New kit for a complete novice

TouchingVirus

Like many of the other posters here initially, I've decided to make the switch to DE razor shaving.

From reading here I've kind of chosen some stuff I'll be needing, but I'd like your opinions on my choice and advice on anything else I've forgotten

Razor - Merkur Progress Long Handl
Blades - DE Sample Pack

Brush - Semogue 2015HD
Shaving Cream - Taylors of Old Bond Street shaving cream

Proraso Pre/Post Shaving Cream
Styptic Pencil

Will I need anything else (e.g. a shaving bowl).

DonJose

I'd go with the P160 soap, its a great soap.

http://www.shaving.ie/products/P160-Shaving-Soap-Soft.html

I use a large cappuccino cup as a shaving bowl

Old'n'Cranky

DonJose wrote: »

I'd go with the P160 soap, its a great soap.

http://www.shaving.ie/products/P160-Shaving-Soap-Soft.html

I use a large cappuccino cup as a shaving bowl

Yeah that soap is the biz, I bought a bowl in a charity shop that had a good kind of grip on it around the outside (quite rough, no handle) it does the job and cost me €2

TouchingVirus

Any reason for the soap over the cream?

Old'n'Cranky

Not really, the creams imho will lather much easier than the soaps but value for money the soaps seem much better value.

Amalgam

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Any reason for the soap over the cream?

In the end, that's a personal choice for you, a few of the soft soaps that Shaving.ie sell contain tallow (Cella, P160 Duro, P160 Morbido, Mitchell's Wool Fat) which give a nice glide to the shave, as well as softening the beard.

TouchingVirus

Thanks for the advice. I'll go for a cream this time, and a soap the next time and take it from there

Old'n'Cranky

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I'll go for a cream this time, and a soap the next time and take it from there

Im pretty much a novice myself, but if you can get your hands on Taylor of Old Bond Street tubes or tubs (creams) you won't regret it. TK Maxx do then now and again, they go fast, well worth the €5.99 for the tubes though

MediaTank

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I'll go for a cream this time, and a soap the next time and take it from there

Absolutely, cream is much easier to use. But a tube rather than a bowl - it's easier to measure how much you need that way.

bothyhead

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Brush - Semogue 2015HD

I have that brush and it is a dream to use; you wont be sorry.

You've also made a good call with progress, though I like the short-handled version myself. Keep the settings down low for a while (1 to 2.5).

TouchingVirus

In the end I went for the cream and the soap

My first attempt at lather was pitiful. I used an almond size bit of cream like the ShaveTutor suggests, think I added too much water as I thought it was a bit thick. Didn't run off my face, but it didn't build either...

I went with it, waste not want not and all that. Nearly shat myself using the razor though, so nervous - I dunno why, it's not like I'm a prettyboy or anything. Maybe I just didn't want gaping wounds on my face. Styptic pencil at the ready :P

I spent maybe 40 minutes all told, used up all the cream lather and lathered up with some of that soap too just to see if I could make it better (A bit, but not much). I'd let a bit of hair grow while I waited, so I ended up dialing from 1 to 2/2.25 using the Merkur blade that came with the razor. I honestly didn't cut myself once, but I was concentrating on technique so it definitely isn't what I'd term a close shave except on my cheeks, they are fine. All the angles are a bit rough still, I guess I'll have to work on that.

I applied that proraso post shave cream and holy moly :eek: Tingles all over, awesome smell and just ..wow!

Houston, I think we have a convert!

Michael G

I have just switched from a Merkur Vision (too cumbersome) to a Progress with the long handle (and covered the cost of the new Progress by selling the Vision on eBay ). I used the Merkur blade supplied, with the razor dialled to 2; Proraso pre-shave and Proraso cream with my trusty old Kent super badger brush.

Result: absolutely brilliant. Smoothest ever, and not a single nick.

bothyhead

TouchingVirus wrote: »

My first attempt at lather was pitiful. I used an almond size bit of cream like the ShaveTutor suggests, think I added too much water as I thought it was a bit thick. Didn't run off my face, but it didn't build either...

Because the 2015HD is a good quality badger brush, it tends to hold a lot of water. What I do is to soak the brush in the sink as I'm washing my face, and when I'm ready to make the lather, I give the brush a couple of gentle squeezes to get rid of excess water. You want the brush damp, but not wet. I then proceed to make a TOBS lather (bowl), adding a few drops of water if required (literally, drops). If it's too try, it's easy to add more water.

TouchingVirus

bothyhead wrote: »

Because the 2015HD is a good quality badger brush, it tends to hold a lot of water. What I do is to soak the brush in the sink as I'm washing my face, and when I'm ready to make the lather, I give the brush a couple of gentle squeezes to get rid of excess water. You want the brush damp, but not wet. I then proceed to make a TOBS lather (bowl), adding a few drops of water if required (literally, drops). If it's too try, it's easy to add more water.

Yeah, the brush was only damp, but when adding water my few drops was a bit more than a few :P