Well as you may have seen before I recently purchased my first DE razor in the form of a Merkur HD.
Thats not a complete truth as I had previously bought a Wilko Classic about 7 years ago but I was too young and inexperienced and gave up on it.
I actually received my new razor a week ago and the reason I hadn't used it before now was simply that I wanted to dedicate time to my first shave with it so that I would minimize the hazards that come with the amateur hand.
So I had my shower as usual and gave my face a good scrub. Whilst doing this I had my mug, brush and new razor steeping in hot water in the sink.
I got out the shower and re-filled the sink and started to make my lather. I used TOBS Mr Taylor (my current "go to" cream) and got the lather just the way I like it. I wet my face again with the hot water (hot enough to make my hands nip but fine on the face) and lathered up.
I proceeded to shave my face WTG and took my time. I was very happy with the razor weight and how easy it was to apply almost no pressure at all (FYI the blade was the Merkur Super that comes with the razor). I could almost hear the hairs "popping" off my face. I then proceeded to my neck area. I always had problems here before. So once again WTG, so far so good.
My face was as close to a DFS as I was willing to go, so I re-lathered my neck for a XTG. I still took my time but I got a couple of weepers however these were actually spots from my last M3 shave. I then went very lightly ATG in my known problem areas and then rinsed my face.
Apart from the few spots which I'd nicked I'd come out unscathed and very closely shaven.
I splashed some cold water on then ran over my skin with alum (which did sting a little), dried my face, cleaned up then applied some TOBS Mr Taylor balm.
I finished off the whole occasion with a few sprays of some of Creed's Bois du Portugal and now............................................. now I feel great.
Comparing the Merkur HD (34c) with a Mach 3 is just a silly idea. Yes, my first shave with a DE wasn't as close as a Mach 3 shave however it is so damn close to that shave (first time remember) that I am happy to keep educating myself and honing my shaving technique. Also the end result is that my face stings less and, apart from the nicks, I have no, obviously new, shaving rash/bumps.
Unless I am in a super rush then I can't imaging myself moving back to an M3 shave in the near future and am looking forward to trying my Derby blades in my razor for my next shave.
Thanks for reading.
Thats not a complete truth as I had previously bought a Wilko Classic about 7 years ago but I was too young and inexperienced and gave up on it.
I actually received my new razor a week ago and the reason I hadn't used it before now was simply that I wanted to dedicate time to my first shave with it so that I would minimize the hazards that come with the amateur hand.
So I had my shower as usual and gave my face a good scrub. Whilst doing this I had my mug, brush and new razor steeping in hot water in the sink.
I got out the shower and re-filled the sink and started to make my lather. I used TOBS Mr Taylor (my current "go to" cream) and got the lather just the way I like it. I wet my face again with the hot water (hot enough to make my hands nip but fine on the face) and lathered up.
I proceeded to shave my face WTG and took my time. I was very happy with the razor weight and how easy it was to apply almost no pressure at all (FYI the blade was the Merkur Super that comes with the razor). I could almost hear the hairs "popping" off my face. I then proceeded to my neck area. I always had problems here before. So once again WTG, so far so good.
My face was as close to a DFS as I was willing to go, so I re-lathered my neck for a XTG. I still took my time but I got a couple of weepers however these were actually spots from my last M3 shave. I then went very lightly ATG in my known problem areas and then rinsed my face.
Apart from the few spots which I'd nicked I'd come out unscathed and very closely shaven.
I splashed some cold water on then ran over my skin with alum (which did sting a little), dried my face, cleaned up then applied some TOBS Mr Taylor balm.
I finished off the whole occasion with a few sprays of some of Creed's Bois du Portugal and now............................................. now I feel great.
Comparing the Merkur HD (34c) with a Mach 3 is just a silly idea. Yes, my first shave with a DE wasn't as close as a Mach 3 shave however it is so damn close to that shave (first time remember) that I am happy to keep educating myself and honing my shaving technique. Also the end result is that my face stings less and, apart from the nicks, I have no, obviously new, shaving rash/bumps.
Unless I am in a super rush then I can't imaging myself moving back to an M3 shave in the near future and am looking forward to trying my Derby blades in my razor for my next shave.
Thanks for reading.
