New to DE

[kairo]

I just ordered my first DE which is a Merkur 34C. Along with that I've ordered up a sampler pack of blades which contain the following:
Feather
Astra
Merkur
Derby

On most of the sites it seems that Feather tends to be the top rated but wanted to see what peoples thoughts are for a 'first timer' if I should start there or try something else and work up to Feather. My thoughts are that the Feathers get a review of being extremely sharp, not sure if this is a good thing for a first timer or if you need to work you way up to that.

 

[Mick]

Pick one brand of blade and stick with it for the next 6 months.

After that you can blade jump all you want.

I use a different razor and different brand blade every day. I may go over two months before I open another one of the same brand of blade again but I have been shaving for over 45 years so sort of got the hang of it

You can get 100 astra blades delivered to you from amazon for under $10. Start with those.

http://www.amazon.com/Superior-Prem...AAEAL4S4CJG99&qid=1367244556&s=generic&sr=1-4

Concentrate on preparing your beard properly, mapping your beard, and developing a consistent technique. Shaving is nothing more than doing the same thing over and over again without changing a thing. It is consistency and repetition.

 

[Graybeard57]

I would suggest you start with the Derby or the Astra, and save the Feathers for last. Have never tried Merkurs, so I have no opinion on them. And use the entire pack of each brand before moving on, so your technique consistently works with familiar blades. OK, I worded that clumsily, but do stick with one pack at a time.

 

[Wingnut]

Just want to add my voice to those above, especially Mick's. Pick one, and learn to shave with it. Too many choices make learning technique harder for new shavers.

 

[dymaxion]

I used Derby's for the first 6 months with my 34c when I was first starting out. After that I bought a blade sampler and started jumping around to different blades. I ended up with the Feather blades which I have used for the past year.

At the beginning before you have learned the correct technique it will not help to jump around with different blades. Once you learn how to apply no pressure with the blade consistently then try other products.

 

[jeffsf]

I'm a believer in messing with as few things as possible. I find the Astra blades do a good job (to the point where I could easily skip a day of shaving, something I couldn't even consider with a Mach 3), and are pretty forgiving of my poor technique. In my opinion, investing under $10 on 100 of them delivered is a good plan while you're getting your lather and shave techniques down.

Once you've gotten very predictable about how your lather and razor perform in your hands, that seems to be a good time to break out the sampler and see what changing the blade does for your shave.