Thoughts after very first wet shave. . . OUCH!

[ckoen]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'm sure it's a combination of things.

My blade was kind of "scooting" rather than gliding.

Are you supposed to shave if your skin is already irritated and bumpy?
I'm pretty sure I just made it way worse.

After looking at some posts, I think my lather was way to wimpy.
it was really airy and bubbly, not like my gel foam in a can.

I'm using William's mug soap, and a cheap-o Target brush. is it possible to get an adequate lather using that? I'm NOT giving up! I wanna do this right so bad!

 

[mr. s]

Great attitude.
Have you seen the youtube videos yet? They are very helpful. My guess is that there are probably a few things that would contribute to a bad first shave.
Yes, it sounds like your lather was probably too wet. Just try it again. Eventually you will get the hang of it.
Target brushes are just dandy.
My advice is to let your face relax for a day or two before you go again. You might be excited but you gotta take it slow.
Welcome to the hobby. Welcome to B&B. It's a great community here.

 

[GDCarrington]

You may have a case of razor burn.
With Williams you need to really work the puck to create a thick lather. It can be done. You have to use more of the product (whip the puck longer with maybe a little more water).
You may want to let your face rest if you are able and try again in a couple of days. You need to go to Youtube and watch Mantic's videos on the basics. You may also want to use a small amount of Olive Oil (a few drops mixed with water) as a preshave oil until you are able to constantly generate better lather.

Good fortune.

 

[akokandy]

Fear not, you will get the hang of this.

But for now, consider getting some lathering shave cream, or a different brush, or VDH.

It will be alarmingly difficult to get an adequate lather out of Williams with that mega-floppy brush. The brush should be able to get a good lather out of some cheap lather shaving cream, though.

I've heard that it's possible to get a good lather out of Williams. You picked a difficult brush to start with though, especially to use with a hard soap.

You may have better results using Van der Hagen (widely available at Walgreens) with that brush, but a cream will seem simple to lather by comparison, especially with that brush.

Just my $.02

 

[Xezmer]

 

[Alacrity59]

scooting . . .maybe not a great thing.

I like Williams . . . there are some very vocal people who do not. I have fairly hard water but it works for me. With Williams you need to be taking maybe 2 minutes of brush action round in circles with some up and down (sounds kinky . . . nevermind)

Find some Proraso cream if you can find it . . . easier to start with.


Main things:
1) Prep. . . .look up Kyle's prep here on B&B
2) Blade angle . . . as low an angle as you can (handle perpendicular to face) as you can manage and still be cutting beard.
3) Very little pressure . . . not so little as to be skipping but . . . the idea is to be cutting through the beard without pressing the blade into your skin and stripping off the first few layers.

If you are irritating your skin it can get worse each time . . . you may need to ease up . . . skip a shave . . .

Good luck.

Mike

 

[steven1979]

I found that when I do a XTG pass on my neck below the jaw line I get the same effect. After 3 weeks using a Merkur HD with a Derby blade I am getting great shaves on my face. It is taking a long time to get a good shave on my neck but I am slowly progressing. I am using proraso cream and preshave. I whip it into a lather and then add just a few splashes of water. I get a great lather that lasts. Just practice making the lather until you get it right adding only small amounts of water at a time.

The first two weeks I had cuts, weepers and irritation on my neck. I still get a bit of irritation but with time my technique is slowly getting better. The key is to go slowly.

Make sure to map out the grain of your beard. Until I did this I had all kinds of problems with irritation and weepers. On each pass take short methodical strokes with no pressure, paying a lot of attention to blade angle. Watch the mantic videos again and notice how he maps his face into sections and then shaves each section. That tip helped me out a lot.

Good luck and stick with it! You'll improve with time!

 

[FL shaver]

Keep at it....after a little rest, maybe! I was wondering if I made the right choice after my first couple of shaves, and I started with George F. Trumper's Coconut soap after using a soap and brush with Atra Plus cartridges for several years! I might have given it all up if I had gone straight from carts/goo to DE/Williams (of all soaps!!)!!

I now use Williams occasionally, and it is slick enough, if not very cushiony, if you use plenty of product and work it. I will put it in my left hand and work a good amount of the soap into the brush right over the sink, then face lather.

Which razor and blade are you using?

 

[mblakele]

Practice making lather, without shaving. Read the lather tutorials. Watch mantic's videos. It will happen.

 

[Loric]

Grip is another big thing that has not gotten much attention on this thread. For me proper grip means to balance the weight of the razor on my pinky and then balance the razor with my other 3 fingers on the side of the handle. The grip for me has to be very loose. So that if I was to pluck the razor our of my hand there would be almost no resistance. This prevents you from putting pressure on the blade and letting the weight of the razor do all the work.

Prep is big too. Your blade might be skipping because you did not let your whiskers properly hydrate. I shave after I shower. In the shower I rinse my face several times over the coarse of the shower with water as hot as I can stand it. As soon as I get out of the shower before I even reach for my shave oil, pre-shave product, or shave stick. All three do about the same for me, they keep my whiskers soft and hydrated. The shave stick might sound a bit odd, but putting on a small amount keeps things soft even when I plan on actually shaving with a different product.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[mdunn]

+1 on lots of the advice above.

keep at it though!

 

[DE Shaver]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'm sure it's a combination of things.

My blade was kind of "scooting" rather than gliding.

Are you supposed to shave if your skin is already irritated and bumpy?
I'm pretty sure I just made it way worse.

After looking at some posts, I think my lather was way to wimpy.
it was really airy and bubbly, not like my gel foam in a can.

I'm using William's mug soap, and a cheap-o Target brush. is it possible to get an adequate lather using that? I'm NOT giving up! I wanna do this right so bad!

I wouldn't shave while skin is bumpy and irritated. Wait a couple of days before trying again. If you had inadequate lather, razor burn is almost guaranteed, which is what happened in your case. Make sure your lather is thick in consistency. Practice making it if you can. I know there are William defenders out there but I don't consider this soap as easy to work with when compared to better brands. You can make a decent lather with it but I would advise more practice. Your brush can make a difference too. You should be able to generate adequate lather with what you have, you're just not making it easy on yourself as a neophyte.

 

[cnnc97]

Practice making lather, without shaving. Read the lather tutorials. Watch mantic's videos. It will happen.

+1 on practice lathering without shaving. Especially if you are using a cheap soap or cream. That helped me a lot when I started.

 

[CB_DoubleEdge]

Do yourself a favor and drop $9 on some Proraso soap or cream. Dirt cheap, lasts a long time, and lathers like mad.

If you have a Bath and Body Works locally snag a tube of their C.O. Bigelow shaving cream. It is rebranded Proraso. Runs $10.

I use Proraso Green Tea and Aloe soap for ultra sensitive skin.

 

[vitaman]

Alot of good advise here!! Stay at it, it will get better! Welcome to B&B!!

 

[Tom Frost]

The one thing I did really wrong when I started shaving, couple of years ago, was pressure.

You're shaving with a DE, not a cartidge. DO NOT APPLY TOO MUCH PRESSURE on the razor, just let its weight do the work. Otherwise, you'll end up with a 3D map of Mexico instead of a face.

Hope it helps.

 

[Casey]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'm sure it's a combination of things.

My blade was kind of "scooting" rather than gliding.

Are you supposed to shave if your skin is already irritated and bumpy?
I'm pretty sure I just made it way worse.

After looking at some posts, I think my lather was way to wimpy.
it was really airy and bubbly, not like my gel foam in a can.

I'm using William's mug soap, and a cheap-o Target brush. is it possible to get an adequate lather using that? I'm NOT giving up! I wanna do this right so bad!

Go slow, easy, and with very little pressure. Williams can give a nice lather, you'll just need to whip it a bit harder.

 

[rogueinfomaniac]

+1 on the prep advice

When I first started it took me a few weeks to get a good lather... I use your target brush too and I think it works great! Just keep at it and dont get worried with a few bad shaves because once you get your first BBS with a DE you will never shave with a cart again

 

[resj]

I guess it's a tendency for people to use pressure with cartridges. Don't know why because that's where the majority of the irritation is coming from. Since you are using a de you definitely don't want pressure, but that's not the only thing... After using a de for a handful of shaves, I like using a trac2 much more, but I use no pressure even with that. Also a mixture of short strokes, medium strokes and buffing strokes. Long strokes give me irritation. Sensitive areas get short/buffing strokes before a medium one even comes into play (if it needs).

Main point is no pressure and blade angles. If it's a weighty razor you will have painful issues until you find the right balance and blade angle, especially going XTG/ATG. Grip it light like a feather. I personally like the control of lightweight razors because of my skin, and I guess that's why the trac2 works well for me. I also change up my blade angles, sensitive areas get a very mild angle until it's able to go smoothly with a slightly more aggressive angle.

As long as I have protection on my face, use a feather weight touch with a very mild angle to start, and use short/buffing strokes to start with I don't get irritation (I've also been using a gel instead of my soap, but I massage it in for awhile, and don't leave it on for 20 mins so it doesn't dry out, lol). Since you use a brush, you had too much water in the lather if it's bubbly. You need a super rich lather if you use the brush method, and that's crucial as well as massaging it in well.

Oh yeah, cortisone cream will stop itching, but after that I find that neosporin makes irritation go away faster when you have it. Wash your face before shaving, but keep it wet. After shaving use witch hazel or something with alcohol in it (let dry), then moisturize.

That's basically what works for me man, and don't rush. I'd use an electric beard trimmer if you got tomato face really bad though.

 

[Saunterer]

I love Williams soap and get great results.

I generally add a bit of hot water to the puck of soap and let it sit while I shower or do other things. Then start swirling on the puck and use some pumping motions until you start to feel resistance with your brush on the puck. Hard to describe but what people said above; practice making lather before you need to make lather. But you'll feel it. It takes me about 10 to 15 seconds from the time the soap feels slick until you start feeling resistance on the puck.

Then face lather or bowl lather as you see fit.

Take a day off, practice your lather and take your time. You'll soon start to get great DE shaves.