Shaving: Merkur Safety Razors

[AvivaSimplex]

I took up the whole thing a couple months ago, with the beaver hair brush, Merkur razor and blades, and Proraso shaving soap. In order to get that baby's-butt clean shave, I still have to shave against the grain. Specifically, I do one shave with the grain and then another against it. I switched to Derby brand blades, which are a little duller than Merkur, and I get zero irritation from the second time through.

[onthebutton]

[ QUOTE ]
These things all shave TOO close for me, resulting in ingrown hairs. I reverted to the Sensor.

[/ QUOTE ]

LFS,

My experience is exactly the opposite. I used to have a terrible time with ingrown hairs and razor burn using a Mach 3 or something similar. I think part of it is due to the pressure that you seem to need to apply in order to get what feels like a good shave. Since I switched to wet-shaving, I never get ingrown hairs, and only get razor burn if I [censored] up when I'm shaving. And, the shave is much closer. Again, I think it's due to the pressure. If you exert the same pressure with a safety razor that you seem to need to exert with a Mach 3, you'll peel layers of your face off. All of this stuff is YMMV though. Wet-shaving takes more time, but for me the end result and comfort is worth it.

[jzpiano]

Can anybody help me?! I don't want to have to buy another razor, just looking for a blade change.

[edfurlong]

You could hack up a couple newspapers to dull it a bit.

[jzpiano]

[ QUOTE ]
You could hack up a couple newspapers to dull it a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

might be a viable solution. After 1 days shave the razor is fine and I have no problems. It is just that first day, blah...

[hosstito]

[ QUOTE ]
You could hack up a couple newspapers to dull it a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

i've also seen people talk about running new feather blades through a cork once or twice before using them. might also be worth a try.

[Runkmud]

Woot! Just received my merkur, badger hair brush, two tubs of Taylor of Old Bond street cream, and a stand. Can't wait to try this stuff out, of course I'll probably look like a attempted murder victim on the first try, but still!

[JPinAZ]

[ QUOTE ]
Can anybody help me?! I don't want to have to buy another razor, just looking for a blade change.

[/ QUOTE ]

With the prices of disposable cartridges, you really ought to think about getting a Merkur (or any other DE safety razor). You can pick up a Merkur classic for around $25. 100 blades from the Ebay auction linked above will be about $15. So by just changing your razor, you can have two year's worth of shaving for an initial outlay of $40.

[ryanj247]

been wet shaving for a long time. it's funny, when i posted about this last year i practically got a * for it. now i guess wet shaving is cool around here lol. anyways, i highly recommend the following:

1) get a block of versaille soap. after soaking your brush, lather up the brush on the block of soap. then take this "loaded" brush and go ahead and make the lather of shaving cream in your palm. the versaille soap interacts with the cream to make a much better lather.

2) i like the creams and aftershaves from Art of Shaving . they're manufactured in england using the same process as Trumper, Taylor's, etc. i especially like their sandalwood cream and aftershave.

3) i also like a product called "Code Blue" from Brave Soldier. it's a really unique aftershave product that feels great and really helps to prevent ingrown hairs and sooth razor burn.

[Blarg]

How does an aftershave product prevent ingrown hairs?