I realised that I have now been traditional shaving for just over a year. So I thought I'd throw some 1 year old wisdom out there.
I'm early forties, had a full coarse beard and delicate skin which had caused me difficulties from when I first started shaving. Being a tech type person (no customer facing) I had been lucky to be able to do the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day growth without any employment issues.
Motivation: My wife likes it when I'm clean shaved. Personally, I was also sick and tired (and embarrassed maybe) of not being able to do a daily shave which seemed so easy for every other guy on the planet.
So I started googling and found suggestions towards DE shaving for those with skin issues. This led me to YKW and a billion threads of blather. In amongst that I found a starting formula/procedure and some videos. If you are a complete noob who has never tried trad shaving, the mantic guy videos are a good way to see the general principals involved. There is no exact way to show you how to shave your own face but those vids give you ideas. I can't remember exactly how I found paste and cut, but I was very glad I did. The info was condensed, to the point, somewhat irreverent, and the plug is definitely not inserted so I don't have to wear a monocle to fit in.
So began the journey. I remember feeling unsure because there is info saying do this, don't do that, stick with one combo unless it doesn't work for you but you have no experience so how do you know? That soap is best/shit, this blade razor combo is the best/worst/sharpest/dullest although YMMV, if so, try something else but stick with it.
For beginners - any basic brush, any basic soap, a functional middle of the road razor, any of the blades you can find on mensbiz*(see footnote) and watch the videos on youtube. Stop lurking and start a thread here on the paste and cut welcome mat.
There are differences in every piece of equipment but seriously, don't worry about that at all. This isn't meant to be an unbreakable rule. If you want to use bubblegum scented soap one day, go for it, have fun. Just don't worry about it or it's relative efficacy vs anything at this stage.
You need to get acquainted with your beard growth. If you have had troubles in the past you may already know the direction/areas that hurt. With the grain, meaning the razor head is pulled in the direction that the hairs are pointing. I don't remember when it happens but it's second nature at some point. This needs to be stressed, just go with the grain. Don't worry about the baby bum smooth business. Some guys are BBS 2 days after shaving, some only 2 hours. That's life, don't worry.
You will get daily variations which will plague your judgement of what works best and what doesn't. Your beard and skin is variable, the razor blades can be variable, your lather is variable. Like everything, experience starts to add it all up. You will have tried a lot of everything and get to know within a second if something is right/wrong.
Thanks paste and cut, I've been clean shaven for a year apart from a week or so when I was really sick. I've enjoyed many different blades mostly thanks to RM. I like every soap/cream I've got. I have a badger and a boar brush, use them at my whim, both work fine but they are different in action. I like the gillette superspeed the best which is a very mild razor, but I like the r41 these days too, but I still have to careful with that one. Some sensitive skin days, the r41 would be definitely wrong for me.
*footnote for blades from mensbiz. I would have to exclude the feather blade from that "buy any blade" statement. It isn't the same as the others. It isn't better, I can't prove whether it's duller/sharper, just different and at this stage, I just don't like the way it works.
I'm early forties, had a full coarse beard and delicate skin which had caused me difficulties from when I first started shaving. Being a tech type person (no customer facing) I had been lucky to be able to do the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day growth without any employment issues.
Motivation: My wife likes it when I'm clean shaved. Personally, I was also sick and tired (and embarrassed maybe) of not being able to do a daily shave which seemed so easy for every other guy on the planet.
So I started googling and found suggestions towards DE shaving for those with skin issues. This led me to YKW and a billion threads of blather. In amongst that I found a starting formula/procedure and some videos. If you are a complete noob who has never tried trad shaving, the mantic guy videos are a good way to see the general principals involved. There is no exact way to show you how to shave your own face but those vids give you ideas. I can't remember exactly how I found paste and cut, but I was very glad I did. The info was condensed, to the point, somewhat irreverent, and the plug is definitely not inserted so I don't have to wear a monocle to fit in.
So began the journey. I remember feeling unsure because there is info saying do this, don't do that, stick with one combo unless it doesn't work for you but you have no experience so how do you know? That soap is best/shit, this blade razor combo is the best/worst/sharpest/dullest although YMMV, if so, try something else but stick with it.
For beginners - any basic brush, any basic soap, a functional middle of the road razor, any of the blades you can find on mensbiz*(see footnote) and watch the videos on youtube. Stop lurking and start a thread here on the paste and cut welcome mat.
There are differences in every piece of equipment but seriously, don't worry about that at all. This isn't meant to be an unbreakable rule. If you want to use bubblegum scented soap one day, go for it, have fun. Just don't worry about it or it's relative efficacy vs anything at this stage.
You need to get acquainted with your beard growth. If you have had troubles in the past you may already know the direction/areas that hurt. With the grain, meaning the razor head is pulled in the direction that the hairs are pointing. I don't remember when it happens but it's second nature at some point. This needs to be stressed, just go with the grain. Don't worry about the baby bum smooth business. Some guys are BBS 2 days after shaving, some only 2 hours. That's life, don't worry.
You will get daily variations which will plague your judgement of what works best and what doesn't. Your beard and skin is variable, the razor blades can be variable, your lather is variable. Like everything, experience starts to add it all up. You will have tried a lot of everything and get to know within a second if something is right/wrong.
Thanks paste and cut, I've been clean shaven for a year apart from a week or so when I was really sick. I've enjoyed many different blades mostly thanks to RM. I like every soap/cream I've got. I have a badger and a boar brush, use them at my whim, both work fine but they are different in action. I like the gillette superspeed the best which is a very mild razor, but I like the r41 these days too, but I still have to careful with that one. Some sensitive skin days, the r41 would be definitely wrong for me.
*footnote for blades from mensbiz. I would have to exclude the feather blade from that "buy any blade" statement. It isn't the same as the others. It isn't better, I can't prove whether it's duller/sharper, just different and at this stage, I just don't like the way it works.
