Manscaping 101 field trials:Merkur safety razor first shave
I did it and lived. I had my first shave with the Merkur Progress safety razor. Really, it wasn’t bad. Only minor bleeding. One thing for sure is that I’m really glad I watched The Shaving Tutor’s video on how to shave with this bugger. Before I get into my experience (with pictures), here is the video it is very much worth watching:
First safety razor shave, minor blood loss
My biggest fear and trepidation about doing this, making the leap (back I guess) to a single blade safety razor was that I was going to cut the snot out of my face. I think watching the video helped prevent this from happening to a large extent.
Okay, let’s get to the pictures…
Just out of the shower and ready to get rocking. No, I don’t have a lot of whiskers. If I waited until tomorrow you’d be able to see more
Houston, we have lather and ready to scrape, erm, shave.
One pass done. I didn’t realize that first pass, second pass meant re-lather in between. Good thing I watched the video!
Done! As you can see from my neck a little bleeding.
No turning back now
Now that I have my first shave under my belt, what do I think?
It is very different. You really can feel and hear this shave. It’s a scraping sound. Odd, but okay.
I’m working on remembering keeping the right blade angle. This is harder than I thought. After what, fifteen years of shaving “the old way” which is pretty brainless, it’s going to take time to get this right.
As for time, certainly took longer. What I’m going to see is if a “first pass shave” might be “good enough” for not going out. Yes, I could tell that the first pass didn’t get everything.
As for as comfort, the process is fine. Good shave cream is key to this. After? I feel a little scraped. But I’m thinking that I just need to use a better balm. Nivea might not be soothing enough.
Overall I’m going to keep this up. I might keep some regular razor blades on hand for fast shaves, but maybe not. Once I get good at this, maybe it will just be worth an extra couple minutes.
Tags: mens grooming, mens skin care, Merkur Progress razor, Merkur razor, safety razor, shave brush, shaving, shaving pictures, shaving tips, Skin care for men, traditional shaving, wet shavingRelated Stories
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7 opinions for Manscaping 101 field trials:Merkur safety razor first shave
Deb Ng
May 15, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Smooooooth.
Tris Hussey
May 15, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Mostly, yes. Certainly worth more practice!
mantic59
May 15, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Congrats on a good first shave! Glad the videos helped.
Tris Hussey
May 15, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Thank you. Yep, I watched several in the channel to learn more. Very helpful stuff.
mantic59
May 16, 2008 at 7:00 am
Tris- Coming from B5’s training guy, I take that as a big compliment. Thanks! BTW, I suggest that you dial the Progress no higher than a half-turn on the adjustment knob for the first month or so. The “weepers” on your neck indicate you probably used too high a setting (and/or you used too much pressure).
Tris Hussey
May 16, 2008 at 10:46 am
Ah, and here I thought I had it too high (3.5) so I put it to 2.5 … going to try 4.
The whole angle and pressure thing that is hard to get. But … only a couple spots, not bad I think.
The Manival #5
May 27, 2008 at 12:17 am
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