I wonder which razor suits my situation?

[Albert V]

I appreciate your suggestions sir, but sadly, shaving my beard is a chore to me, and I hardly find it an enjoyment and that is one of the reason I do it just once per week.

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣

Remember those words!!! For many of us, shaving was a chore as well. Unless I was meeting people I shave once every 2-3 days. After getting into wet shaving the chore became an indulgence, something to look forward to. The experience became fun, playing with different soaps and scents, playing with whipping up lathers and massaging my face with my boar brush filled with a creamy lather. I can’t wait for my next shave, it is “me time”.

If/when it becomes fun for you, then expect to want to shave more than once a week. I know right now that sounds like crazy talk, but down the road, you may come to understand why wet shaving gets referred to as a hobby, not a chore

The whole process if I am not wrong, is:

1)…. …if the above mentioned steps are correct, then that is quite a big hassle

that is correct, but not necessarily optimal. Have a look at some of Geofatboy youtube videos, he is champion at shaving and has videos with all sorts of razors, soaps, prep....including how to do a shave in a hurry.

Less than 4 minute shave

For myself, shower is optional, or alternatively a hot face cloth, while my brush is soaking for a minute. Pre-shave is optional, but when I use preshave it is always Proraso White or Green. Soap can be wipped into a nice lather in 60-120 seconds depending on the soap. Then cold water, which hazel toner, and balm.

Cartridge vs Safety Razor - which is faster?

 

[qwvb1111]

Since it is now on your short list, I strongly suggest going for the Rockwell 6C for a few reasons. 1), it is in your budget, or under if you find a discount code on their website 2) if you buy from their website you get a 60 day return period where they will provide free return shipping label, 3) if you buy from their website you get a lifetime warranty, even if you drop and break it - you just pay a few dollars to ship the replacement part. 4) you got nothing to lose. Putting it another way, all the above are the reasons I tried one last summer and got hooked. The R3 plate is roughly equivalent to the Muhle R89. R4 plate is a tad more efficient. I would start at plate 3 or 4 and learn to drive first before going to the most aggressive plates. The reason is you need to learn new technique, no pressing, just gliding, on a slick soap. Heavier razors help let the weight do the work, Consider heavier razors are around 100 grams or more, and the Rockwell 6c is 100, the 6S, is 120 grams. muhle R89 is a liht razor, and lighter weight tends to make the shaver press a bit more.

https://support.rockwellrazors.com/portal/en/kb/articles/what-is-your-return-policy

https://support.rockwellrazors.com/portal/en/kb/articles/what-is-the-warranty

I also found that razors weighted 90 to 110 grams are best because the hefty weight will do the gliding easier. From what you said it seems true.

That makes me narrowed down my choices to Rockwell 6c and Muhle r41 OC. Which blade will you suggest to use? Since it is closed comb I will use wilkinson sword or even feather blades to cut my coarse stubble.

R41 only weight 64 g so it is very light plus it is open comb, so I may press a little bit even though it is not needed and easily nick myself, so it is not suitable for me, is it correct?

 

[Alum Ladd]

I appreciate your suggestions sir, but sadly, shaving my beard is a chore to me, and I hardly find it an enjoyment and that is one of the reason I do it just once per week.

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
The whole process if I am not wrong, is:

1) Hot shower / hot towel covering beard for 5 minutes

2) Smear pre-shave oil on beard and wait for 5 minutes, then wash away

3) Lathering for 5 minutes, then smear the lather on beard and keep sweeping the lather over the beard for 3 minutes (since I am not going to buy a bowl, I stir the brush over the Proraso norishing soap for 5 minutes for it to build up, and then to the beard for 3 minutes)

4) (for now still the catridge) shave with short strokes and wash away the shaved stubble frequently. after the 1st pass, wash face and touch coarse stubble area to see where there are still stubble left　　　(10 minutes)

5) re-lather and shave those area mentioned above　　　(7 - 10 minutes)

6) wash face again and touch coarse stubble area again to see if there are still stubborn whiskers left, sometimes I will just wet the catridge and shave those reamining whiskers since it is too bothersome to lather up the 3rd time　　　(4 - 5 minutes)

7) wash face the 3rd time and apply after shave lotion / balm

￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
If the above mentioned steps are correct, then that is quite a big hassle and it is impossible for me to do it 3 - 4 times a week, not to mention everyday. I just don't have that leisurely and carefree mood to do that chore...

And the above steps are what I discovered 1 month before since I bought synthetic brush and Proraso soap. Before that, I just smear some random shaving gel, wait for 5 mintues, splash some water on face to keep it wet and then shave with catridge, then after 2 passes, smear some random moistursing cream bought from drug store on shaved area, done.

I have tried step 1 + 3-7 (pre-shave oil is yet to be bought), or the shaving gel method mentioned above, the shaving quality are similarly bad, the symptoms are on the 1st post.

That's why I want to change the equipment and see which part is the mistake. And then I came here.

No.

You are just creating un-needed problems for yourself and these arbitary time periods for specific tasks are absurdly long. I suspect you are slightly over-thinking the process, which should be a fairly swift and seamless operation.

The whole process should take 20 minutes from start to finish, and that includes cleaning and stowing your gear.
You will get it down to 15 minutes with practice.

Forget pre-shave creams or oils. Pre-shave just means wetting your stubble and face, or in other words simply adequate hydration. Just thoroughly wash your face with soap and hottish water, wash, rinse maybe 3 times. Then get your face wet and keep it wet.

Use a shaving stick. Unsure what sticks you have available in India but you should be able to get hold of arko!

When face is wet just apply the wetted tip of the shave stick as you would a lip balm. Rub in a circular motion until your whiskers are coated in soap. It should look like a frosted sugar effect.

Then apply a wetted brush and create your lather. Use a circular, srubbing motion to lift whiskers, then 'paint' the lather. Add water in a dribbling way with your finger tips until you achieve a wet lather. Not too cakey. It should be almost runny. This should take about 2 minutes max. I recommend a synthetic brush. Very user friendly.

Firstly go with the grain. This is a downwards stroke. Apply this direction to your entire face.

Rinse face, then re-apply soap from brush. There should be enough in the brush for 3 passes.

Then across the grain. This is a right left or left right series of strokes across the face. This will further reduce stubble.

Rinse face, then re-apply soap from brush.

Now the against the grain pass. Don't worry, your skin will get accustomed. This is an upwards stroke, a reverse of the with the grain pass described above.

Now thoroughly rinse your face 4-5 times in cold water. This will seal pores and inhibit weepers.

Apply after shave balm of your choice.

I would not even think of an R41 or a feather blade. Purchase a Pearl Flexi adjustable which should be available to you. It has several settings which allows you to dial in the efficiency of your shave. A fantastic Indian razor with a lot of following here. Indian razors are excellent in design and quality. It is a heavy razor so no pressure should be needed. I would suggest a medium sharp but smooth blade. One of the Indian 7 O'clock range may be just right for you.

Ditch the cartridges and get the flexi ASAP. The SkinGuard is completely useless for your needs as you desribe them.

Shave once every 48 hours. This will pay off over the coming months, trust me on that.

The Pearl Flexi is a fine machine. It is not soulless as many cart razors are. You will actually enjoy using it, and the learning of the skills of using a DE razor. It will no longer be a chore, and it will be a fast shave with practice.

 

[Psychtec]

No.

You are just creating un-needed problems for yourself and these arbitary time periods for specific tasks are absurdly long. I suspect you are slightly over-thinking the process, which should be a fairly swift and seamless operation.

The whole process should take 20 minutes from start to finish, and that includes cleaning and stowing your gear.
You will get it down to 15 minutes with practice.

Forget pre-shave creams or oils. Pre-shave just means wetting your stubble and face, or in other words simply adequate hydration. Just thoroughly wash your face with soap and hottish water, wash, rinse maybe 3 times. Then get your face wet and keep it wet.

Use a shaving stick. Unsure what sticks you have available in India but you should be able to get hold of arko!

When face is wet just apply the wetted tip of the shave stick as you would a lip balm. Rub in a circular motion until your whiskers are coated in soap. It should look like a frosted sugar effect.

Then apply a wetted brush and create your lather. Use a circular, srubbing motion to lift whiskers, then 'paint' the lather. Add water in a dribbling way with your finger tips until you achieve a wet lather. Not too cakey. It should be almost runny. This should take about 2 minutes max. I recommend a synthetic brush. Very user friendly.

Firstly go with the grain. This is a downwards stroke. Apply this direction to your entire face.

Rinse face, then re-apply soap from brush. There should be enough in the brush for 3 passes.

Then across the grain. This is a right left or left right series of strokes across the face. This will further reduce stubble.

Rinse face, then re-apply soap from brush.

Now the against the grain pass. Don't worry, your skin will get accustomed. This is an upwards stroke, a reverse of the with the grain pass described above.

Now thoroughly rinse your face 4-5 times in cold water. This will seal pores and inhibit weepers.

Apply after shave balm of your choice.

I would not even think of an R41 or a feather blade. Purchase a Pearl Flexi adjustable which should be available to you. It has several settings which allows you to dial in the efficiency of your shave. A fantastic Indian razor with a lot of following here. Indian razors are excellent in design and quality. It is a heavy razor so no pressure should be needed. I would suggest a medium sharp but smooth blade. One of the Indian 7 O'clock range may be just right for you.

Ditch the cartridges and get the flexi ASAP. The SkinGuard is completely useless for your needs as you desribe them.

Shave once every 48 hours. This will pay off over the coming months, trust me on that.

The Pearl Flexi is a fine machine. It is not soulless as many cart razors are. You will actually enjoy using it, and the learning of the skills of using a DE razor. It will no longer be a chore, and it will be a fast shave with practice.

Alum Ladd

This new member just getting into DE shaving should be aware he was privileged to have gotten these, on point recommendations from you.

You experience and willingness to help others shows.

Your thread was easy to understand, straightforward, concise and to the point.

You pretty much summarized the recommendations we all gave to this young man.

 

[Albert V]

Purchase a Pearl Flexi adjustable which should be available to you. It has several settings which allows you to dial in the efficiency of your shave. A fantastic Indian razor with a lot of following here. Indian razors are excellent in design and quality. It is a heavy razor so no pressure should be needed. I would suggest a medium sharp but smooth blade.

the Pearl Flexi is an excellent suggestion. A heavy brass adjustable razor made in India. If you are in India I would guess it is easily available and perhaps a bit less expensive allowing it to meet your budget.

Best blades to get should be from a good sample pack. It takes a while to figure put which blade best matches a razor and ones skin type, and a sample pack (some are much better than others) is the best way to learn. Astra blades seem to be one of the best ‘all around’ blades and many sample packs include them. My first sample pack of about 10 had about 5 brands I will never touch again, but all the blades performed pretty good on the first use. Not all made it to 3 uses. But that is all part of the ‘shaving journey’

Also, another newbie tip in addition to rule 1 (no pressing, just gliding), is when you have lots of growth, use ‘short’ strokes on your first pass. Long strokes with lots of hair can easily clog up the works. Shaving is more about progressive beard reduction, not BBS on one pass. Lastly, the soap you use can make a difference. i am two years in now, I have found my idea razor and blades. But still working on finding the best soaps. I buy samples from places like Maggards. I have narrowed it down to a handful of soap makers and now playing with scents. Proraso was a great start, TOBS is pretty good, but now soaps like Chiseled Face, Ariana and Evans, Maggards, Noble Otter, are now on my short list. But when in doubt, Proraso or Arko are inexpensive, easy to lather soaps that stand the test of time.

 

[gdawg55]

Please forgive the ratty T-Shirt... I'm home trying to pass a kidney stone and this is one of my ..... comfort shirts.

Ouch!! Hope you are doing okay.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Ouch!! Hope you are doing okay.

Doing well now... it or they haven't passed yet... but they are no longer lodged in my ureter... Oh, what a relief it is. <eg>

 

[psfred]

Lord yes, it's a relief when they aren't ripping those tiny tubes up! I stay hydrated so I won't get another kidney stone -- mine was tiny and uric acid (it re-dissolved mostly) and small as kidney stones go but I still remember the agony.

For those who have not had the "pleasure" of a kidney stone, they will put you on the floor. I have a friend who swears they are worse than childbirth, and she should know!

For the original poster -- try the 7 O'Clock black (Super Platinum) blades from Gillette, they are one of my favorites. I suspect the suggested India made adjustable razor with those blades will change your mind about shaving!