Hi everyone-
I am new to this forum and new to shaving with a safety razor. My wife bought me all the gear for my birthday, and I just started using it last week. I have the Merkur 180, a badger hair brush, and the Van Der Hagen luxury shave soap.
My first shave was not a success. I had trouble with the lather, and nicked myself in several places. However, after just a week of using the stuff, I am now getting great lathers and I am no longer cutting myself. I love using this stuff and am thrilled to get rid of those ridiculously expensive cartridges.
I do, however, have a couple of questions for you all:
(1) I have read a bunch of information on this site and others, watched a ton of videos, etc., all to learn as much as possible about the art of using a safety razor. But, there appears to be some conflicting information regarding the closeness of the shave, so I wanted to ask about that. On the one hand, many people say that they get an extremely close shave with a safety razor, and claim that it is much closer of a shave than using the cartridge razors. Yet, at the same time, I have repeatedly heard the mantra "it's not about beard removal, it's about beard reduction." I don't get how those two are consistent. If it's not about beard removal and only about reduction, how are people getting a super close shave? For me, I think the shave is just a tiny bit closer than I used to get with a cartridge razor. I certainly would not describe my resulting shave as "baby skin soft" or anything like that.
(2) As for the blades, my wife got me a 100 pack of the Astra Superior Premium Platinum DE razor blades. They seem to work great, and I have no complaints. But, I have seen a lot of people talk about the advantages of getting a sampler pack of a bunch of different brands of blades. A 100 pack of blades would likely last me at least 18 months, so buying more blades seems unnecessary. I am wondering if you all think that there is still value to buying a sampler pack, or if the Astra should be good enough and I should just stick with those?
(3) As for the shave soap, my wife got me the Van Der Hagen luxury unscented shave soap. I really like it. But, the reason that she picked that particular brand was that it scored very well on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database which rates products based upon the inclusion of harmful chemicals. The VDH soap scored very well, and many of the other brands aren't even listed. I was wondering if anyone knows of any other brands of shave soap that have really clean and natural ingredients and don't include any harmful chemicals or fragrances. I'd like to try out several brands in order to compare the lathers, but I'm just not sure how to find the really clean and safe ones.
Anyway, those are all my questions .... at least for now.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
I am new to this forum and new to shaving with a safety razor. My wife bought me all the gear for my birthday, and I just started using it last week. I have the Merkur 180, a badger hair brush, and the Van Der Hagen luxury shave soap.
My first shave was not a success. I had trouble with the lather, and nicked myself in several places. However, after just a week of using the stuff, I am now getting great lathers and I am no longer cutting myself. I love using this stuff and am thrilled to get rid of those ridiculously expensive cartridges.
I do, however, have a couple of questions for you all:
(1) I have read a bunch of information on this site and others, watched a ton of videos, etc., all to learn as much as possible about the art of using a safety razor. But, there appears to be some conflicting information regarding the closeness of the shave, so I wanted to ask about that. On the one hand, many people say that they get an extremely close shave with a safety razor, and claim that it is much closer of a shave than using the cartridge razors. Yet, at the same time, I have repeatedly heard the mantra "it's not about beard removal, it's about beard reduction." I don't get how those two are consistent. If it's not about beard removal and only about reduction, how are people getting a super close shave? For me, I think the shave is just a tiny bit closer than I used to get with a cartridge razor. I certainly would not describe my resulting shave as "baby skin soft" or anything like that.
(2) As for the blades, my wife got me a 100 pack of the Astra Superior Premium Platinum DE razor blades. They seem to work great, and I have no complaints. But, I have seen a lot of people talk about the advantages of getting a sampler pack of a bunch of different brands of blades. A 100 pack of blades would likely last me at least 18 months, so buying more blades seems unnecessary. I am wondering if you all think that there is still value to buying a sampler pack, or if the Astra should be good enough and I should just stick with those?
(3) As for the shave soap, my wife got me the Van Der Hagen luxury unscented shave soap. I really like it. But, the reason that she picked that particular brand was that it scored very well on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database which rates products based upon the inclusion of harmful chemicals. The VDH soap scored very well, and many of the other brands aren't even listed. I was wondering if anyone knows of any other brands of shave soap that have really clean and natural ingredients and don't include any harmful chemicals or fragrances. I'd like to try out several brands in order to compare the lathers, but I'm just not sure how to find the really clean and safe ones.
Anyway, those are all my questions .... at least for now.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.