Shaving and proper razors

re: the issue of razor aggressiveness, I’ve found This page which gives information… tempted by the Merkur Progress.. my cheap WS is already looking a bit feeble 😉

I received my Edwin Jagger DE89L this morning and have a face full of stubble to try it out on!

Taff – Member

I received my Edwin Jagger DE89L this morning and have a face full of stubble to try it out on!

That’s a very nice razor so do update us with your experience of trying out your first safety razor.

Remember Do Not apply pressure when shaving with safety razor as you will end up with razor burn.

Now all you need to do is to choose a double edge blade to go with it and a good blade will make the whole experience of shaving much better.

With sensitive skin you need to make sure you choose blade(s) that are most suitable for the way you shave. i.e. all of us hold the angle of shave differently so be patience with getting it right.

Another thing to consider is aftershave. A well regarded cheap aftershave is the non-alcohol Nivea Men Sensitive aftershave balm. Almost half price at Superdrug at the moment at £3 per 100ml bottle. Very good & I bought three yesterday. Very light scent and does not turn you into a girl. A very light scent that disappears after 30mins which is good.

Timor safety razor is okay but some consider it a re-brand Chinese Weishi safety razor with better finish if I can recall. A mild razor.

🙂

p/s: I won an ebay bid for a Gillette razor but the seller is still messing about for not sending the razor to me.

Re soothing the skin after a shave, I would highly recommend Original Source Soothing Shave Balm from Boots. Really nice and cooling with a light odour.

Is there a big difference in how long blades last? I don’t have a particularly heavy beard and I reckon I get about 6-8 shaves from 7 O’clocks but minimum 12 from Feathers before they are noticeably ‘draggy’. I would have thought the opposite would have been the case !

This evening has been a definite improvement over the working day. Cooked another tasty alcohol based meal and had a succesful first DE shave!

Always sworn by a Gillette Fusion and Boots no. 7 anti friction shave gel [brush applied] comba as it’s given the closest and least irritative shave. I have just had my closest shave ever, even on my neck around my voice box [known as Everest by the mrs] and not got any razor burn at all despite having to do some patches a couple of times ie chin. Prep’ed as usual and was really surprised at how easy and smooth the razor is on my skin. Only issue I ‘had’ was a small spot on my neck… problem solved now.

Really cuffed, only spent £15 on the EJ from Amazon and it came with 5 Derby Extra blades. Will still try that sample selection from eBay in any case to see what else works or doens’t work.

I used to use Nivea afterhsave balm but founjd it a bit greasy and used to have spots. Can’t remember what I used previously but I know use Boots No. 7 After Shave recovery balm. Slightly more expensive but definately worth it if you ahve really sensitive skin like me.

PS was it you who outbid me on some of those vintage superspeeds then?! I lost out on two decent looking ones.

Thanks for all the advise just wish I had known about these razors sooner

Whoever started this thread thank you.

I used a gillette poverty safty razor for years no problem with the gillette blades

BUT I tried the Muhle blades and the shave improved quite alot

So YOU SWINE I then got the bug and I bought the Muhle R89 Classic Razor
and WOW completly differant ball game, what a shave

The Muhle is a completly differant level to Mach3 etc

We do make our own soaps so the next project will be a whipped cream shaving soap with eucaliptus oil, more experimenting to come. 💡

Any other recomendations for shaving cream flavours ❓

Taff – Member

Always sworn by a Gillette Fusion and Boots no. 7 anti friction shave gel [brush applied] comba as it’s given the closest and least irritative shave. I have just had my closest shave ever, even on my neck around my voice box [known as Everest by the mrs] and not got any razor burn at all despite having to do some patches a couple of times ie chin. Prep’ed as usual and was really surprised at how easy and smooth the razor is on my skin. Only issue I ‘had’ was a small spot on my neck… problem solved now.

I use Semogue 620 boar brush (£13 including postage) and a 49p Palmolive shave stick. (I do have an expensive Kent BK8 £50 pure badger) The fun is in whipping up the lather to the right consistency which needs a bit of practising but very easy to learn. So cheap and cheerful for me there. I do face lathering but now I just grind the shave stick into a cheap bowl to make a shave soap out it just for fun. Yes, pre-shave preparation is very important and only takes me 3 mins normally and then I am ready to go.

Really cuffed, only spent £15 on the EJ from Amazon and it came with 5 Derby Extra blades. Will still try that sample selection from eBay in any case to see what else works or doens’t work.

£15 for EJ is a very good price considering their normal retail price is around £18 to £24. I have Derby blade on one of my favourite aggressive Red Tip SuperSpeed too and so far they work out rather well. Derby is a miss or hit for some but so far I have no problem.

I used to use Nivea afterhsave balm but founjd it a bit greasy and used to have spots. Can’t remember what I used previously but I know use Boots No. 7 After Shave recovery balm. Slightly more expensive but definately worth it if you ahve really sensitive skin like me.

No need to use a lot of it. Just a tiny bit will be sufficient and after that if you want you can apply another layer of aftershave etc. For some reasons my skin is a bit oily but then normal soap will dry it up badly and I found my solution in my “home made” pre-shave oil … mixing Jojoba oil with other essential oil etc. Solve the problem.

PS was it you who outbid me on some of those vintage superspeeds then?! I lost out on two decent looking ones.

I won a Superspeeds (not flare tip) for £10.16 + £1.75 delivery recently. The condition is so so with a bit of lazy silo doors but the gap is even and usable. Used it this morning and all I can say is I like SuperSpeed. It is my 5th Superspeeds (I have 2 reds, 1 black handle, 1 English flare tip and this pre-60s superspeed).

Yes, I missed out on few of the US made flare tip SuperSpeeds. English SuperSpeeds are more aggressive by comparison to the US made ones by the way. The reason for this I guess is that there were plenty of blue beards in the olde UK … 😆

I also won a gold Aristocrat for approximately £23 but the seller is messing about at the moment with no email reply etc so I shall sit and wait for another few days before I take actions.

Thanks for all the advise just wish I had known about these razors sooner

Before I started using safety razor I really hated all things related to shaving because 1) they are bloody expensive 2) they are bloody in effective 3) the company keeps advertising their 5 blades etc garbage with all those so called alpha males sport men shite. At one point I refused to buy any more of their cartridge blades that led me to prolong the use of the same blades which eventually resulted in a bloodied face. i.e bad cut. Pissed me off big time. Had to call my father for rescue so he sent me his black handle superspeed. Now, I can’t wait to have a shave.

saladdodger – Member

BUT I tried the Muhle blades and the shave improved quite alot

So YOU SWINE I then got the bug and I bought the Muhle R89 Classic Razor
and WOW completly differant ball game, what a shave

Muhle is generally well regarded so no surprise there. Enjoy.

The Muhle is a completly differant level to Mach3 etc

It is world apart in terms of shaving experience. I have never ventured beyond Sensor and even that I hated it let alone Mach3.

We do make our own soaps so the next project will be a whipped cream shaving soap with eucaliptus oil, more experimenting to come.

Any other recomendations for shaving cream flavours

Hmmm … would be interesting to see your creation.

In terms of flavours try the direction of spice i.e. cardamom, cinnamon, cloves etc but I am no expert there as I like the smell of traditional old spice. Another one perhaps is adding rose water scent but not too much.

Now, I can’t wait to have a shave.

Strange that, me too nowadays. I used to postpone shaving as often as I could.

I’ve been working my way through the sample pack of blades and have a couple of favourites already; the rest will be given away when I’ve gone through the set if any one is interested – one or two blades used pet pack… Will include some Derbys as I just didn’t get on with them. Feathers and Iridium Supers on the other hand – wow!

Sorry.. but how is this for shaving geekery…

take the normal merkur progress.. remove the horrible plastic end with a custom made machined part and…

http://www.leesrazors.com/products/Mergress-Adjustable-Safety-Razor.html

Oooh, I like that. I have asked Santa for a progress for Christmas, but might amend my request now. 🙂

Interesting that this thread should pop up again as I have a couple of questions. Took the plunge about 3 weeks ago and invested in a Muhle R89(?) razor, Edwin Jagger brush and lathering bowl, plus a multi blade selection.

Question 1 – how do I get the best/thickest lather? I’m getting plently of it, but need to reapply half way through as it doesn’t seem to last for the whole shave

Question 2 – blade reccommendations. The razor came with a Derby blade which worked well. The Feather I just didn’t get on with at all. Currently trying the Irridium which is quite good. What’s the general concensus on blades in the Derby/Irridium ilk?

Ref the lather, I have some shave cream (Geo Trumper), put a dab on my wet chin and use the brush to lather around my face. I get a lovely thick lather, very quickly. What soap are you using?

Ref the blades, I guess it is all down to trial and error. I have a Gillette Tech from e-bay and really didn’t like the Derbys. Feathers, Personna platinums and Iridium supers I really liked. Treet Iridiums (from Pakistan) are pretty good for me too.

If I understand some of the more knowledgeable chaps on here – I am using a pretty mild razor, so it allows me to get away with more aggressive blades.

freddyg, I’m using Geo Trumper shaving cake in a bowl, whirl round until I get some lather then lather up on my face.

I am guessing I am using too much water or too little but experimenting doesn’t seem to be solving the problem

CaptainMainwaring – Member
freddyg, I’m using Geo Trumper shaving cake in a bowl, whirl round until I get some lather then lather up on my face.

I am guessing I am using too much water or too little but experimenting doesn’t seem to be solving the problem

Cutting down on the amount of water in the brush would be a good idea.

How long are you swirling the brush on the soap? I find with hard soaps that I need to do it for 30 to 45 seconds, you need to load the brush with soap, so keep swirling until you feel it almost becoming tacky and then apply to the face and work the lather up.

I haven’t used soap for years but the last time I did I used Crabtree and Evelyn soap and like you it was disappearing too quickly but I also had issues with it drying my cheeks out causing some irritation. My grandfather told me I should be wetting the brush for 30s in warm water then giving it a light squeeze between my fingers and then putting it into the soap… was still trial and error for me though but could have been down to the type of soap used. I tend to use a shave gel or Ingram for ease and consistency nowadays.

Only hard my first safety razor shave last night so can’t comment on blades although I used the Derby blade and found it pretty good. Ordered a sample pack from Connaught earlier so will see how well I fair with other makes [Treet, Trig, Astra, Feather etc]

ho-hum thanks. I will try that next time

^^^^

Captain,

I have found the UK based forum The Shaving Room to be a very informative place and they have a section dedicated to help with shaving and some very informative tutorials:

Shaving help

Second shave tonight. Got a little better with the razor but still have difficulty on the right side of my neck and around a scar. Think I may need to get a styptic pencil too…

Thanks ho hum. Will have a look at that

Woohoo … received my ebay gold razor yesterday.

Absolutely mint for £23.

It has no date code but is thought be made between 1948 to 1950.

This one.

😛

p/s: D’oh … I mean similar to the above gold razor. The link is from Wiki.

Looks very nice. I saw one of those on eBay but didn’t say superspeed so didn’t bother. Reading through other peoples comments I thought only the Superspeeds from a certain era were worth chasing but I’ve seen a few very similar to yours but in a chrome (dull) finish perhaps pewter colour.

Got my sample pack through today, good old Connaught. Didn’t realise that some shops refurb old razors and sell them on too.

It’s wierd that for the first time in years I’m actually looking forward to the next shave!

^^^^

Hello Taff!

Some people on here think we are daft for enjoying shaving, pffft! 😉

All I can say is take your time at first and reduce the pressure and don’t be cocky like me and think that if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again!

It does not work with against the grain shaving and my skin is recovering, but I should have learned.

Have fun anyway.

Dez B will love this as he can not understand it 😉

I’ll never, ever, get why shaving well is so important. There must be something missing in my life. But, respect to you guys who love shaving!! 😀

^^^^

How old are you Kevevs and what lifestage are you at?

I am not being nasty or anything, just curious.

I am quickly approaching 40 and this shaving thing is hard to explain, particularly as I am now finding myself setting my alarm 10 minutes earlier so I can get up and have a decent shave 😉

Maybe it is an age thing?

Brilliant thread! 6 pages!!!
For me, I quickly realised that 9 blades all shoved up together just doesn’t work! It’s a proper design fault – irrespective of how sharp they are, they just clog up! So I bought an ‘old fashioned’ razor with the double sided blades and, bingo! Nice big gap behind the blade so you can keep on shaving and all the crud just keeps moving away!

So I’m at the cheap ones from boots stage – love to move upmarket a bit, don’t know where to start.

But seriously, these modern multiple blade razors are a real con.

37 and curious also. I just don’t get the whole shaving thing. shaving is a tedious chore, I don’t care how amazing the razor is. shaving is dull.

Hohum – I realised pretty quickly that I wouldn’t need to shave against the grain as I was getting a really close shave anyway. The only difficulty I really have is maintaining the correct angle on my neck especially where I have a scar. With a larger head restricting visibility I’m not quite used to being thy accurate with it but that will come with time.

Kevevs – I too was like you and thought what are these people on about. Shaving has always been a chore and always will be but because I was gifted with the sensitive skin if I shave every day or sometimes every other day it looks like I’ve been making out with a bear! In my job I’m off seeing clients every few days or every day in some cases and I don’t like looking scruffy but I’ve had no choice other than to go on with a face full of stubble as the alternative is too painful. I’ve been able to shave every day since having this new razor and the only facial issue I have is I have cut the scar on my neck. It’s Saturday now… And I probably won’t shave again until Sunday evening now

Ps I’m 28

Kevevs – I also despised shaving; but it is a necessary evil. I have to look smart for work.

This whole shaving thing is not all about how amazing the razor is. It’s about the quality of the shave. Try it, you might like it. I know I did.

Edit: I’m 42.