First go with the DE this morning

[ASPJ]

Ok fella's, I did my first shave with my merkur HD classic today.I used the classic brand soap lime scented, and I have a Col. Conk best badger brush.Overall it was quite enjoyable with the hot scented lather and all, I am really surprised I did not cut myself as bad as I thought I would, a little nick or two around the lip area is all.My face came out really smooth, but my neck is a different story.I gave myself some razor burn on the neck but I guess that is to be expected until my skin gets used to the new expierience.I also could not get a totally smooth shave on the neck, but practice makes perfect ....Overall I would rate the whole expierience a 7 out of 10 with some much needed improvement on my part.....cheers..Adam

 

[roughrider]

My face came out really smooth, but my neck is a different story.I gave myself some razor burn on the neck but I guess that is to be expected until my skin gets used to the new expierience.I also could not get a totally smooth shave on the neck, but practice makes

This was also my experience when I first started. I then studied my personal hair growth pattern. I personally do the following: 1 pass with the grain, 1 pass from one side, 1 pass from the other side, and the final pass against the grain. So my advice is study your face and hair growth pattern and then shave with the grain, side, then the other side, and finally against the grain.

 

[rtaylor61]

Adam,

Roughrider offers some sage advice. My beard cannot be shaved with the "standard N-S, S-N" pattern. Learn which direction your beard grows to learn what a true "with the grain" pass means.

Randy

 

[ASPJ]

This was also my experience when I first started. I then studied my personal hair growth pattern. I personally do the following: 1 pass with the grain, 1 pass from one side, 1 pass from the other side, and the final pass against the grain. So my advice is study your face and hair growth pattern and then shave with the grain, side, then the other side, and finally against the grain.

Thanks, I will try that weds. as I will not shave tomorrow, and give the neck a day to calm down lol

 

[Coche_y_bondhu]

Hello Adam,

roughrider and Randy already gave you some good advice. Like roughrider, I do one with-the-grain pass, one across-the-grain pass, one against-the-grain pass followed by touch & cut (T&C) on spots. It is important to stroke your beard to figure out which way the hair grows and adjust your passes accordingly.

As you are just starting out, I would limit myself to with-the-grain passes till I stop getting razor irritation (you are scraping off some skin). The neck is usually more sensitive than your cheeks and most razor irritation occurs here. You have to be extra light with your stroke on the neck and make sure the skin is taut. Razor irritation disappears with technique improvement, adaptation of the beard to a DE blade, proper prep and use of a good shave cream, brush and blade.

That should be enough food for thought for now. Take it simple and slow for a while. We can then start fine tuning some aspects if need be. Change only one variable at a time to see what works and what doesn't.

Keep us posted.

Cheers,
Richard
Plano TX

 

[dubes]

As you are just starting out, I would limit myself to with-the-grain passes till I stop getting razor irritation (you are scraping off some skin). The neck is usually more sensitive than your cheeks and most razor irritation occurs here. You have to be extra light with your stroke on the neck and make sure the skin is taut. Razor irritation disappears with technique improvement, adaptation of the beard to a DE blade, proper prep and use of a good shave cream, brush and blade.

I just wanted to emphasize Richard's sage advice. When I started with DE not quite two months ago, the first week or so I only made 2 with-the-grain passes. Sure, it's tempting to do more passes, what with my fancy new badger brush and English shaving cream beckoning, and, yes, within an hour it looked like I hadn't shaved at all that day. But it gave me a simple routine to become acquainted with the DE razor, and as Richard noted it gave my face and neck a chance to adjust to the new razor (not to mention heal from years of abuse at the hands of a Mach 3).

Just remember--if I may paraphrase those ridiculous anti-speeding billboards they have all over the South Island of New Zealand: You're shaving for a long time, so what's the rush?

Mike

 

[Nick]

Adam,

7/10 is a good first go. If there wasn't room for improvement, it'd be the first time in the history of wet shaving.

If I can just give a double ditto on Richard and Mike, it's important to go slow so you ingrain good techniques, and can isolate and eliminate bad ones.

Also, along with paying attention to potential changing hair growth on your neck, keep in mind that the angle of your face changes once you pass that jaw line, so the angle of your blade might need to change slightly to reflect that (I'm not saying to radically alter any technique in this regard, as that can easily lead to uncontrollable bleeding, just be aware of this fact).

-Nick