Hello Gents,
I'm 32 (just turned) and have officially three DE shaves under my belt. I am OCD and have an addictive personality (all indicated to me by my wife who is not a doctor, just merely an observer).
anyways: the gear....
Jagger DE89 Lined
Sample pack of blades: so far have tried two derby shaves, and one astra sp shave.
AOS Badger brush (came in a starter pack i bought myself a year ago, when i switched from electric shaver to cartridge "fusion" razor)
CO BIGELOW (prosano green)
AOS Sandalwood cream
after shave (AOS sandalwood balm, just picked up AV Ice blue, Pinaud original and Nivea Sensitive balm)
First shave: (EJ DE89, Derby Blade, Proraso/COB,AOS AS)
Ouch. I think the cream was too thin, bubbles in the soap, wasn't very lubricating and just no good overall. Im not sure if i could blame the blade or the cream but regardless I had a miserable shave, three passes, blade tugged and pulled, nicks everywhere. bloodbath. 1-5* rating, 5 being best... that was a 1 star shave. Nothing about it was enjoyable, even the menthol cooling effect wasn't pleasant.
Second shave: EJ DE89, Derby 2nd shave, AOS Cream, AOS AS)
Lathered in a bowl, wasn't anything like what you guys post pictures of. I don't think i ever used enough shaving cream (cheap person problems). Shave was mediocre, Wasn't as rough as the first time around but still a ton of nicks, lots of tugging and pulling still. 2.5* shave.
For the third shave, i did a TON of youtube videos... watched guys shave (while laying in bed next to a very hot woman who looked at me in strange ways because i was watching men shave). Read tips about PRESSURE or that there SHOULDN'T be any. Read tip about Short strokes, watched lathering videos and read tips (marco's italian soap how to).
Third shave: EJ DE89, Astra SP new, AOS Cream, Nivea balm
Bowl lathered a healthy amount of AOS cream, not making the mistake of being cheap on cream. Lathered for two-three minutes till I had some super rich, lush, peaked fill cream in the bowl and brush. Magnificent!!!! Loaded the Astra in and prayed that it wasn't as bad as the derby. Lathered face for 60 seconds to soften stiff coarse hairs. place NO PRESSURE on the razor head, took short quick strokes instead of one lonnnnnnng stroke like before. Did a four pass shave (with at least another pass worth of cream left in brush) and it was the BEST SHAVE of my life. EVER. BBS. absolutely NO nicks, No irritation outside of the normal "just had a razor scrape my hair off" irritation. finished with a cold splash and some nivea balm.
So to the Newbs (pretending like I'm not one since i just had the PERFECT shave)
-read up/watch videos on how to lather/how to shave, even if your wife wants to sex you up and down, you tell her you have important manly things to tend to
-dont press the shaver onto your face trying to get a closer shave, its the worst mistake i made. It didn't help the cause and just caused more nicks and irritation
-make short quick strokes going with the grain (WTG), then on your next pass go across the grain (XTG) and lastly i did XTG again going the opposite direction.
I hope i have wasted much of your time only to leave you with three bits of advice that helped me achieve clarity in what I was doing wrong and hopefully its something that can help you attain the perfect shave. It is an incredible thing when you have the perfect shave happen to you.
BTW - don't forget to sex up the wife (or husband?) after you finish your perfect shave.
I'm 32 (just turned) and have officially three DE shaves under my belt. I am OCD and have an addictive personality (all indicated to me by my wife who is not a doctor, just merely an observer).
anyways: the gear....
Jagger DE89 Lined
Sample pack of blades: so far have tried two derby shaves, and one astra sp shave.
AOS Badger brush (came in a starter pack i bought myself a year ago, when i switched from electric shaver to cartridge "fusion" razor)
CO BIGELOW (prosano green)
AOS Sandalwood cream
after shave (AOS sandalwood balm, just picked up AV Ice blue, Pinaud original and Nivea Sensitive balm)
First shave: (EJ DE89, Derby Blade, Proraso/COB,AOS AS)
Ouch. I think the cream was too thin, bubbles in the soap, wasn't very lubricating and just no good overall. Im not sure if i could blame the blade or the cream but regardless I had a miserable shave, three passes, blade tugged and pulled, nicks everywhere. bloodbath. 1-5* rating, 5 being best... that was a 1 star shave. Nothing about it was enjoyable, even the menthol cooling effect wasn't pleasant.
Second shave: EJ DE89, Derby 2nd shave, AOS Cream, AOS AS)
Lathered in a bowl, wasn't anything like what you guys post pictures of. I don't think i ever used enough shaving cream (cheap person problems). Shave was mediocre, Wasn't as rough as the first time around but still a ton of nicks, lots of tugging and pulling still. 2.5* shave.
For the third shave, i did a TON of youtube videos... watched guys shave (while laying in bed next to a very hot woman who looked at me in strange ways because i was watching men shave). Read tips about PRESSURE or that there SHOULDN'T be any. Read tip about Short strokes, watched lathering videos and read tips (marco's italian soap how to).
Third shave: EJ DE89, Astra SP new, AOS Cream, Nivea balm
Bowl lathered a healthy amount of AOS cream, not making the mistake of being cheap on cream. Lathered for two-three minutes till I had some super rich, lush, peaked fill cream in the bowl and brush. Magnificent!!!! Loaded the Astra in and prayed that it wasn't as bad as the derby. Lathered face for 60 seconds to soften stiff coarse hairs. place NO PRESSURE on the razor head, took short quick strokes instead of one lonnnnnnng stroke like before. Did a four pass shave (with at least another pass worth of cream left in brush) and it was the BEST SHAVE of my life. EVER. BBS. absolutely NO nicks, No irritation outside of the normal "just had a razor scrape my hair off" irritation. finished with a cold splash and some nivea balm.
So to the Newbs (pretending like I'm not one since i just had the PERFECT shave)
-read up/watch videos on how to lather/how to shave, even if your wife wants to sex you up and down, you tell her you have important manly things to tend to
-dont press the shaver onto your face trying to get a closer shave, its the worst mistake i made. It didn't help the cause and just caused more nicks and irritation
-make short quick strokes going with the grain (WTG), then on your next pass go across the grain (XTG) and lastly i did XTG again going the opposite direction.
I hope i have wasted much of your time only to leave you with three bits of advice that helped me achieve clarity in what I was doing wrong and hopefully its something that can help you attain the perfect shave. It is an incredible thing when you have the perfect shave happen to you.
BTW - don't forget to sex up the wife (or husband?) after you finish your perfect shave.
