I've been lurking on this forum for about a month now. I thought I'd sign up to say hi, since the posts on here have been so helpful to me as I start my journey with DE shaving.
A little about me, I'm Caucasian of northern European decent with very fair/sensitive skin and relatively thin facial hair, and I've always had problems with razor burn, ingrown hairs and God help you if you touch my face within the first few days after I shave. On the bright side, my facial hair grows relatively slowly, and is about 50% blonde, so it looks even thinner than it is. I would regularly go a week between shaves with cartridge razors and crap in a can, and have only slight stubble. When working from home, I would go 3-4 months at a time. I hated shaving, it was the worst.
At the start of this year, I started working in an office again, in a management role, and my beard had to go. So I picked up the Ol Fusion Proglide, sold a kidney to buy a pack of cartridges and went back to being a red, bumpy faced, irritated mess.
I tried shaving after I showered, slathering my face with after shave, skin lotion, coco butter, Shea butter-- basically anything that might sooth the burn and prevent the bumps. Those things helped a little, but not nearly enough. Shaving still sucked.
The final straw, for me, came when my girlfriend was having to actively avoid my face, for fear of sending the burning hell fire shooting through my face. Something had to change. I figured I couldn't be the only person who had these problems. So I did what any self respecting millennial would do-- I googled it.
What I found was what many of you already know. Those super lubricated 20 blade contraptions gouge the ever loving crap out of your face, and the crap in a can dries out your skin. Many sights suggested traditional wet shaving and DE razors as a remedy. As luck would have it, I happened to notice Target carries a whole DE razor set, complete with brush, soap and a stand.
Being the impulsive type, I rushed to the store and bought everything they had to offer. Van Der Hagen. Sounds prestigious. Sounds like old world northern Europeans who understand my plight have been making this since before my family emigrated to America hundreds of years ago. I bet my great^5 grand father used Van Der Hagen.
Then came back to look for reviews. So I came home, unboxed my newly prized possessions. Took stock of the soap. Got frustrated with the stand. Then I decided to look for reviews. I probably should have done that before I bought it, but as I said, I'm impulsive.
And I'm glad I bought before looking up reviews, because reviews were very meh and might have made me rethink de razors entirely. Chinese pot metal, dull razors, unprotective soap, brush that won't last a year. But the mug is nice, everyone agreed. Okay, so I have a mug and a razor that people who know razors make fun of. But I had already dropped $45 on this pile of old world tech, and I wasn't going back to carts. I was all in on this thing, even if it was sub par.
I looked up a culture of tutorials on how to use this thing without carving myself any new face holes. I soak my brush, whip up a lather, and brush some on my arm. Nervously, I take the razor to my arm and.... Success! My arm had a brand new bald spot, and it was still attached to the rest of my body. I did it! Now for the face.. My first pass left gave me a few nicks, but much less than I'd expected. The shave was not quite as close as I was used to, but my face wasn't on fire. And I smelled good. Like a man from the 1920s leaving a barber shop.
I've been doing this for maybe a month now, and each day, my technique improves and I find I'm not nicking myself at all anymore. I've bought two more soaps, a cream, and two non lathering gels to try. They're all okay. The cream (KMF lavender) is pretty nice. After much researching, I've ordered and am waiting on 4 pucks of Col. Conk and Proraso Red. I've also ordered a variety pack of razors and a pack of feather yellows to test out. And I have a puck of Blades Grim on the way as well. And I backed a kick starter of a guy in Philly who is making shave sets with wood handles. Did I mention I am impulsive? I'm very excited to try all these new to me products and find a winning combination or two. And the best part, I actually enjoy shaving now. I look forward to it every day.
So I really wanted to sign up to thank you all for your years of posts that have been invaluable to me as I get started.
A little about me, I'm Caucasian of northern European decent with very fair/sensitive skin and relatively thin facial hair, and I've always had problems with razor burn, ingrown hairs and God help you if you touch my face within the first few days after I shave. On the bright side, my facial hair grows relatively slowly, and is about 50% blonde, so it looks even thinner than it is. I would regularly go a week between shaves with cartridge razors and crap in a can, and have only slight stubble. When working from home, I would go 3-4 months at a time. I hated shaving, it was the worst.
At the start of this year, I started working in an office again, in a management role, and my beard had to go. So I picked up the Ol Fusion Proglide, sold a kidney to buy a pack of cartridges and went back to being a red, bumpy faced, irritated mess.
I tried shaving after I showered, slathering my face with after shave, skin lotion, coco butter, Shea butter-- basically anything that might sooth the burn and prevent the bumps. Those things helped a little, but not nearly enough. Shaving still sucked.
The final straw, for me, came when my girlfriend was having to actively avoid my face, for fear of sending the burning hell fire shooting through my face. Something had to change. I figured I couldn't be the only person who had these problems. So I did what any self respecting millennial would do-- I googled it.
What I found was what many of you already know. Those super lubricated 20 blade contraptions gouge the ever loving crap out of your face, and the crap in a can dries out your skin. Many sights suggested traditional wet shaving and DE razors as a remedy. As luck would have it, I happened to notice Target carries a whole DE razor set, complete with brush, soap and a stand.
Being the impulsive type, I rushed to the store and bought everything they had to offer. Van Der Hagen. Sounds prestigious. Sounds like old world northern Europeans who understand my plight have been making this since before my family emigrated to America hundreds of years ago. I bet my great^5 grand father used Van Der Hagen.
Then came back to look for reviews. So I came home, unboxed my newly prized possessions. Took stock of the soap. Got frustrated with the stand. Then I decided to look for reviews. I probably should have done that before I bought it, but as I said, I'm impulsive.
And I'm glad I bought before looking up reviews, because reviews were very meh and might have made me rethink de razors entirely. Chinese pot metal, dull razors, unprotective soap, brush that won't last a year. But the mug is nice, everyone agreed. Okay, so I have a mug and a razor that people who know razors make fun of. But I had already dropped $45 on this pile of old world tech, and I wasn't going back to carts. I was all in on this thing, even if it was sub par.
I looked up a culture of tutorials on how to use this thing without carving myself any new face holes. I soak my brush, whip up a lather, and brush some on my arm. Nervously, I take the razor to my arm and.... Success! My arm had a brand new bald spot, and it was still attached to the rest of my body. I did it! Now for the face.. My first pass left gave me a few nicks, but much less than I'd expected. The shave was not quite as close as I was used to, but my face wasn't on fire. And I smelled good. Like a man from the 1920s leaving a barber shop.
I've been doing this for maybe a month now, and each day, my technique improves and I find I'm not nicking myself at all anymore. I've bought two more soaps, a cream, and two non lathering gels to try. They're all okay. The cream (KMF lavender) is pretty nice. After much researching, I've ordered and am waiting on 4 pucks of Col. Conk and Proraso Red. I've also ordered a variety pack of razors and a pack of feather yellows to test out. And I have a puck of Blades Grim on the way as well. And I backed a kick starter of a guy in Philly who is making shave sets with wood handles. Did I mention I am impulsive? I'm very excited to try all these new to me products and find a winning combination or two. And the best part, I actually enjoy shaving now. I look forward to it every day.
So I really wanted to sign up to thank you all for your years of posts that have been invaluable to me as I get started.
