I feel mild razors are better for beginners.
Is a more aggressive razor better for a beginner?
- Thread starter robertj298
- Start date
Another vote for a mild/moderate razor!
Those work best for me, plus one can always go either milder or more aggressive.
Those work best for me, plus one can always go either milder or more aggressive.
No.
IMO the mild route is the best way for someone to start out. Too aggressive with too much pressure will cause irritation and frustration. Adjustable in the beginning may be too much of distraction away from skills because they get fiddly with them. Personally, if you want new go with a Merkur 34C. Vintage go with a Super Speed. Then graduate to an adjustable after the skills are honed. My Dad got me a SS as a kid and said to me adjustables are too much fuss. He never liked them but I love the Slim. Years later, of course.
My vote would be adjustable from the start. Sure wish I did!
In a word: no. Just as you wouldnt teach a kid how to drive in a Ferrari, you dont want an aggressive razor when you are just starting out. Its better to have a mild razor that will be forgiving of mistakes so that you can learn the basics with minimal fear of cutting yourself and then, when you develop some skill, getting a more aggressive razor if you want. A lot of people who chase the holy grain of more aggressive razors find that in the end, they get better shaves with the mild razors that they started out with.
Personally, I started out with a Merkur 23C and despite some of the more aggressive razors that Ive used since then, including slants and the Muhle R41, I still get equally good shaves with milder razors like the Merkur 23C and Muhle R89/EJ DE 89. Infact, one of my favorite setups in a DE89 head with a Weber Bulldog handle. It gives great, comfortable, close shaves with almost no risk of weepers or irritation, even when shaving against the grain. As much as I love my slant, I cant even shave against the grain with it without getting weepers. Honestly, Im able to get closer shaves with the DE 89 because it allows me to shave ATG without getting weepers.
Personally, I started out with a Merkur 23C and despite some of the more aggressive razors that Ive used since then, including slants and the Muhle R41, I still get equally good shaves with milder razors like the Merkur 23C and Muhle R89/EJ DE 89. Infact, one of my favorite setups in a DE89 head with a Weber Bulldog handle. It gives great, comfortable, close shaves with almost no risk of weepers or irritation, even when shaving against the grain. As much as I love my slant, I cant even shave against the grain with it without getting weepers. Honestly, Im able to get closer shaves with the DE 89 because it allows me to shave ATG without getting weepers.
If the person has good judgement, why not? They handle way better and have much better brakes than "regular" cars. That makes them safer in my book.Would you give someone with a new drivers license a Corvette?
My first car was a 300+hp V-8 Mustang back in 1979 (I was 18). Never crashed it, and still own it.
I obviously don't believe in "beginner" razors either. Pick what you like and learn to use it, just like the whole world did before the internet.
I started with an EJ89. A more aggressive razor would have been too much for me, I think. YMMV.
In 1973, at age 15 when I learned to shave my first razor was a Gillette adjustable (uncertain of model.) I used it for several years. No idea what setting I used. Probably no more than about 3 (speculation). Fast forward to 2014 when I came back to DE shaving after 30+ years of using 2 blade cartridges. (I did have a flirtation with an injector) My first DE was a MTO/Weishi. I used that for two years before buying another razor. Then in summer of 2016, I started down the vintage road. I don't even use the MTO anymore. First a M1 Black Handle Super Speed, then back to back a D1 Flare Tip Super Speed and a I2 Slim adjustable. If I had to rank them from mildest to least mild, it would be in that order. Black Handle (67), Flare Tip (58), Slim (63).
I think it makes more sense with the milder razor for most beginners. There are obviously exceptions, just like with everything. If the person already uses almost no pressure, they can probably get away with a slightly more aggressive razor to begin with.
I think it makes more sense with the milder razor for most beginners. There are obviously exceptions, just like with everything. If the person already uses almost no pressure, they can probably get away with a slightly more aggressive razor to begin with.
But I don't think that's likely, at least with the Gillette Fusion. I recently used mine for the first time in a long time, and was reminded how much pressure is needed just to achieve contact of the blades with my face.
I have a Schick Hydro 3 laying around that I haven't touched in 2 years. I might compare it with DE. I do remember that if I went almost 6 months without changing cartridges, I would cut myself bad from pushing too hard. Maybe I didn't notice I was using pressure.
Would you give them a pedal car if they had to drive 50 miles?
Nah. Corolla.
A vintage adjustable is great to have on hand. You can experiment whenever you want.
For a beginner daily driver type razor, I'd suggest a vintage Schick Krona. They're just about bulletproof, cheap to buy and can rock a Feather without wounding the user.
Make sure your lather is nice and slick, whatever razor you use.
For a beginner daily driver type razor, I'd suggest a vintage Schick Krona. They're just about bulletproof, cheap to buy and can rock a Feather without wounding the user.
Make sure your lather is nice and slick, whatever razor you use.
+1...
If you put a non agressive blade, such as Personna, Gillette Bleue,... the most agresive razor becomes soft.
I love agressive razors with this combination of blades...
I love agressive razors with this combination of blades...
I am a beginer, with regard to DE razors. I had the same question. Rather than ask (a very smart approach), I decided it was most important for me to know what i had in terms of mild or aggressive. So i bought a razor, established a baseline, and now i move in directions based on reading & personal results. Select a path you can afford & have fun with it!
If I were to recommend a beginner razor, it would probably be a Pearl SSH-01 Open comb + Close comb (I bought the Chrome version). Having both head types, it gives a new shaver the option to learn both, and it's inexpensive (currently $18 on Amazon) -- I was pretty impressed with it as a versatile budget option.
After using different cartridges from Gillette and Schick for more than 30 years, I got tired of all the irritation, razorburns and lack of BBS.
I shave every other day and I have hard and dense growth so I needed an efficient razor so I bought a Muhle R41.
It was a long learning curve with many cuts and a lot of bloodshed in the first few months.
This was 4 years ago, and about 2 years ago I wanted to try a gentle razor and bought me a Feather Popular that actually worked really well the times I needed to shave myself daily or as a finish after R41 when the skin was extra sensitive.
After that I bought a Lord S625-1, two Parker 29L (for the wife and daughter) that I tried but which are milder than the Popular and a Ming Shi 2000s that work above expectations at levels 4-5.
I have also bought two older Matador where one is extremely mild and the other is really efficient and smooth.
For me it worked well to start with an aggressive razor even if it took time to learn how to use it in the best way, had I started with a mild razor maybe I had given up and returned to cartridges?
I shave every other day and I have hard and dense growth so I needed an efficient razor so I bought a Muhle R41.
It was a long learning curve with many cuts and a lot of bloodshed in the first few months.
This was 4 years ago, and about 2 years ago I wanted to try a gentle razor and bought me a Feather Popular that actually worked really well the times I needed to shave myself daily or as a finish after R41 when the skin was extra sensitive.
After that I bought a Lord S625-1, two Parker 29L (for the wife and daughter) that I tried but which are milder than the Popular and a Ming Shi 2000s that work above expectations at levels 4-5.
I have also bought two older Matador where one is extremely mild and the other is really efficient and smooth.
For me it worked well to start with an aggressive razor even if it took time to learn how to use it in the best way, had I started with a mild razor maybe I had given up and returned to cartridges?
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