Experiment in Shaving

Well, I'm in the process of re-learning how to shave. I have taken the step of putting away my 2, 3 and 5 blade throw away cartridge razors and drugstore shave gels and have started using a brand new Merkur Futur DE Razor. My wife, Lisa was kind enough to give me one of these for Christmas. It has been a pleasurable and painful adventure to far. :) DE stands for "double edged." This is the type of razor your grandfather might have used only in a modern version. The experiment is broken down into a couple of categories. These are 1) shaving equipment and 2) shaving process. Shaving equipment for me has started out pretty basic as listed as follows:

Shaving Equipment:
Merkur Futur DE Razor
Omega Chrome Boar Hair Shaving Brush
Small deep bowl or mug for creating lather (about 4" across and 3" deep)
Double edged razor blades (Feather, Merkur, Derby, Gillette and Israeli Super+)

There is a huge assortment of equipment that you can choose from. This is about personal preference so I'm sure I'll be making some changes/upgrades as time goes by.

As a great reference, I would suggest going to these to places:

Badger & Blade
Shaveblog.com
Leisureguy Guides to Shaving
The Wet Shaver's Group

You'll learn everything you need to know how to get started shaving with a safety or straight razor and then some.

The second part of shaving is the process itself broken down as follows:

Pre shave face preparation
Creating a proper lather
Lathering techniques
The actual art of shaving using the 2, 3 or 4 pass method
Post shave care

This is where you can spend hundreds or dollars and hours figuring out what works for you in terms of techniques and products and quite frankly the most fun with a little bit of frustration thrown in trying to get things "right." I am quickly learning that I knew nothing about my face, beard growth patterns and so on in my quest for that baby bottom smooth shave. I won't go into details since the reference links I gave can do that much better than I can. I can say that I have started out using the Proraso and Nancy Boy line of products based on other's recommendations. So far, they have not steared me wrong. I suspect that based on my skin and beard type that I am not going to be able to cut any corners. I am however enjoying this process immensely. Right now I am using a Burt Bee's Body and Bath Oil as a pre shave with the Proraso or Nancy Boy shave cream. Just for the heck of it I throw in a little of my Aveeno shave gel as a comparison. I also have the Prorase pre/post shave cream to experiment with. For post shave care I use either Proraso's shave balm or my L'Oreal or Aveeno moisturizers. I just got a bottle of Thayer's Lavender Witch Hazel to try. I'm waiting on a couple of others things to come in the mail to try.

So, that's it for now. My next experiment is to try the following.

Pure Glycerin as a pre shave lubricant.
Keep the same shave creams for now.
Use Witch Hazel after rinsing with cold water
Use an after shave balm.

What's Next

I am in the process of looking to add a styptic pencil and alum block to help with the razor burn and nicks. I'll be mixing up the pre and post shave products a bit more to find the best combination for me. Pre shave lubrication and after shave comfort is the name of the game. There are other things I can do too like upgrade my shave brush and get a hot shot water heater and a mug warmer to help get the best lather possible. I'm going to try out a few more Nancy Boy products since they get such high marks. The shave creams are last because there is a ton of them to choose from in all styles and flavors. I'm not out to build a huge collection of these things because they are not cheap so I'm going to be pretty picky and then stick to what works best.