S
ssubdio
I've spent a lot of time in the past couple weeks on this forum, and decided it was time to join the ranks! I have a couple major questions that I would like some personal help on if possible, and I appreciate all you can offer! I'll start with the whole story...
I must have a clean shave every day of the week, military doesn't accept anything less, and having sensitive skin this gets to me very quick. I can't get away without shaving a day because I have a fairly thick beard. I try to sneak in off days on the weekend, but if I have to go to work for anything reason (which I do very often) I miss out on that off day. When I get into something like this it becomes an obsession to find the perfect solution. I don't settle for much less if I'm going to dedicate time into research and what not. I'm sure it drives my wife crazy but I've been through it with finding the perfect underwear, the perfect furniture, bed, pillows, everything.
I started a couple months ago looking for a better shave. Will all my combinations I've tried so far I've been either left with bad razor burns/bumps on the neck, and although not very visible, razor burn all over my face that just feels awful all day. At first I used Mach 3s, with just gillette shaving creams and nothing else. Some neck irritation, but far from comfortable. My first change was altering the direction that I shaved on my neck, with very slight improvement, to go with the grain instead of against or across. I added a Nivea sensitive aftershave, but doesn't really make much of a difference. I tried other blades like the new Sshick 3 and 5 blades and the Gillette Fusion Proglide, with even worse shaves than the mach 3s. I started a face moisturizer after shaving, Cetaphil 15 SPF facial lotion, and that's been really nice. But I didn't make a significant change, or have significant results with any of those.
Neck step was the wetshave method. I bought a Tweezerman badger hair brush and a tub of Jack Black Triple Cream whatever it is. At first I wasn't creating a lather properly with the brush, I was just using the tips in my hand or on my face and it didn't create a very good lather or results at all. I had better results, and definitely the first major improvement in my shaving, with hand lathering onto my face. I still am not where I want to be. The last 2 weeks after reading information on here about proper lathering I've switched to bowl lathering with the brush and have great improvement on the lather. Last week I tried a Fusion ProGlide Power. My face is fairly clear and minimal razor burn/bumps on my neck, but my face is been on fire all week. I went the whole week to try to see if it was just one bad shave but it felt the same everyday.
So the past couple days I've been spending a lot of time on here researching DE/straight razor shaving.
I would really like to get into straight razor eventually, but living not too far above the poverty level I can't afford to go all out on hones and everything right now. I think I've settled on a basic Dovo carbon steel razor. My plan is to get a strop, and whatever minimal level of hones that I can maintain a sharp edge for myself for the longest time without spending a lot of money. If I have to send it in to get sharpened every 6 months or I don't mind that at all. What is the minimum maintenance items to keep it sharp for a couple months without going all out on hones?
The solution that I'm going to try right now is continue to shave with my Jack Black and replace it with Taylor of Old Bond or Proraso when it is gone. Right now I'm going to buy a Merkur DE razor to get the change started. I plan on getting a 33C I believe, the simple and classic one it seems. I've been looking at multiple sites like straight razor designs and classicshaving and they seem pretty similar in price. SRD's is a little bit cheaper with what I'm looking at. Are there any recommendations for any razor besides the 33C for a beginner, type of blades (I want to get an assortment to try), or better sites/locations to shop from?
Any other recommendations or comments would be amazing,
Thank you very much!
I must have a clean shave every day of the week, military doesn't accept anything less, and having sensitive skin this gets to me very quick. I can't get away without shaving a day because I have a fairly thick beard. I try to sneak in off days on the weekend, but if I have to go to work for anything reason (which I do very often) I miss out on that off day. When I get into something like this it becomes an obsession to find the perfect solution. I don't settle for much less if I'm going to dedicate time into research and what not. I'm sure it drives my wife crazy but I've been through it with finding the perfect underwear, the perfect furniture, bed, pillows, everything.
I started a couple months ago looking for a better shave. Will all my combinations I've tried so far I've been either left with bad razor burns/bumps on the neck, and although not very visible, razor burn all over my face that just feels awful all day. At first I used Mach 3s, with just gillette shaving creams and nothing else. Some neck irritation, but far from comfortable. My first change was altering the direction that I shaved on my neck, with very slight improvement, to go with the grain instead of against or across. I added a Nivea sensitive aftershave, but doesn't really make much of a difference. I tried other blades like the new Sshick 3 and 5 blades and the Gillette Fusion Proglide, with even worse shaves than the mach 3s. I started a face moisturizer after shaving, Cetaphil 15 SPF facial lotion, and that's been really nice. But I didn't make a significant change, or have significant results with any of those.
Neck step was the wetshave method. I bought a Tweezerman badger hair brush and a tub of Jack Black Triple Cream whatever it is. At first I wasn't creating a lather properly with the brush, I was just using the tips in my hand or on my face and it didn't create a very good lather or results at all. I had better results, and definitely the first major improvement in my shaving, with hand lathering onto my face. I still am not where I want to be. The last 2 weeks after reading information on here about proper lathering I've switched to bowl lathering with the brush and have great improvement on the lather. Last week I tried a Fusion ProGlide Power. My face is fairly clear and minimal razor burn/bumps on my neck, but my face is been on fire all week. I went the whole week to try to see if it was just one bad shave but it felt the same everyday.
So the past couple days I've been spending a lot of time on here researching DE/straight razor shaving.
I would really like to get into straight razor eventually, but living not too far above the poverty level I can't afford to go all out on hones and everything right now. I think I've settled on a basic Dovo carbon steel razor. My plan is to get a strop, and whatever minimal level of hones that I can maintain a sharp edge for myself for the longest time without spending a lot of money. If I have to send it in to get sharpened every 6 months or I don't mind that at all. What is the minimum maintenance items to keep it sharp for a couple months without going all out on hones?
The solution that I'm going to try right now is continue to shave with my Jack Black and replace it with Taylor of Old Bond or Proraso when it is gone. Right now I'm going to buy a Merkur DE razor to get the change started. I plan on getting a 33C I believe, the simple and classic one it seems. I've been looking at multiple sites like straight razor designs and classicshaving and they seem pretty similar in price. SRD's is a little bit cheaper with what I'm looking at. Are there any recommendations for any razor besides the 33C for a beginner, type of blades (I want to get an assortment to try), or better sites/locations to shop from?
Any other recommendations or comments would be amazing,
Thank you very much!
