YES! I too have found the Hensen razor to be as near perfect for a beginner as any razor can be.
Closer shave with a cartridge razor, please help!!!!
- Thread starter Seds
- Start date
YES! I too have found the Hensen razor to be as near perfect for a beginner as any razor can be.
You may scream. There is no shame.
The most valuable aspect of this journey is the acquiring of technique. Honestly, I did not know how to shave until I went DE. And DE is cheaper than cartridge. So there you are.
For lather, do some hand lathers with your cream. Allows you to feel the lather really well. Not shave with it, just practice. Keep adding a couple drops of water at a time and working in and feeling the results. Then repeat until the lather falls apart/stops feeling good/looses slickness etc. That will familiarize you with the cream. You'll also be surprised how much water it needs/can take.
For shaving, angle and pressure could be your issue. But more often than not when I was new it was mistakenly going back over areas without putting lather there. As a rule when you're new, Everytime your razor touches your face there should be lather there. Taking a stroke without lather doesn't immediately feel bad but will definitely cause irritation. Especially combine with bad angle and pressure.
With both of those that should help.
Also, stop trying for very close shave.
Yes a cart can give you close shave more easily, but you trade off in other ways.
Until you get your technique down stick to WTG and maybe XTG. Better to have a shave that's comfortable than a close but painful one. The more you hurt yourself the longer between shaves you have to wait. So BBS becomes pointless if you have to wait 3 days to shave again.
Personally I would just try 1-2 pass with touch-up every day. That way every day you'll have an SAS and appear shaven. Better than BBS for a day then have stubble second day and so on.
Less pass shaves allows you to get results, learn technique, not hurt yourself which will give you more confidence.
Have to walk before you run.
Still to this day through the week or even weekend if I'm working I do 1 pass plus touch-up (I get what you would get in 2 passes but that's technique) I shave every day and never have irritation besides a small stich with AS but no real irritation.
What do you have to lose?
Then in time you'll throw in an extra pass or so. If you hurt yourself, give yourself a couple days and start again.
But again I'd rather have an SAS every day (looks same to other people as DFS or even BBS) than a BBS today but have to let it grow while I heal for the next 3 days.
But the 2 things I listed above will help most. Knowing your lather and never dry shaving. Willing to bet if you follow above your shaves will be at least 70% better. The rest is angle and pressure and over time with practice and paying attention it'll become muscle memory.
Hope this helps!!!
For shaving, angle and pressure could be your issue. But more often than not when I was new it was mistakenly going back over areas without putting lather there. As a rule when you're new, Everytime your razor touches your face there should be lather there. Taking a stroke without lather doesn't immediately feel bad but will definitely cause irritation. Especially combine with bad angle and pressure.
With both of those that should help.
Also, stop trying for very close shave.
Yes a cart can give you close shave more easily, but you trade off in other ways.
Until you get your technique down stick to WTG and maybe XTG. Better to have a shave that's comfortable than a close but painful one. The more you hurt yourself the longer between shaves you have to wait. So BBS becomes pointless if you have to wait 3 days to shave again.
Personally I would just try 1-2 pass with touch-up every day. That way every day you'll have an SAS and appear shaven. Better than BBS for a day then have stubble second day and so on.
Less pass shaves allows you to get results, learn technique, not hurt yourself which will give you more confidence.
Have to walk before you run.
Still to this day through the week or even weekend if I'm working I do 1 pass plus touch-up (I get what you would get in 2 passes but that's technique) I shave every day and never have irritation besides a small stich with AS but no real irritation.
What do you have to lose?
Then in time you'll throw in an extra pass or so. If you hurt yourself, give yourself a couple days and start again.
But again I'd rather have an SAS every day (looks same to other people as DFS or even BBS) than a BBS today but have to let it grow while I heal for the next 3 days.
But the 2 things I listed above will help most. Knowing your lather and never dry shaving. Willing to bet if you follow above your shaves will be at least 70% better. The rest is angle and pressure and over time with practice and paying attention it'll become muscle memory.
Hope this helps!!!
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- Thread starter
- #44
All good, I have started to read your journal and I'm really enjoying it.
Practice and patience will pay off. I started out with a 34C, shark platinum, Omega boar and Proraso white and I couldn't get shaves as close or as comfortable as I could get with a Bic disposable. Now I'm getting the closest and most comfortable shaves of my life. Keep reading and it'll all come together eventually. There's lots of good advice everywhere on B&B. Don't overlook the Journal section. Good luck on your shaving journey and have fun.
many dont realize the hair on their neck can change directions halfway down and assume WTG passes remain that way from the jawline down, but indeed they can change. My sensitivity came from the lowest 1-2 inches of whiskers on my neck and area above that doesn’t seem to get irritated. I found that if I shave from the bottom of my neck up to my jaw on the first pass then from the jaw down to the bottom of my neck with only the weight of the razor applied, it get a good close shave and no irritation.
I also would suggest trying a variety of mid to extremely sharp blades in a mild razor and see if that doesn’t improve things.
I also would suggest trying a variety of mid to extremely sharp blades in a mild razor and see if that doesn’t improve things.
One option is to skip the ATG pass in your neck; do 2 WTG passes instead.
Hey mate, I had all of your problems when I first started too. I had horrible looking shaves that I had to fix up with a cartridge, lather was super dry and awful, red irritated skin. I remember feeling pretty bad about having invested in the razor, brush, and a whole lot of research and youtube time to have a worse shave than what I had before. I persisted and now not only do I have an extremely comfortable shave but also very close. As many have said It's a process.
My top tips are:
My top tips are:
- Shave on a day when you have heaps of time and aren't in a rush.
- Keep things consistent and experiment by changing 1 thing at a time only so you can work out if that change was better or worse.
- Don't give up
- Thread starter
- #49
What changed for your shave to be better and how long did it take.
That's a great question! It probably took me 2 or 3 weeks to see a marked improvement.
I stuck with the Shark Platinum for my first 8 shaves and every one of them was tuggy and left me with irritation. The first shave was by far the worst. I did 3 passes, WTG, XTG, XTG and not only did I have the worst razor burn I've ever had the shave wasn't close and it was very patchy. I can remember it as if it was yesterday. It took me an hour to finish and my right foot and lower leg went numb from the tension in my body. After that I switched to 2 passes, both with the grain. Things improved a little but as I said, the shaves were still tuggy and irritating.
Then I read this thread about lathering. I also changed blades to a Gillette 7 O'Clock Green. The following shave was such a big improvement that I joined B&B straight after to express my gratitude. I'd also spent about a week practicing my razor grip. I think I used this Wiki guide. Safety Razor Grips - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/Balance_Point_Method. I also spent quite a bit of time experimenting with angle and pressure. A shallow angle (riding the cap) worked better for me at the beginning and I used just enough pressure to keep everything stable. When I started out I took the no pressure mantra to extremes and the razor wasn't in consistent contact with my skin, leading to hopping and skipping. Now that I'm more experienced I use considerable pressure at times, very little at others. It will all happen with practice.
Whether it was Marco's method, the blade or a step forward in my technique that led to my initial progress, it's difficult to say. It might have been a bit of everything. Since then my shaves have gotten better and better and continue to do so. I still have lots to learn and I'm pleased about that. It's what makes it so much fun. That and the satisfaction that comes with mastering new skills.
I no longer use Marco's method for lathering. I must've spent the best part of a year experimenting with that part of shaving and only relatively recently have I managed to get excellent lather every shave. It has a lot to do with experience. That moment when you know exactly how a great lather should look and feel makes all the effort worthwhile.
Another big step forward for me was a change of razor. My first shave with a vintage Gillette Tech was a revelation. Twice as smooth and twice as efficient. It's documented in more detail in my journal.
To sum up, I would say that it's a long process, maybe never ending, but worth every minute of the time taken. What used to be a chore is now something I love to do. If it had come easy at the start, who knows, maybe I'd have taken it for granted and still be shaving just to get it done?
The following threads have helped me enormously, and continue to do so.
My Grande Journey - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/my-grande-journey.527934/
Damn Comfortable Shave - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/damn-comfortable-shave.526419/
A Damn Comfortable shave is an encyclopedia of wet shaving. If there's something you want the answer to it's more than likely in there. As long as you can find it, lol.
- Thread starter
- #51
Thank you, I really appreciate your help.
You're welcome! Any more questions just ask.
