New to the world of wet-shaving? Grab a desk and be seated! Welcome to SMFU: A place to learn and compare notes about the ABC's of wet shaving. From brushes to creams, razors and more...We've got it all!
What are the disappointing results? Not very close?
Personally I'd not use a scrub before shaving as I find it makes my skin more prone to irritation but YMMV.
You are using excellent creams so your lather should be fine (presuming you know how to build a good one?)
I'd steer clear of the feathers until you get a strong grasp of what you are doing. Otherwise you risk making mincemeat out of your face.
As far as pressure and angle goes:
Pressure: The only pressure should be the weight of the razor against your face. The HD is the perfect razor to learn this with.
Hold the razor lightly but firmly (i.e. so it wont fall out of your hand but not hard like you would use a wallpaper scraper).
Rest the razor against your face. This is how much pressure to use.
Angle: Finding the right angle is a personal thing. The whole 'turn the razor until the blade touches your skin' never worked for me.
My method would be:
Place the razor vertically against your face.
Take a stroke.
Lift the handle of the razor slightly.
Stroke.
Gradually increase the angle and do a stroke every time until the razor is at about a 45 degree angle.
Somewhere in between vertical and 45 degrees you will find the angle that offers the best cut for you without slicing your face open or causing razor burn.
Place the razor horizontally against your face.
Risky wrote:
My method would be:
Place the razor vertically against your face.
Take a stroke.
Lift the handle of the razor slightly.
Stroke.
Gradually increase the angle and do a stroke every time until the razor is at about a 45 degree angle.
Somewhere in between vertical and 45 degrees you will find the angle that offers the best cut for you without slicing your face open or causing razor burn.
Place the razor horizontally against your face.
I'm a bit confused by this. What do you mean "place the razor vertically against your face"? Do you mean the handle is perpendicular to the skin? If so, wouldn't you mean "lower the handle of the razor slightly", rather than "lift"?
- Tim - "You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."
Yes, use NO pressure, and take 2 or 3 passes with the grain / against the grain etc. to get a close shave. Lather between passes of course. I'm still new at this myself but there is a wealth of information here and that's where I learned how to do this properly.
Please take it easy on the 'all caps'. Getting your shave close should not be or first priority when learning about wet shaving. First, you need to get a comfortable shave without pain or irritation. It takes time to develop your technique, your face to heal for your previous method, and for your face to adapt to wet shaving.
I think the NO pressure is not quite right - I think that I get a very good BBS shave with onle two passes - wtg and atg and thats all
But, I do put a little pressure , it something you just get used to know after you get the right angle and so on
Now days I feel I really am a PRO when using a DE, so I know where to put more pressure and when not
and only now when I DO put a little pressure I get the BBS I want
What I want to say is, don't use pressure at all!!! but, after a month or more, you can try and put a little more
Take the razor hold it at a ninety degree angle to your face and parallel to the floor. Cut that angle in half that should be a thirty degree angle. Thats approximatly the angle that you need. The pressure, as others have said - NO DOWNWARD PRESSURE AT ALL - I repeat for emphasis NO DOWNWARD PRESSURE. The blade should sort of skim over the surface of your skin.
The HD is an excellent razor. Myself I preferr something a bit less weighty in my hands. I tend to preferr the Super Speed. I did a poll sometime ago to see what the most popular razor is, and the Super Speed barely edged out the HD. HD is a great razor, but I tend to preferr the Super Speed.
Risky wrote:
My method would be:
Place the razor vertically against your face.
Take a stroke.
Lift the handle of the razor slightly.
Stroke.
Gradually increase the angle and do a stroke every time until the razor is at about a 45 degree angle.
Somewhere in between vertical and 45 degrees you will find the angle that offers the best cut for you without slicing your face open or causing razor burn.
Place the razor horizontally against your face.
I'm a bit confused by this. What do you mean "place the razor vertically against your face"? Do you mean the handle is perpendicular to the skin? If so, wouldn't you mean "lower the handle of the razor slightly", rather than "lift"?
I meant hold it so the handle is parallel to your face. In hindsight this is unnecessary as someone else pointed out, hold the razor handle parallel to the floor and halve it.
WELCOME TO THE FORUM. And as you can see, there are many varied answers to your questions and rightfully so.
And here's my two cents worth. First, two weeks is not a very long time so don't be frustrated. It takes time and patience to learn the "technique" of DE shaving.
Second, equipment and shaving products play a major role in the quality of shave "AND" it is usually a preference issue. You have a very good set. Some hate the Merkur razor blades (I like them) most really like the Feather razor blades "BUT" for a person new to wet shaving they can be a little aggressive as they are very sharp.
I believe Micheal (Leisure Guy) and Tim (nodaktim) gave you some good advice and I would follow it. Look at Mantics videos, order the sample pack from LetterK and read the thread Tim has in his post. And most important...TAKE YOUR TIME.
If you have any more questions please ask.
And as always...
Enjoy your shave...
Best Regards From the Deep South...
Remember; It's Not A Race, It's Your Face...
And As Always, Enjoy Your Shave...
(Racso) Oscar...
I'VE BEEN USING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
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