New to the forum as well...

[Austinoire]

Hi guys,

My is Tom and I'm from Houston, Texas. I'm new to wet shaving. Like most guys we've seen our father's and grandfather's DES and said those won't work in modern times. I was also afraid of slicing my throat open only with DEs, not multiple blades. I like a lot of guys own almost ten multiblades from over the years. But, they all just seem to find their way to the back of a drawer or box-still finding handles and those oh, so expense blades. I actually have been dealing with irritation for my whole shaving life. So, I've regressed to older more established manly arts, with the use of a single BIC disposable.

I arrived here by watching videos on wet shaving. I got to wet shaving from being on a cigar forum (also a newbie there 5 mths) when one of the members was giving away a razor/toothbrush stand. He sent the stand, a few DE blades and some cigars. I realized that the offer of the blades was his mistaken impression that I was a wet shaver. The key turning point was when I mentioned I was interested in how wet shaving worked and what would I need to do to experiment with wet shaving. He gave me a fistful of good advice and I decided to move forward. The only issue was I knew as much about wet shaving as a Martian. So, I went to YouTube and watched 20+ videos on wet shaving and it demystified it by watching guys hold detailed engaging conversations into a camera while wet shaving like a banshee. I was like ok, I know they are vets, and out of all of these "just do it" videos, only one guy nicked himself twice-I was sold.

So, being a college student I honestly could not afford a blade over $20. I was also warned not to get my razor from a drug store, Target, Walmart or As Seen On TV. Suprisingly, it was hard finding a new razor in my city. I went online and even the scratch and dent stuff was out of my price range. So I had to go local and nobody but Target had a razor-truth. A Van Der Hagen, which I wasn't sold on due to the short handle and how common it was. I also wanted options, but finding nothing locally, I had to reassess my plan for attack. I actually watched more videos, did online research (badgerandblade always came up when I requested reviews) to find bargin razor. I passed on ordering any thing from Asia. I had seen countless DE razors in thrift/resale stores over the last few years and passed over them because they were relics.

So, I found out that Sally's Beauty Supply carried a Shave Factory DE Safety razor. Which, when I compared side by side with the VDH, did look much different. It was $12.99 which was under my price point-hooray, and it wasn't reviewed to badly-remember, this is just an experiment. I have had brushes and pucks over the years, but they seemed pretentious using a Gillette 6 blade razor, so I tossed them-I was so lost, maybe even bat shit crazy. I actually want to go and shave, but after watching more videos I'm going to wait a few days to watch more videos and will pick up a discount brush and soap set I saw at Burlington that was under $8. I then will have the necessary basics, except for a syptic stick or alum block. I'm always a value shopper, so wet shaving like cigars can be expensive endeavor, but like golf (which I gave up after 2 weeks) I realized, this wet shaving experiment could be done in a week after starting-so not trying to break the bank with expensive or pricey products.

I hope you guys don't judge me adversely for being a value shopper when it comes to my wet shaving experience, so far. But, I actually would like to graduate to a straight razor eventually, but baby steps.

I look forward to learning more about wet shaving and meeting great people on this journey, along with a better shaving experience than I had so far.

[fallingwickets]

welcome to smf. other more astute members will help you with brushes and razors etc, but while here I would just like to ease your mind on one small matter: Shaving is a totally personal matter and there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with mixing stuff up, for instance brushes / and or / soaps creams with modern razors or vice versa. Tons of members here at smf do it all the time with fantastic results to boot

again, welcome and hope to see more of you

clive

[brothers]

Good morning Tom! Thanks for joining us here at SMF.

[pausted]

Hi Tom. Welcome to the forum! You will learn a lot here and, hopefully, have many of your questions answered.

[ShadowsDad]

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum. Value shaver? What's wrong with that? Many of us came to blade shaving for that very reason, so you aren't alone.

I'm going to venture a guess and state that a small % of blade shavers use a straight razor. You can if you want to, but there's no rule that says one must progress to anything. There's at least one gent here who uses soaps and brushes and a cartridge. Whatever floats your boat and gets the job done works and we won't hold it against you (for very long ) .

Too, since you're on a budget, there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying vintage razors. They can be cleaned up and after a few days anything that one might be afraid of the the razor "carrying" has died. Of course one should know what to look for. You started with DE, but there are also SE razors and many of us think that they are far superior. Again, it's what works for you and no one can predict what will.

[CMur12]

Hi Tom, welcome to SMF!

I'm not familiar with the razor, brush, and soap you referenced, but they will probably give you a good start. If the brush is made of boar bristle, it will require some breaking in to get to its best.

It sounds like you have sensitive skin, as do I, so a milder razor would probably be best. A mild Chinese Weishi razor, a vintage Gillette (Tech or Super Speed), or a new Merkur Progress on its lowest setting would all be good.

When you decide to wield a DE razor, use very light touch (we typically say "the weight of the razor only") and be attentive to the angle of the blade. With a mild razor, there isn't much risk of scraping. It will either cut or it won't. The safety bar of the razor should not be resting against the skin; it should be raised slightly from the skin. Generally speaking, when I have doubts about the angle, I rock it ever-so-slightly towards the dome of the razor.

Glad to have you join us. It sounds like it's time for you to break out the razor and start getting some first-hand experience.

- Murray

[Squire]

Welcome aboard Tom, this is a good place to visit. Ask any questions you like no matter how basic they may seem, everybody here had to start somewhere.

[dwald]

Hi Tom,

I'm also new to this forum. I'd like to give you some encouragement while introducing myself a bit.

After starting with Bics about 1980, I endured electric misery (thinking a shaver would be more convenient for college), then decided to try what I considered a "proper" razor, a safety razor liked Dad had used prior to being lured by Trac II.

I really clicked with my 1984 Gillette Super Speed, Spoiler blades, and (*gasp*) Barbasol, which even coped well with semi-weekly mowings of the designer stubble that I briefly affected ("Miami Vice" era). I wasn't happy to move on to "improved" shave technology after acceptable DE blades got impossible to find around 1990 (maybe I didn't look hard enough).

So, I think you'll be fine. It is a matter of gliding lightly at the right angle, which intuitively improves. Getting back into all this a few years ago has been enjoyable.

[CMur12]

Welcome to SMF, dwald! It sounds like you already know your way around a blade!

- Murray

[ShadowsDad]

Welcome to the forum dwald!

You're off to an excellent start. Your first post and it contains quality information, I don't think I've ever seen that before. (thumbs up emoticon goes here)

[malocchio]

TOM.......Don't worry , we all started out not knowing much.Actually the tutorial videos on youtube are great for a beginner Tom , so don't be afraid to try several different techniques...Lots of good info on the forum,so enjoy the fun !

[jww]

Welcome to SMF, Tom.

I think you'll find us a friendly and helpful bunch of gents --- if we are a tad biased in our shaving methods and chosen products .....

[GA Russell]

Welcome Tom!