I just wanted to say Hi to anyone willing to read this post. I have been lurking for the past few weeks reading and gathering info to make my way into wet shaving. You guys are a wealth of information and it's nice to know how willing you are to share your wisdom.
When I began shaving (many, many moons ago), the razor industry was just transitioning from safety blade razors to the modern cartridge rigs (told you it was a long time ago). Wanting to be more modern than my father, who used a prehistoric Gillette adjustable, I opted for a Gillette Techmatic. Oh yeah! Sports car razor. Futuristic looking, razor band cartridge and 0-60 in 3 seconds. Man I thought I was hot crap. In reality, I was just a dumb, yutzy kid who should have listened to his dad. The Techmatic was sexy, but it was like shaving with the top of a tin can. From there it was on to the two blade cartridge razors, 3 bladed, 4 bladed, 5 bladed. Over the years, I pretty much stuck to the multi-bladed razors with canned gel and electric. My beard is tough but my skin isn't so I suffered with irritation, ingrown hairs, etc.
And then, I read an article about how wet shavung is coming back into vogue and how good it was compared to what I was using. A little searching online and I found this group. I read volumes of info on the forums and finally went out a got some gear. Yep, nice new shiny DE razor, good blades, shaving cup, nice soap and a badger brush. Now for a guy who has handled surgical instruments for half his life you would think that shaving with a blade would be no biggie. Well, the idea of holding a blade against my own skin didn't thrill me and I kept putting off the experience. Finally, I worked up the nerve and slowly and methodically, using all the techniques suggested by you guys, gave myself my first real wet shave. It wasn't bad. Except for a couple of small nicks which were my fault, not bad at all. Okay, not the greatest shave in the world but quite passable. The toughest part was that I kept forgetting that I wasn't using a cartridge rig and fell back into some bad and potentially harmful habits. Also, the angle of the razor is everything. I found that changing the angle by just a couple of degress can make the difference between a really nice shave and slicing meat for a deli sandwich.
However, persistence won out. I have shaved a few more times and it seems to be getting easier. The shaves are getting better and I like it much better than using the multi-bladed instruments. So, basically, thanks to all of you for posting and sharing your experiences and wisdom. It sure has helped me and has made my conversion into a wet shaver a lot easier.
Stay sharp,
Mike
When I began shaving (many, many moons ago), the razor industry was just transitioning from safety blade razors to the modern cartridge rigs (told you it was a long time ago). Wanting to be more modern than my father, who used a prehistoric Gillette adjustable, I opted for a Gillette Techmatic. Oh yeah! Sports car razor. Futuristic looking, razor band cartridge and 0-60 in 3 seconds. Man I thought I was hot crap. In reality, I was just a dumb, yutzy kid who should have listened to his dad. The Techmatic was sexy, but it was like shaving with the top of a tin can. From there it was on to the two blade cartridge razors, 3 bladed, 4 bladed, 5 bladed. Over the years, I pretty much stuck to the multi-bladed razors with canned gel and electric. My beard is tough but my skin isn't so I suffered with irritation, ingrown hairs, etc.
And then, I read an article about how wet shavung is coming back into vogue and how good it was compared to what I was using. A little searching online and I found this group. I read volumes of info on the forums and finally went out a got some gear. Yep, nice new shiny DE razor, good blades, shaving cup, nice soap and a badger brush. Now for a guy who has handled surgical instruments for half his life you would think that shaving with a blade would be no biggie. Well, the idea of holding a blade against my own skin didn't thrill me and I kept putting off the experience. Finally, I worked up the nerve and slowly and methodically, using all the techniques suggested by you guys, gave myself my first real wet shave. It wasn't bad. Except for a couple of small nicks which were my fault, not bad at all. Okay, not the greatest shave in the world but quite passable. The toughest part was that I kept forgetting that I wasn't using a cartridge rig and fell back into some bad and potentially harmful habits. Also, the angle of the razor is everything. I found that changing the angle by just a couple of degress can make the difference between a really nice shave and slicing meat for a deli sandwich.
However, persistence won out. I have shaved a few more times and it seems to be getting easier. The shaves are getting better and I like it much better than using the multi-bladed instruments. So, basically, thanks to all of you for posting and sharing your experiences and wisdom. It sure has helped me and has made my conversion into a wet shaver a lot easier.
Stay sharp,
Mike
