First DE shave is in the books. I survived to tell the tale…

[Proper Irish]

Gentlemen,

I’ve just accomplished my first shave with a DE Saftey razor.

It was absolutely brilliant!

I recently joined & made my first post stating that I’d like to get into safety razor shaving and inquired about a first razor.
It was recommended that I start with a Gillette Tech.
I ordered one of those Indian 7 O’clock Sterlings ($10), and I used a yellow 7 O’clock razor that came with it.

I pussyfooted around at first, certain I would tear my face up. Then I found “the angle”, locked in and I was off to the races!


Pros:
•Not one drop of blood. No cuts

•My face feels amazing. No irritation, redness, heat, etc. It feels so much better than with a cartridge razor. I keep rubbing my face in awe.

•I even managed to pass over the mole by my ear (and all around the mole) without nicking it. I probably draw blood on it 90% of the time with a cartridge razor.

•It was fun!


Cons:
•My shaving soap & brush hasn’t arrived yet so I used Cremo. I’m not proud of it, but it was all I had on hand (I threw away all my chemy shaving gels the other day, swearing to never use them again).
Being overly cautious, I used too much of it and it kept gunking up the razor.

•The most challenging aspect by far was doing my lower neck and trying to set the angle with the razor upside down. Felt like trying to write with my left hand or something.
That’s probably going to take a bit until it becomes intuitive.

•I’m going to have to clean out & rearrange my entire bathroom to make room for all the cool shaving stuff I’ll eventually buy



Thank you to everyone who welcomed me and gave me suggestions, and for all the members who post and share information & experiences here.
I’ve been reading diligently and will continue to do so.

Cheers!

 

[Eric_75]

I’m going to have to clean out & rearrange my entire bathroom to make room for all the cool shaving stuff I’ll eventually buy

Shhhhh...don't say that too loud around here. There's enablers about.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Congrats on your successful first DE shave... May you have many, many more.

 

[cranewarrior]

I was shopping for some specialties ingredients at one of my local Indian grocery stores. They have five or six of those razors in the personal beauty section. Maybe I'll pick up one.

Anyway, awesome report and I'm glad you joined. I'm a new wetshaver myself.

 

[Dave himself]

Congratulations on your first and successful shave.

 

[Guido75]

Must be the luck of the Irish

Congrats on your first shave and I hope there will be many more like it! And coincidentally welcome to B&B!!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[blethenstrom]

Congratulations on your first de shave. Sounds like it went really well. That is very encouraging.

You mentioned that you had some issues on your neck area. Your do not have to feel bad about that since that is the area most of us have the hardest time getting smooth. Unless your have done so yet to map out your whiskers on your face to figure out which direction they go. Knowing this will help greatly in determining which direction to shave.

Great job and BTW there is no shame in using cremo. Three are those who do on a regular basis. However using soap and brush tops it and I'll be following along as you learn to make lather.
- Boris

 

[bartje-p]

Great to hear about your first experience. Keep it up and.... have you heard of the rabbit hole, because there certainly is one ;-) !

 

[blade08]

Congratulations! And don't feel ashamed for using cremo or not using a brush. You will find that good DE technique and a good prep are key. Brush and soap are certainly fun, but equally good shaves can be had with just Cremo or even a can of foam.

 

[Bsamps]

Congratulations… now let the madness of going down the rabbit hole begin!

 

[StewB]

Congrats, and don't shame yourself for using the Cremo. I use it also at times and it works quite nicely.

 

[Quaznoid]

With the Sterling you have all the razors you will ever need

 

[BigJ]

Congratulations!!

 

[dmshaver]

Congratulations! And so happy to hear that your didn't lose buckets of blood. Quite the contrary, you lost none!!!!! And you had fun. Well done, sir.

The best way to get better at this wonderful pastime of ours is to practice. So we get the pleasure of shaving & getting better at it with each shave. Enjoy the journey! Feel free to post any questions or comments you have along the way. We're a friendly bunch!

 

[Proper Irish]

I did my first proper shave with soap & brush today and it was such a better experience than last time using the Cremo!

Decided to start with some classic soaps, I went with Proraso green and Cella red. Both smell amazing! I’m sure I’ll try some other soaps, but I’d be perfectly content with these 2.

Brush is a Zenith/Stirling boar.

I figured my first shave should be with the Proraso green since it’s such a well loved and respected brand.

It took a minute to figure out how to get a good lather- how much/little water, how much/little pressure but I finally figured it out.

The shave was marvelous and this time the correct angle was intuitive (even with the razor upside down).

I decided to try a second pass against the grain (going in the opposite direction of the first pass, if I understand it correctly).

Here’s where I need a little advice-

My face loved the 2nd pass and I was rewarded with skin that feels like glass.

My neck however did not love the second pass, particularly at the very bottom. I have redness going all the way around the bottom of my neck (Just above where my shirt collar line is).
It doesn’t hurt or feel irritated, but it’s red.

Any ideas on why it happened or what I did wrong? The second pass on this area was downward strokes.

 

[blethenstrom]

I did my first proper shave with soap & brush today and it was such a better experience than last time using the Cremo!

Decided to start with some classic soaps, I went with Proraso green and Cella red. Both smell amazing! I’m sure I’ll try some other soaps, but I’d be perfectly content with these 2.

Brush is a Zenith/Stirling boar.

I figured my first shave should be with the Proraso green since it’s such a well loved and respected brand.

It took a minute to figure out how to get a good lather- how much/little water, how much/little pressure but I finally figured it out.

The shave was marvelous and this time the correct angle was intuitive (even with the razor upside down).

I decided to try a second pass against the grain (going in the opposite direction of the first pass, if I understand it correctly).

Here’s where I need a little advice-

My face loved the 2nd pass and I was rewarded with skin that feels like glass.

My neck however did not love the second pass, particularly at the very bottom. I have redness going all the way around the bottom of my neck (Just above where my shirt collar line is).
It doesn’t hurt or feel irritated, but it’s red.

Any ideas on why it happened or what I did wrong? The second pass on this area was downward strokes.

I'm very happy you had quite a good shave with the new soap and brush. The neck is for a lot of wet shavers one of the more challenging areas so do not feel bad about that. Couple of comments. First, even if you have been shaving with cartridges before it will take a while for the skin to adapt to wet shaving with a de. This will take a bit of time.

Second, not sure if you have mapped out your beard growth and the direction that it grows. Once your have that you will be able to tell better if you are WTG, XTG or ATG shaving. Also I would stick with one pass until you do not get irritation and then start on a second pass etc.

Thirdly, success in wet shaving may take a bit of time. We need to learn the tools of the trade and get proficient with them. Things like angles that we shave at, using minimal pressure etc. Practice makes prefect.

Sounds like your are on your way though. Just keep at it and it will work out just fine.

 

[Lockback]

Congrats, and don't shame yourself for using the Cremo. I use it also at times and it works quite nicely.

Exactly. Cremo is good stuff. I'm taking some on vacation this week. It works beautifully.

 

[Proper Irish]

I'm very happy you had quite a good shave with the new soap and brush. The neck is for a lot of wet shavers one of the more challenging areas so do not feel bad about that. Couple of comments. First, even if you have been shaving with cartridges before it will take a while for the skin to adapt to wet shaving with a de. This will take a bit of time.

Second, not sure if you have mapped out your beard growth and the direction that it grows. Once your have that you will be able to tell better if you are WTG, XTG or ATG shaving. Also I would stick with one pass until you do not get irritation and then start on a second pass etc.

Thirdly, success in wet shaving may take a bit of time. We need to learn the tools of the trade and get proficient with them. Things like angles that we shave at, using minimal pressure etc. Practice makes prefect.

Sounds like your are on your way though. Just keep at it and it will work out just fine.

Thank you for this, I really appreciate the advice.
I wore a beard for most of my adult life but have never mapped out which way which hair grows.
I will absolutely do that.

Also, my skin isn’t used to razors at all. Having a job that doesn’t require me to be clean shaven, I’ve mostly just used hair clippers over the past few years when I did shave.

Going forward, I think I’ll just stick to one pass on my neck until my skin gets used to razors and my technique improves.

Thanks again for the advice

 

[Proper Irish]

Exactly. Cremo is good stuff. I'm taking some on vacation this week. It works beautifully.

That makes me feel better about it, ha!
I didn’t know if it was frowned upon in the DE community. I’ve always liked it when I used it with a cartridge.

I think my biggest issue was that I used far too much, thinking I needed more with a DE razor. It gunked up the razor so bad that I couldn’t clear it by swishing it in a mug, had to blast it out with running water each pass.

I’ll try again with the Cremo sometime, especially with the Palo Santo I recently bought that smells incredible.

 

[Lockback]

That makes me feel better about it, ha!
I didn’t know if it was frowned upon in the DE community. I’ve always liked it when I used it with a cartridge.

I think my biggest issue was that I used far too much, thinking I needed more with a DE razor. It gunked up the razor so bad that I couldn’t clear it by swishing it in a mug, had to blast it out with running water each pass.

I’ll try again with the Cremo sometime, especially with the Palo Santo I recently bought that smells incredible.

View attachment 1791275

I'm jealous. I haven't tried that scent yet. I have the Original, the Bourbon Vanilla, the Refreshing Mint and Heritage Red.
I confess I do use shave soaps more than Cremo. I enjoy the whole thing but I also am retired and have the time. But I also love the convenience that Cremo offers. It's so slick and works so well. No brush needed. Smear it on over a wet face and get to work. Good stuff!
I'm headed out of town this week and don't want to pack a mug, a brush, a puck of soap, etc. So I'm taking some Cremo Original in a little travel size squeeze bottle and a couple of DE blades and one of my safety razors. And I'll get a great shave every day.