******* The Official Manly Shaving Thread *******

Don't know what's wrong with me but recently when shaving with my DB89 i'm starting to nick myself a few times even though i'm doing everything the same. :confused:

Anyone else had this? Nicked my upper lip pretty bad a couple of days ago and got a thin, line like scab across it. I need to shave tomorrow but i'm scared now haha.
 
Skin changes. Maybe there is a bit of a lump, or tough skin, from regular shaving that you have nicked? I get that sometimes as well as the odd spot under the skin.
 
+1 for Proraso Red.
Bluebeards Revenge pre shave oil first and then lather straight to face.
Blade seems mostly unimportant but have a preference for Gillette 7 o'clocks.
 
Robot Dog said:
They do looking interesting to use. I've never used anyone of them before and electic shavers kind of appear in the back of my mind.
Click to expand...

How did my phone change thread to bread?! Everyone I know that has tried a safety razor hasn't gone back. They are cheap, beautiful, kinder to your skin and very effective. There is a lot of information on this thread's first page on this stuff - worth a read. :)
 
I did a back-to-back today between the 34C (using a Gillette 7 O'clock this time) and my old ProGlide (with new cartridge). One side of the face and neck each. 2 passes for the safety razor, once with grain and once going across it. Sadly the side where I used the ProGlide is much, much smoother - no different to look at initially, but a vastly different feel.

I'll certainly keep using the safety razor for now, but do I have a dilemma in the future? To pay the ridiculous price for the ProGlide cartridges, or deal with a slightly worse shave?
 
You need a three pass shave with a de safety razor. One with the grain one against and one left to right strokes for a proper smooth finish. I use shave oil so I can see there is not a single hair left anywhere it's usually the south to north strokes that get my cheeks baby smooth. Without the 3 pass technique you will miss too many hairs and the shave will not feel as close as one with a cartridge Gillette etc. Check this video to see what I mean.

 
Interestingly the barbershop videos I've seen suggest not to shave against the grain. With and across it, but not against.

In the past I have shaved against the grain, but I couldn't do it around the chin or nose as it just irritated the skin too much. I tried it with the safety razor under the chin, and interestingly I can't do against the grain there - I've tried it, but it just feels like it's ripping the hairs rather than cutting them.
 
Proglides give me a smoother shave with the grain compared to a WTG and XTG 2 pass with my razor, but either of them against the grain causes ingrown hairs, and I do think the cost savings over Proglides are worth it for a slightly inferior shave.

On the plus side, many months of practice has seen my proper shave reduce to only marginally more time consuming than the Proglide shave.
 
Continuing on my adventures into the world of manliness, last night I tried the Treet Platinum Super Stainless blade from the sample pack.

Poor cut. While very forgiving (not the slightest chance of a nick), it yielded a poor cut. While the Derby blades and the Gillette 7 o'clocks both gave an acceptable cut with 2 passes, the Treet blade didn't exactly get down low, even after 3 passes in places.

Given the ease of cut they might be a good choice if you want a shave but aren't going anywhere, or maybe if you need a quick shave if you've not had a chance to do your usual prep (hot shower or bath in my case), but not if going anywhere and actually care.

Now, am I brave enough to try a feather at the weekend?
 
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Latest upgrade is a new shaving brush that I got for father's day. Donor is featured on the left <3!

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It's a large Edwin Jagger super badger. The brush on the left is my very old Crabtree & Evelyn boar and bristle. Well past its best.
 
Ok, so i'm sick of my face being ripped apart by my Gillette razor and was looking into DE razors, for example merkur. Are these any good? What do the numbers mean, like 33c, 34c or whatever? Which should I be looking at?
 
Merkur are one of the best brand of razor, they are German engineered and generally of good quality. Gillette also made DE razors, but for beginners you are best to stick with a standard Merkur or Edwin Jagger. The numbers and letters of the merkurs just refer to the handle and head design. The 34C is regarded as a good start point for any beginner. Check out my OP in this thread :)
 
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