Evening all!
Very new to the wet shave caper, though thoroughly enjoying the first free tentative steps. 34, in Brisbane, and as the thread suggests, have initially skipped the DE step and jumped from cartridge to straight razor.
Shave history - stayed clean shaven through to early 20s. Initially taught with disposables, moved to cartridges pretty swiftly. Fair skinned and blonde, don't need to shave every day, more like every second to third. First major travel went to Peru, forgot my razor, went to buy one in Lima at a pharmacy only to find ALL had been opened, and at least 5 had hairs in the razors IN THE PACKS. It was at this point I first grew my facial hair, realised not only did I grow a nice even beard but that it suited me. Spent most of the last decade with some sort of beard, though minimal maintenance (read: none). Facial trimmer to keep it even and neat was the most, with occasional clean shaven. Always suffered with razor burn (particularly neck), pre shaving prep meant splashing face before applying whatever shaving gel I had lying around. Have decided to go more clean shaven and step into the world of wet shaving.
Have read around a bit on various websites (how I found this forum!) but ultimately figured it best to learn by doing! Took the plunge and bought my first straight razor and strop from MensBiz - a Dovo Diamant and Dovo Solingen Two sided strop. Elite service - ordered Monday Lunch, delivered for free Tues Lunch to Brisbane! Other initial accoutrements include Bluebeards Revenge Pre shave oil, Proraso Eucalyptus shave cream (green tub), Proraso Sandalwood/Shea butter aftershave, and Il Barbiere badger brush.
First shave was Tuesday night. Not going to lie - Definitely some trepidation but gotta start somewhere. Initial observations/thoughts:
- I suck at lathering. Got close enough to shave, but certainly didn't achieve glossy/meringue type thickness seen on various wet shave videos. More practice!
- No nicks or razor burn on first shave. Colour me surprised- thought I would look like I had been dragged through a Lantana thicket, but no blood or major drama (did take it VERY slow!).
- 2 passes, almost exclusively with the grain. Not perfect by any stretch, some parts much closer then others. No massively missed chunks, face much better then neck. Good enough to not warrant touching up with a cartridge/feeling self conscious going to work. Would have to be super close, and looking to see its not perfectly smooth.
- skin feels SO much better in the 24 hours post shave. Absolute chalk and cheese.
For all those good points though, I do feel I need to check-has anyone bought any Dovo straight razors from MensBiz before? Would they typically be considered "shave ready" out of the box? I hear people talk about "melting" the hair off their face, whereas my shave very much still felt like there was some tugging or skipping going on. Doubtless my technique is at fault, but would rather learn properly then practice with a not quite right blade and potentially develop poor shaving habits! Does anyone know any people that offer good honing services here in Bris (or indeed Aus wide?).
Random other tidbits in case anyone is interested. I enjoy watches (though my budget and my taste don't typically meet together!), pretty much all sports/physical activity (particularly cricket, AFL and Karate), have been lucky enough to do a fair amount of travel, with a good chunk of my solo travels in some more off the beaten path parts of the world, photography (shoot with a D750, contemplating a sony change, canon can go jump), love all dogs and admire good craftsmanship (was drawn to the Dovo Diamant razor not for the black blade but the African white ebony scales, similarly have a beautiful handmade japanese red oak 6ft bo from one of the last wooden weapon workshop family artisans in japan) and am lucky enough to be marrying the love of my life next June.
That's enough rambling from me- look forward to contributing more around here and learning from those more experienced then I!!
Very new to the wet shave caper, though thoroughly enjoying the first free tentative steps. 34, in Brisbane, and as the thread suggests, have initially skipped the DE step and jumped from cartridge to straight razor.
Shave history - stayed clean shaven through to early 20s. Initially taught with disposables, moved to cartridges pretty swiftly. Fair skinned and blonde, don't need to shave every day, more like every second to third. First major travel went to Peru, forgot my razor, went to buy one in Lima at a pharmacy only to find ALL had been opened, and at least 5 had hairs in the razors IN THE PACKS. It was at this point I first grew my facial hair, realised not only did I grow a nice even beard but that it suited me. Spent most of the last decade with some sort of beard, though minimal maintenance (read: none). Facial trimmer to keep it even and neat was the most, with occasional clean shaven. Always suffered with razor burn (particularly neck), pre shaving prep meant splashing face before applying whatever shaving gel I had lying around. Have decided to go more clean shaven and step into the world of wet shaving.
Have read around a bit on various websites (how I found this forum!) but ultimately figured it best to learn by doing! Took the plunge and bought my first straight razor and strop from MensBiz - a Dovo Diamant and Dovo Solingen Two sided strop. Elite service - ordered Monday Lunch, delivered for free Tues Lunch to Brisbane! Other initial accoutrements include Bluebeards Revenge Pre shave oil, Proraso Eucalyptus shave cream (green tub), Proraso Sandalwood/Shea butter aftershave, and Il Barbiere badger brush.
First shave was Tuesday night. Not going to lie - Definitely some trepidation but gotta start somewhere. Initial observations/thoughts:
- I suck at lathering. Got close enough to shave, but certainly didn't achieve glossy/meringue type thickness seen on various wet shave videos. More practice!
- No nicks or razor burn on first shave. Colour me surprised- thought I would look like I had been dragged through a Lantana thicket, but no blood or major drama (did take it VERY slow!).
- 2 passes, almost exclusively with the grain. Not perfect by any stretch, some parts much closer then others. No massively missed chunks, face much better then neck. Good enough to not warrant touching up with a cartridge/feeling self conscious going to work. Would have to be super close, and looking to see its not perfectly smooth.
- skin feels SO much better in the 24 hours post shave. Absolute chalk and cheese.
For all those good points though, I do feel I need to check-has anyone bought any Dovo straight razors from MensBiz before? Would they typically be considered "shave ready" out of the box? I hear people talk about "melting" the hair off their face, whereas my shave very much still felt like there was some tugging or skipping going on. Doubtless my technique is at fault, but would rather learn properly then practice with a not quite right blade and potentially develop poor shaving habits! Does anyone know any people that offer good honing services here in Bris (or indeed Aus wide?).
Random other tidbits in case anyone is interested. I enjoy watches (though my budget and my taste don't typically meet together!), pretty much all sports/physical activity (particularly cricket, AFL and Karate), have been lucky enough to do a fair amount of travel, with a good chunk of my solo travels in some more off the beaten path parts of the world, photography (shoot with a D750, contemplating a sony change, canon can go jump), love all dogs and admire good craftsmanship (was drawn to the Dovo Diamant razor not for the black blade but the African white ebony scales, similarly have a beautiful handmade japanese red oak 6ft bo from one of the last wooden weapon workshop family artisans in japan) and am lucky enough to be marrying the love of my life next June.
That's enough rambling from me- look forward to contributing more around here and learning from those more experienced then I!!