Timah's journey into the shave world

[timah083]

Hi all,

First thread, please be gentle

For many years I've been a habitual non-shaver. I'd run the trimmer over once every-other week, and maybe shave for special occasions...maybe.

Anyway, as part of coming out of the stage of infant and toddler mayhem I'm committing myself to being much better at self-care - diet, exercise and grooming.

To that end, I've indulged a long held desire to straight shave, and 'asked' for a shavette kit to start me off (by 'asked' I do mean I ordered and put the wife's name on the card).

Anyway, I'm starting off with the 'Bluebeard's Revenge' shavette kit.

It certainly is a change to be 'regularly' shaving, I'm sure I've shaved more in the first 10 days of this year than I did all last year.

I'm getting to learn the techniques and reading through the forums has helped already - I never would have thought there'd be so much variance to blade brands and their results!

I've ordered tonight a sample blade pack, as well as a different type of shave cream (Proraso white) and will slowly ease myself into a year of better grooming!

As for me, I'm an Aussie, 34, married with three kids (5 y/o daughter and twin almost 2y/o boys).

Look forward to getting stuck in!

Tim

 

[Billski]

Welcome to Badger and Blade, @timah083

You'll like it here at B and B.

 

[GearNoir]

Welcome on!

I’m sure you’re already acquainted with it, but don’t forget to check out the Straight Razor section of the forums if you haven’t yet. There’s a lot of helpful stuff in there.

I just started with traditional straight razor shaving myself, just this morning! This is after a few years of DE shaving. It is quite different!

Best of luck in your learning! Let us know if you learn any need tricks.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

Welcome to B&B from the UK.

 

[Invicta]

Welcome to B&B. Diving in from no shave to a shavette setup is a big step so I hope you have success with that method of shaving.

 

[timah083]

Thanks all.

So far so good. A few nicks and irritations but I get the idea of it, and am prepared to accept that my skin isn’t used to it.

In my head I wasn’t prepared to do the honing and stropping, so for now I’ll go with the shavette. Seems good so far!


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[xxvaleria]

Welcome to the club, Tim. Glad to have you aboard.

 

[ackvil]

Welcome to B&B, Tim.

Be sure to check out the straight razor forums. You will find a wealth of information there.

 

[sandstone]

Welcome to B&B, Tim! Enjoy the shaves!

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum, Tim !!

 

[Graybeard57]

Turning a chore into a pleasure, what a concept.

 

[BigJ]

Welcome aboard!

 

[alex2363]

Thanks all.

So far so good. A few nicks and irritations but I get the idea of it, and am prepared to accept that my skin isn’t used to it.

In my head I wasn’t prepared to do the honing and stropping, so for now I’ll go with the shavette. Seems good so far!


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Welcome aboard the bb

 

[timah083]

Received my first purchase of my shave journey on Friday, and finally got to using them last night.

Sample pack of blades, blade disposal tin (in case of little fingers getting into my drawer, and some proraso shave cream.

I tried the astra blade first with the cream. Definitely a fan of the cream, such a great scent and felt good throughout the shave. Took a little bit to get the right texture, it seemed like the more water I added, the better it got. A bit different to the bluebeards revenge I have started off with. Will have to try all the proraso creams I guess [emoji16]

I’m not quite sure how to ‘review’ or judge blades just yet. The astra felt nice out of the packet, in a weird way it felt ‘solid’. Have a nice ‘snap’ sound when it broke in half.
I’m not sure whether it’s my technique, the cream or the blade but my skin is certainly the least irritated it’s been, as well as being my best feeling shave so far.

I do feel like my technique with the shavette is getting better. Whoever said ‘no pressure, no pressure’ deserves a thank you.

It certainly doesn’t feel like a chore to stand over the sink for half an hour. Not sure if it’s novelty or enjoyment, but it’s a welcome change.

Is it wrong to already be looking at different shavettes? And accessories? And everything? Ha.


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[timah083]

It’s probably overkill too, but for the time being I’m replacing the blade each shave. I know my skin gets irritated easily, I still get a couple of small nicks, and with 50 shaved in that sample pack alone, I’ve got plenty of blades to last a while.
Is that something others do?


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[GearNoir]

We call wanting to look at more stuff Aquisition Disorder, you’ll see that a lot here (RAD for razors, SAD for software, etc), it’s very common and we’re very enabling.

Many people here use a blade only once, it’s personal preference really. You may want to try at least a few shaves per blade while you are finding ones you like, just so you can judge for yourself. Some find their blades actually improve for a time with each shave it goes through. The most I’ve used a single Astra SP blade so far is about a month, shaving every other day.

 

[timah083]

So a bit disappointed with today's shave. I used a new Astra blade, but went back to my original 'Bluebeard's Revenge' shave cream.
I even thought I had a better lather, but seemed to get a few more little nicks than my Sunday night shave.

I can't fault the blade, the shave feels extremely smooth, just more irritation. I'll go back to the proraso cream and the astra blade again to see.

I keep trying to remember 'light pressure' and smoothness. It's also interesting to notice the audible feedback which I'm trying to pay close attention to.

 

[GearNoir]

So a bit disappointed with today's shave. I used a new Astra blade, but went back to my original 'Bluebeard's Revenge' shave cream.
I even thought I had a better lather, but seemed to get a few more little nicks than my Sunday night shave.

I can't fault the blade, the shave feels extremely smooth, just more irritation. I'll go back to the proraso cream and the astra blade again to see.

I keep trying to remember 'light pressure' and smoothness. It's also interesting to notice the audible feedback which I'm trying to pay close attention to.

Those days will happen. Any number of things may be slightly off and we won’t know till it’s all over (or horribly in the middle of the shave). Makes the good days all the better!

 

[timah083]

So I’ve had a couple more shaved now. Both with the Gillette yellows, both with the bluebeards revenge shave cream. I really want to like this cream, but it just doesn’t seem to be ‘right’. I’m also not totally sold on the Gillette blades.

I made the lather slicker than I usually would. Extra water, and then a bit more. It certainly felt nicer, but I can still feel it ‘tingle’ on my skin - I’m sure it’s part of my irritation.

Next up I’ll revert back to the proraso cream and try a new blade - most likely the feather. But so far, the astra blade seems great value and performance.


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[GearNoir]

So I’ve had a couple more shaved now. Both with the Gillette yellows, both with the bluebeards revenge shave cream. I really want to like this cream, but it just doesn’t seem to be ‘right’. I’m also not totally sold on the Gillette blades.

I made the lather slicker than I usually would. Extra water, and then a bit more. It certainly felt nicer, but I can still feel it ‘tingle’ on my skin - I’m sure it’s part of my irritation.

Next up I’ll revert back to the proraso cream and try a new blade - most likely the feather. But so far, the astra blade seems great value and performance.


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Bummer about the Bluebeards! Keep up the experimentation!