Thread: My first Straight

Great to hear you are getting set up right to be successful at this. Shaving with a straight razor is such a rewarding and satisfying way of doing things. There will be ups, downs, and plateaus but the trajectory should always be toward improving technique and quality of shaves. Staying connected to the SRP community will always help with that. Nice thread, it's a joy to hear about the beginning of the adventure... keep us posted on your progress.

Can't wait to begin this journey. I did however forget to order a brush and good shaving cream in all the excitement. There's a place locally I can buy the shaving cream but Idk what to do about not having a brush. I will get by I suppose for a little while.

Originally Posted by yondermountain91

Can't wait to begin this journey. I did however forget to order a brush and good shaving cream in all the excitement. There's a place locally I can buy the shaving cream but Idk what to do about not having a brush. I will get by I suppose for a little while.

Like all things straight razors, there are myriad choices for brushes, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. You might want to consider getting a good quality but not expensive boar brush, like an Omega, for starters. I have one, in addition to a more expensive Simpsons badger brush, and actually like them both about the same.

You can get an Omega boar brush for less than $20 as I recall.

RE: soaps -- check out the "First tier soaps/creams" thread on that part of this site. I have learned a lot there. You might want to select a cream from the top 2 tiers to get you started.

Reason being that there are so many separate variables that go into getting a good shave. If you start out with a good quality, easy to lather cream, you take that variable out of the equation (ideally).

If you need a brush right now I found a van der hagen set at walgreens brush is ok.
If you can wait jump back on SRD and like 400E said you can get a nice boar for very little money. I got the omega 10066 that's got great backbone for harder soaps and once broken in which doesn't take long is very nice on the face. And yes check out obies thread on soaps and creams.

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Originally Posted by Lynn

I usually recommend the full hollow Best Quality Dovo or the 5/8 Ralf Aust for new folks. You should be fine with either.

Take a look at the beginner section Read First thread before you first attempt to shave with your new straight razor.

Have fun.

That's the one I started with and it was perfect, going up or down in size was easy after I had grasped the basics of the straight shave and it is a work horse of a razor.

Couldn't resist the urge to order the cream and brush. Got the Omega 10108 Boar Brush, and Taylor of Old Bond Street Shaving Cream(Sandalwood). Also am going to get Thayers witch hazel aftershave splash. Let me know if you guys think I would be better off with something else. I'm already experiencing buyers trauma, spent around $160 so far. With that said something inside me says that this is definitely for me.

Made some great choices. TOBS makes a great cream very easy to lather and that sandlewood is a great scent. I also think you'll really like that brush. Omega makes a great brush for the money. They're a bit stinky at first so wash it a few times with shampoo or whip up a nice lather and that will lessen the stink.

I love using thayers after my shave before a splash of a/s helps my face feel better.

160 seems like a lot at first but when you think you'll likely never need to replace the razor or strop ever you feel better about. Now you just have to watch out for RAD, SAD and any other AD that comes along.

Happy shaving
Phil

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I second everything that Phil said! Great choices all around.

Yes, at this point spending $160 seems like a lot, but buying quality once is cheaper than buying cheap over and over again.

Big thing now is just take your time and learn the ropes. Takes a little while to get everything to sync up, but the journey getting there is still fun. And you never stop learning.