You obviously knew exactly what I meant! So why are you wondering!
Doh!
Thinking about getting back into DE
- Thread starter slybrewguy
- Start date
Doh!
Happy Days
I'm enjoying my new RR GC .84 with an Astra SP blade. It shaves very smoothly.
I'm far from an expert but I have found that a sharp blade solves a lot of shaving
issues. I have used several blades and for the most part, as long as they were
relatively new I always got a nice, irritation free shave. I have only used a few different
razors, a Muhle 89 I believe which was too mild and then got a Maggards V3 head and
an Ikon SS handle which I used until I got the RR GC, it's a excellent, well built, quality
razor for a good price.
I'm far from an expert but I have found that a sharp blade solves a lot of shaving
issues. I have used several blades and for the most part, as long as they were
relatively new I always got a nice, irritation free shave. I have only used a few different
razors, a Muhle 89 I believe which was too mild and then got a Maggards V3 head and
an Ikon SS handle which I used until I got the RR GC, it's a excellent, well built, quality
razor for a good price.
- Thread starter
- #45
I can definitely say the 37c has been too much for my skin. I'm now realizing that what I previously thought was limited options was poor technique. I've been playing around with mild razors (not just the skinguard cart I've been talking about in other posts) and have been getting great results.
Give the man a beer lol!!! Finally a home run!
So what razors are u using now n getting great results?
- Thread starter
- #47
Not counting the skinguard then I've been using for most of the shave due to a trial I am running, I've been testing the regular guard and an old tech I forgot I had on known problem patches (rather have a small flair up then a full issue) with success. Honestly, a change in mentality has been the best thing for me. Stopping chasing BBS has opened up a new world to me. I actually really want to get back into mild open Combs now (used to be my least favorite) because they would never give me full bbs, even atg, which I think now would be a great thing for me.
If you tried DE shaving for 4 years, and still never got it to work for you, i wouldn't bother putting money into it again.
It's the realization and expectation that you need to figure out your tools that's going yo be the game changer... Excuse the pun.
Atg requires a bit more care in that u don't try or expect immediate success, go slow feel each pass and how it removes the fuzz then adjust the angle till u know its cutting n not hurting the skin.
Anyway now that u're prepared to work on technique first, a whole world of decent razors are open to u.
English techs, fatboy, slims, short combs not to mention the great karve razors in different adjustable plates.
Happy hunting.
- Thread starter
- #50
Haha, my thoughts exactly and I had previously said that aloud to myself. Now, time has passed and my idea of a "complete shave" has changed so I'm willing to give it a try again, though I don't want to go nuts like I did before. Fortunately this is a hobby with a resale value should I decide it doesn't work for me again.
I got to a point where shaving was stressful and that is the total opposite of what traditional shaving should be. I also did go for a BBS shave for a date night with my wife recently and was rewarded with one of the few BBS shaves I've ever had that had no irritation or ingrowns and I think it had to due with not chasing everyday. Irritation free BBS can be had if you are not starting with irritation before blade even touches your skin. I used to be a beard guy... I hate it now. If I can get daily CCS-DFS without issues and occasional BBS for special occasions, I'd be good with that for the rest of my life. Far beats gross neck bumps.
It's a common theme, when u try too hard you'll hurt your skin and that makes any other shaves awful.
Once u get your first bbs the next few will become easier n easier to attain.
Gambate!
Are you prepping your face with warm water and do you start your shave by
shaving with the grain, then against the grain, buff, etc. ? It just seems that you
are having a heck of a time getting a decent shave. I know a couple guys that tried
shaving with a DE razor and told me that it destroyed their face so they quit.
When I replied that there was some specific techniques to use they really didn't want
to listen or give it another try.
shaving with the grain, then against the grain, buff, etc. ? It just seems that you
are having a heck of a time getting a decent shave. I know a couple guys that tried
shaving with a DE razor and told me that it destroyed their face so they quit.
When I replied that there was some specific techniques to use they really didn't want
to listen or give it another try.
- Thread starter
- #53
I shave in the shower so hydration is no issue, I use room temp to cold water because that's not only what I prefer to shower with but also have always had the best results shaving with after many years of trial (even in my younger days when using carts). I always start WTG then depending on the closeness of shave I'm looking for I'll add a 2nd XTG pass and possibly a 3rd ATG pass. I'm typically doing longer sweeps with occasional buffing on trouble spots but that is minor. I always rinse and relather in between passes, I always make sure I have at least residual slickness (if not fully relather) before the blade touch my skin again. I've tried preshave oil but I have so many skin reactions to things, and naturally oily skin, so it added a slew of different problems. I tried proraso pre shave and it was 50/50 for me, some times it blew me away and other times it was a waste of time. I also want to note that my issues did improve greatly in those 4 years and even more so lately but never to a point where it felt worth it to continue. I'm almost 30, have been shaving since I was 15~, and just now have had a little over a month of mostly irritation free shaves for the first time ever. I'm not at all saying my technique and prep were perfect but I eliminated far too many variables over far too long of a time to still see such a minor improvement. Another point to this is that I used alum for a long time, I was getting near BBS shaves with zero alum feedback (meaning good technique, correct?) Yet was getting crazy ingrowns a day or two later... And I mean large pustules, not small red dots. My skin is crazy though, I could wash and dry my hands and face then press my thumb to my nose for 5 seconds and I will have a deep pimple the next day.
I shaved with the 37c for a few days and my chin and neck blew up with ingrowns, I used proper prep and no pressure and had a comfortable shave. Then I switched and I had mamy 3 pass near-bbs shaves with the skinguard or the regular guard and had not one bump or ingrown and watched my residual slant damge go away (while still shaving daily, which I've never been able to do while 'healing' ingrowns). It was during this time I did the tech test patches, the WTG and XTG spots were ok but the ATG spots gave me problems. Still no problem with the skinguard or regular guard. By this time I was 'healed up' from the ingrowns a couple weeks before so I had a few more shaves with the 37c and boom... Ingrowns came right back. I found DE razors also cause bumps below my bottom lip on the left and ride side of what would be the 'handle bar' area (if my moustache were that long) that no other type of razor causes.
That's rough bro, I get how hard it is and it's awesome you're trying but perhaps like many others some razors just don't suit them.
There is a thread about trading razors and testing some. U might want subscribe to it and borrow some more mild razors n give em a shot.
Cheers
My opinion would be to get an adjustable First. Then you dont have to go around fishing for other razors that you basically know nothing about and spending a small fortune to boot.Why have 20 razors lying around and not being used for various reasons. You will find your sweet spot on the adjustable after a few blade choices and then you are good to go for years. With the adjustable its like having 6 razors for one price. Buy 4 or 5 trial razor packs. At least one of them will be your perceived best.There really is no holey grail for blades.
- Thread starter
- #56
Minor update:
2 pass + touch up near BBS with the 37c and a fresh voskhod, RR Bruce synth, and proraso white soap. No nics, weepers, cuts, aftershave feedback, irritation, or next morning ingrowns at all. Only big differences this time were my choice of blade and shaving at the sink instead of in the shower.
2 pass + touch up near BBS with the 37c and a fresh voskhod, RR Bruce synth, and proraso white soap. No nics, weepers, cuts, aftershave feedback, irritation, or next morning ingrowns at all. Only big differences this time were my choice of blade and shaving at the sink instead of in the shower.
Rinse n repeat! You might have stumbled onto something interesting... Watching how you apply the razor might make u a better shaver lol!
- Thread starter
- #58
The audible feedback and not feeling rushed due to having the shower water running I think both helped. To achieve this I had to go so impractically slow due to the way my skin responds to the slant that tomorrow I'm going to try a different razor that is much more mild and has more margin for error.
Sounds like you’ve gotten over trying for BBS. I have a tough time holding back on the ATG pass and sometimes suffer for it.
You may have tried one already, but a good Schick Krona with a sharp blade, no ATG might be worth a shot.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You may have tried one already, but a good Schick Krona with a sharp blade, no ATG might be worth a shot.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #60
Yea, I'm not chasing daily BBS anymore for sure. I find my success rate us significantly higher when I only try occasionally. I'm also not saying I'm not going ATG sometimes either. I'm looking for a situation where I can go ATG to get another level of smoothness but also not have it take me to 100% BBS because even if I do it successfully I find irritation builds if it's too frequently. Another reason why I want to revisit mild open combs (like the 15c I'm giving a whirl tomorrow), seems like an effortless near BBS from your ATG pass but not quite as close as other razors thus reducing the ingrown chance further. I also have a lot of flat lying hairs and I've frequently read that they are better for this.
Shaved today with the exact same set up and situation as yesterday except today was the 2nd shave on that voskhod blade. Man that thing is smooth! I was greedy and went ATG again because yesterday went so well and I did get the same closeness of shave but I can tell I'll now need to take it easy for the next day or two.
