New to the world of wet shaving

[sandstone]

Greetings and welcome to the forum. Happy to hear you're making progress and enjoying your wet shaving journey.

 

[alex2363]

Just wanted to add a little update since I've had another handful of shaves since originally posting. Since then I've been using Soap Commander soap, the WSP finest badger brush, and the Bulldog handle on the R89. For me, the SC soap has made a huge difference in lather as compared to the Proraso I was using before, much more slick and protective. Also, the heavier weight and grip of the Bulldog handle has really allowed me to just focus on my angle and allow the weight of the razor to do the cutting without adding any additional pressure.

These changes alone (couple with me sticking to the Astra SP blades for now) have really already allowed me to cut back on the level of irritation on my lower neck, and my face in general feels much more comfortable than it did before. I'm absolutely loving the Soap Commander AFB, even the Nivea stuff leaves my face feeling oily/greasy but the Soap Commander absorbs completely and smells awesome, and the menthol give a nice cooling feeling for a few minutes that isn't too obnoxious.

I'll keep working on my technique and will report back again in another few days, it seems like each shave gets better and better.

Don't forget to keep us updated.

 

[docholliday77]

Welcome to B&B! The neck is a trouble spot for many people, including me. The combination of weird growth patterns and many curves and angles make it tricky to stick to technique. Really watch your angle. This is fairly easy to do on the flat cheeks, but much trickier on the neck. Sounds like you're doing the right things.

 

[molon_labe]

Thought I would share a picture of my current shaving items, I also have the Soap Commander Courage AFB which is another great scent. I have an "original" Plisson being delivered tomorrow to try my hand at a synthetic brush.

On a side note, I have a sample soap in every one of the Soap Commander scents except Relaxation and Resolution. If any of you would like one of them to try out let me know! I love their soaps and business philosophy so much I want to help spread the word.

 

[vitalsigns81]

Hello and welcome. Great to have you here.

For your neck, I would suggest beard mapping so that you know for sure which way the whiskers grow. Let your beard go for a couple of days and then feel the grain direction with ytour fingers. You may be surprised at what you learn.

Once grain is known, be sure to make first pass WTG. Second can be XTG or ATG.

Good luck.

Good advice. And welcome to B&B!

 

[Dave-the-rave]

For those sensitive areas I'd suggest very small short light strokes, with a very shallow angle. I learned my technique on those sensitive areas using mild razors and mild blades ie DE89, Gillette Tech and Derby blades. With those setups I can go as many passes as I need without irritation now. That enabled me to learn to do the same with sharper blades in less forgiving razors. My technique stays the same regardless of razor and blade now.

You Tube vids are good but then it's important to learn your own way. In my experience if you stick to trying to emulate someone elses shaving style you might not be comfortable. Contrary to what seems to be common belief there's no proper 'Universal' way to shave.

Also consider the cold water shave. It helped me no end.

 

[molon_labe]

For those sensitive areas I'd suggest very small short light strokes, with a very shallow angle. I learned my technique on those sensitive areas using mild razors and mild blades ie DE89, Gillette Tech and Derby blades. With those setups I can go as many passes as I need without irritation now. That enabled me to learn to do the same with sharper blades in less forgiving razors. My technique stays the same regardless of razor and blade now.

You Tube vids are good but then it's important to learn your own way. In my experience if you stick to trying to emulate someone elses shaving style you might not be comfortable. Contrary to what seems to be common belief there's no proper 'Universal' way to shave.

Also consider the cold water shave. It helped me no end.

Interesting, when you say cold water shave do you just splash cold water on your face before lathering or is there more to it than that? Also, by shallow angle you mean hold the handle farther away from the face, correct?

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Prep the face as normal using either hot. warm or cold water. Then chill face and beard using cold water. Shave in the cold water.
Try experimenting with room temp, cold and bloody cold to see what suits you best. Shaving from ice cold requires a sharp blade.

Much is said about hydrating the beard and longish exposure to hot water. The idea is to hydrate and soften the beard but it also softens the skin which can lead to problems for some, myself included. Cold water shaving it seems, hydrates but stiffens the beard without softening the skin too much. Here's a wee experiment to gain some insight into skin condition....

Shave at night as normal, accepting less than BBS on the neck. In the morning without wetting the skin, feel that stubble on the neck missed last night. Now dry shave it off. Use a new blade, very shallow angle and very light, very short strokes. Cut WTG and XTG only. Be slow and tentative. You'll most likely find it comes off fairly easily with zero irritation.

I'm not suggesting that as a regular shaving technique, just an experiment to get a feel for your skin and shaving angles, soft touch etc. I'm also not suggesting hot water is wrong either, but I'm certainly secure in my belief that a long hot water prep isn't neccessary for a good shave.

**Shallow angle = Handle higher, Steep angle = Handle lower. For my neck I'm going so shallow the blade is only barely catching.

 

[molon_labe]

This cold shaving is very interesting. I've been reading about it in various threads since you mentioned it earlier and will definitely be trying it tomorrow morning.

The dry shaving, however, sounds painful. What is the reason for doing that, just to get a feel for the blade angle and pressure?

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Yup.

 

[alex2363]

Yup.

Yup what?

 

[alex2363]

Prep the face as normal using either hot. warm or cold water. Then chill face and beard using cold water. Shave in the cold water.
Try experimenting with room temp, cold and bloody cold to see what suits you best. Shaving from ice cold requires a sharp blade.

Much is said about hydrating the beard and longish exposure to hot water. The idea is to hydrate and soften the beard but it also softens the skin which can lead to problems for some, myself included. Cold water shaving it seems, hydrates but stiffens the beard without softening the skin too much. Here's a wee experiment to gain some insight into skin condition....

Shave at night as normal, accepting less than BBS on the neck. In the morning without wetting the skin, feel that stubble on the neck missed last night. Now dry shave it off. Use a new blade, very shallow angle and very light, very short strokes. Cut WTG and XTG only. Be slow and tentative. You'll most likely find it comes off fairly easily with zero irritation.

I'm not suggesting that as a regular shaving technique, just an experiment to get a feel for your skin and shaving angles, soft touch etc. I'm also not suggesting hot water is wrong either, but I'm certainly secure in my belief that a long hot water prep isn't neccessary for a good shave.

**Shallow angle = Handle higher, Steep angle = Handle lower. For my neck I'm going so shallow the blade is only barely catching.

Dry shave it off?

 

[molon_labe]

Yes, it was a "yup" to my question i asked about the purpose of dry shaving.

I did a cold shave today, and while it wasn't night and day difference I did feel less irritation on my neck. I think my biggest problem is still a matter of pressure and getting into the habit of being overly gentle. I will continue with the cold shaves for a bit and see what happens.

Also, I'm using Astra SP blades. Does anyone have any experience or opinion on beginners using sharper vs less sharp blades? I read a lot about not using feather because of nicks and cuts, but theoretically wouldn't there be less irritation if the blade is more efficient?

Or on the flip side, should I try going with a blade similar to a Derby that will be more forgiving to poor technique (i.e. too much pressure)?

Or should I just try to work it out with the Astra knowing they are giving me irritation (not blaming the blade, but could it be too aggressive for me at this point)? I still have several other blades from a sampler pack I could try if anyone thinks it could help. Feather, crystal, derby, persona red, and Bic.

 

[molon_labe]

Over the weekend I decided to let my face recover a little and restrained myself from shaving Saturday morning. Instead I shaved Saturday night which gave me a little over a day and a half worth of growth. I also wanted to try my hand at a Derby blade, thinking maybe I was applying too much pressure with the Astras and that's why I was getting irritated.

My experience with the Derby was horrible, very rough and tugging on my hair. I did one complete pass and decided I couldn't take it any more, put a fresh Astra back in. It was night and day difference, and with the new blade I really concentrated on applying barely any pressure at all for the second and third passes. On the second pass something just kind of hit me and clicked, and I knew exactly how the pressure and angle was supposed to be because it felt much different and far less irritating. I even felt comfortable enough to go ATG on my whole face, including my neck, which I never would have even thought about doing before with cartridge razors. Since I started wet shaving, this was the first time I really knew how close and comfortable a shave using proper technique can be.

Since then I've had 2 more shaves (took Sunday off to give me another day and a half before Monday morning) and both were equally close and comfortable, again able to go ATG on my third pass both times. Not only do I not have any additional irritation or razor bumps on my neck, the ones that were there previously are finally starting to heal up and go away. Needless to say, I'm extremely happy.

 

[alex2363]

Over the weekend I decided to let my face recover a little and restrained myself from shaving Saturday morning. Instead I shaved Saturday night which gave me a little over a day and a half worth of growth. I also wanted to try my hand at a Derby blade, thinking maybe I was applying too much pressure with the Astras and that's why I was getting irritated.

My experience with the Derby was horrible, very rough and tugging on my hair. I did one complete pass and decided I couldn't take it any more, put a fresh Astra back in. It was night and day difference, and with the new blade I really concentrated on applying barely any pressure at all for the second and third passes. On the second pass something just kind of hit me and clicked, and I knew exactly how the pressure and angle was supposed to be because it felt much different and far less irritating. I even felt comfortable enough to go ATG on my whole face, including my neck, which I never would have even thought about doing before with cartridge razors. Since I started wet shaving, this was the first time I really knew how close and comfortable a shave using proper technique can be.

Since then I've had 2 more shaves (took Sunday off to give me another day and a half before Monday morning) and both were equally close and comfortable, again able to go ATG on my third pass both times. Not only do I not have any additional irritation or razor bumps on my neck, the ones that were there previously are finally starting to heal up and go away. Needless to say, I'm extremely happy.

Very good process to let the healing kick in...keep us updated on your progress.