Hey y'all. I'm Alex, and I'm a wet shaving noob. While I've shaved since I was a teenager and I'm in my mid-thirties now, I picked up a Van den Hagen safety razor on a whim and found it to be better than the three blade disposable monstrosities I used to use on my face. (I still use them on my head though--at least until I'm comfortable with my technique to try shaving my head. I know it can be done as I've seen people do it on ewe-tubes.)
I wasn't really having a problem with ingrown hairs or irritation or anything, I just wasn't getting the kind of shave I wanted, and also using those things made shaving more chore than pleasure. Even if I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a shaving hobbyist (in my mind that's about the same as saying someone who showers daily is a bathing hobbyist). But one doesn't need to be a hobbyist to desire to make their hygiene regime more pleasure than tedious thing to get through quickly. At least in my mind anyway.
At any rate, I've noticed that the Van den Hagen blades weren't the smoothest. I do plan on putting together myself a sampler pack from one of the etailers I've seen. I won't go into which one here as I'm not sure as to the rules concerning that. But I would appreciate any ideas as to blades that would be smoother than the ones I'm currently using. My local B&M market is pretty much limited to VDHs. I'm open to any suggestions y'all would have.
As far as other gear I do have a decent boar brush (also VDH, not sure where my mother picked it up, she found a kit by them somewhere) and their soap.
I do plan on eventually making upgrades to my equipment and supplies but I want to mostly focus on blades, for now, preferably ones that aren't too terribly expensive. If it helps I have average beard growth, though it seems that my whiskers are getting tougher and thicker as they slowly are turning white.
I wasn't really having a problem with ingrown hairs or irritation or anything, I just wasn't getting the kind of shave I wanted, and also using those things made shaving more chore than pleasure. Even if I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a shaving hobbyist (in my mind that's about the same as saying someone who showers daily is a bathing hobbyist). But one doesn't need to be a hobbyist to desire to make their hygiene regime more pleasure than tedious thing to get through quickly. At least in my mind anyway.
At any rate, I've noticed that the Van den Hagen blades weren't the smoothest. I do plan on putting together myself a sampler pack from one of the etailers I've seen. I won't go into which one here as I'm not sure as to the rules concerning that. But I would appreciate any ideas as to blades that would be smoother than the ones I'm currently using. My local B&M market is pretty much limited to VDHs. I'm open to any suggestions y'all would have.
As far as other gear I do have a decent boar brush (also VDH, not sure where my mother picked it up, she found a kit by them somewhere) and their soap.
I do plan on eventually making upgrades to my equipment and supplies but I want to mostly focus on blades, for now, preferably ones that aren't too terribly expensive. If it helps I have average beard growth, though it seems that my whiskers are getting tougher and thicker as they slowly are turning white.
). If my technique was really bad I'd expect to see more blood but the VDH razor seems like it's fairly mild, or mild-medium. 
