My First Shave with a Double Edge Razor

In an earlier post I told you about a gift my wife gave me. An Art of Shaving (AoS) Travel Set that includes pre shave oil, shaving cream, after shave balm and a badger hair shaving brush.

I liked the way the shave went so much with a disposable razor I did a little research on the interwebs and ended up buying a Merkur 23C Long Handle Safety Razor (aka 180).

I also bought a couple of blade sampler packs to go with it. I chose to use the Gillette Platinum blade to start. Blades are a very personal choice. What works well for one person my be a face shredder for another.

This blade worked out extremely well for me. I have shaved several times with this type of blade now and not a single nick, cut or irritation.  Knock on Sandalwood. aka

Man in a Can. This is the scent my wife got me for my birthday. It is a very popular scent in mens grooming products. On to the process.

I take a nice hot shower to start. Then I use the Art of Shave Pre-Shave Oil to prepare my face. Next I use the AoS Shave Cream. Just one squirt and dab it on my face, then take the Pure Badger Brush and dip it in hot water, then shake off the excess to build a nice lather on my face using circular motions at first to help lift and separate the whiskers followed by a paintbrush motion. Sort of like wax on wax off followed by paint the fence a few times.

Now for the hard part. I have never used a DE Razor before this day. I had seen my father use one some 45 or so years ago.  Carefully I place the blade in the razor and put it to my face. I have to

remember not to apply pressure as this can cut or scrape your skin. This is not a cartridge blade. It does not have the same protection I am used to and since I tend to use my blades way past their useful life I tend to press pretty hard.

So I smoothly and carefully rest the razor against my face and let the weight of the razor apply the pressure. I then find the correct angle (about 30 degrees) and pull the razor down my face from my sideburn to my chin. This is called the WTG with the grain pass. You can hear the whiskers being cut. Since it is a double edge I turn the razor around and make a second pass right next to the first like a Zamboni resurfacing the ice at a hockey game. Time to rinse of the blade. All in all it takes about 20 passes on you face like mowing a lawn except you only work in one direction.

I started with about 4 days growth. I wanted to make sure I had more whisker than skin on this first

try. This first pass brought it down to about a five o'clock shadow. Time to re-lather. There is still plenty left on the brush so just a quick rinse of the face with water and I paint on more lather still left on the brush till my face is nice and slick with a nice white frosting. It's amazing how little cream or soap you need to make enough lather to shave 3 or more passes. A bit the size of a pea goes a long way.

Now according to all the shaving gurus, across the grain ATG is how you should shave next. Just like

before let the razor do all the work and listen to the blade make a scratching sound making passes just like the Zamboni except just scraping in one direction.

Since you are not using 2 or more blades at once and tugging the hair past the skin before you chop it off it takes a few passes to get a really close shave. But your face will thank you for taking the time. Just think of it as foreplay.

After both passes my face is pretty smooth but not baby bottom smooth or BBS is shavers jargon.

So, me, not listening to all the experts who say don't go for BBS the first time out, went for the against the grain shave ATG. rinse, repeat. Listen to that wonderful sound of a razor cutting whiskers.

Talk about a wonderful shave without any redness, bumps or irritation from my shirt collar all day long.

After that last pass a rinse with cold water to close the pores and a dab of AoS after shave and man did my face look, feel and smell great.

I have learned since that first shave that even a 2 pass shave once you finish and dab on the after

shave is a very close shave. It's sort of like once you close the pores your face sort of sucks back the whiskers. All the pre shave prep actually hydrates and softens them up making them easier to cut. So once they dry they do shrink a bit.

I write this post almost 3 weeks after my first shave and I have changed some of the products I use a bit and have gotten bit by SAD Shave Acquisition Disorder. I now have many new soaps, creams and something called Skin Food. I especially like the Geo. Trumper Limes.

I might just do a review of some of this newly acquired stuff in a future post.