For those about to quit...
...We encourage you!
First, let me tell you a bit about my journey through the land of wet shaving during the past 2 years. When I embarked on this journey, I was regarding shaving as a painful choir and I used to avoid it as long as I could. In the past, I only shaved once or maybe twice a week (my job is quite permissive in that respect), and I constantly suffered from irritation, redness, bumps, ingrown hairs, you name it. I think I've tried every single product available, going from 2, to 3, to 4, and eventually to 5 (the horror) bladed razors. Needless to say my shaves weren't improving.
Then I discovered this site, and proceeded to order my self a Merkur 34C (aka HD), a badger brush and some Proraso cream. It took me quite a while, maybe three months, until I managed to get the angle of the blade correctly (I still shaved 2-3 times a week). The shaves during that time weren't quite comfortable, nor close, but I really wanted to learn the process. After these initial months, the shaves gradually got better, and the madness began: more creams and soaps, more brushes, more razors. I couldn't stop, apparently (nor did I want to
). I constantly searched for the one product that would improve my shaves dramatically. This Holy Grail remains nevertheless hidden.
Somewhere along the way however, the shaves started to go downhill: not comfortable, not very close, and irritation. I resigned myself to thinking that the sensitivity of my skin and the toughness of my beard made it impossible to me to have comfortable, irritation-free shaves. I read about people shaving every day and it made me shiver with fear at the very thought. I couldn't imagine myself shaving every other day, let alone every single day.
One month ago, however, I decided to get back to the basics: stop tinkering with all the creams, soaps, razors, brushes, etc. I decided to use for a month the tools that constantly gave me the better shaves: Speick cream, Simpson brush, Mergress loaded with a Astra Platinum or Iridium, on a setting ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 (depending on how it felt during the shave). I also decided, most importantly, to try to shave every single day (including weekends). The first few shaves were, of course, not very good, but not at all as bad as I imagined they would be, so I continued the process. And now, a month after, I can honestly say that it is better for me to continue to shave every day: I make fewer passes (most of the time just 2 plus touch-ups), and my skin seems to benefit from the constant treatment it gets. I now even manage to shave before the shower without any problems. I am getting DFS shaves every single day and I couldn't be happier. I don’t search anymore for that elusive (or at least hard to attain) BBS, I just accept it (gladly) when it comes.
Concluding, I hope some of you can relate to my story and maybe get some encouragement from it. If I would be starting the whole process once again I would definitely stay with the same products for a long period of time, trying to perfect my technique. It is possible, even after 2 years, to make improvements to your shaving regimen, so please be patient and try to focus on technique and method rather than tinkering with different products.
Sorry about the (very) long rambling, I just needed to share with all of you my experience during these past 2 years.
...We encourage you!
First, let me tell you a bit about my journey through the land of wet shaving during the past 2 years. When I embarked on this journey, I was regarding shaving as a painful choir and I used to avoid it as long as I could. In the past, I only shaved once or maybe twice a week (my job is quite permissive in that respect), and I constantly suffered from irritation, redness, bumps, ingrown hairs, you name it. I think I've tried every single product available, going from 2, to 3, to 4, and eventually to 5 (the horror) bladed razors. Needless to say my shaves weren't improving.
Then I discovered this site, and proceeded to order my self a Merkur 34C (aka HD), a badger brush and some Proraso cream. It took me quite a while, maybe three months, until I managed to get the angle of the blade correctly (I still shaved 2-3 times a week). The shaves during that time weren't quite comfortable, nor close, but I really wanted to learn the process. After these initial months, the shaves gradually got better, and the madness began: more creams and soaps, more brushes, more razors. I couldn't stop, apparently (nor did I want to
). I constantly searched for the one product that would improve my shaves dramatically. This Holy Grail remains nevertheless hidden.Somewhere along the way however, the shaves started to go downhill: not comfortable, not very close, and irritation. I resigned myself to thinking that the sensitivity of my skin and the toughness of my beard made it impossible to me to have comfortable, irritation-free shaves. I read about people shaving every day and it made me shiver with fear at the very thought. I couldn't imagine myself shaving every other day, let alone every single day.
One month ago, however, I decided to get back to the basics: stop tinkering with all the creams, soaps, razors, brushes, etc. I decided to use for a month the tools that constantly gave me the better shaves: Speick cream, Simpson brush, Mergress loaded with a Astra Platinum or Iridium, on a setting ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 (depending on how it felt during the shave). I also decided, most importantly, to try to shave every single day (including weekends). The first few shaves were, of course, not very good, but not at all as bad as I imagined they would be, so I continued the process. And now, a month after, I can honestly say that it is better for me to continue to shave every day: I make fewer passes (most of the time just 2 plus touch-ups), and my skin seems to benefit from the constant treatment it gets. I now even manage to shave before the shower without any problems. I am getting DFS shaves every single day and I couldn't be happier. I don’t search anymore for that elusive (or at least hard to attain) BBS, I just accept it (gladly) when it comes.
Concluding, I hope some of you can relate to my story and maybe get some encouragement from it. If I would be starting the whole process once again I would definitely stay with the same products for a long period of time, trying to perfect my technique. It is possible, even after 2 years, to make improvements to your shaving regimen, so please be patient and try to focus on technique and method rather than tinkering with different products.
Sorry about the (very) long rambling, I just needed to share with all of you my experience during these past 2 years.
