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Holy mother of pearl!

I lifted a DE safety razor to my face for the very first time this morning.

1959 Gillette Fat Boy with a forty year-old Personna blade versus five days of beard growth. Five days of beard is normally not a big deal to me when I'm holding one of my straight razors, but not knowing DE shaving at all, I was feeling a little trepidation. I set the adjustment to 5, took my best guess at an appropriate angle of attack, laid the razor against my face, and drew it down about two inches.

What was that?
Did the edge even touch my face?


I stood there looking in the mirror not knowing what to think. There was some serious vapor lock between my ears.

Well the soap is gone. I looked more closely into the mirror. Damn...the hair is gone too...then it dawned on me...Oh my, that IS good!

I proceeded to shave the rest of my face without bloodshed. Did I end up fully BBS? No. Some areas were BBS and some not. Don't care. I'm done with expensive plastic-handled instruments of torture.

So that's it, boys. I'm officially a DE convert looking for recommendations on vendors that offer multi-brand trial packs. I'd also be interested to know if I should be able to shop brick and mortar stores to make my own variety pack.

Hat tip to Dalejr for his knowledge of my old blades.
 
Choose as many blades and brands as you want.
I'd start with
Astra
Gillette's (Russian made)
Personna's
Crystal
Most of these can be found online for about $10 for 100 blades.
 
Glad to hear of your great success with and transition to DEs! It gets better and better.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
I went the other way, from DE to SR. Or at least to attempting to use a SR. Scared the dickens out of me, always worried I'd lose and ear, and never got a really good shave because I was afraid of it. Finally sold all the paraphernalia associated with it, and never considered it again.

The DE razor is not quite on a par with, say, the steam engine or the computer, but in terms of how many people in the world it had a positive impact on, and how quickly it was adopted make it truly one of the world's greatest inventions. Ever.
 
Thanks guys. I'm late to the party, but I'm enjoying myself all the same!

The funny thing is that I'm probably going to experiment with SE shaving as well. I don't know that it will be pursued long term. I'm still saving my nickels for retirement and shaving needs to be economical.

My interest in straight and DE shaving began with two items that I inherited. I took up SR shaving about ten years ago because of my great-grandfather's Henckels' SR. The recent DE shave was with a 1959 Fatboy purchased (in a mixed lot of safety razors at an estate sale) with the intention of being the potential victim of my ignorance regarding the disassembly and cleaning of such items. I did not want to damage my grandfather's 1961 Fatboy in pursuit of an education of the platform.

My straight razors aren't going away. I like what they bring to the table. I'm just terribly slow with SR shaves, and Friday's DE shave was quick by comparison.

I would like to extend a hat tip to this forum's members. I have learned much from the content published here, and I recognize there would be nothing to read if you hadn't shared your knowledge. I hope to have something worthwhile to give back one day.
 
So, I tried two more of the razors from the mixed lot. I did not like the NEW type razor. The WWII Tech was okay, but I wasn't fond of the results.

New and WWII Tech.jpg
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
Great post! Welcome aboard! The world has definitely turned for you!

Buy a few sample blade packs...check out Amazon.com...there are many offered.

As far as razors...that's a journey you may just have to take yourself.

Software...I always used to think that it didn't matter much...until of course I came across soaps and creams that really did make a difference. Now I prize performance over scent.

There's a lot of info on these here forums.

Happy reading...and...Happy Shaves!
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
So, I tried two more of the razors from the mixed lot. I did not like the NEW type razor. The WWII Tech was okay, but I wasn't fond of the results.

View attachment 1318036

When swapping razors, it takes a little while to adjust to the angles it needs. So don't be too quick to judge unfamiliar razors, as you need time to become acclimatised to it, in order to get the best results (in both closeness and comfort) that it can offer.

Also bear in mind, that blades can make a huge difference. A razor that's disappointing with one blade, might be fantastic with a different one.
 
I've had some very good shaves since last August. Some of the blades in my variety pack work better than others, but that is to be expected.

I recently saw these in the dollar store and had to know if they were any good:

20220430_131533.jpg


That blade chattered across my beard like crazy! They are so THIN! It was not a pleasant experience. Yes, there was bloodshed.

They were bad enough that I've tossed all of them in the trash. Live and learn...
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
I lifted a DE safety razor to my face for the very first time this morning.

1959 Gillette Fat Boy with a forty year-old Personna blade versus five days of beard growth. Five days of beard is normally not a big deal to me when I'm holding one of my straight razors, but not knowing DE shaving at all, I was feeling a little trepidation. I set the adjustment to 5, took my best guess at an appropriate angle of attack, laid the razor against my face, and drew it down about two inches.

What was that?
Did the edge even touch my face?


I stood there looking in the mirror not knowing what to think. There was some serious vapor lock between my ears.

Well the soap is gone. I looked more closely into the mirror. Damn...the hair is gone too...then it dawned on me...Oh my, that IS good!

I proceeded to shave the rest of my face without bloodshed. Did I end up fully BBS? No. Some areas were BBS and some not. Don't care. I'm done with expensive plastic-handled instruments of torture.

So that's it, boys. I'm officially a DE convert looking for recommendations on vendors that offer multi-brand trial packs. I'd also be interested to know if I should be able to shop brick and mortar stores to make my own variety pack.

Hat tip to Dalejr for his knowledge of my old blades.

I am so very happy for you woohoo! :thumbup: I took a leap of joy for you! You see, those plastic torture devices some call razors, really are awful arn't they? In utter amazement, as you looked at your face in the mirror, for you have seen the light, and now your a DE wet shaver. Congratulations! 🥳
 
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