first shave

[jkcerda]

Man, old habits are hard to kill

got a gillete SS from E-bay, Super Iridium blades, a decent first brush, soap (cheap) , watched a few vids on YT and went to town, scared at first, but, didnt manage to cut myself until the third pass.

I did noy seem to achieve a decent shave at ALL, guessing I need to pay closer attention to wath I am doing, so many passes just to kind of clean up one area was really disappointing, I had to switch & finish things off with the fussion.

no way I was even going to try it on my dome,

I am hoping that, when the EJ89L gets here, I do better.

 

[c0ry]

Man, old habits are hard to kill

got a gillete SS from E-bay, Super Iridium blades, a decent first brush, soap (cheap) , watched a few vids on YT and went to town, scared at first, but, didnt manage to cut myself until the third pass.

I did noy seem to achieve a decent shave at ALL, guessing I need to pay closer attention to wath I am doing, so many passes just to kind of clean up one area was really disappointing, I had to switch & finish things off with the fussion.

no way I was even going to try it on my dome,

I am hoping that, when the EJ89L gets here, I do better.

Welcome to B&B. It's good that you're not giving up. I just started about 6 months ago and it was absolutely worth sticking with it (my first few shaves were probably worse than yours!). Just worry about taking your time, not using any pressure, and making slick lather. The good shaves will come in time.

By the way, what kind of blade were you using? I believe a major factor in why my first shaves were so poor was the Merkur blade I was using. Switching to a smoother blade made things a lot better.

 

[jkcerda]

Welcome to B&B. It's good that you're not giving up. I just started about 6 months ago and it was absolutely worth sticking with it (my first few shaves were probably worse than yours!). Just worry about taking your time, not using any pressure, and making slick lather. The good shaves will come in time.

By the way, what kind of blade were you using? I believe a major factor in why my first shaves were so poor was the Merkur blade I was using. Switching to a smoother blade made things a lot better.

using Super Iridiums after some reviews, might buy the feathers as well, I need to learn about the proper blade angle, guessing I did ok with the lather as I did not cut myself thill I reached the lower part of my neck.

I also shave my dome on an every day basis.

BBS shave is what I am after, i HATE the 5' o'clock shadow

disappointed? yes, BUT, I know its MY fault here as a noob, going back over the videos from mantic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjhIy9rgWQU
I noticed I did nOT follow his instruction as I was supposed to


thanks for the welcome BTW.

 

[c0ry]

using Super Iridiums after some reviews, might buy the feathers as well, I need to learn about the proper blade angle, guessing I did ok with the lather as I did not cut myself thill I reached the lower part of my neck.

I also shave my dome on an every day basis.

BBS shave is what I am after, i HATE the 5' o'clock shadow

disappointed? yes, BUT, I know its MY fault here as a noob, going back over the videos from mantic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjhIy9rgWQU
I noticed I did nOT follow his instruction as I was supposed to


thanks for the welcome BTW.

You may want to consider ordering a blade sampler pack from www.westcoastshaving.com. The "choice" pack comes with Feathers for you to try, and you'd also get to try some of the other blades that are loved--including my personal favorite, Crystals.

You're on the right track with Mantic's videos. Keep it up.

 

[jkcerda]

You may want to consider ordering a blade sampler pack from www.westcoastshaving.com. The "choice" pack comes with Feathers for you to try, and you'd also get to try some of the other blades that are loved--including my personal favorite, Crystals.

You're on the right track with Mantic's videos. Keep it up.

thanks, the man seems to know a lot and has good vid out there.

 

[Copierguy]

Welcome to B&B.

Stick with it and enjoy the adventure. One day it will all click and your persistence will be rewarded.

Well back to work as a fortune cookie editor.

Seriously, lots of friendly advice to be had around here. We will tell you more than you want to know.....LOL

Best wishes,

 

[wazazzle]

Welcome to B&B! It took me over a week to get my de bbs & weeper free. It's all about angle and less pressure. Keep at it! It'll get better

 

[Shaving.ie]

Stick with it and you will soon reap the rewards. As pointed out already just let the weight of the razor do all the work and invest in a sample pack of blades to find which suits your skin best. The Jagger DE89L is a very forgiving razor and capable of giving an excellent shave. Once you develop your technique it really becomes second nature.

 

[jkcerda]

Stick with it and you will soon reap the rewards. As pointed out already just let the weight of the razor do all the work and invest in a sample pack of blades to find which suits your skin best. The Jagger DE89L is a very forgiving razor and capable of giving an excellent shave. Once you develop your technique it really becomes second nature.

I hope it gets here soon, I am not having the greatest luck with the SS, I have to press into thesking pretty hard just to get it to cut, cut myself again in the neck area, face is ok, got to figure out what am I doing wrong, angle perhaps?

 

[jdudley76]

I hope it gets here soon, I am not having the greatest luck with the SS, I have to press into thesking pretty hard just to get it to cut, cut myself again in the neck area, face is ok, got to figure out what am I doing wrong, angle perhaps?

The SS is a mild razor and has a very narrow angle "sweet spot" IMO. Too little angle and whiskers are not being cut. Too much angle and the blade wants to scrape your skin. However, it IS a great razor when you get the hang of it.

And in the bigger picture, keep at it. Horrible first shaves are par for the course here. It took me 6 months to get close shaves without irritation. It took me about a year to get BBS without irritation. Also, it is not just improvement in technique, but finding the right equipment for you. Once you get the skills down, experiment with razors, cream, prep...all that. It all makes a big difference. But wait until your technique is more established so the experimentation is more meaningful.

 

[pal]

Nice post! Keep us informed as you progress.

 

[Copierguy]

I hope it gets here soon, I am not having the greatest luck with the SS, I have to press into thesking pretty hard just to get it to cut, cut myself again in the neck area, face is ok, got to figure out what am I doing wrong, angle perhaps?

To get an idea of the best working angle, I did this.

I shaved a small patch on my arm.....

Rest the razor on your arm pointing straight up.

Slowly slide the razor toward you hand while changing the angle.
At some point you will feel the blade start to engage.
While dragging the razor, just use your finger tips on the end of the handle.

Using only the weight of the razor you should be able to shave a small square patch on your arm and find the sweet spot for your razor. Being a DE razor you should be able to feel the same cutting action from both sides. If not something is amiss.

 

[jkcerda]

To get an idea of the best working angle, I did this.

I shaved a small patch on my arm.....

Rest the razor on your arm pointing straight up.

Slowly slide the razor toward you hand while changing the angle.
At some point you will feel the blade start to engage.
While dragging the razor, just use your finger tips on the end of the handle.

Using only the weight of the razor you should be able to shave a small square patch on your arm and find the sweet spot for your razor. Being a DE razor you should be able to feel the same cutting action from both sides. If not something is amiss.

thanks . I'll give that a try, I chewewd up my neck area today