WhiskerLess DE Shaving Journey

[WhiskerLess]

I started my DE shaving journey on 14th of March 2024 after many years of using cartridge (Gillette Fusion 5).
Thinking that using 5 blades at once will give me a BBS shave.

Good thing I finally got a wakeup call.



I always enjoy wet shaving, that feeling of having a “ME” time, all alone pampering yourself.

So after a couple of watching YouTube videos, research and browsing, I come across to this BB forum.
I immediately got swayed by lots of good advice.

So being so excited and newbie, I immediately place my Amazon order to kick off my start.
Like many others, I bought a lot more than what I need. Hey, who doesn’t right?

So please allow me to log it here hoping that I am off to a good start.


Razor:
Rockwell 6S, using R4 plate



Blades:
Rockwell Swedish stainless Steel razor – 5 pcs free
Astra SP, ordered 100 pcs. immediately which I should have not done. ( I know, too late should bought a starter pack)
After realizing this mistake, ordered another 3 sets of different stater blade packs.



Stand:
Rockwell shave stand gun metal chrome



Brushes:
Rockwell synthetic shave brush – 20mm
Parker premium 3 band pure badger brush



Shaving creams:
Rockwell barbershop shaving cream
TOBS Sandalwood shaving cream
Proraso green shaving cream


Pre Shave:
Proraso green pre shave conditioning cream


After Shave:
Proraso green after shave balm
Nivea post shave balm

Others:
Osma alum block


So far I have done 2 shaves since I started and got to admit I shed blood.
Got few nicks and weepers here & there which I’m sure is all because of my poor skills.
It made me realize that DE shaving vs cartridge for many years is totally different.

But I am also happy that I felt really good to achieve DFS if not a BBS, I can tell it’s a better shave for sure.
Anyways I have a very strong resolve and in time I will also master the art of shaving.


Happy shaving everyone !!!

 

[Guido75]

Welcome to B&B! And the journal section! Feel free to ask away if needed. Great resources to get you started are:

The Wanderer's Guide To DE Shaving

Part One I was self taught with a DE razor 25 years ago, and had to figure out a lot of things the hard way. I learned a lot of things over the years, but wish there had been an experienced DE shaver who could have taught me the basics early on. This guide is offered so that you can get to...

www.badgerandblade.com

and

My lathering technique with Italian soft soaps

Lately I've seen that some B&B members are having issues regarding how to create a good lather with Italian soft soaps. And I have personally received several PMs regarding this subject, with many asking me what kind of lathering technique I actually use. Here is a simple tutorial for new wet...

www.badgerandblade.com

The best “technique” to remember is NO pressure! which is different from using carts.

Enjoy your progress!!

Guido

 

[Eric_75]

Welcome to B & B! As I always say, I don't have my own journal but I'm a regular around these parts.

 

[blethenstrom]

Welcome to B&B! We are so glad you decided to join us here.

I have been DE shaving for a little over a year and like you said it is me time. It is relaxing, but of course there is a learning curve as you have already found out. Here are a few pointers.
1. Like mentioned earlier coming from cartridges. Very very very light pressure while you shave.
2. Try to map your growing pattern for your whiskers. They grow in all kinds of various directions on your face. This way you know which direction that is WTG (with-the-grain), XTG (across-the-grain), ATG (against-the-grain).
3. Do not start out aiming for BBS. Start just with a WTG pass and once you have mastered that meaning without irritation add another pass and so on. Now there are many that do not tolerate ATG passes so if that happens to you do not be alarmed
4. Your skin needs to get accustomed to DE shaving. Even though you came from cartridge shaving DE shaving is different and your skin needs to get used to DE shaving. This can take 30-60 days depending on how often you shave.
5. Do not switch products too much in the beginning. Try to stay with one razor, blade, soap for a period of time to get used to the mechanics of DE shaving. Besides you will have a hard time to evaluate different products until you have a bit of skill under your belt.
6. Have fun! This is the most important.

Hang in there. Seems like that will be the easy part for you. Again welcome to B&B!

 

[huck1680]

Welcome! Remember wet shaving is mostly technique. Get your beard map figured out and just keep shaving and working on technique. It will come to you grasshopper.

 

[thombrogan]

Welcome to the Forum, @WhiskerLess !

Thank you for sharing your journal with us. I can’t wait to read how your shaves improve over the coming months

 

[cajunrph]

Welcome, and I second and third all the advice above. This is a deep rabbit hole, so pace yourself. Like yourself, I started with a Rockewll, 6C in my case. You have good creams and pre-shave, and many like the Astra blades, you may as well. I'd stick to what you have and learn the process of wet shaving. Cuts and nicks are common when learning the proper angle and pressure. Don't get discouraged, press on, and before you know it, you'll be achieving the best shaves of your life.

 

[Balin]

Welcome to B&B! I look forward to keeping up with your journal!

 

[WhiskerLess]

Welcome to B&B! And the journal section! Feel free to ask away if needed. Great resources to get you started are:

The Wanderer's Guide To DE Shaving

Part One I was self taught with a DE razor 25 years ago, and had to figure out a lot of things the hard way. I learned a lot of things over the years, but wish there had been an experienced DE shaver who could have taught me the basics early on. This guide is offered so that you can get to...

www.badgerandblade.com

and

My lathering technique with Italian soft soaps

Lately I've seen that some B&B members are having issues regarding how to create a good lather with Italian soft soaps. And I have personally received several PMs regarding this subject, with many asking me what kind of lathering technique I actually use. Here is a simple tutorial for new wet...

www.badgerandblade.com

The best “technique” to remember is NO pressure! which is different from using carts.

Enjoy your progress!!

Guido

Thanks for link and will take note of that "NO pressure".

 

[WhiskerLess]

3rd shave today 20 Mar 2024.

Excited to go home after work and had my dinner early.
Prep my stuff soak my shaving brush into warm water and went straight to shower.
Splash my self with warm water, apply pre shave while I lather my TOBS sandalwood.

Alas I was so surprise my lathering was better than before. Did my skills improved?
Maybe it was the TOBS being better than the previous Rockwell cream, I really am not sure.

Next I paint brush my face, grab my 6S plate R4.

Started shaving 1st pass WTG.
No pressure applied, all went well and rinse my face with warm water again.
Bravo I told to myself.

Re applied soap for 2nd pass, XTG.
All going well not until I tried to shave my mustache right side of the face.
I forgot to puff my face and angle of the 6S is off.
BAM !!! I nick my face with the corner of the blade which is protruding on the side cap of 6S.

Crap that hurts - breath IN breath OUT, tried to recomposed myself.

Re applied soap again 3rd pass, same plate R4 no swapping ATG.
I really enjoy doing ATG even when I was doing cartridge before.

Wash my face again and try to feel the skin.
I felt some roughness in my beard, hmmm let me apply a little soap and clean it up.
I got carried away, 3x consecutive scrapping and OUCH !!! I felt that is that what you call burn???

STOPPED IT. I yelled to myself and decided to call it quits.
Rinse myself with cold water and applied after shave.

Overall not a good shave today, another nick and too much scrapping.

Still looking forward for my next shave though.

Happy shaving to all.

 

[blethenstrom]

3rd shave today 20 Mar 2024.

Excited to go home after work and had my dinner early.
Prep my stuff soak my shaving brush into warm water and went straight to shower.
Splash my self with warm water, apply pre shave while I lather my TOBS sandalwood.

Alas I was so surprise my lathering was better than before. Did my skills improved?
Maybe it was the TOBS being better than the previous Rockwell cream, I really am not sure.

Next I paint brush my face, grab my 6S plate R4.

Started shaving 1st pass WTG.
No pressure applied, all went well and rinse my face with warm water again.
Bravo I told to myself.

Re applied soap for 2nd pass, XTG.
All going well not until I tried to shave my mustache right side of the face.
I forgot to puff my face and angle of the 6S is off.
BAM !!! I nick my face with the corner of the blade which is protruding on the side cap of 6S.

Crap that hurts - breath IN breath OUT, tried to recomposed myself.

Re applied soap again 3rd pass, same plate R4 no swapping ATG.
I really enjoy doing ATG even when I was doing cartridge before.

Wash my face again and try to feel the skin.
I felt some roughness in my beard, hmmm let me apply a little soap and clean it up.
I got carried away, 3x consecutive scrapping and OUCH !!! I felt that is that what you call burn???

STOPPED IT. I yelled to myself and decided to call it quits.
Rinse myself with cold water and applied after shave.

Overall not a good shave today, another nick and too much scrapping.

Still looking forward for my next shave though.

Happy shaving to all.

Forgot to include this recommendation and should have in my previous post.

7. Know when to stop. This is the most difficult of the recommendations of them all. We want the BBS shave, but deep inside we know that if we continue we will cause irritation, weepers and even cuts and nicks. Quit while you are ahead.

Yep we do get carried away and bad things happen. At least it seems like you are bouncing back after those burns and nicks. Please heal up quickly and get back in that saddle!

 

[WhiskerLess]

Forgot to include this recommendation and should have in my previous post.

7. Know when to stop. This is the most difficult of the recommendations of them all. We want the BBS shave, but deep inside we know that if we continue we will cause irritation, weepers and even cuts and nicks. Quit while you are ahead.

Yep we do get carried away and bad things happen. At least it seems like you are bouncing back after those burns and nicks. Please heal up quickly and get back in that saddle!

Thanks.
Really appreciate all the pointers and helping me out get accustom to DE shaving.

 

[cajunrph]

Don't be too hard on yourself, knowing when to stop is one of the hurdles we have to jump over in our journey. I sometimes fall back into chasing BBS and get irritated as well. It is all part of the wonderful journey of learning to wet shave. Before you know it, you will have a string of fantastic shaves, and irritations and cuts will be the rarity, not the norm. Best of luck going forward.

 

[WhiskerLess]

Hmmm interesting, I come across with this technical info (From Rockwell's website) and would just like to log it here for everyone's reference.

Breakdown of Rockwell 6S/6C blade gaps

R1: 0.008" (0.20 mm)
R2: 0.014" (0.35 mm)
R3: 0.019" (0.48 mm)
R4: 0.024" (0.61 mm)
R5: 0.027" (0.69 mm)
R6: 0.031" (0.79 mm)

 

[blethenstrom]

Hmmm interesting, I come across with this technical info (From Rockwell's website) and would just like to log it here for everyone's reference.

Breakdown of Rockwell 6S/6C blade gaps

R1: 0.008" (0.20 mm)
R2: 0.014" (0.35 mm)
R3: 0.019" (0.48 mm)
R4: 0.024" (0.61 mm)
R5: 0.027" (0.69 mm)
R6: 0.031" (0.79 mm)

Hmmm Is that gap or exposure I wonder? It would have been great if they listed both.

 

[Guido75]

Hmmm Is that gap or exposure I wonder? It would have been great if they listed both.

This is the blade gap. See for example the post by @rreynoso :

Rockwell 6C Settings

The head on my my Edwin Jagger DL89 sheared off whilst fitting a new blade?? so I decided to go for a new razor. Looking at the B&B threads the Rockwell 6C got good reviews. My first shave was straight out of the box at setting 3 with Persona Med and Santa Maria Novella soap - I can't remember...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[WhiskerLess]

Shave no. 4
23 March 2024

Swapped to plate 3 since my face is still trying to recover from my last shave.
Maybe I should stick with this plate for now, very comfortable shave I had so far.
I really took extra caution trying to avoid mistakes.
3 pass WTG, XTG & ATG using proraso cream green tube this time (my first time using it)

Very satisfied all went well, no nicks or irritation and BBS I could say.
Definitely boost my confidence today.

I wasn't expecting but my Astra SP at 4th shave still could cut smooth without tugging.
Not sure if using different soap every shave is a contributing factor.
Trying to monitor its life cycle before I replace it.

Will stick to this brand until I get used to proper DE shaving techniques.
Only then will I try my blade sampler pack to properly know the difference.

Happy shaving everyone.

 

[blethenstrom]

Shave no. 4
23 March 2024

Swapped to plate 3 since my face is still trying to recover from my last shave.
Maybe I should stick with this plate for now, very comfortable shave I had so far.
I really took extra caution trying to avoid mistakes.
3 pass WTG, XTG & ATG using proraso cream green tube this time (my first time using it)

Very satisfied all went well, no nicks or irritation and BBS I could say.
Definitely boost my confidence today.

I wasn't expecting but my Astra SP at 4th shave still could cut smooth without tugging.
Not sure if using different soap every shave is a contributing factor.
Trying to monitor its life cycle before I replace it.

Will stick to this brand until I get used to proper DE shaving techniques.
Only then will I try my blade sampler pack to properly know the difference.

Happy shaving everyone.

Way to go! Sounds like you had a great shave.

 

[WhiskerLess]

Shave no. 5
27 March 2024

Took a warm shower and did my usual prep, soap of the day back to Rockwell's Barbershop.
Happy to share that it was another great shave.
I feel more confident than my last 4 shaves.

I tried ATG on my 1st pass.
I'm not sure why but I always like ATG, guess old habit and I get better result doing this.
I read a few post here in B&B that some few others like me prefer to do ATG on 1st pass.
Probably because its just a 3 day growth and I have a light facial hair compare to others.

2nd pass is XTG and some clean up.
Wow BBS and don't even had the need to do 3rd pass which is less irritation.

My Astra SP blade on its 5th shave still gave me a smooth with no tugging / dragging feel like.
I want to push more just to see how far it can go but I guess it has serve me more than it was suppose to.

BTW, in just 2 weeks I got infected with (CAD) Cream Acquisition Disorder too.
Just placed another order of 2 TOBS cream, Jermyn St. and Eton College to add into my rotation.
I can't wait to try them, I'm even thinking of trying soap instead of cream.

As always - Happy shaving everyone.

 

[blethenstrom]

Shave no. 5
27 March 2024

Took a warm shower and did my usual prep, soap of the day back to Rockwell's Barbershop.
Happy to share that it was another great shave.
I feel more confident than my last 4 shaves.

I tried ATG on my 1st pass.
I'm not sure why but I always like ATG, guess old habit and I get better result doing this.
I read a few post here in B&B that some few others like me prefer to do ATG on 1st pass.
Probably because its just a 3 day growth and I have a light facial hair compare to others.

2nd pass is XTG and some clean up.
Wow BBS and don't even had the need to do 3rd pass which is less irritation.

My Astra SP blade on its 5th shave still gave me a smooth with no tugging / dragging feel like.
I want to push more just to see how far it can go but I guess it has serve me more than it was suppose to.

BTW, in just 2 weeks I got infected with (CAD) Cream Acquisition Disorder too.
Just placed another order of 2 TOBS cream, Jermyn St. and Eton College to add into my rotation.
I can't wait to try them, I'm even thinking of trying soap instead of cream.

As always - Happy shaving everyone.

You might be a case for the "ATG All the Time!" club OP'd by our resident linguist @thombrogan.
¡ATG All the Time! - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/atg-all-the-time.638253/
I have tried ATG on the first pass and that is a big fat no on my part. Did not work for me, but hey if it works for you great. Do what works.