The Manly Shaving Thread

spaceman · 16 Aug 2012 at 11:09

My Weber Bulldog DLC turned up yesterday, a nice hefty razor. the shave last night was super smooth with an indian wilkinson sword saloon pack blade.

.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Problems is with my neck. Half way down my neck the grain turns the opposite way and it seems to cut me in lots of little dots which results in a rash. I only used normal Gillette shaving jel so is that why?

If you put zero pressure on the razor, you shouldn't get any weepers, that is if the little dots are blood.

[FnG]magnolia · 16 Aug 2012 at 11:22

Taking that further, you shouldn't be applying any pressure to your face/neck at all. Let the weight of the razor and the sharpness of the blade do the work for you.

.:SAmSuNG:. · 16 Aug 2012 at 13:05

Should any type blade be decent enough? I got the selection of 4 or 5 different blades from shaving shack. Didn't want to use the feathers yet as heard there not the best for beginners.

CatMangler · 16 Aug 2012 at 13:41

Dont worry about the reputation of feathers m8. They were the last of the set of blades in my starter pack too, Derby, Wilkinson, Israeli and feather. Same as you I was concerned that I would remove most of my face. Sharp yes but far from unusable.

That said they have been the best I've used thus far, infact I'm looking at ordering a bunch more.

MADMAN · 16 Aug 2012 at 23:28

is there a better way of shaving body hair without dieing of blood loss via a razer ?

The Halk · 16 Aug 2012 at 23:53

I don't understand why you're getting cut so much.

I cut myself in three ways

When I completely lose track of what I'm doing and hit my face with the razor (yes I've done that once. Literally thumped it off my chin and left a nice little score there for a couple of days)
When I run over a spot
When I repeatedly do the same area even though it should be clear to me that the blade isn't sharp enough, or I'm not pulling my skin taught or I've not lathered up.

All of those go away with the alum block, none of them are anything more than a mild annoyance and they all go away in a couple of days.

Are you preparing your stubble properly Madman? I'm of the opinion that success is down to both the razor and the cream/oil/whatever you use.

lucy_bee · 17 Aug 2012 at 05:50

MADMAN said:
is there a better way of shaving body hair without dieing of blood loss via a razer ?

For the easy and inexpensive way, you can't beat spray-on veet. Spray it on, leave it for 5 minutes then jump in a lukewarm bath and use some exfoliating gloves to get rid of the hair.

Failing that, for longer-lasting results, professional wax at a salon. It'll sting like crazy but the results are more than worth it

Zatoichi.uK · 17 Aug 2012 at 07:08

Having gone through LOTS of creams, soaps and sticks etc. from varying brands and prices and can say that my personal favourites are:

Truefitt & Hill Lime Shaving Cream
Geo Trumpers Coconut Oil Cream
Proraso Menthol Cream

If you're in the market for aftershave balm the Truefitt & Hill stuff is amazing too. £27 a pop though it should be!

[FnG]magnolia · 17 Aug 2012 at 07:24

.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Should any type blade be decent enough? I got the selection of 4 or 5 different blades from shaving shack. Didn't want to use the feathers yet as heard there not the best for beginners.

Try them all and see what works for you. Israeli blades are good and Feathers are excellent (IMO). Don't worry about starting with Feathers as they will be fine as long as you're considerate of what you're doing. Preparation is key and will make a huge difference to your shave. Don't be put off by your first attempts either; we've all gone through the 'whoops, I appear to be an extra in a horror movie' initiation. Take your time, never press the razor (this takes time to unlearn), and pay attention to what you're doing.

Let us know how it goes.

CatMangler · 17 Aug 2012 at 09:43

The Halk said:
When I completely lose track of what I'm doing and hit my face with the razor (yes I've done that once. Literally thumped it off my chin and left a nice little score there for a couple of days)

haha did that the first time with a brand new Israeli, banged the razor on my top lip just under my nose. Had been using derby's previously and would have got away with it.

Took "bloody" ages to stop the bleeding :eek:

Deleted member 77746 · 17 Aug 2012 at 10:03

I havn't shaved for 2 weeks, I feel dirty

I wanted to try something.

.:SAmSuNG:. · 17 Aug 2012 at 10:50

Ok had another shave last night.

Showered first.
Changed blade to a feather.
lots of shaving gel.
No pressure
Nivia after shave balm.

My face is a lot less irritated today and maybe got 1 tiny nick. Going to stick with feathers now i think.

[FnG]magnolia · 17 Aug 2012 at 11:01

.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Ok had another shave last night.

Showered first.
Changed blade to a feather.
lots of shaving gel.
No pressure
Nivia after shave balm.

My face is a lot less irritated today and maybe got 1 tiny nick. Going to stick with feathers now i think.

Good work

There are many cheaper and significantly better balms than the Nivia one but that's excellent that it's working out for you.

The Halk · 17 Aug 2012 at 19:13

It may seem counter-intuitive, but the sharper the blade the less cuts and abrasion you'll get.

.:SAmSuNG:. · 17 Aug 2012 at 19:22

Yea im pretty happy with the feathers. Is there anywhere you can buy them really cheap in bulk? Say 50 or 100?

Going to order this come payday i think.

The Halk · 17 Aug 2012 at 19:34

If you can get them just under 20p each then you're doing about as good as you can.

The two best choices I found were the shop you're using, or from Thailand on eBay.

The shop you're using will do 100+10 feathers for £24. Postage on top of that unless you're buying something to take you over £40. You can get 8% cashback on Quidco on top of that and you get shave points which work out to about 6.7% of the pre-cashback figure.

All in that comes to 0.1867042424 per blade. (assuming they only give shave points on complete £ spent and you qualify for free delivery).

eBay I can find 100 for £18.99, coming from Thailand. The only cashback I can find is through Nectar which is 0.5%. (1 nectar point per £1) which is 9p in total which makes them a touch more expensive than shave shack.

Maybe there's a cheaper way. I'm not aware of one. However if you're buying 100 of them it'll last you months, so saving a couple of quid over a few months isn't really worth the effort.

Housey · 17 Aug 2012 at 19:59

This thread has caused an addiction, who do I sue?

RomanNose · 17 Aug 2012 at 20:16

Housey said:
This thread has caused an addiction, who do I sue?

Same.
I am still using my derby's from Christmas

and I still have half the packet left.
I think I might pick up a feathers 100 pack for uni, still have half a packet of derby blades which I have been using since Christmas

.

.:SAmSuNG:. · 17 Aug 2012 at 20:20

Thanks for that. Totally forgot to check if they were on quidco.

Housey · 17 Aug 2012 at 20:31

I've got 3 shavers now, 4 different foams, 2 brushes, 10000000000 different blades.....but I still use a lid of a cotton bud box to mix my foam cuzz it's ace