New guy here.
I have to shave daily for my job, and since I've been daily shaving for over a decade, the beard grows fast. Hair is also very wiry, dry and curly. Started DE shaving in earnest last Sunday, with 3 days of growth. Got a EJ DE89, TOBS Jermyn St Sensitive, Omega 11137 brush and a blade sampler pack, all from Maggard. I mapped out my face my first day, but then proceeded to do the standard three pass shave ignoring my grain. Oh and used an Astra Stainless (bad idea). Right back to cartridge levels of razor burn/ingrowns/PFB. A couple nicks, no cuts. Since then have only been varying the blades daily, without much improvement. Been focusing on technique, using only enough pressure for contact with the skin. Unfortunately, my hair is so rough and wiry that most blades were just pulling on it, not cutting it. Did try bowl lathering instead of face lathering. And started trying to shave with my grain instead of just going down, then across one way, and finishing the other way. Also cut it to WTG, XTG. Tried Kyle's prep, no decrease in razor burn. Showered then shaved, no difference. Post shave mostly the same, usually Alum+Thayer's Witch Hazel+Nivea Sensitive skin. Reapply Thayer's at night most nights.
I also have been reading on here to stick with the same setup for a month. My patience wasn't holding up as it seemed like my razor burn was only getting worse, not better. I decided to get a few more things. Got some proraso red cream, and pre-shave cream. Got an actual lather bowl (my wife gave me odd looks when I brought the cereal bowl down to run through the dishwasher)... and ordered some Maggard razors (V3a, V2 and Slant heads and M7 handle). Cut myself on my upper lip 2 days ago with a Gillete 7 O'Clock Yellow SharpEdge. Frustrated, but decided to try out the Astra SP (worked decently well) and had to take yesterday off. This morning I did the one thing newbies aren't to do: I changed multiple things. In fact, only things that were the same from two days ago were my brush and blade. I even changed how I shaved. And it was the best shave I've had.
Used proraso pre-shave cream after my shower. Proraso red shave cream (lathers well and stays wet on my face unlike TOBS), the Maggard V2 head on M7 handle, Astra SP blade (loving this so far), and normal post shave. Alum told me I went too close in spots, but I also varied the shave and tried going XTG, ATG. Minimal razor burn. Just went back and rechecked: least amount of bumps I've had on my neck in a decade. I'm hooked.
I have to shave daily for my job, and since I've been daily shaving for over a decade, the beard grows fast. Hair is also very wiry, dry and curly. Started DE shaving in earnest last Sunday, with 3 days of growth. Got a EJ DE89, TOBS Jermyn St Sensitive, Omega 11137 brush and a blade sampler pack, all from Maggard. I mapped out my face my first day, but then proceeded to do the standard three pass shave ignoring my grain. Oh and used an Astra Stainless (bad idea). Right back to cartridge levels of razor burn/ingrowns/PFB. A couple nicks, no cuts. Since then have only been varying the blades daily, without much improvement. Been focusing on technique, using only enough pressure for contact with the skin. Unfortunately, my hair is so rough and wiry that most blades were just pulling on it, not cutting it. Did try bowl lathering instead of face lathering. And started trying to shave with my grain instead of just going down, then across one way, and finishing the other way. Also cut it to WTG, XTG. Tried Kyle's prep, no decrease in razor burn. Showered then shaved, no difference. Post shave mostly the same, usually Alum+Thayer's Witch Hazel+Nivea Sensitive skin. Reapply Thayer's at night most nights.
I also have been reading on here to stick with the same setup for a month. My patience wasn't holding up as it seemed like my razor burn was only getting worse, not better. I decided to get a few more things. Got some proraso red cream, and pre-shave cream. Got an actual lather bowl (my wife gave me odd looks when I brought the cereal bowl down to run through the dishwasher)... and ordered some Maggard razors (V3a, V2 and Slant heads and M7 handle). Cut myself on my upper lip 2 days ago with a Gillete 7 O'Clock Yellow SharpEdge. Frustrated, but decided to try out the Astra SP (worked decently well) and had to take yesterday off. This morning I did the one thing newbies aren't to do: I changed multiple things. In fact, only things that were the same from two days ago were my brush and blade. I even changed how I shaved. And it was the best shave I've had.
Used proraso pre-shave cream after my shower. Proraso red shave cream (lathers well and stays wet on my face unlike TOBS), the Maggard V2 head on M7 handle, Astra SP blade (loving this so far), and normal post shave. Alum told me I went too close in spots, but I also varied the shave and tried going XTG, ATG. Minimal razor burn. Just went back and rechecked: least amount of bumps I've had on my neck in a decade. I'm hooked.
). Practice and patience are key.
