Question for DE shavers

[Kyle]

I've been shaving with a boar's brush and cream for a while and finally order an Edwin Jagger DE89 razor. I was a bit nervous my first shave but it went fine, didn't nick myself at all. This morning I shaved again and it was the worst shave I've had a long time; I nicked my chin and got a weird set of small cuts on the bottom of my neck and in general my skin just feels irritated, a problem I never had unless I was using the cheapest of disposables. It's possible I could have been too confident after my first shave and was too cavalier with my technique and I paid the price. However, I did switch creams this time, going from Proraso to Jack Black Supreme Cream. Also I reused the blade from my first shave (I was using the included Derby blades). I have very sparse facial hair and can't grow anything close to resembling a beard and when I used cartridges I was able to stretch out their life for a while. Should I have swapped the blade, even though I don't have heavy, course facial hair? Any input is appreciated!

 

[WildBoar]

I've had that happen when either the blade was getting dull or I just plain went over the same spot too many times or with a little too much pressure. It was more prone to happen when I was using a Proraso pre-shave conditioner, too.

 

[Lefty]

There could be a few different reasons for this, but my instinct says one of two things: You switched from Proraso cream, or croap (soap), to Jack Black Cream. Jack Black is a cream that is love or hate. I love it, but I also love a thick creamy lather, and not a big voluminous one. Thick generally provides nice cushion for DE shavers, reducing nicks. However, people often add too much water to JB, trying to get the "ideal" lather porn lather...not a good idea with this one, in my mind. Proraso is phenomenal stuff. I literally buy a new tub every time one runs out. It's great... So, the JB lather might have been too thin to provide proper protection.

My second guess is that you had razor/blade issues. Derbys get pretty good reviews, but to me are 1-2 shave blades, with little natural glide. I use Gillette Silver Blues, which are a nice sharp and very smooth shaving blade. I get 4 shaves out of these blades (2 per side), and by shave four, it starts to be less than ideal, but it's still a damn good shave. My whiskers are medium thick, with a fairly annoying relatively full-ish beard pattern. I'd look into upgrading your blades....

Also, shave/beard prep is big. Maybe you didn't get a good soaking in on this particular shave, or your angle was a bit off with your razor. Try holding the handle more towards the butt, with a very light grip and short soft strokes (yeah yeah).

Hope this helps!

 

[Squilliam]

I would guess you're pressing too hard. I recently began using a DE and two things I focus on are beard prep and pressure. It took me about 10 pretty bad shaves before I begain to improve. Now I look forward to my next shave because I know it will be better than my last.

 

[Keith Sinclair]

Kyle the cavalier part can do do it.In this busy world rushing around is common.Used Costco throw aways shave fast.Got into DE wt. feather blades,shave slower.Only times I nicked myself is rushing thru the shave.

 

[cord_steele]

I too have light facial hair like you, and find that shaves with longer hair (2+ days growth) are MUCH better than shaves with shorter hair (1 day) in terms of nicks, comfort, etc.

 

[Kyle]

Thanks for all the input guys! Next time I'm going to pay closer attention to my technique along with a new blade. Pretty sure I was pressing too hard.

 

[Kyle]

Shaved this morning, switched back to Proraso, changed the blade and paid closer attention to my technique. MUCH better this time around. I think the technique was the biggest thing, I'm pretty sure I got lazy and started doing long drags and was pushing too hard and then using a used blade and switching creams didn't help either.

Almost out of the Proraso, I'm waiting for Lefty to restock the Brooklyn to London to give some shaving soap a try.