Hi all! First experiences.

[marz1]

Ha of all the blades I've tried the derby was the last one I expected to be controversial.
I really didn't enjoy it.
I had high hopes for it though, with turkey having this longstanding barber tradition and all.
But yeah I have 5 of each and only used up one of each so far, I'll be certain to revisit all of them at some point.

Anyway the rapira seems to have developed some rust on it so time to throw it away (got 4 shaves from it).
Better care might get me more shaves from it.
I guess today is as good a day as any to try the wilkinson.

Took my time this shave and focussed a bit on getting a good lather with the synthetic.
In retrospect the lather was a bit on the dry side, but servicable.
But what an enjoyable experience this was.
Blade felt almost as if it wasn't there.

This is the smoothest result I have so far, slightly better than what I get with the voskhod.
Felt less burn after I was done too. More in Astra SP territory.
Too soon to call after one shave, especially because I took my time today both for the lather and the shave.
But if this experience repeats this might become a favorite.

Nice lather! I personally like mine to be glistening wet so I will dip the brush tips lightly in some water/under the tap and dab it on my lathered face. Once I see the sheen I know the blade will glide well. However everyone has their own preferences with their lather, no doubt you’ll find what works for you!
Also, I’m pretty sure I started out with the same brush as you. A few days of browsing this forum and I upgraded my zamak razor to a stainless steel one and my brush to a Simpsons T3! This place is hard on the wallet

 

[Phoenixkh]

Welcome to the B&B community.

 

[Eshebert]

I just got here as well. This is my first welcome, I hope you enjoy as much a I have so far.

 

[wizwiz]

This place is hard on the wallet

Yes like most hobbies I dabble into I'll probably eventually end up spending more than I'd like to.
For now though I'll try to stick with with I have and cheap additions and focus on technique.
Trying to figure out what I want before spending the big bucks, not trying to blame the tools and all that.

Anyway, another day another shave. Astra SP this time (3rd shave with this blade).

Tried to get a bit more wet lather compared to yesterday.
I overshot. It was a hassle to lather up without spilling all over the bathroom.
Shave felt acceptably comfortable, and exceptionally smooth, yet the burn was worse
compared to what I was used to with the Astra SP so far.
I did try to get a pretty close shave as its easter and all, but still I think my too thin lather
is part of the reason this burned so much.

This shave was enjoyable but not mindblowing like the one I had yesterday.

 

[ivan_101]

Welcome to the forum!

From what I see on those photos of your face you need to work on your lather.
Don't be so quick to discard the blades that didn't work. You bought a very mild razor and the very mild blades will not work with it. It is either a mild razor + sharp blade, or an aggressive razor with a mild blade.

 

[Babou]

Welcome to the forum

There are many members on this forum who love the Shark SS blade including myself.

Since June 2018 I shave my head two times per week with it, and I have no irritation and yet I have a sensitive skin.

A blade may not be appropriate for you because of your skin, that's not the reason it's a crap.

 

[wizwiz]

From what I see on those photos of your face you need to work on your lather.

Yeah I've noticed there is much room for improvement in this regard.
Always open to suggestions too.

 

[marz1]

Yeah I've noticed there is much room for improvement in this regard.
Always open to suggestions too.

A bit of an unorthodox tip that worked for me when I was figuring out lather slickness early on.
Sometimes when travelling, I would heavily load up my brush and take it into the shower to face-lather for a shower shave. I noticed that my lather would be much more slicker and comfortable during these shower shaves because the humidity and moisture in the shower kept the lather well hydrated. After establishing the “baseline” of slickness I would then try and recreate that lather when shaving normally. Loading up on lots of soap and gradually adding water to the brush really helped my face lather skills. Oh and properly soaking the boar brush before every shave too!
Hope this helps.

 

[V12Stu]

Welcome @wizwiz ! I too am experimenting with blades with some quite different results - favourites so far are Kai, Asco Red, Silver Star, and 7 o'clock yellow and green. Gillette Nacet for tonight's shave....

 

[wizwiz]

Last three shaves:

Rapira Lux (1st shave with the blade) - Took a whopping 5 passes before I was happy with the result, yet no soreness at all. This really is a great blade to shave with, if you have the time, and babyskin isn't absolutely mandatory.

Voskhod (3rd use of the blade) - 3 passes, verry smooth result, no sorness at all. Not as enjoyable nor as bbs as the wilkinson shave, but close.

Wilkinson (2nd use of the blade) - This shave was nowhere near as enjoyable as my first one. Might have been a bit overconfident. Especially the upper lip feels sore. I'll give this blade a third shave before I make the call.

 

[Asland408]

Welcome to Badger and Blade!

We agree on the Derby Extra blades. They have a personal vendetta against my incredibly handsome face doggone!

@FarmerTan You and me both!

@wizwiz Welcome to B and B Great write up about the blades! Enjoy the process!

 

[desertcat]

@RayClem just wrote a great little passage on dialing in a lather:

Taking a warm shower and using a face cleanser to clean and prep your beard is ideal.

You did not mention the shave soap you are using, but if it takes 30 seconds to load your brush, I am assuming you are using a traditional hard puck. With most artisan soaps, I am able to load the brush in about 10 seconds. Different soaps have different lathering characteristics. With some soaps, the end point should be like whipped cream. With other soaps it should be like yogurt. There are many variations. Since you did not list your soap, I do not know whether your lather is properly hydrated using your method. However, I have a test that can help you tell.


Fill a bowl or your sink with water and leave a trickle of water flowing so the container overflows. Apply lather to your face and then make a normal shaving stroke. After that stroke, gently dip the razor into the water and observe what happens. If the lather sticks to the razor, it needs more water. If the lather immediately disperses, you added too much water and need to add more soap. If the lather quickly releases from the razor and floats to the top like a cloud of foam, you have it about right. Typically, there will be a range of hydration that will satisfy the test. Within that range, you can make the lather slightly drier or wetter depending upon your personal preference. If the lather is too dry, it won't be slick enough. If the lather is too wet, it will lack protection. A properly hydrated lather will help you get a great shave. Once you have done this test a few times, you will know exactly how much water to use and how much soap to load for you shave without lather left over.

For myself, as time has passed and my technique has changed, I find myself making lathers that are less aerated and more hydrated. Lathers thick with air and/or heavier with soap offer modestly more protection, with the drawback of reducing feedback/bladefeel and perhaps tempting me to press the blade into my face. I am constantly striving to use the least possible pressure, and my lathers changed accordingly. When my touch became more gentle, I was able to achieve closer shaves with less irritation.

Someday maybe I'll advance to @thombrogan style "lightly poisoned water" lathers:

I face lather. Wet the brush, shake it slightly for no known reason, run it over the top of the soap (either on the puck or the scraping pressed into a lathering bowl) just enough so I see some soap is on the tips of the bristles, paint that all over my faces, dip the bristles in water and paint again. Then it’s time to shave.

The more soap added means there’s also more air added. Can be overcome by adding more water, but really getting diluted soap/cream all over the skin around the whiskers provides better protection* to the skin than a thick lather on the whiskers above the skin.

Doing the above means any dawdling (which is my super power) can let the water evaporate. Your brush should still be wet enough that you can paint on just enough moisture to overcome unnecessary pauses without overly diluting the “lather” and suffering from too little instead of too much.

* by protection, I mean slickness to allow a razor edge to slide across one’s skin instead of into it. Very easily overcome with just a little pressure.

Bear in mind, if you try this, a few things will happen

1. You’ll get better at shaving than I am and get there quicker
2. $5-15usd synthetic and boar brushes will do the same job as $usd brushes
3. Conspicuous soap consumption will stop being a thing for either the “I went through nine tubs of soap this morning” or “without fat surrounding the kidneys of ritually throttled rheas, my soap lacks post-shave comfort.”
4. Santa Claus lathers can still be done, but will have nothing to do with shaving.

Hope you find all this interesting, if not helpful! Welcome to B&B!

 

[wizwiz]

Thank you all for the welcome and the advice.
It (and what I've gathered from the forums) has helped me a ton so far.

My shaving experience has improved quite a bit over the last few weeks.


I've mostly used the rapira's, but I try to cycle in another blade every few days just to keep comparing. The rapira's really are becomming my absolute #1 favorite blade. I think its a really good beginner blade.

Its an extremely comfortable and forgivving to shave with. It might take a pass more than you would need with some of the others, but now after pass 4 the result is as smooth as I've gotten with any other blade, and my skin feels like it hasn't even had a shave. No soreness at all. I can get 4-5 shaves out of them.

For most other blades I've retried, experience has improved too. The exception, sadly, seems to be the category with the derby's and the shark's. I really can't get those blades do justice to my face.

But in general, the order has not changed. Voskhod's are verry efficient, and as my technique improves, they make my skin feel less and less sore as I use them. They do seem to dull quite quickly compared to other blades though. The astra seem to perform a little less than the voskhod's but seem to last longer.

The Wilkinson is a blade I need to keep an eye on. I've had a verry verry enjoyable shave the first time I used it. The second time however I think I became cocky and it has set my entire face on fire. I think this one has the greatest potential for improvement as my technique improves. But it also seems to be a blade you really need to respect and treat gently.


Regarding my technique one of the things that I changed after reading a writeup about steep angle shaving that seem to make a bit difference is instead of riding the cap (top part) of the razor, I try to ride the guard (bottom part). Its a bit counter-intuitive, as visually atleast I picture the blade more 'scraping' the hairs rather than 'cutting', but atleast with this razor it seems to improve blade-feel quite a bit, which helps, especially for a beginner like me, make it easier to tune in better to a good shaving angle. It really has made my shaves more consistent, the shave more close and the post-shave feel more pleasant.


Regarding my lather I've made quite a bit improvements too. You guys are right, a more hydrated lather does provide a better shaving experience. For me, to get a more hydrated lather work without it like dripping all over the bathroom and my clothes (which is what really kept me away from it initially), it seems key to not start out too hydrated, but keep adding water while lathering, especially so between passes. I've picked up somewhere on this forum the idea to keep a sprayer on hand to better dose this and this has proven golden to me. I just keep a plant sprayer on hand, and whenever I feel I can get away with it I spray a few times on the brush.


Anyway I'll keep trying to improve and so far really enjoy the experience. Cheers!

 

[PersistentlyBlunt]

I had great trouble with my lather for a period, thought I was doing great by bowl lathering and getting a heap of light and fluffy lather. After a couple of shaves where this did not appear to be working and a great deal of advice from this wonderful forum, I switched to face lathering.

I load my brush when it is just damp and soap up my face initially and then add water gradually to get a lather. I have found that I get a better feel for how hydarted the lather is on the face this way. YMMV.

Some good links I was pointed to by @Guido75 - the lather corner on our wiki, read JCinPA’s method (here). And there is always Marco’s Method (here).

Also this post by @AimlessWanderer helped me greatly - Beginning to end - my DE journey and search for a RFL - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/beginning-to-end-my-de-journey-and-search-for-a-rfl.638195/post-12222149

Last but not least this video from @spacemonkey42 was a good capstone to my learnings from the other posts -

This video was the most helpful to me for how to face lather.

I have no idea if all these links will work but .

Good luck.

 

[Alum Ladd]

I had great trouble with my lather for a period, thought I was doing great by bowl lathering and getting a heap of light and fluffy lather. After a couple of shaves where this did not appear to be working and a great deal of advice from this wonderful forum, I switched to face lathering.

I load my brush when it is just damp and soap up my face initially and then add water gradually to get a lather. I have found that I get a better feel for how hydarted the lather is on the face this way. YMMV.

Some good links I was pointed to by @Guido75 - the lather corner on our wiki, read JCinPA’s method (here). And there is always Marco’s Method (here).

Also this post by @AimlessWanderer helped me greatly - Beginning to end - my DE journey and search for a RFL - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/beginning-to-end-my-de-journey-and-search-for-a-rfl.638195/post-12222149

Last but not least this video from @spacemonkey42 was a good capstone to my learnings from the other posts -

This video was the most helpful to me for how to face lather.

I have no idea if all these links will work but .

Good luck.

The only good method is your own method.

In the final analysis, no one can teach you but yourself.

 

[PersistentlyBlunt]

The only good method is your own method.

Thank you @Alum Ladd for your wise words, re-read my post and despite the words used and the order they are in, I was not trying to influence face lathering, I find that that works well for me now.

Two of the links are for bowl lathering and I still do the odd practice bowl lather to improve my technique. But find at the moment face lathering is giving me a more consistent lather for my morning shave.

As Mr Ladd points out, we are all individuals, try a bit of everything and see what fits.

 

[Alum Ladd]

As Mr Ladd points out, we are all individuals, try a bit of everything and see what fits.

One of the most precise and succinct summaries of the shaving game I have seen!

You are quite right my dear @PersistentlyBlunt !

I was trying to be pithy, to avoid my occasional verbosity, but that often results of me being told to 'pith off'.

It just strikes me that all wonderful advice and tutorials, can only take the individual so far, training wheels if you will.

Your face, sureness of hand, confidence, many other factors, will ultimately dictate the outlines and fill in the details of how you shave!