Hello, All!
Just wanted to post an update on my first shave. It was awesome! I must admit, I stared at my face for a minute trying to figure my plan of attack. After a few seconds, I said the heck with it and got to work.
Here's how it went:
Pre-shave: In all honesty, I took clippers to my face to trim down a week's worth of beard that I had accumulated while piecing together a quick start up kit. Prior to that, I was sporting a two month Stanley Cup beard in support of my Blackhawks. Being that it was my first shave, I wanted to have all the advantages on my side. I took a nice hot (not scalding hot) shower. Gave my face a good scrub and applied some moisturizer to soften what was left of my beard.
Shave Gear: Proraso Eucalyptus (Green tub) soap. Badger brush (cheap one from CVS Pharmacy) that I already had. Fresh out the box Merkur 34C. Astra blade (from variety pack that included: Feather, Personna, Derby, Gillette 7 O'Clocks to name a few). Aveeno after shave lotion (left over from cartridge shaving). Stainless steel bowl that I bought for a $1 at my nearest thrift store. ***I had everything organized on the sink prior to shave***
Shave: After leaving brush soaking in warm water while I showered, I started working on the Proraso Eucalyptus soap. After a few swirls from the tub, I continued to work up a lather in the stainless steel bowl. I have to say that my lather needs more work. It wasn't a bad lather per se, but I'm pretty confident I can get a richer consistency. I worked the lathered brush against my face making sure I covered all areas. The tingle of the eucalyptus Proraso felt good on the skin. After a second contemplating my first DE shave, I put the Merkur to the face started first pass. I thought the short handle of the Merkur 34C was gonna feel weird after years of using longer cartridge handle, but it wasn't a problem at all. My face responded very well to the blade. No bleeding whatsoever. I did three passes. WTG, XTG (starting close to ear and working inward to imaginary center line running down from under the nose down to chin), and XTG (in reverse fashion). I did go ATG when I shaved my neck, though. The Adam's apple area was a little intimidating due to some of the threads I've read, but I went ahead and took it nice and slow and had good results. Although the shave was smooth and pretty close, I had to resist the urge to do one more pass to go for that BBS shave. I didn't wanna push it and mess up the good thing I had going.
Post Shave: After examining my face for knicks, cuts, and any signs of irritation (which I didn't find), I splashed some nice cold water on my face. Other than the extra wake up u get from it, it soothed my face even more. After ridding of excess water, I applied some after shave lotion. It did the trick in moisturizing my face, but I will be picking up some actual after shave to use instead or along with. Living in South Florida, I have to deal with the humidity and I found the lotion kept my face more on the sweaty side. I will also get an alum block to use in my post shave routine.
Conclusion: To be honest, I tried wet shaving years ago, but it didn't go as well. I found a razor (don't even know what type it was other than it was adjustable), bought some cheap blades from CVS Pharmacy, and regular shaving cream. At the time, I knew nothing of it other than seeing my grandfather shaving. There were no forums (or at least I didn't know of any) to gather info from so I went at it blind. Needless to say that I tossed the razor in a rage and my face looked like I had gotten into a fight with a mountain lion (bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point!)! In all, I had an excellent experience for my first REAL time shaving with a DE. The amount of feedback, tips, and wealth of knowledge I've found here with all of you, has made me want to pursue this art of shaving to new limits.
A big thanks to all. I apologize for the lengthy thread, but I just wanted to share my Newbie experience.
Just wanted to post an update on my first shave. It was awesome! I must admit, I stared at my face for a minute trying to figure my plan of attack. After a few seconds, I said the heck with it and got to work.
Here's how it went:
Pre-shave: In all honesty, I took clippers to my face to trim down a week's worth of beard that I had accumulated while piecing together a quick start up kit. Prior to that, I was sporting a two month Stanley Cup beard in support of my Blackhawks. Being that it was my first shave, I wanted to have all the advantages on my side. I took a nice hot (not scalding hot) shower. Gave my face a good scrub and applied some moisturizer to soften what was left of my beard.
Shave Gear: Proraso Eucalyptus (Green tub) soap. Badger brush (cheap one from CVS Pharmacy) that I already had. Fresh out the box Merkur 34C. Astra blade (from variety pack that included: Feather, Personna, Derby, Gillette 7 O'Clocks to name a few). Aveeno after shave lotion (left over from cartridge shaving). Stainless steel bowl that I bought for a $1 at my nearest thrift store. ***I had everything organized on the sink prior to shave***
Shave: After leaving brush soaking in warm water while I showered, I started working on the Proraso Eucalyptus soap. After a few swirls from the tub, I continued to work up a lather in the stainless steel bowl. I have to say that my lather needs more work. It wasn't a bad lather per se, but I'm pretty confident I can get a richer consistency. I worked the lathered brush against my face making sure I covered all areas. The tingle of the eucalyptus Proraso felt good on the skin. After a second contemplating my first DE shave, I put the Merkur to the face started first pass. I thought the short handle of the Merkur 34C was gonna feel weird after years of using longer cartridge handle, but it wasn't a problem at all. My face responded very well to the blade. No bleeding whatsoever. I did three passes. WTG, XTG (starting close to ear and working inward to imaginary center line running down from under the nose down to chin), and XTG (in reverse fashion). I did go ATG when I shaved my neck, though. The Adam's apple area was a little intimidating due to some of the threads I've read, but I went ahead and took it nice and slow and had good results. Although the shave was smooth and pretty close, I had to resist the urge to do one more pass to go for that BBS shave. I didn't wanna push it and mess up the good thing I had going.
Post Shave: After examining my face for knicks, cuts, and any signs of irritation (which I didn't find), I splashed some nice cold water on my face. Other than the extra wake up u get from it, it soothed my face even more. After ridding of excess water, I applied some after shave lotion. It did the trick in moisturizing my face, but I will be picking up some actual after shave to use instead or along with. Living in South Florida, I have to deal with the humidity and I found the lotion kept my face more on the sweaty side. I will also get an alum block to use in my post shave routine.
Conclusion: To be honest, I tried wet shaving years ago, but it didn't go as well. I found a razor (don't even know what type it was other than it was adjustable), bought some cheap blades from CVS Pharmacy, and regular shaving cream. At the time, I knew nothing of it other than seeing my grandfather shaving. There were no forums (or at least I didn't know of any) to gather info from so I went at it blind. Needless to say that I tossed the razor in a rage and my face looked like I had gotten into a fight with a mountain lion (bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point!)! In all, I had an excellent experience for my first REAL time shaving with a DE. The amount of feedback, tips, and wealth of knowledge I've found here with all of you, has made me want to pursue this art of shaving to new limits.
A big thanks to all. I apologize for the lengthy thread, but I just wanted to share my Newbie experience.
