Thread: 1st Shave

Just had my 1st shave, felt great on the 1st stroke, then everything went downhill. Hair pulling/ not cutting, what did I do wrong. Tried up to 3 full passes & had to finish up with my DE.

There are just so many things that singly or in combination can cause a bad shave for a beginner. Was the razor sharp enough to shave with, did you strop it before shaving and possibly damage the edge, was your lather up to the task, was your angle on the blade correct and did you use next to no pressure on the blade? So many possibilities and with little info to go on very hard to say.

Here is the suggested way to begin shaving with a straight razor First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Library . Notice it does not suggest you attempt a full 3 pass shave right out of the gate.

Bob

Hard to determine but if your first stroke was truly good did you change your angles on subsequent strokes?

Read the thread Horrible Shave from a couple days ago. 3 pages of replies that would be applicable.

Don't get discouraged, keep practicing, it will get better soon and you will be looking forward to your next shave as soon as you finish shaving.

Don't get discouraged! Practice makes perfect. What I wish I had truly realized when I started straight edge shaving is straight edge shaving is a skill that has to be learned. Before When I had my cartridge blade and I could shave in three minutes. Now I shave with a straight and it takes twenty minutes. Look at the post suggestioned and ask lots of questions! You have at your hands so much knowledge here at this site. Keep practicing and ask questions. You can't learn without practice and asking questions. using a straight edge is something you can't just learn in a week or two or even three. That's my two cents!
Greg

I think part of what may have gone wrong is three full passes for your first shave. It is generally recommended that you start with a part pass for a couple of shave and as you get more familiar with the handling of the blade then expand your shave slowly to a full shave. My first few were not much better than a mach3 shave but rapidly improved. I am not very good at following instructions so I did a full shave to start with, but a single with the grain pass, I was dedicate to learning and have shaved exclusively with a straight. About a week into it and I was improving fast and added a second pass and then a third. As my shave improved I dropped back to a two pass shave and was getting way better results than when I started with three.

Lather the same as I use with my DE. Angle- layed it flat against my face then lifted the spine about 1 inch. Didn't strop it as it hasn't arrived yet, Titan razor arrived shave ready (rehoned & sharpened by Anthony Espisito) so I figured it was good to go for at least 1 shave ?

Originally Posted by Samo1

Lather the same as I use with my DE. Angle- layed it flat against my face then lifted the spine about 1 inch. Didn't strop it as it hasn't arrived yet, Titan razor arrived shave ready (rehoned & sharpened by Anthony Espisito) so I figured it was good to go for at least 1 shave ?

The biggest thing I can see is your use of a 1 inch gap between you face and the spine. I would try 1 to 2 spine widths gap next time out. Don't know about shave ready as I haven't used any razors honed by Anthony so I would also assume it was shave ready. As for your lather I have to assume it is OK too not having seen it. Change your gap and give it another go without stropping and see if that makes a difference. Also remember next to no pressure on the blade just like letting the weight of the DE do the job for you. Good Luck.

Bob

I am very new to straights and have only used one a couple of times so far and when I use one, I only do my cheeks, some chin, jawline and neck areas where I feel comfortable to get with the straight as I try to get used to it. I also dont expect a DFS shave at this time knowing it will take some time and practice to get comfortable with using it for the whole shave. I always finish with my DE razor and baby steps on cheeks, chin, jawline and part of the neck area!

Yeah, if you actually had the spine an inch from your skin, you were way off. You weren't shaving--you were scraping. Experiment with different angles but in general the spine needs to be much closer to your skin in order for the blade to cut properly.