First Shave

[shavingisfun]

Hello everyone Yesterday was my first shave

Simpson Trafalgar Fibre Synthetic Shaving Brush T2
Taylor of Old Bond Street Shaving Cream Bowl, Grapefruit
Merkur Mk34c Double Edge Razor
Feather Double Edge Safety Razor Blades

The feather blades were aggressive for me i think it could be since i am new and i don't have the right angle but will try the badger brush and boar brush next time and try different blade. i would also spend more time on pre shave see if that helps synthetic brush was not scratchy it felt nice and the shaving cream smell felt relaxing it felt like a nice face massage. I also notice i was not letting the razor drag but some times i press hard again the skin. I used stirling barbershop scent post shave balm which helped but i did not see any cuts on my face so that was good i guess that's all for now till next time take care everyone and thanks for everyone help and support.

 

[BigJ]

Congratulations! And WELCOME!

 

[emwolf]

welcome! There's a lot of great threads here on how to get the most out of your shave. That's where I learned most of my stuff.

 

[Titleist]

Congratulations and welcome. Find a variety pack of DE blades and try as many different brands that you are able to. That will help you narrow down your favorites. Feathers are a favorite of mine as are many others.

Best of luck to you.

 

[ackvil]

Congrats.

 

[ShavingPanda]

Congrats on the first wetshave and welcome to B&B! Sounds like the first one went well, enjoy learning and getting good shaves.

 

[maxman]

Welcome! Sounds like you are off to a good start. Feather blades are sharp. They can be quite intimidating.

 

[Dave himself]

Welcome to B&B I've learnt more here than I thought I ever would plus the people are friendly and always willing to help.

 

[Big_T]

Welcome. Next, try an Astra SP blade, it's a great middle-of-the-road blade. Maybe even a Derby Extra if you want to take it down a notch further.

 

[Whisky]

Welcome to the forum! If I may ask, which blades do you have besides the Feathers?

 

[cryhavoc]

Welcome to B&B and congrats on the first shave!

 

[spirograph]

Congrats! The shave gets better with time and practice (and patience). Feathers are great blades but maybe not the ideal starter blade, as others have and will point out.

 

[dmshaver]

Glad you’ve joined, welcome! And use no pressure with the razor.

 

[Lightcs1776]

A good start. Welcome to B&B.

 

[zacktracy]

Congrats! The biggest thing I've learned in my brief journey is to use NO pressure when shaving with a DE. I find that I need to focus more throughout the shave, but the results are amazing when I compare it to my first shaves after switching from a cartridge razor.

 

[shavingisfun]

Hi everyone my first 2 shaves were not great after i got done i had bad razor burn i did some research after the 2nd shave and i found out that it was my mistake. My first shave i tried feather blades 2nd shave i tried derby extra green colors. I also went online and read more and went back and watch youtube videos from that i learned the mistake i made i was holding the razor to tight and was press hard against my face which cause the razor burn so today i put the same derby blade from 2nd shave use stirling soap (executive man) lather it up using Simpson Trafalgar Fibre Synthetic Shaving Brush T2 i was little scared but i went slow and i let the razor do the work and wow i am so happy no razor burn it was so smooth it felt so great i even did 2nd pass and still no razor bur no cuts skin so smooth and feels so wonderful i almost forgot stirling soap executive man what a awesome scent

a member asked what blades i have i have bought these from amazon and feed back would be appreciated thanks everyone for all the nice welcome message and wonderful feedback

 

[gpjoe]

Sounds like you're getting it. I'm kind of new also and the first thing I learned was to go slow and easy with light pressure. Had some minor burn the first couple of shaves but much better now.

 

[wes1953]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you'll had a fine start with your first shave. Enjoy your time here with all the subjects in our forum.

 

[Seelector]

Welcome to the forum!! Wet shaving is a learning experience and it will take a bit of practice to figure out what works.

You’ve got an excellent selection of blades there; you’re bound to find a couple that work for you.

The two most important things are a good lather and no pressure. It feels wrong and counterintuitive to use no pressure, but it works. But you have to focus on it. Good luck!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Hello everyone Yesterday was my first shave

Simpson Trafalgar Fibre Synthetic Shaving Brush T2
Taylor of Old Bond Street Shaving Cream Bowl, Grapefruit
Merkur Mk34c Double Edge Razor
Feather Double Edge Safety Razor Blades

The feather blades were aggressive for me i think it could be since i am new and i don't have the right angle but will try the badger brush and boar brush next time and try different blade. i would also spend more time on pre shave see if that helps synthetic brush was not scratchy it felt nice and the shaving cream smell felt relaxing it felt like a nice face massage. I also notice i was not letting the razor drag but some times i press hard again the skin. I used stirling barbershop scent post shave balm which helped but i did not see any cuts on my face so that was good i guess that's all for now till next time take care everyone and thanks for everyone help and support.

That is the most popular starter razor, and thats a nice brush too! And the shaving cream you were using is also quite popular from what I can gather. A couple of things...

(1) Feather blades are crazy sharp, but dull quickly over a couple shaves.

(2) Proper razor angle is essential to achieving a proper shave without knicks.

(3) Never ever use pressure when using a DE razor!

The aggression you feel, is most likely the sharpeness of the Feather blades. I have also been using Feather blades for all my first shaves, and you got to be careful with those, cause they are so sharp they can get ya lol. Trouble with them is, they have poor edge retention, so they only last me a few shaves with my course whiskers.

Please consider trying some less sharp blades to train on, like say the Astra blades for example.

Infact, I just got done ordering a new set of blades that have come highly recommended by several for me to use, and thats the Bic Chrome Platinum's. I will have to try these out soon...

I think synthetic brushes are the perfect brushes for you to train on, I wouldn't change anything right now. Bore brushes have been reported to be good, but require a 5-minute soak before use, and have a breakin period. I can speak on experience that Badger brushes require washing to get the smell out of them before use when their brand new. And then only require maybe a 2 minute soak before actual use.

This picture shows my current brush, its a pure badger with a chrome metal handle. What I like about it, only the handle. The handle has nice weight to it with a nice chrome finish, but I do not recommend pure badger brushes. It has no backbone, it splays out far too much, does not lather very well, does not whip up a lather very well.

If after your training period, you decide to get into badger brushes, you probably should aim for a silver tipped badger brush, a mid-grade brush. Since you picked out the Trafalgar T2 brush, thats probably a 26 knott, and if you like that size, then thats what you should get in a silver tipped badger brush later on. Also consider the loft size, how long you want the hairs to be.

I could be wrong, but you may or may not have sensitive skin. You might be a prime candidate for using a pre-shave, I recommend you do so. I got a jar of pre-shave from Proraso, and it should help with razor glide. But ultimately, making sure you have whipped up your lather properly is going to matter quite a bit in that regard.

You will get the hang of it, like I said, consider yourself in training wheels right now. You got to find out what works for you, what doesn't. But these are just a few tips I could give you right away, hope it helps!