Second shave not good...

[Johnny19]

Ok I had a decent first DE shave last night with a rating of 7/10, so I felt I did ok on that one. However, I have just had a shower this afternoon and felt a bit stubbly, so thought I'd have a shave.....It didn't go too well. I got a better lather, but the shave itself felt sore and uncomfortable, which I abandoned after 2 passes.
Maybe it was too soon after the first shave? Anyway I will leave it a bit longer for the next one and hopefully it will be better.
Astra Platinum Blade
Taylors Sandalwood cream
No Aftershave (Couldn't face it).

PS my first DE shave was with 2 days growth, so maybe Shaving is best with a little bit more growth?
Thanks all..... And waiting on another couple of Razors and brushes to try.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I would certainly give yourself some rest days to start with, if you can. You might be able to go back to daily when you get a little more proficient.

Also, what many consider a "better" lather, I consider a worse one. A rich luxurious feeling lather might feel nice to apply, but can make you less aware of the blade on your face. For me, that results in poor angle, poor finish, and potential irritation from pressure creeping in to overcome the lather density. A thinner, slicker lather will feel less luxurious in itself, and not win any beauty contests, but give me a much better shave.

Also, working too hard with the brush on your face can lead to brush burn.

 

[chromedometone]

I would certainly give yourself some rest days to start with, if you can. You might be able to go back to daily when you get a little more proficient.

Also, what many consider a "better" lather, I consider a worse one. A rich luxurious feeling lather might feel nice to apply, but can make you less aware of the blade on your face. For me, that results in poor angle, poor finish, and potential irritation from pressure creeping in to overcome the lather density. A thinner, slicker lather will feel less luxurious in itself, and not win any beauty contests, but give me a much better shave.

Also, working too hard with the brush on your face can lead to brush burn.

I second that. To me, the "lather shots" you will see all over this site and others of its ilk are not the best lather to shave with. They may look pretty, but shaving with a lather that is a yogurt-like consistency, while it might look good, will not produce the closest, most comfortable shave. Remember, this thing is called "wet-shaving", not "super thick and creamy" shaving.

 

[musicman1951]

If you can, I would do a single pass with the grain for a couple of days. If that goes well add a second pass.

It takes everybody a while to perfect razor angle, and bad angle can cause irritation. Add just a little too much pressure and you'll get impressive irritation.

Moisturizer can be soothing after the shave (unless you have oily skin).

It will get better.

 

[chromedometone]

If you can, I would do a single pass with the grain for a couple of days. If that goes well add a second pass.

It takes everybody a while to perfect razor angle, and bad angle can cause irritation. Add just a little too much pressure and you'll get impressive irritation.

Moisturizer can be soothing after the shave (unless you have oily skin).

It will get better.

I second that too. It's good advice. Technique and especially razor angle is ultra important. It is the difference between and clean, close, comfortable shave, and your face feeling like it was melted with a lava/acid combo.

 

[ackvil]

Excellent advice above.

Hydration is important to get a lubricating lather. So be sure to have sufficient water in your lather. Also, don't cheat on the product.

I have found it helpful to wet my face before each pass. The extra water on my face seems to make my shave smoother.

Irritation usually is caused by a poor blade angle and too much pressure on the razor. The usual advice is to let the weight of the razor do the job - not put pressure on the blade. To put that in action I have found that using the two fingers and my thumb to hold the razor with another finger resting on the tip of the handle. This results in holding the razor very lightly with no pressure on the razor. You want to hold the razor as lightly as you can without it falling from your hand. I have found that using the right grip on your razor goes a long way in keeping pressure off of the blade. The wiki deals with holding a razor and may help you. You may have to click on each photo to load it.

For information about blade angle, look here in the wiki.

Some additional suggestions:

• Be sure your lather has sufficient water in it. This makes your shave smoother.
• Be sure your face is sufficiently hydrated whether you use warm or cold water. If your face is wet before you apply lather for each pass, IMHO, your shaves will be better.
• Take a washcloth and dip it in cold water and then place it on your face after your last pass.
• Use WH on your face after you do step 3 above. Use an aftershave balm that is a good moisturizer.
• At night, before retiring apply a good quality moisturizer to your face. I use CeraVe but there are other good ones out there, too. Look for a product that has ceramides and hyaluronic acid.

 

[rapwedinger]

Because you can only shave, at most, once per day, it's going to take you awhile to figure out all the different aspects of wet shaving. Keep practicing. Written explanation can only go so far and isn't a substitute for experience.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Johnny19]

Thanks Guys, and thinking about it I think I did add a bit of extra pressure.
Previously, I used to shave once a day, because my growth is quite fast, using the old cartridges. Gotta change those habits now.

 

[Atlantic59]

Thanks Guys, and thinking about it I think I did add a bit of extra pressure.
Previously, I used to shave once a day, because my growth is quite fast, using the old cartridges. Gotta change those habits now.

Adding pressure is something people learn from shaving with cartridge razors. You have to unlearn that automatic reflex. You will get there with practice.

 

[ajkel64]

You will get there. It takes time and patience. When it all falls into place it will be a wonderful experience.

 

[KrstGor]

Ok I had a decent first DE shave last night with a rating of 7/10, so I felt I did ok on that one. However, I have just had a shower this afternoon and felt a bit stubbly, so thought I'd have a shave.....It didn't go too well. I got a better lather, but the shave itself felt sore and uncomfortable, which I abandoned after 2 passes.
Maybe it was too soon after the first shave? Anyway I will leave it a bit longer for the next one and hopefully it will be better.
Astra Platinum Blade
Taylors Sandalwood cream
No Aftershave (Couldn't face it).

PS my first DE shave was with 2 days growth, so maybe Shaving is best with a little bit more growth?
Thanks all..... And waiting on another couple of Razors and brushes to try.

By all means do try Feather blades, with utmost care and attention, but give them a shot.

For that sort of back-to-back shave, like each day, or even twice a day, the ultra sharpness Feathers have is invaluable.

 

[KrstGor]

I would certainly give yourself some rest days to start with, if you can. You might be able to go back to daily when you get a little more proficient.

Also, what many consider a "better" lather, I consider a worse one. A rich luxurious feeling lather might feel nice to apply, but can make you less aware of the blade on your face. For me, that results in poor angle, poor finish, and potential irritation from pressure creeping in to overcome the lather density. A thinner, slicker lather will feel less luxurious in itself, and not win any beauty contests, but give me a much better shave.

Also, working too hard with the brush on your face can lead to brush burn.

I second this to the letter. Spot on.

 

[stoof2010]

There's two ways to go about this issue when starting, in my opinion.
Either give yourself more days in between, or just do a 1 pass or 1 plus touch-up but only in the same direction.
This won't get you smooth, but you will look presentable.
Also with only one pass you won't hurt yourself (or at least bit as bad), thereby letting you do it again tomorrow.
When I started I only went every other day with multiple passes, but still got burn.
When I switched to just wtg, then touch-up wtg I got all the hair the same length as you can with wtg then stopped.
Once I was able to do this many times in a row I started adding XTG. If I got burnt I waited 2 days (using shave balm even on the off day to heal) then went back to 1 pass wtg and touch-up wtg.
Even though it won't get you as smooth as you hear everyone talking about, it will give you confidence and muscle memory about angle and pressure.
I'll take a comfortable shave over a painful closer one any day.
Don't get discouraged. Unless you have leather tough skin almost noone gets to BBS or even DFS when starting without burn. It's part of the reason you always hear the same thing from new shavers. The want for a perfect shave you hear the experienced guys or youtubers get with no burn. But technique takes time.
This way you can always have an SAS and not hurt yourself until you get the technique down.
Eventually you'll be shaving just as fast as you did with a cart once you get the muscle memory.
Short strokes are better than long when starting too so you can make the small adjustments to the contour of your face.
And as always, never let the razor touch your face without lather there. If you have to go back over an area, swipe more lather on with your brush.

With patience (hardest thing when starting) you'll be getting the shave you are looking for and look back and wonder why you had trouble with it.

Every bit of info you got in this thread is awesome advice. These guys know what they're talking about
Some were the ones helping me when I was in your shoes with the same issues.

Edit: about lather as others said above, how I know my lather is good enough when face lathering is when I am swiping to smooth the lather down there isn't alot resistance. If there is I add more water.
You can have great looking lather with either too much or too little water in it.
Another reason I now recommend building lather on you opposite hand you shave with. This allows you to feel the progress with it and as a plus when shaving and need to go over an area again there some lather left in your hand to quickly swipe it. It also prevents you getting brush burn as said above my over doing it on your face learning how to make it right.
At the very least do practice hand lathers to get the consistency dialed in.
I'm sure there are still videos on YouTube about hand lathering.
I remember the idea of hand lathering then rinsing it down the drain seemed weird, but each soap/cream is different. I still do it with new soaps to make sure I get the ratio right before shaving with it.

 

[stoof2010]

Ok I had a decent first DE shave last night with a rating of 7/10, so I felt I did ok on that one. However, I have just had a shower this afternoon and felt a bit stubbly, so thought I'd have a shave.....It didn't go too well. I got a better lather, but the shave itself felt sore and uncomfortable, which I abandoned after 2 passes.
Maybe it was too soon after the first shave? Anyway I will leave it a bit longer for the next one and hopefully it will be better.
Astra Platinum Blade
Taylors Sandalwood cream
No Aftershave (Couldn't face it).

PS my first DE shave was with 2 days growth, so maybe Shaving is best with a little bit more growth?
Thanks all..... And waiting on another couple of Razors and brushes to try.

Also get a balm for when you can't deal with the alcohol in AS. Or use lotion. Helps to heal.

 

[Invicta]

Previously, I used to shave once a day, because my growth is quite fast, using the old cartridges. Gotta change those habits now.

It takes a few shaves to change those bad habits. It is good technique that will allow you to shave daily. If you have a bad shave you can still shave daily but with less passes on the next one ot two.

 

[Johnny19]

Thanks again for all the advice. I'm giving it a miss today, so tomorrow before work, I'll try again with less pressure, less lather etc....
One thing I noticed in one of the above comments is never shave on an unlathered area, something You can do all the time with Cart Shaving. That's another great piece of advice Thank You !

 

[stoof2010]

Thanks again for all the advice. I'm giving it a miss today, so tomorrow before work, I'll try again with less pressure, less lather etc....
One thing I noticed in one of the above comments is never shave on an unlathered area, something You can do all the time with Cart Shaving. That's another great piece of advice Thank You !

It was one of my downfalls early on.
With that lube strip on the cart you can go back over.
If you're making a swipe, and you go back over same area right away you can maybe get away with that. But it's best for me to just make the pass. Then if I missed something after rinsing I'll hit the area with lather and go again, same direction.
That will hurt you most though. Always have lather where the blade is touching your skin.
Again that's also why I recommend the hand lathering. It's right there. You make a swipe and need to hit it again, in comes left hand (if you shave with right) to wipe some lather on.
You're going to get your hands all wet anyway. And with most soaps and creams your skin feels very hydrated after haha

 

[stoof2010]

Thanks again for all the advice. I'm giving it a miss today, so tomorrow before work, I'll try again with less pressure, less lather etc....
One thing I noticed in one of the above comments is never shave on an unlathered area, something You can do all the time with Cart Shaving. That's another great piece of advice Thank You !

What brush are you using by the way?

 

[Johnny19]

What brush are you using by the way?

A Pure Badger hair brush, not too expensive from Amazon. I have ordered a couple more, one is a Proraso Pro that gets decent reviews.

 

[stoof2010]

A Pure Badger hair brush, not too expensive from Amazon. I have ordered a couple more, one is a Proraso Pro that gets decent reviews.

Have you thought about a boar?
To me a broken in boar is better than a pure black badger.
But I'm a face latherer.