Safety Razors

Gran Hermano

Another cheap razor on banggood.
http://www.banggood.com/A-p-956771.html

Looks like this microtouch razor

http://www.amazon.com/Microtouch-One-Razor-Classic-Safety/dp/B00HMEBRKO

Which looks like a modern take on the vintage Gillette butterfly doors twistbto open models.

Ryath

After weeks of lurking in here and looking at mantic59 and others youtube videos I finally took the plunge yesterday into the world of DE shaving. Was going to order of shaving.ie but I was up in Dublin yesterday and dropped into Knights on the Green. They actually sell a fair bit of stuff on line that I hadn't seen much mention of here and is not in the sticky. Was set on getting the Merkur 34c but they didn't have it there so went with the Muhle R89, a Muhle badger brush, Proraso green Soap and white After Balm and a styptic pen. They threw in the muhle brush holder and and 5 derby blades for free. Actually worked out a few euro cheaper than shaving.ie and was great to be able to see the bits before buying only thing they didn't have was the Proraso pre shave. It's on the web site maybe there Dundrum store carries more stock.

Had my first shave today with went well no nicks or razor burn. Took off 4 days growth in first pass much better than my gillete fusion. Just did two passes not perfect but more than presentable. Was afraid of razor burn will give it a while before I go for a third pass but two should be enough anyway as my technique improves. Probably could have got better lather but again that just needs practise was enough for first pass but second was a bit thin.

I'll be putting in a order on shaving.ie in next few days for their blade samples some proraso preshave and maybe a cream in another scent. Think I may need a mug or bowl as well to get a better lather.

Gran Hermano

Welcome aboard! Knights in town and Dundrum have been mentioned in the past, good to see they've a decent range in stock. You picked up a good selection for starting out.

Some people are happy face lathering but I fall into the group who prefer to bowl lather (especially with creams/soft soaps. No need for anything fancy. Any small bowl or cup will do. If it has a rough or unglazed interior all the better for lathering.


The Proraso soap in the white bowl is a good soap and easy to lather. If you pick it up you won't need a bowl for it.

uncle_sam_ie

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Some people are happy face lathering but I fall into the group who prefer to bowl lather (especially with creams/soft soaps. No need for anything fancy. Any small bowl or cup will do. If it has a rough or unglazed interior all the better for lathering.


.

I also prefer to bowl lather. I use a salsa bowl,

Walter Sobchak III

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Another cheap razor on banggood.
http://www.banggood.com/A-p-956771.html

Looks like this microtouch razor

http://www.amazon.com/Microtouch-One-Razor-Classic-Safety/dp/B00HMEBRKO

Which looks like a modern take on the vintage Gillette butterfly doors twistbto open models.

Bought this on banggood.com. Great value and you are correct it is the microtouch razor

Gran Hermano

Walter Sobchak III wrote: »

Bought this on banggood.com. Great value and you are correct it is the microtouch razor

Mantic59 reviewed the microtouch
http://sharpologist.com/2013/10/micro-touch-one-razor-review.html

Too late for Christmas now I reckon with shipping but might pick up a few myself as PIF gifts.

Gran Hermano

Seasons greetings to all

cormacjones

Long time lurker on this forum.

I've decided to take the plunge and try out a DE razor.

I like the idea of an adjustable head, so was thinking this might be the job

http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-futur-polished-chrome.html

I've see Merkur get good reviews and like the look of this one.

Any other model you guys would recommend ahead of this?

source

cormacjones wrote: »

Long time lurker on this forum.

I've decided to take the plunge and try out a DE razor.

I like the idea of an adjustable head, so was thinking this might be the job

http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-futur-polished-chrome.html

I've see Merkur get good reviews and like the look of this one.

Any other model you guys would recommend ahead of this?

The futur was the first DE I bought. I found it brilliant to learn on.

Gran Hermano

I also bought a Futur as my first DE.
It is an aggressive razor with a larger than average head.
A Merkur Progress (long or short handled) would (in my opinion) be a better starter razor.

cormacjones

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go for the Merkur 34c in the end.

It seems to have good reviews and suitable for beginners.

http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-34c-hd-safety-razor.html

Gran Hermano

cormacjones wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go for the Merkur 34c in the end.

It seems to have good reviews and suitable for beginners.

http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-34c-hd-safety-razor.html

Good choice for starting out. You can always add an adjustable as your second.

uncle_sam_ie

cormacjones wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go for the Merkur 34c in the end.

It seems to have good reviews and suitable for beginners.

http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-34c-hd-safety-razor.html

Good choice. I found the adjustable's big and bulky to use.

Major Dad

I too took the plunge over Christmas and am now using a new Merkur 34c. Two shaves so far and am very happy, although have nicked myself twice.
So two questions - (1) how long does each blade last for ? And (2) everything I've see says don't shave against the grain or growth of your hair, but when it comes to the neck area, which way is that ? Should I shave from the bottom of my neck up towards the chin or from the chin down the neck ?
Cheers

uncle_sam_ie

Major Dad wrote: »

I too took the plunge over Christmas and am now using a new Merkur 34c. Two shaves so far and am very happy, although have nicked myself twice.
So two questions - (1) how long does each blade last for ? And (2) everything I've see says don't shave against the grain or growth of your hair, but when it comes to the neck area, which way is that ? Should I shave from the bottom of my neck up towards the chin or from the chin down the neck ?
Cheers

1- It depends on the brand of the blade and how coarse your beard is but, generally for me about 4 to 5 shaves.
2. This one is important. No one can tell which way to shave your neck because, we're ll different when it comes to how the beard grows. So,what you need to do is map the way your beard grows. Go 6:10 in to this video he'll explain it better, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjhIy9rgWQU
Mapping your bread growth and using no pressure is the key to using a DE razor. Good luck.

Major Dad

Thanks Uncle Sam for the reply. Would that be roughly 3-5 shaves each side of the blade or for each blade period ?

uncle_sam_ie

Major Dad wrote: »

Thanks Uncle Sam for the reply. Would that be roughly 3-5 shaves each side of the blade or for each blade period ?

4-5 for the whole blade but that's with me. People can get longer it all depends on how coarse your beard is and brand of blade. I had an uncle that use to sharpen his old carbon blades on the inside of a glass. He claims he got months out of one blade. I wouldn't worry about it though. DE blades are very cheap. Just toss them after a blade starts to pull.

uck51js9zml2yt

Walter Sobchak III wrote: »

Bought this on banggood.com. Great value and you are correct it is the microtouch razor

Did you get this one yet?

Would love to hear your opinion of it against the main brands.

Coupon code 90551C for 8% off

Walter Sobchak III

Fiona Narrow Shoplifter wrote: »

Did you get this one yet?

Would love to hear your opinion of it against the main brands.

Coupon code 90551C for 8% off

Don't bother with it. A piece of sh*t. Broke on me after about two weeks use. The barrell on the end of the handle wont open the head of the razor.

uck51js9zml2yt

Walter Sobchak III wrote: »

Don't bother with it. A piece of sh*t. Broke on me after about two weeks use. The barrell on the end of the handle wont open the head of the razor.

Too late

Walter Sobchak III

Fiona Narrow Shoplifter wrote: »

Too late

The only consolation was that it wasn't huge money wasted.

seamus

Thought I'd stick my experience of safety razors in here in case anyone else is thinking about it....

I had/have issues with shaving my whole life. I'm cursed with sensitive skin and very coarse facial hair.
My Dad always used an electric razor, every single morning you'd wake up to the sound of him wandering around downstairs running it across his face for a good twenty minutes to get the shave he wanted. So I grew up thinking apparently that's how you shave, that's all there is to it.

Except it never really worked that way for me. I used to shave infrequently with an electric, and when I did my neck area would be red raw for a couple of days, I could never shave more than once a week. I always assumed it was because I had a cheap razor, so when I got my first real job I went and got a good electric razor. It made a slight difference, definitely gave a closer shave and less absolute rawness afterwards.

But attempt to shave two days in a row, and I would be red and bleeding all over my neck. Yes, bleeding even with an electric razor. And the ingrown hairs, oh god the ingrown hairs. Every time, without fail, a couple of nice spots on the neck. In recent times it's gotten worse, with some hanging around for several weeks or months.

I tried disposable blades on and off. Great close shave, but jaysus if I wasn't in agony afterwards. And the damn things are expensive.

So I got into the habit of shaving once a week at most. Use a beard trimmer (or a hair clippers) to remove the long growth and an electric to shave. I bought a wet electric in 2007 and that was probably giving me the closest most comfortable shaves I'd had in years. It was as good as the blades, but a bit slower. Still though, couldn't muster more than once a week without becoming a bloody mess.

I actually didn't realise that some people shaved every day until I was chatting with a prison officer in the pub one night. He explained that he had to shave every day, and I asked him how he did it. "You get used to it". I couldn't really comprehend this - by day four I would be nothing but a horrorshow on my neck, no matter how hard I tried to "get used to it".

Recently enough swapped back to mach 5's. The weekly shave limit remained, but I managed to create a system - use a duller blade to strip back the heavy growth, and a new/fresher blade to close down the shave. Not bad, very quick, cleaner shave than before.

So this Xmas for a Kris Kindle I asked someone to get me a safety razor starter kit. Seemed a bit pretentious and time consuming, but I'm just getting so sick of being beardy half the time and bloody the over half. I was willing to give anything a go if it worked.
I did a lot of reading up on what to do and how to do it. It's not that different from standard disposables, the biggest difference is in the shaving foam/brush and how much pressure you don't use with the razor.
The first shave was slower, but not that slow. And a bit weird. The shaving soap smells weird. You're intimately aware that you're dragging a sharp blade across your skin. But it was effortless. No dragging like the Mach5 had. It went through 5mm of growth like it didn't exist.
You need more passes; I had to make 3 passes to feel a close shave. The first one came out pretty good. Nice and close on the cheeks. I missed a couple of spots around the neck because I was a little more concerned about nicking myself. A couple of small nicks.
But the key was that I had no rawness. I felt like I could have another shave tomorrow. So I had another shave two days later, just cos. This one was a bit worse; not as close, a few more cuts. But that was my fault. I got cocky, I rushed it.
But still, no rawness, no feeling like my face was on fire.

I think I've done 4 shaves now, and the quality has varied slightly - because of aforementioned cockiness and because I've been trying other blades that came in the kit. But all have been at least as good as the wet electric and with zero rawness afterwards. And absolutely no ingrown hairs.

While doing the reading about how to use a safety razor, one site mentioned that using a multi-blade cartridge razor is like using a multi-blade peeler to peel a potato. The first blade will get through it and remove what has to be removed - the rest of the blades will just bite into the flesh of the potato and remove more than you wanted. That just makes so much sense to me now, I'll never go back to using one unless I'm caught in a pinch and need an urgent shave.

uck51js9zml2yt

My Micro touch arrived today, took approx 2 weeks which was good for china.

It also came with a stand and 2 packets of blades.

I'll let you know how I get on later in the week.

Ryath

Three months now wet shaving with DE now and no way was I going back. Technique has got pretty good with no nicks any more and can shave nearly as fast with two passes as with the cartridge razor with one pass. Skin on neck is much better most of my original nicks were from spots and in grown hairs there. Shaving is now a pleasure even shave on days off work sometimes which I would never bother doing before.

Unfortunately my hand was forced the other day reaching for my muhle r89 of the top of the mirror I knocked it off and broke the top plate. So had to reach for gillete cheesegrater, neck is now a bit raw with start of ingrown hairs :mad:

Luckily shaving.ie carry a replacement plate for €9. Had yet to order from shaving.ie had just picked up some Wilkinson blades in the chemist. Got some palmolive shave sticks and cream. Really like the sticks really nice lather but miss the menthol tingle and smell of the proraso green soap. Picked up some nivea sensitive after shave balm to supplement my prorasso white which is a little pricier and I have used a fair bit of.

Was going to pick up the proraso travel kit and another DE razor thinking either the Merkur 42c 1904 or Merkur Bakelite. Both supposed to be a little more aggressive than the r89 or should I consider an open comb?

Want a travel kit I can throw in gym bag when I go before work. Seems like a nice little kit and would let me try out the prorasso cream and preshave.

Was going to pick up an alum block and I guess I should try the 50 blade sample pack. Any thing else I should try? Thinking a resealable shavestick would be handy for travel/gym


Need to put a shelf/small cabinet as well for proper storage/display of everything out of reach of the kids which was why I was leaving the razor on top of my mirror.

hitemfrank

The Merkur Bakelite is going to be very light so if you do end up buying one just remember you will have to make sure you use zero pressure.

As for a resealable shaving stick, go for either Lea or La Toja. Either should serve you very well.

uncle_sam_ie

The Niva balm is excellent stuff. It soaks in and doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy and it's cheap. You can also find the Alum at your local heath food store. Look for natural deodorant crystal. If your thinking of getting another DE consider The Merkur HD Slant Bar 37c http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-37c-hd-slant-bar.html Slants are the way to go. They give really close shaves.

Fakman87

Lads I have been using proraso shave cream for the past year and was never really satisfied with the lather, although I've improved with practice and I'm getting a decent shave with it. It's not quite close enough for my liking but still better than what I used to get with an electric.

Tonight I used taylor of old bond street cream for the first time and got a much better lather. Is this typical?

Gran Hermano

Proraso cream is recommended as it's easy to lather and I've found people new to wetshaving like the menthol!

I find it, especially the green tube, only above average when it comes to lather cushion and protection. I've other creams and soaps that work better for me and provide a closer shave.

Ryath

hitemfrank wrote: »

The Merkur Bakelite is going to be very light so if you do end up buying one just remember you will have to make sure you use zero pressure.

As for a resealable shaving stick, go for either Lea or La Toja. Either should serve you very well.

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

The Niva balm is excellent stuff. It soaks in and doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy and it's cheap. You can also find the Alum at your local heath food store. Look for natural deodorant crystal. If your thinking of getting another DE consider The Merkur HD Slant Bar 37c http://www.shaving.ie/products/merkur-37c-hd-slant-bar.html Slants are the way to go. They give really close shaves.

The nivea is very nice all right and an even better bargain at €4 in supervalue at the minute. Still haven't put in the order and have a packed shopping cart that needs trimming! Can't decide on a DE razor the bakelite appeals as it's different and seems pretty cheap coming with a case and 10 blades. Like the look of the 42c but some of what I've read online about merkur build quality has put me of. The slant bar is tempting but I'm thinking I may be as well just getting a EJ DE89 same head as my muhle r89 but the handle makes it different to use. Ahh! To many choices! I'll be looking at straights before I know it.

Fakman87 wrote: »

Lads I have been using proraso shave cream for the past year and was never really satisfied with the lather, although I've improved with practice and I'm getting a decent shave with it. It's not quite close enough for my liking but still better than what I used to get with an electric.

Tonight I used taylor of old bond street cream for the first time and got a much better lather. Is this typical?

Have you used the prorasso soap and do you use their preshave? I've read some comments saying prorasso soap and cream work much better in combination with it. I haven't tried the preshave was using some conditioner at first but find the soap alone more than adequate now.

Have you tried the palmolive sticks I get a really nice slick cushioning lather possibly slightly better than the proarasso. From it well worth a try at 35cents in tesco. Won't get any this order but I'll try a dearer brand like taylors next time.

tunney

Ryath wrote: »

The nivea is very nice all right and an even better bargain at €4 in supervalue at the minute. Still haven't put in the order and have a packed shopping cart that needs trimming! Can't decide on a DE razor the bakelite appeals as it's different and seems pretty cheap coming with a case and 10 blades. Like the look of the 42c but some of what I've read online about merkur build quality has put me of. The slant bar is tempting but I'm thinking I may be as well just getting a EJ DE89 same head as my muhle r89 but the handle makes it different to use. Ahh! To many choices! I'll be looking at straights before I know it.



Have you used the prorasso soap and do you use their preshave? I've read some comments saying prorasso soap and cream work much better in combination with it. I haven't tried the preshave was using some conditioner at first but find the soap alone more than adequate now.

Have you tried the palmolive sticks I get a really nice slick cushioning lather possibly slightly better than the proarasso. From it well worth a try at 35cents in tesco. Won't get any this order but I'll try a dearer brand like taylors next time.

Safetys are effective, fast and cheap.
Straights are just fun.