New guy here

[Sendro]

Hello everyone, this will be my first post here on badger&blade. I used to shave with a cartridge razors, went from the mach III to the fusion, back to the Mach III and always leaving unsatisfied. I could never get a close shave on my bottom neck, and I would ALWAYS get irritation and razor bumps, oh boy do I hate razor bumps. So I recently stumbled across the store The Art of Shaving, and purchased a badger brush, some pre shave oils, a double edged murker razor, some cream and an after shave balm.

Shaving has become my little hobby, and to be honest I look forward to my shaves, and the thought of getting rid of the dreaded razor bumps is very exciting to me haha. So I started by reading a bunch of the threads here, some newbie youtube videos and began to just experiment. I would say I am about 5-6 shaves in with my DE razor, and its really fun!

I without a doubt see a difference with the closer shave, and I am not getting as much irritation, but I am cutting my neck so much, you with think freddy Krueger shaved me. Im assuming that it is my angle, although I feel like I have a decent 30 degree.

The grain on my neck swirls a ton, but from the different videos I have been starting with a North to South stroke, and then ear to nose.

If anyone has any advice on how to not cut the hell out of my neck that would be fantastic, because I do not want to go back to a cartridge.

Thanks so much!
-Sendro

 

[andrestole]

You could try less pressure and only do 1 gentle pass on the neck. It's harder to get a close shave where the whiskers swirls alot. Don't care to much of getting a close shave on thew neck at the start and you should be fine. Welcome BTW.

 

[elmerwood]

Welcome! What kind of passes are you doing on your neck? Also what type of blades are you using? I can tell you that I've tried a few Egyptian blades and none of them get along with my neck at all.

 

[MattSD]

I started DE shaving, like you, very recently. I have been fortunate not to cut myself at all yet. I have used a Merkur 23C, Edwin Jagger DE89, Lord L6 and a vintage Gillette Tech (the Tech is the only razor I actually own). I wonder if it could be the razor you are using? I find all the razors I've used to be somewhat different in feel and I notice I have to use them differently to get the best out of them. I am still very much a beginner so don't take my suggestions or opinions too seriously but I wonder if a different razor would help at all? Some of them are very forgiving and some of them not so much. Which Merkur did you buy?

Also, the blade is going to make a really big difference. It took some experimenting and some not so great experiences with several different blades before I found a couple that work for me.

 

[JFielder23]

Welcome! I'm also pretty new around here.

I am pretty new at this... but I noticed I was cutting my neck by either applying too much pressure, or not holding my skin tight enough. Just stretching my neck out a bit more was enough to make the skin there tight enough.

 

[bakerbarber]

Welcome aboard.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Welcome to the group.

 

[craig94yj]

Welcome to the B&B. Good shaves to you.

 

[Copierguy]

Welcome to B&B.

If you are cutting yourself, try raising the handle a bit so you feel more smooth cap and less blade. And normally just enough pressure to keep the smooth cap lightly touching your face and neck. Necks are usually the most challenging part of the shave. While following steps 1 & 2 use your other hand and drag a finger just ahead of the razor. Move them back and forth over those hard spots. The finger will tell you where to focus and slightly stretch your skin to help you cut those hairs closer.

Enjoy your shaving journey.

 

[coloradomonkey]

Welcome. My neck is sensitive with different growth directions. Go slow, stretch the skin and concentrate on good blade angle.

 

[TGilly]

Welcome to B&B. Like you I just recently started shaving with a DE. I say try a mild blade, the Shark blades are pretty easy going. I usually just do 2 North to South passes on the neck instead of adding a horizontal across the grain.

 

[celestino]

Welcome to the forum and the above advice is very good!

 

[ERVARGASNY]

Welcome, Practice, Practice, Practice. It took me a while to get good shaves, so dont give up?

 

[Niles]

Welcome, Sendro!

 

[Sendro]

Thanks guys, and thanks for the advice!
I just had a pretty great shave with NO cuts at all, although there is some irritation, but i believe that is just from my shave yesterday and nothing new from today. To be honest I dont know what merkur I am using, (It just says Merkur on the razor and I tossed the box, sorry for being such a noob haha).
Well I did some things different today, first I switched my blade to Gillette platinum blades and used cold water. Also I shave n-s on my face and s-n on my neck and applied nearly no pressure. I also only did one pass for today and will advance next time.

If anyone else has anymore tips thatd be great!

 

[jjgold]

Whatever you do buy a ton of stuff you don't need. Then post pointless things online until you hit the 50 posts mark so you can sell them in the B/S/T.