune and Columbia.

 

[Mempho]

+1 on everything.

Tennessee Jim

 

[Invicta]

Welcome to B&B. The Astra SP is good blade for many.

 

[MississippiTom]

It’s now about 6 months on the learning curve, and I have new thoughts to share...

First is I’m still on the learning curve. Really I’ve been having several months of shave irritation and daily weepers. Frustrating. So far I attribute this regular problem to using too low a setting on my adjustable razors and getting used to doin too many passes and pressing down to try getting a close enough shave. Lesson learned: use a more aggressive setting with less passes and low/no pressure.

I’ve also resorted to “cheating” by using a 2 blade cartridge razor to clean up my goatee area on the front of my chin. Meh, it’s such a hard angle and too long a blade when trying this with my DE razors.

 

[Robknock31]

My chin is a lot better with a DE than cartridge, I use really short strokes and constantly change the angle.

 

[MississippiTom]

9 month update:
For months I’ve still been dealing with Knicks and razor bumps using my Astra blades. I recently tried a pack of Persona blades and instantly started getting superb shaves without the Knicks or bumps. I chalk this improvement to the Astra blades being just too sharp for me; the Personas appear less sharp but more forgiving. And turns out I get just as good a shave with the Personas. I’m now rethinking my razor preferences as I use the Personas. (

Photo of razor arsenal included)

I also suspect that my local soft water changes the behavior of some shave soaps. My Arco shave soap appears to not be slick enough, despite rave reviews by many. I chalk this up to the soft water, as a guess. I’m still enjoying these soaps: Proaso, Taylor of Old Bond Street, and surprisingly Cremo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[niels]

Lesson learned: use a more aggressive setting with less passes and low/no pressure.

Had the exact same experience

And turns out I get just as good a shave with the Personas. I’m now rethinking my razor preferences as I use the Personas.

@Esox had some great info in this post. With my Tmeless, I noticed significant improvement in both efficiency and irritation because the blade is more rigid due to the way the razor holds the blades. I read that the Fatip OC razors perform well here for a lot friendlier price, but I haven't tried one myself. Note that if the blade is too dull though, you may get more tugging and I haven't tried it with a Persona.

I also suspect that my local soft water changes the behavior of some shave soaps. My Arco shave soap appears to not be slick enough, despite rave reviews by many. I chalk this up to the soft water, as a guess. I’m still enjoying these soaps: Proaso, Taylor of Old Bond Street, and surprisingly Cremo.

In Berlin we have very hard water and I've had issues with soap because of it, so it is definitely a factor: I could not get Le Père Lucien's Pushkar and Rose (non-tallow) to lather correctly and had it dissipate due to air bubbles in the lather.
I found that getting the lather as wet as possible really improves the slickness for me, regardless of the soap; a too dry a lather can significantly reduce the slickness and dry out quicker and gives me more irritation. Have you ever tried Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF)? For me, Proraso isn't slick enough and soaps like MWF work so much better. And the tallow and lanolin (wool fat) feel much better post-shave, so less irritation.

 

[FireDragon76]

Astras are sharp and unforgiving. I would have started with Derby blades.

DE's in general don't always work well with tough beards (unless you use Feathers or something like that), and they aren't very forgiving or intuitive. If you're completely new to shaving with a single edge razor, Bic, or a late model Shick is a good place to start. Shick's especially have thick blades. That lets you focus on keeping pressure light- the angle is more intuitive for a cartridge user.

A razor with a more rigid blade might also help- a chattering and vibrating blade won't help your shave.