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Hello world
i would like to share my own experience with shaving...
a few details about me, i'm 37, male, i think quite i'm fair haired, my hair was straw yellow when i was a baby, now it's brown with some gray's masquerading as blonde hairs, i also think that my beard is on the light side as well...

My first experience with shaving was inevitably with a gillette, i think a mach 3, this was when i was about 14 or so, just started shaving, i was awful at it and it was awful for me, i cut myself constantly, the shave it self was patchy at first but with time it improved some...as time went by i tried several disposables but eventually i used hair clippers to shave off as much beard as i could then i would touch up with the mach 3....this method has been OK for me until my last anniversary, we're talking 10 odd years or more, when the wife bought me three splashes, pinaud classic, proraso green and an unknown brand to me, red one, it actually smells the best out of all three...having "seen the light" i started reading up on shaving, having discovered wet shaving and having identified safety razors as the way to go i bought a king c gillette razor...i also give the wilkinson sword hydro 5 about 3 shaves to prove itself, more or less the same story as when i was a teenager, it cut me and i had irritation, redness, razor bumps/whiteheads later on, et cetera

after dismissing the hydro 5 i went ahead and tried the safety razor, i got some fusion gel shaving cream, an alum block, and an exfoliator dr. renauds prickly pear for men...now, i feel that the experience of wet shaving is very different to shaving with anything electric or with another tools of sorts although you do have to master shaving with blades that have direct contact with your skin...to be fair and honest, i believe that my foray into wet shaving has been significantly affected by the fact that the first time i tried the hydro 5 i had had a few (apple brandy 40%) before hand and i actually cut a piece of my skin right off under my lip on my chin, i still have discoloration on that part of my skin LOL, and by my unjustified self belief, i start getting confident when i make two acceptable strokes then i start speed up and cuts occur...alas i honestly like wet shaving and all that goes with it, the products, the baldes, shavers, creams,the shaving community, etc, etc, everything

alas

i did get some irritaion from using a safety razor, not much, as i went with the grain the first few shaves, i really had virtually no redness and only a couple of razor bums/whiteheads that appeared a few days later, as i mentioned before, these results gave me unjustified confidence to go from shaving once a week to shaving every three days and then i had the audacity to go against the grain on my 3 or 4 shave with a safety razor...as you can imagine, this yielded results, the shave i managed to achieve, with two nick which were of course my fault - bad technique + rushing, was the softest smoothest shave i personally have had on my face (i had my face shaved by a barber with a straight for nearly an entire year i stopped going because the salon turned into a gossip salon and not a barber shop i definitely made the right decision as i personally managed to shave myself better than that "professional"),but, i did get irritation and some bumps/heads a few days on...all this time i was on the prowl for a good exfoliator to help me with the bumps/heads as i felt that the dr. renaud was't up to it...so i got the neutrogena blackhead eliminator and switched to that...alas, i still had about 3 bumps appear from the shaves that followed, irritation not so much, i was using the pinaud classic spalsh for all the shaves with the hydro and the safety razor as well...

after this, i researched electrics, as i was then of the opinion that smooth was the was to go, i mean the skin being smooth in all directions after a shave, after having watched the entire internet's worth of videos of particular models being used, bearing in mind what i can get/buy here where i live, i narrowed my potential choices to the following: andis profil (which i got), braun 7 1000 s, panasonic es ll 21, braun 310, again i reiterate that these are models i can buy in a physical shop here, our delivery system is slack at best, we're talking worse than Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris :) ,as i bracketed above i bought the andis because from the videos i saw it indeed give a glass smooth shave...because of various reasons that i won't go into i paid 115 euros for the device, imagine my knowing it cost around 70 on amazon and still buying it...i proceeded with giving it a whirl...
the results were, to be honest, darn awful...my cheeks were glass smooth and that's about it, it missed some hairs on my neck which was terrible for me,it just looked unruly, imagine clean shaven skin much akin to it being shaved with a straight or DE and the a couple of black flat hairs just there, existing, apart from the apocalyptic "performance" i got bad irrtation, i used nivea sensitive balm three times that evening, i even shot a video and sent it to the shop where i got the andis from...

i returned the andis, got a full refund and went and bought a oneblade by philips, i am currently on day three since i mauled my face with the andis and i might give the oneblade a try today, i accept that it cannot match a blade of any kind but i am really hoping that it wont give me bumps i doubt that i will get any irritation in the form or redness and rashes which i did get from the andis, just to clarify the hair clippers that i used for years on end were also by philips, i got them because it said they cut 0.4 mm without any extensions and such, i have to admit i got little to no irritation with them so i can say i trust philips...i was offered various clippers in exchange for the andis from the shop i got it from, wahl balding, a model by andis again and a company called comlink from germany, the idea being to use hair clippers with them being as close to zero gapped as possible, i dismissed this idea because my philips 5000 something model i own can easly cut you if you aren't careful so imagine what 0.0mm and 0.2mm clippers would require in terms of attention and concentration... i do maintain it possible for them to do a good job i just don't think i have the skill to pull that feat off...

anyways, to wrap things up, i can see i went on for quite a bit, today i am hoping to use my oneblade for the first time, i got the simple face 60 minute use model, i also have a synthetic brush, pvc bowl with lather ridges and proraso sensitive shave cream (the white one) all of which i am inclined to also use, i am not sure that i will exfoliate before hand because i did so just last night, i have two new face scrubs by balea, they come in little satchels about a euro each, i tried the orange sugar one last night, i did notice that a couple white heads seemed to be more visible after using the scrub i presume that it took off a layer of dead skin cells and further exposed the whiteheads...

from the experiences from my short journey into wet shaving, i can say that i am satisfied with the king c gilette razor and blades, although i am very inexperienced and unknowledgeable i think that they are indeed good, the gel you get for shaving with them no so much...i didn't like that, the splashes i mentioned seem all quite fine, the pinaud has a love it or hate it smell in my opinion, i am not that huge a fan of it although the wife likes so go figure...the proraso is a classic and i like it but am not over the moon exactly, now the red one is the best smelling by far haven't used it so i dont know how it performs, i like the proraso white cream, the synthetic brush is also a joy to use, the wanda bowl is rather large for my liking but it could be me...the hydro 5 is most probably a capable tool for some one who likes that sort of thing...i also have and use nivea men creme, it feels cool and comfortable when you put it on as a moisturiser but i will also try weleda skin food on my face having been blown away by it's performance on my hands, it's actually not mine it's my wife's so i will use it sparingly, i used nivea creme the old school cream as a moisturiser and the men creme is far better in my opinion...i might also at some point try the nivea men gel we'll see, i also believe that the fusion gel is fine but with all the caveats of being a canned product, drying up and such, the alum bloc is also a novel discovery for me, i use it after every shave, i get stung no matter what i used before hand, i have only not used it after the clippers + cartridge combo as i bought the block afterwards...

i aplogize if i went on for too long, and i hope i haven't put anyone to sleep

"have a great shave and have a great day everyone"
geofatboy, Chicago
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Hello world
i would like to share my own experience with shaving...
a few details about me, i'm 37, male, i think quite i'm fair haired, my hair was straw yellow when i was a baby, now it's brown with some gray's masquerading as blonde hairs, i also think that my beard is on the light side as well...

My first experience with shaving was inevitably with a gillette, i think a mach 3, this was when i was about 14 or so, just started shaving, i was awful at it and it was awful for me, i cut myself constantly, the shave it self was patchy at first but with time it improved some...as time went by i tried several disposables but eventually i used hair clippers to shave off as much beard as i could then i would touch up with the mach 3....this method has been OK for me until my last anniversary, we're talking 10 odd years or more, when the wife bought me three splashes, pinaud classic, proraso green and an unknown brand to me, red one, it actually smells the best out of all three...having "seen the light" i started reading up on shaving, having discovered wet shaving and having identified safety razors as the way to go i bought a king c gillette razor...i also give the wilkinson sword hydro 5 about 3 shaves to prove itself, more or less the same story as when i was a teenager, it cut me and i had irritation, redness, razor bumps/whiteheads later on, et cetera

after dismissing the hydro 5 i went ahead and tried the safety razor, i got some fusion gel shaving cream, an alum block, and an exfoliator dr. renauds prickly pear for men...now, i feel that the experience of wet shaving is very different to shaving with anything electric or with another tools of sorts although you do have to master shaving with blades that have direct contact with your skin...to be fair and honest, i believe that my foray into wet shaving has been significantly affected by the fact that the first time i tried the hydro 5 i had had a few (apple brandy 40%) before hand and i actually cut a piece of my skin right off under my lip on my chin, i still have discoloration on that part of my skin LOL, and by my unjustified self belief, i start getting confident when i make two acceptable strokes then i start speed up and cuts occur...alas i honestly like wet shaving and all that goes with it, the products, the baldes, shavers, creams,the shaving community, etc, etc, everything

alas

i did get some irritaion from using a safety razor, not much, as i went with the grain the first few shaves, i really had virtually no redness and only a couple of razor bums/whiteheads that appeared a few days later, as i mentioned before, these results gave me unjustified confidence to go from shaving once a week to shaving every three days and then i had the audacity to go against the grain on my 3 or 4 shave with a safety razor...as you can imagine, this yielded results, the shave i managed to achieve, with two nick which were of course my fault - bad technique + rushing, was the softest smoothest shave i personally have had on my face (i had my face shaved by a barber with a straight for nearly an entire year i stopped going because the salon turned into a gossip salon and not a barber shop i definitely made the right decision as i personally managed to shave myself better than that "professional"),but, i did get irritation and some bumps/heads a few days on...all this time i was on the prowl for a good exfoliator to help me with the bumps/heads as i felt that the dr. renaud was't up to it...so i got the neutrogena blackhead eliminator and switched to that...alas, i still had about 3 bumps appear from the shaves that followed, irritation not so much, i was using the pinaud classic spalsh for all the shaves with the hydro and the safety razor as well...

after this, i researched electrics, as i was then of the opinion that smooth was the was to go, i mean the skin being smooth in all directions after a shave, after having watched the entire internet's worth of videos of particular models being used, bearing in mind what i can get/buy here where i live, i narrowed my potential choices to the following: andis profil (which i got), braun 7 1000 s, panasonic es ll 21, braun 310, again i reiterate that these are models i can buy in a physical shop here, our delivery system is slack at best, we're talking worse than Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris :) ,as i bracketed above i bought the andis because from the videos i saw it indeed give a glass smooth shave...because of various reasons that i won't go into i paid 115 euros for the device, imagine my knowing it cost around 70 on amazon and still buying it...i proceeded with giving it a whirl...
the results were, to be honest, darn awful...my cheeks were glass smooth and that's about it, it missed some hairs on my neck which was terrible for me,it just looked unruly, imagine clean shaven skin much akin to it being shaved with a straight or DE and the a couple of black flat hairs just there, existing, apart from the apocalyptic "performance" i got bad irrtation, i used nivea sensitive balm three times that evening, i even shot a video and sent it to the shop where i got the andis from...

i returned the andis, got a full refund and went and bought a oneblade by philips, i am currently on day three since i mauled my face with the andis and i might give the oneblade a try today, i accept that it cannot match a blade of any kind but i am really hoping that it wont give me bumps i doubt that i will get any irritation in the form or redness and rashes which i did get from the andis, just to clarify the hair clippers that i used for years on end were also by philips, i got them because it said they cut 0.4 mm without any extensions and such, i have to admit i got little to no irritation with them so i can say i trust philips...i was offered various clippers in exchange for the andis from the shop i got it from, wahl balding, a model by andis again and a company called comlink from germany, the idea being to use hair clippers with them being as close to zero gapped as possible, i dismissed this idea because my philips 5000 something model i own can easly cut you if you aren't careful so imagine what 0.0mm and 0.2mm clippers would require in terms of attention and concentration... i do maintain it possible for them to do a good job i just don't think i have the skill to pull that feat off...

anyways, to wrap things up, i can see i went on for quite a bit, today i am hoping to use my oneblade for the first time, i got the simple face 60 minute use model, i also have a synthetic brush, pvc bowl with lather ridges and proraso sensitive shave cream (the white one) all of which i am inclined to also use, i am not sure that i will exfoliate before hand because i did so just last night, i have two new face scrubs by balea, they come in little satchels about a euro each, i tried the orange sugar one last night, i did notice that a couple white heads seemed to be more visible after using the scrub i presume that it took off a layer of dead skin cells and further exposed the whiteheads...

from the experiences from my short journey into wet shaving, i can say that i am satisfied with the king c gilette razor and blades, although i am very inexperienced and unknowledgeable i think that they are indeed good, the gel you get for shaving with them no so much...i didn't like that, the splashes i mentioned seem all quite fine, the pinaud has a love it or hate it smell in my opinion, i am not that huge a fan of it although the wife likes so go figure...the proraso is a classic and i like it but am not over the moon exactly, now the red one is the best smelling by far haven't used it so i dont know how it performs, i like the proraso white cream, the synthetic brush is also a joy to use, the wanda bowl is rather large for my liking but it could be me...the hydro 5 is most probably a capable tool for some one who likes that sort of thing...i also have and use nivea men creme, it feels cool and comfortable when you put it on as a moisturiser but i will also try weleda skin food on my face having been blown away by it's performance on my hands, it's actually not mine it's my wife's so i will use it sparingly, i used nivea creme the old school cream as a moisturiser and the men creme is far better in my opinion...i might also at some point try the nivea men gel we'll see, i also believe that the fusion gel is fine but with all the caveats of being a canned product, drying up and such, the alum bloc is also a novel discovery for me, i use it after every shave, i get stung no matter what i used before hand, i have only not used it after the clippers + cartridge combo as i bought the block afterwards...

i aplogize if i went on for too long, and i hope i haven't put anyone to sleep

"have a great shave and have a great day everyone"
geofatboy, Chicago

Welcome to Badger & Blade! :)

Well actually, I need to go to sleep, but not because of your post, because I been up all day, and put in a several hour workshift of hard labor. lol - But here I still took the time to read your post, just shows I am dedicated, and I care about your story, where you come from in the shaving journey and all that.

Most indeed, your skin sounds like the most sensitive I have ever heard of. It seems like it takes very little to cause you ingrown hairs, zits, pimples and what have you. Keeping your skin as clean as possible will help you on your shaving journey.

Another thing, if you are prone to breaking out, acne, zits, whatever else, you should use products made for that sort of thing. And when it comes to DE shaving, its all about the technique. You got to practice, practice, practice. Technique is very important believe it or not.

You have to get the right angle, every DE razor is a bit different, but you will get there. And absolutely, never apply pressure with a DE razor, especially if you are a beginner just learning. You are more then likely the best candidate for using a mild razor too.

You didn't talk a whole lot about blades, but for your sensitive skin, I'd sway you away from using any of the super sharp blades like Feathers or Kai's. I recommend that you use either Bic Chrome Platinum blades, or Astra blades.

The idea, is to try and achieve a smooth shave, with the least amount of work, and damage to the skin. You don't want to use an overly aggressive razor. From reading your post, it does indeed sound like you are taking off too much skin. Sounds like too much aggression going on.

Either that, or improper angle, or using too much pressure. I know you will get there, it just takes time, I have faith in you! But, once you have your technique down, and your using more mild blades, and your still having issues, we might have to get you on a different razor.

I do not recommend the use of shave gel's with a safety razor. Shave gel's were invented for other equipment. DE's, I find, work best with the standard DE soap or cream accoutrements. We have oodles of threads on here discussing all the soaps and creams, there is much you can learn.

I am not a fan of plastic bowls. Having said that however, you did mention it has the ridges to aid in whipping up a lather, that ticks a major box in my book. So with that said, your bowl should be OK. I prefer ceramics myself, and have the Captains Choice lather bowl.

Your going to get a lot of advice, and a lot of opinions in this thread. There will be much to think about, and much to try out. If there is anything more specific you want to know, please do ask me, and once I awake my from slumber, I shall give you the best answer I can.

I also wanted to commend you for sticking it out. Don't think I don't notice that, despite all the issues you have been facing with your skin, you in the end, came back to the DE razor. Because you know, just as I do, that DE is the best way to go.

That kind of bravery and commitment, does not go unnoticed. So I want to say, keep it up, keep learning, keep practicing. Believe it or not, you are doing good. There are things we can tweak here and there. But ultimately, you are on the right track my friend.

PS: Have a great shave, and have a great day. Geofatboy, Chicago. I absolutely love that guy, he's the best shaving guy on Youtube. He's full of knowledge, a great teacher, and a great demonstrator of shaving products.

I completely recommend him, glad that you also enjoy his wisdom and teachings.
 
Thank you very much for the welcome and reading as well as your thoughtful reply of course.

I am certain that my technique is surely off and i will surely try and rectify it...having read what i initially wrote i see i failed to mention how i look, so to speak, after shaving with the clippers + cartridge as opposed to DE shaving, the closest i can come to justly describing my appearance is that i come off as cleaner and sharper with a blade, even after the andis profil i still think i looked sharper after DE use.

As for the blades and details i apologise for omitting them, i have had 5 shaves in total with the stock blade that came with the razor, to reiterate, king c gillette blades, i own 2 packs od BIC chrome blades and also a pack od gillette platinum. I saw a chart that is meant to show "sharpness" of blades where the BIC was just below the Feather's bearing in mind that a significant rise in sharpness was documented after the first shave with the BIC therefore i am of the opinion to next use the platinums being quite similar to the KCG blades if not being the exact same blade, it being made in the same plant and so on and so on...

i apologise if i was unclear, my intention for today is to try the oneblade on 3 days worth of my "weak" beard (stubble) i intend on going wet...if the oneblades doesn't perform DE shaving will ensue after three days again...

as for the sensitivity of my skin, i do have a video of the irritation from the andis i can upload it but seeing as i went on for quite a bit in my initial post i didn't, i have been drawing my conclusions based on logic and real world live use of each method/tool, so i will indeed steer clear of foil technology as it literally skinned me, i failed to also mention that i also own a rotary philips shaver, 9+ something series but an older model, much older, and it was as well useless for me, it performs quite similar in regard to omitting removal of certain hairs thus leaving you worse off than you were before the shave...i mention this in regard to the more modern philips rotary's and the braun foils,all are a no go for me...

if i do manage to steal enough time for myself today and indeed try the oneblade i think i will do so without exfoliating as i have done that last night, the package says 2 times a week so i'll adhere to that...

i would be glad if someone read of my clumsy experiences and saved themselves from ordeals similar to mine...

in spite of being repetitive and boring you, i thank you again

warm regards from Sarajevo
 
Welcome!

Shaving with a DE razor does have a learning curve, but fortunately with a mild razor it's not steep. I think your KCG is a good starter razor (I don't have one).

I'm sure you've already heard the basics: Don't use pressure, watch your angle, and use a product that provides slickness and protection for your skin.

Enjoy your shaves!
 
Welcome!

Shaving with a DE razor does have a learning curve, but fortunately with a mild razor it's not steep. I think your KCG is a good starter razor (I don't have one).

I'm sure you've already heard the basics: Don't use pressure, watch your angle, and use a product that provides slickness and protection for your skin.

Enjoy your shaves!
Thank you StewB, i share your opinion about the KCG i think it be quite mild and not a bad razor at all, but for now, seeing as my skin is still in repair mode having been mauled foil technology my "cunning" plan is to have a go with the oneblade and let my skin heal up a bit, i still have some redness and the consequences from removing whiteheads in the worst way possible (tissue and squeeze), then i'll hopefully heal up enough to try and return to DE...
Just to reiterate i had a full house from the Andis, irritation, redness, and after 3 days white heads (which i kinda tore off my face, i really dislike them, makes me look like a 17 year old, and i don't have the physique of adolescent anymore, not by a long shot)...
back to wet shaving, i'd be very open to giving straight's a chance, i can buy a razor here (proper straight not the shavette things with replaceable blades) but i cannot get a strop, so i might be heading to Slovenia on vacay, and they have pretty much everything one can need in terms of essentials, if my skin is up to it in june i very well might try straights...
Thanks again StewB!
Regards
 
just a little addendum, i intended on shaving last night for the first time with the oneblade i bought a few days back after having returned the andis profoil lithium, this is quite exciting for me seeing as i believe i have tried all available tech (do forgive me for using this term on a forum of this refinement but i really am talking about the technology in question used to cut hair...) save the onefoil i have also not tried using a straight myself but have been shaved by one for over half a year once a week, having shaved myself with a DE i have concluded that that barber was simply not good at shaving, anyway, i have not managed to shave myself last night as my wife had occupied the bathroom (even thought we have two bathrooms she opted for the larger with my shaving utensils in it...of course :) ) for over an hour, when she did leave the bathroom, i was half asleep so i opted out of that idea, i was going to try the OB (oneblade) on a three day beard because i have shaved with a DE after three days and also with the butcher that is the profoil, kind of an attempt at amateur testing...my beard after three days is barely visible so of course i was concerned that the OB wouldn't cut close enough specially having read some reviews of it online...however, some others commented that they got shaves that rivalled blades?! go figure huh

i am counting on my puny beard and the Universe to restore balance and grant me a good shave when i eventually manage to enter my own bathroom lol

a little side note, having watched numerous videos on shaving by geofatboy i was quite sure that he was from New York but it turns out he is from Chicago, i made my presumption based upon his accent, alas, i have never been to the US but if i do go i'll try and visit Chicago and visit his shop, schedule a shave even...

all the best everyone :)
 
Welcome!!! When I first started using a DE razor I had a little irritation for a few weeks. I also wasn't really focused on achieving a baby smooth result but more on my form and taking things slow.

After about a month, I found the right angle, speed, and directions to shave my face. I didn't go against the grain until I felt that my technique was really good. I would do one pass with the grain, the second pass across the grain, and the last pass with the grain again.

This worked really well for me. Stick with it and everything will improve. Patience is key.
 
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