dismal shaver (me) - please rate/help

[miffed]

Hello,
so i shaved last night, lukewarm exfoliation (dr.renaud gel exfoliator prickly pear), proraso sensitive shaving cream (tube, white), synthetic brush Omega, king c gillette DE razor, new gillette platinum blade, cold water rinse, alum block, proraso green splash having washed off the alum, i did not use moisturiser, i usually go with neutrogena water gel...

i hope i have succeeded in uploading pictures of my face from last nights endeavour (i did not manage to upload a video), please rate the shave, i believe it's terrible, having watched numerous videos of men shaving with results that far exceed my own...in my defence i did have some whiteheads and one or two large "pimples" (for lack of a better word) on my face....

sidenote
i was thinking of switching to a philips one blade, used it twice, major whitehead brake out, then i was on the fence as to whether to continue use of it but alas my dog made that decision for me, he chewed up the one blade when we were at work yesterday...so i only have the king c razor at my disposal and philips hair clippers which i used to use for shaving seeing as they cut down to 0.4 mm...

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT

i know i am bad at this and all comments and advice are very welcome, i think everyone who sees this will agree that this is not how the end product is meant to look like...

 

[BigJ]

First, you are making progress! Congratulations. This is a skill that takes awhile to acquire.

Now, a few suggestions:
1. I suggest you ‘map’ your beard to better understand what you are dealing with.
2. Work on improving your prep and lather.
3. Focus on maintaining an optimal razor angle.
4. NO pressure! Let the razor do the work.

Stick with this and you will get the results you want!!

 

[miffed]

First, you are making progress! Congratulations. This is a skill that takes awhile to acquire.

Now, a few suggestions:
1. I suggest you ‘map’ your beard to better understand what you are dealing with.
2. Work on improving your prep and lather.
3. Focus on maintaining an optimal razor angle.
4. NO pressure! Let the razor do the work.

Stick with this and you will get the results you want!!

Hi BigJ,
thank you for your input, i am definitely trying, being rather bad at it, but trying none the less, i have not mapped my beard yet so i will try this, as for my prep, i try exfoliating before hand, then lathering up, now, i have never made lather myself so my lather is surely not that good, although last night i started with just the water the brush soaked up and then i added little by little enough water to make the lather such that it stayed on the brush but would eventually fall off when raised above my lather bowl (we have absurdly hard water here I've read that this makes lather harder to generate as well), i do keep on telling myself "slow down" as i do get the urge to speed up after a couple of strokes but i somehow have managed not to cut myself on my last shave except when literally shaving pimples, again, the patient me
I also imagine my lack of patients is also a major contributor for my shaves ending up like they do, my face obviously does not calm down enough between shaves...i just read so much in between shaves that i cannot manage to wait for more than 4 days, i was actually supposed to shave today (day 5) seeing as tomorrow i have a lecture and will hopefully be the focus of attention for students (provided anyone shows up, i am going to be talking about the environment)...i wont be giving the oneblade another go as my dog chewed it up, but i am considering trying the Philips Beard trimmer i own (BT5515/13 looks like this model from pictures i found online) in the hope that it would not give me irritation...

How bad is the shave from the photos, in your revered opinion, J, honestly?
i reckon about 3/10 eh?

 

[BigJ]

Hi BigJ,
thank you for your input, i am definitely trying, being rather bad at it, but trying none the less, i have not mapped my beard yet so i will try this, as for my prep, i try exfoliating before hand, then lathering up, now, i have never made lather myself so my lather is surely not that good, although last night i started with just the water the brush soaked up and then i added little by little enough water to make the lather such that it stayed on the brush but would eventually fall off when raised above my lather bowl (we have absurdly hard water here I've read that this makes lather harder to generate as well), i do keep on telling myself "slow down" as i do get the urge to speed up after a couple of strokes but i somehow have managed not to cut myself on my last shave except when literally shaving pimples, again, the patient me
I also imagine my lack of patients is also a major contributor for my shaves ending up like they do, my face obviously does not calm down enough between shaves...i just read so much in between shaves that i cannot manage to wait for more than 4 days, i was actually supposed to shave today (day 5) seeing as tomorrow i have a lecture and will hopefully be the focus of attention for students (provided anyone shows up, i am going to be talking about the environment)...i wont be giving the oneblade another go as my dog chewed it up, but i am considering trying the Philips Beard trimmer i own (BT5515/13 looks like this model from pictures i found online) in the hope that it would not give me irritation...

How bad is the shave from the photos, in your revered opinion, J, honestly?
i reckon about 3/10 eh?

In the end, you are the grader here! So if you say 3/10, then that’s the grade IMO.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Welcome to Badger and Blade!

When your new to wet shaving, it can be frustrating. It took me 5-shaves to just start figuring things out. Took another 5 shaver to perfect my technique enough.

I agree with Big J, use the proper angle, use no pressure. Use a good lather that is both thick and slick on your face. Ultimately, practice practice practice.

Each shave is an adventure. So, have a great shave, and have a great day!

 

[NorthernSoul]

Don't worry, nobody gets perfect results right away. It takes at least several weeks of practice. Just aim for a comfortable shave at first and then you'll find as your skills improve, you will get closer shaves, too.

It's better just to stick with the same equipment for awhile (as long as it is decent). Switching things around can slow down your learning.

 

[CarloMNL]

In general, see how you can reduce stress on your skin while learning angles, beard growth, etc. Maybe you could try skipping exfoliation for the next few shaves then see if that helps. Might also be a good idea to check how much pressure you use on your brush.

Since you bowl lather, you could practice building a lather without needing to use your face.

 

[Kaldane]

What the others said.

It's not terrible for a first WTG (with the grain) pass - though would probably be better with a bit of skin stretching. It looks like you're getting the cheeks and the annoying bit under the nose. Which direction did you go on the second or third passes?

I tend to go for three passes whether I'm using a straight razor, shavette or DE/SE. I'll sometimes get it acceptable on the first, but I'll still go for the other two passes because I like doing it.

You'll be able to hear whether the blade is cutting. When you start to feel the blade cutting the hair, it's time to consider a new edge.

 

[Old Hippie]

(we have absurdly hard water here I've read that this makes lather harder to generate as well)

This caught my eye as I also have somewhat hard well water. Depending on your level of hardness and what's causing it, you may need to do some water treatment. You could also use bottled or reverse-osmosis water, but I have a feeling that wouldn't be necessary.

We don't treat our well water, which has both iron and dissolved carbonates. We simply pass it through a 5-micron filter which removes most of the flocculated iron. I have removed all screens in water lines going to washer, dishwasher, faucets, etc. as the water heater throws a lot of small flakes. The carbonates flocculate if water is heated; cold water presents few problems.

Which is one of the least technical treatments: Boil a pot of water and let it sit on the counter overnight, then carefully pour/siphon the water off the precipitated minerals.

Another little trick I've heard is to add just the tiniest pinch of citric acid powder to your lather bowl. The acid helps to neutralize the basic hardness such as that from carbonates. A dab of glycerin might bulk up your lather as well.

I will say that I have never had really good luck with Proraso creams. I can get a shave, but it may be that Proraso and hard water don't go well together. I have pretty good shaves from homemade soap, which is not difficult to make but takes up most of a day once in a while. I also have used Williams Mug Soap, which is dirt cheap and widely available (except where I live, darnit). I've even used a high-moisturizing body soap as a shave soap, which also works but the lathering technique changes a bit. Yardley Oatmeal and Almond is a favourite for those times when I'm out of Old Hippie soap or on the road. I just chop the bar in half and drop a piece into the old coffee mug I use for building lather.

(And you've checked out the excellent lathering instructions here on B&B, yes?)

If you have skin sensitivities, then finding a soap with few/no irritating additives may take a bit of looking, but they're out there. "Soap" is not my favourite fragrance but it'll getcha a shave. I'm lucky that peppermint and cedar oil don't bother me; I'll also expand my soap repertoire to grapefruit in the near future because I really like the citrus scent.

Another factor that tends to blow up irritation for me is the use of hot water for shaving, including the use of a lather scuttle to have warmed lather. I can (and do) use lukewarm water and rinse with cold, which can be bracing in the middle of a Canadian winter. I don't spend time exfoliating. I have found that using a scrubby boar brush, lukewarm water and homemade soap is sufficient to get a good shave. In other words, cut straight to the main event and don't spend time irritating my skin with non-shaving activity.

While you're dealing with all the other factors, perhaps you might consider doing two WTG passes on the worst part and calling it good for the day. It won't be baby-smooth, but you'll have done a few things: practiced lathering, worked at finding a soap that works in your context, practiced your shaving technique and actually cut some hair. My own tactic is usually to do just two passes (WTG, ATG) but I recognize that ATG can be problematic with sensitive skin AND while learning technique.

Good start. You've laid down something "on the page" so now you can edit. From here, things improve.

O.H.

 

[Matt330318]

I would just focus on doing more passes with less pressure at first and see if that helps.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Hello,
so i shaved last night, lukewarm exfoliation (dr.renaud gel exfoliator prickly pear), proraso sensitive shaving cream (tube, white), synthetic brush Omega, king c gillette DE razor, new gillette platinum blade, cold water rinse, alum block, proraso green splash having washed off the alum, i did not use moisturiser, i usually go with neutrogena water gel...View attachment 1447448View attachment 1447449View attachment 1447450View attachment 1447451View attachment 1447452

i hope i have succeeded in uploading pictures of my face from last nights endeavour (i did not manage to upload a video), please rate the shave, i believe it's terrible, having watched numerous videos of men shaving with results that far exceed my own...in my defence i did have some whiteheads and one or two large "pimples" (for lack of a better word) on my face....

sidenote
i was thinking of switching to a philips one blade, used it twice, major whitehead brake out, then i was on the fence as to whether to continue use of it but alas my dog made that decision for me, he chewed up the one blade when we were at work yesterday...so i only have the king c razor at my disposal and philips hair clippers which i used to use for shaving seeing as they cut down to 0.4 mm...

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT

i know i am bad at this and all comments and advice are very welcome, i think everyone who sees this will agree that this is not how the end product is meant to look like...
View attachment 1447459View attachment 1447458View attachment 1447457

This might seem like an ignorant question but here goes. Are you smooshing the soap into a thin layer at the bottom of your shaving bowl? I wasn't and couldn't seem to get the Proraso White to lather at all. After I started thinning any soap on the bottom of my bowl, things just clicked.

The tap water here in Florida is horrible, but I don't seem to have any difficulty getting soaps to lather now. Your brush is a good one, from what I've read. I have one on the way to our place as I type, so that shouldn't be part of the issue. I think you'll get it. You just start with very little water.... add as you go along. Don't be afraid to use more soap... the Proraso is only $10 a tub...

You could also use Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel-Cream "very dry skin" as an after shave balm.. it's truly an amazing product. A lot of us here are using it....

 

[Possum092]

Skin stretching, new blade, far less pressure, and slightly wetter lather. Best wishes for a great shave.

 

[miffed]

Hello everyone!!
first off, i am very grateful for all the replies and for everyone reading, i was absent for a few days, Labour day etc etc, i was not at the office...

so...the last shave i had was on monday, it's been three days, so today i am going to shave again, i think three days is long enough an interval in between shaves, alas, the last time i used two shaving creams, i believe that not many people have had any contact with them, they are local, so to speak, one is from serbia it's called brion and the other is from croatia called ralon, i bought them as i am trying not to be biased, but unfortunately the products are quite bad, the ralon cream did smell very pleasant until i started whipping up my lather, it smelled very poorly when you begin to actually use it, very little lather generated also, the brion generated an enormous amount of lather but it was very watery and thin, i tried to use the same method for both creams, before lathering up i again exfoliated with dr renaud prickly pear gel, lukewarm water, perhaps a touch on the warmer side, i used a fresh gillette platinum blade, from what i gather this is the proper platinum series (dark vs light etc etc) my blade has an arrow on in the corner of the blade i think

now the shave, it was quite fine, i did not cut myself when i was paying attention, apart from two nicks very low down on my neck, quite close to my collar bone in fact, these were the result of my wife first asking something or other through closed bathroom doors then when i didn't answer she continued to ask and finally knocked and entered the bathroom to ask...at that moment i nicked myself...
after shaving i used my trusty alum block, little to no stinging apart on the sensitive parts, around my chin where i previously had some dreaded whiteheads i had previously popped them but they were apparently not healed fully, i let the alum do it's thing for about a minute, warm not hot water face wash after which i used the turkish splash red one classic barber it's called it just smells fab, to me at least

after a day or two, i got about 5 whiteheads in total, around my mouth and a few on my jawline, NONE on my neck, two wet shaves after having my dog decide what tool to shave with (alas, he chewed up the oneblade) i bought a sort of gel by balea it's called SOS pickel something gel, i applied it to the few whiteheads around my mouth two times yesterday and this morning i just wiped the whitedeads off with a cotton pad which i had previously doused a little with some sort of cleaning fluid again by balea, so not a bad method for removing whiteheads without popping them inherently scarring skin an so on...

again i emphasise my gratitude for each and every suggestion, in accordance with this, and a little reasoning of my own, i today will not exfoliate before shaving, i will just wash my face with some water, lukewarm slightly leaning toward warm, then i will try shaving again with the king c gillette shave gel, after i intend on using the red one splash after of course having "alumed up" by excluding exfoliation and shaving creams i will see if they are indeed the culprits for my whiteheads, i have reduced exfoliating to twice a week roughly ie when i shave...from what i gather my skin is best suited to little or no products, i think, i am gradually reducing the number of things i use, hoping to stumble upon the whitehead causing culprit, i have eliminated ingrown hairs for now...(i don't even use moisturiser, i seem fine without it?!)

a few miscellaneous thoughts
the water here (Sarajevo, BiH, Europe) is horrible, i haven't drunk tap water in well over 10 years, drinking bottled water wasn't that "popular" here when i first started drinking it, i use to get quite a few questions in regard to why i drank it, was i ill, what?the local water is not good enough for you?? and so on...the lifespan of appliances and pretty much everything that comes into contact with "city water" is shortened by a third at least, our dogs water bowl has to be washed/cleaned of limescale quite often, our sinks, the shower battery and head all require some german cleaning product only it can remove the limescale, it's so tough...i also dont drink water thats been boiled in a kettle for my tea...

about proraso, well, my first encounter with them was when a barber used to shave me, he used a shavette, and i later realised that he used regular blades that he just cut in half and used, i think he used wilkinson sword blades...i seem to remember him using the white pre shave cream and also the white shaving cream as well as the white balm, the white line smells the same pretty much no matter what product you use, i seem to like the smell so smell wise proraso for me is ok, i do like the green line smell as well, about the lather, when it gets going after about half a minute at first it's quite fine, in comparison with the two local creams i used it is leaps and bounds better, although the local creams both have no oils and such in them the proraso has coconut oil in it so i will skip it for my next shave...the green spalsh is also very nice smelling as it is alcohol based as well as the red one splash that i keep on raving about i generally stick with the latter because it smells sublime but the green proraso is also lovely, a word about the barber, he actually use to cut me, much worse than i have ever cut myself plus he used that pre shave cream, towels and all the tricks in the book...he prided himself on having a "barber shop" but to me he will be a hair dresser at most, his apprentice is far more talented than he is, at least for shaving, as for cutting hair and all that bravado average at best, the both of them, getting to this age and having hair on my head at all is an achievement i am most grateful for i really don't remember the last time i actually shaped/moulded/created my hair style, i just dry it using a hairdryer with the thin nozzle at the end, it seems to get it to stand some, after which i just lie to my own face in the mirror that i am handsome lol

a thought about mapping my beard, i, for some reason think i can have my beard mapped in my head whilst i shave?!keeping this in mind and being totally honest i actually have never adhered to shaving WTG and XTG in reference to the mapping of the actual direction my facial hair grows in...when i start shaving my intention is to start from my sideburns and go down, starting at my right side burn, swiping down so to speak, all the way to my left side burn with everything in between hopefully being shaved, i know that this is perhaps the easiest and simplest way to shave, what happens is i start off from the aforementioned right side burn, i manage to keep my discipline till i shave about half my face, then for some reason (probably lack of patience, wisdom, being stupid really) i go AWOL, i start to use some sort of patterns which i cannot recall or explain, i manage to compose myself later on and mostly recover my route to one that is more common and plausible

i just have to say, wet shaving in my humble, lay opinion, as an uneducated non seasoned shaver, is light years in front compared to any and all alternatives.

i hope to hear back from you good people!!!

a very sincere hello from me to everyone

 

[StewB]

I am somewhat ignorant when it comes to shave soaps, but my experience is also that they are easier to lather when spread flat at the bottom of a bowl.

 

[gpjoe]

My humble suggestion:

If you have sensitive skin that is prone to breaking out when irritated, try a one or two pass shave, while you work on technique.

I believe that each pass of the razor is merely another opportunity to irritate the skin. You can get a perfectly "socially acceptable" shave in one or two WTG passes and spare your face any additional trauma.

If (when!) you get your technique dialed in, maybe you can try for the elusive BBS but for now I would focus on good lather and good technique.

 

[njpaddy]

After shaving with injector and carts for 35 years, my neck was the biggest challenge with DE. Go with one or two light passes trying various directions. Eventually you will map out what works best for that area. For me, WTG and ATG works fine for my left side, but my right side also needs a light XTG. I find splashing on a handful or two of witch hazel calms my skin better than alum block or balm.

 

[miffed]

My humble suggestion:

If you have sensitive skin that is prone to breaking out when irritated, try a one or two pass shave, while you work on technique.

I believe that each pass of the razor is merely another opportunity to irritate the skin. You can get a perfectly "socially acceptable" shave in one or two WTG passes and spare your face any additional trauma.

If (when!) you get your technique dialed in, maybe you can try for the elusive BBS but for now I would focus on good lather and good technique.

Hi gpjoe!!
i actually am doing just that, at least trying to...i shaved last night, ditched exfoliation, used shave gel, alum and, as one member mentioned above, neutrogena water gel, i had very little redness immediately after the shave, almost none, i did again cut myself quite nicely on my jaw, but that's just me being clumsy, after i applied the water gel my face did "redden" around my mouth especially, the places i had whiteheads before on, but this morning it all calmed down and my skin looks OK, i tend to get whiteheads on the second day after shaving so i'll have to wait and see...
as for the passes i use, well i actually had one pass per se yesterday but i think visually that the shave was ok plus i did not cut myself whilst shaving i did however cut myself when i was "touching up" a few hairs that were not quite cut properly...
i absolutely agree about going for a BBS eventually in the future but i don't how i would actually go about it as my hair seems to grow in numerous directions, it's literally every hair for itself

i was quite disappointed with myself, standing in front of my mirror, drops of blood in the sink below me, i much prefer lather when i shave as opposed to gel, but if the lather is guilty for giving me whiteheads i will have to stick with gels...
as for a "socially acceptable" shave i understand and agree with you fully on this and all points that you made, my beard is somewhat weak, i am fair haired, my eyebrows have even started going blonde in the last couple of years, so it actually looks like i just shaved for up to three full days, after which you can see some "shadow" (i believe the pro shaving term would be )
i apologise if what i wrote is incoherent, it's friday i am in desperate need of rest but alas i have to work tomorrow as well, at least i'll be shaved
sincere regards gpjoe

 

[miffed]

After shaving with injector and carts for 35 years, my neck was the biggest challenge with DE. Go with one or two light passes trying various directions. Eventually you will map out what works best for that area. For me, WTG and ATG works fine for my left side, but my right side also needs a light XTG. I find splashing on a handful or two of witch hazel calms my skin better than alum block or balm.

hi njpaddy, thanks for your insight !!
i would very much like to get my hands on the famed Thayers witch hazel water, but alas it isn't available here only via online ordering, delivery and such, in other words if ordered it now it would arrive in 2023, i might look for some in about a month roughly when i will be on vacation, in the EU hopefully...

i was too most concerned with my neck, but for three shaves now (safety razor) i have had no irritation or white heads on my entire neck, as opposed to the Andis profoil and oneblade, major whiteheads redness and so on, to be fair i did exfoliate quite a lot when using those two tools, i have stopped since, i did cut myself several times with the safety razor, but that's just me being an oaf,i have, last night, tried using just the alum and neutrogena water gel afterwards, i was weighing using the alum but as i cut myself i sort of had to...
i actually have used hair cutting clippers for the longest when i think about it...i will definitely give them a go again just to see the closeness they can provide, in the tech specs of the model i have, 5500/15 philips, i believe it to be, it says that it cuts down to 0,4 mm and for the oneblade it said 0,5mm, i was satisfied with the oneblades closeness so i am hoping i can achieve the same or better results when i try the clippers again...
i just hope that i endure with wet shaving as tenacity is not a trait i have, especially if i am bad at something, which given my performance with shaving in general i definitely most certainly am...
i dislike balm as well, over the years i've had a few, nivea most predominantly i do however remember having a ferrari aftershave balm, it smelled quite nice, sporty, but apart from that...not really good @ all
sincere regards njpaddy

 

[Eben Stone]

Tons of great advice given already.

But this...

my lather is surely not that good

And this...

it stayed on the brush but would eventually fall off when raised above my lather bowl

Are surely huge red flag indicators of your problem. Spent some time dedicated to improving the quality of your lather. Don't be afraid to waste some soap in the process of learning. The consistency you should aim for is something like thin yogurt or melted marshmallow. There's many threads on how to make lather. Try searching for "lather method" to get started.

 

[miffed]

Hi Eben,

thank you for your insight, really appreciate it, to be honest, i used gel last time around, for now i've not had nearly any irritation, and day 2 after shaving is when whiteheads rear their ugly (white) heads so the jury is still out on my using gel for shaving...

i really do like lather, it's fun, plus the white proraso actually smells nice in my opinion, but, alas if i indeed have that much of a sensitivity to any and all oils i will definitely have to avoid anything with coconut oil and/or derivatives of said oil...
alas, we shall see

as far as my knowledge of lathers goes, i have read up on it some, watched a few videos on the topic, mostly by geofatboy from Chicago, i actually bought a bowl with three ridges at the bottom which are meant to make generating lather easier, albeit it is plastic, i also own a synthetic Italian brush by omega, i have not "gotten" that much into the lather part as firstly i used the proglide foam from a can, and i did not know for sure if wet shaving even acceptable for and by my skin...

i will, for my next shave, hopefully make a better lather, your advice about it being like thin yogurt will come in well handy, i hope...i will use the white proraso for the lather as i really do not like the alternatives i own...also i will try to forego the alum as well, just a warm face wash before hand, lather, shave, wash off the lather, pat dry face, and some neutrogena water gel as an aftershave, hope it works...(no irritation, cuts and especially whiteheads are my main goals, BBS is out of scope for the entirety of 2022, i think)

while on the subject of lather, the only lather that actually had a similar consistency to what you describe was the serbian brion, it was very thin indeed, but i had already shaved WTG using the awful, too thick lather created using the ralon croatian cream, i do not go ATG, not nearly enough experience (know how) and i'm not quite sure that my skin could take it, so to speak...so i generally go WTG and have some imbecilic improvisation of my own on the left of my face, it seems i make up patterns and directions i can honestly say it's a miracle that i don't butcher myself every time, the right side, from which i start to shave i pretty much shaven in a normal "pedestrian" way, WTG all the way, but when i do shave half of my face "properly" my razor and i go AWOL lol

sincere regards Eben