Thread: Impressions after first straight razor shave

Great job breaking the ice.

Remember to shave slow, steady and deliberate.

Most important, stay in your comfort zone. If something doesn't feel right, put the razor down and take a breather. You might even have to walk away for a while and sort things out.

Watch shaving videos and try to pick out strokes and angles that work best for you, then practice them using a butter knife.

Sight lines will get more comfortable in time.

You have to learn the feel of a straight razor. You are holding and pushing one end of the blade in the direction that you are making the stroke. The whiskers are pushing back the opposite way on the other end of the blade. You will learn the feeling and how to compensate for the sort of tourque effect that is happening. A lot of new shavers think they have a dull blade when they first feel this.

Keep your touch very light...like a butterfly with sore feet.

Practice, practice, practice.

Soon you'll be shaving like an old pro!

Good luck and thanks for sharing

Pete <:-}

Originally Posted by petercp4e

Great job breaking the ice.

Remember to shave slow, steady and deliberate.

Most important, stay in your comfort zone. If something doesn't feel right, put the razor down and take a breather. You might even have to walk away for a while and sort things out.

Watch shaving videos and try to pick out strokes and angles that work best for you, then practice them using a butter knife.

Sight lines will get more comfortable in time.

You have to learn the feel of a straight razor. You are holding and pushing one end of the blade in the direction that you are making the stroke. The whiskers are pushing back the opposite way on the other end of the blade. You will learn the feeling and how to compensate for the sort of tourque effect that is happening. A lot of new shavers think they have a dull blade when they first feel this.

Keep your touch very light...like a butterfly with sore feet.

Practice, practice, practice.

Soon you'll be shaving like an old pro!

Good luck and thanks for sharing

Pete <:-}

Much appreciated Pete. The butter knife is a great idea, I'll do that tonight for some safe, hands on practice. I'll try to remember a butterfly with sore feet next time I shave, I like that.

As far as keeping the blade wet... i find that on my last pass i like a little extra water to help the blade glide over the skin as there is not a lot of whiskers left for it to cut. So i lather up and rince the blade with every stroke. Puts just a touch of water on the edge. But normally, rince when you feel the need. You dont want to be leaving lather behind from off the blade. And you need to see the blade at all times when new at this. Its just a personnal thing. Some rince, some wipe. Some guys clean the blade off more than others.

After you get to know the blade better you can adjust your wrist position some to see better. You need to see for sure, but seeing every thing can put your wrist and arm in odd posisions and that can cause you to change the angle or add pressure when you dont want it.

Just go easy, slow and watch the angle and preasure. Its not a DE. It will bite harder!

And yes, that is the signature line down below. It makes it nice to know someones real name. Not something that you have to do as we all figure out names after a while if you keep posting and become part of the family.

Couple more thoughts for you. Get youself an Alum block. Get your finger tips wet and rub the Alum, then you can grip wet soapy skin.
Most of us dont worry about the bbs shave. Close comfortable ir damn fine shave. You might still be able to feel whiskers if you rub your face a certain way in a couple spots, but if you walk away with no irritation and very little burn from the After Shave, then you did good. This is whats important to me. Not bbs. YMMV.

Originally Posted by terriblegolfer

Thank you Rich, I appreciate the advice, any and all is welcome. I need to figure out how to put my name at the bottom like you did (is that the signature?) Also SRP has rejected all my avatar attempts, maybe they are too large or something...

I see that the Avatar is working

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I see that the Avatar is working

Yes, I see that now too, thanks to you!

Congratulations on your first shave
I am by no means an expert SR-shaver but here are my comments on your observations:
1) My hand/wrist partially blocks my view of the area just below my side burn, not sure how to change that so I tried to just go by feel
Happens to me too, and I too go just by feel. I'm pretty sure that's how everyone does it :P

2) Little short strokes seem easier and more effective than long ones...wow, I'm finding describing shaving similar to golf, it seems impossible to avoid sexual innuendo, so I'm not even going to try
Yep, same here. I use the same kind of strokes even with my single edge razors and my double edge razors. It's just better (in my opinion

3) Upper lip area wasn't as difficult to shave as I thought it was going to be with the exception of the two little areas immediately below my nostrils, not sure what to do there, but I'm sure with practice and more confidence it will become easier/more apparent what to do...I hope
I go for an heuristic approach: I shave WTG, XTG Left to Right and then XTG Right to left. It's because my upper lip is too sensitive and the ATG stroke would just burn my lip. My best advice here would be: shave as close as you can but only if it's comfortable.

4) As I was shaving, I was wondering if I need to try to keep the blade wet(with water) all the time and how often I need to rinse shaving cream/stubble off both sides of blade
I think you don't. The lather should provide enough cushion and preparation to your face, also the water just runs from your blade anyways so it's almost impossible to keep the blade wet :P

5) After my first pass going down side burn area, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't very close at all, it's like my stout facial hair was fighting back, they put up a pretty good fight
In my experience, SR need a much more advanced technique than any other razor, My first time I expected to have the same results I get with my Merkur HD... and., just like you, I was disappointed to see a lot of hairs sprinkled all over my face. It was just technique and practice maketh master Wouldn't hurt to make sure the razor is properly honed (dull blades could go from hair pulling to gliding over your skin like a spoon)

5a) I did 3 passes below the side burn area and it's not quite baby butt smooth but pretty close
Same results here. I can't say if it's the razor (I feel it's sharp enough, no pulling nor discomfort) or it's just how I shave, but yeah... I get really close but not as close as I do with my safety (and boy have I read plenty of opinions on which one should be sharper... I gave up trying to find out)

6) Less blood than I thought (mostly between lower lip and chin area which I really had no business attacking(?) on my first shave /envy Mine wasn't so good... didn't had much blood but my face was as red as a smoked pork chop

6a) Under lip chin area quite difficult, not sure what else to say, I did not do anything of much use down there with my straight razor As I said, get as close as you can without feeling discomfort. Some times you just can't archive BBS on all your face (I know I cant on my upper lip and my neck)

7) Made sure to use left hand on left side...it wasn't too bad but I am very right handed so I really had to concentrate and my left hand shaves slower than the right for now...
Practice maketh master. Try very slow and short strokes and try to mimic your right hand-leftside. If all fails, use your right hand and just keep practicing. Remember this: it's better to have a comfortable and secure grip than to drop the razor on the sink because you're a duffus with your other hand (happened to me, I almost cry)

8) It was awkward to find a good hand position on either side while trying to shave my neck area
I ALWAYS have trouble with my neck, I guess we both have to watch a couple more videos (ShaveTheMan has a nice repertoire)

9) Adams apple! Well, mine is excessively 3 dimensional and almost sharp...I have to hold a "swallow" if you know what I mean, to move it out of the way to shave in that particular area. I was really praying I wouldn't get the yips (otherwise known as twitches, staggers, jitters and jerks) while shaving around the Mt. Everest of Adams apples. I didn't luckily.

Damn... can't help you here, mine is small. I would suggest to keep a disposable at hand if things turn to be too difficult.

10) I'm not sure with stropping how much pressure to apply. What I think I know is drag the spine first and roll it over on the spine for each pass. The strop is a little wider than the blade so that makes it easier, I think, so I can just make a bunch of straight passes and get the whole thing. I realize the blade needs to make some contact with the strop otherwise it wouldn't be doing anything (re-aligning the blade?) at all. I'm just not sure how much pressure to apply.
I've found that the trick is to do slooooooooow strokes at first. This helps me to make sure the blade is in touch with the leather and also this helps me control the pressure. In my specific case, speed == pressure == dull blade. Also, my strop is in fact an old belt that had a super soft side (maybe 1.5 inches (3.75cm) long) so I have to do the X strokes anyways, closely look at the edge and see if it touches the leather in all it's (edge) length and if not, try an X stroke, that way it's almost sure the whole edge will be caressed by the leather.
Regarding pressure: As little as possible. Basically, just the resultant pressure of the razor's own weight. That's why I recommend slow strokes, this way you can *feel* it and *see* it and do micromovements with ease.

11) I can't wait to try it again tomorrow morning...I swear, starting that first pass was like standing in the tee-box for the first time with driver in hand and people waiting behind me and just hoping I didn't completely whiff at the ball. I'm glad that's over with and I will surely continue to take it slow but it won't be quite as nerve racking next time.
I know the feeling hahaha. Just keep a disposable at hand. If the razor or your skin are not in the best of states then chances are you will get a red face so just keep that in mind and have the disposable fix whatever needs to be fixed. and NEVER GET DISCOURAGED.
We are here to help you clear any doubt you might have. So never give up, the only ones who never learn how to use a straight are those who give up.

Cheers and let us know how your next shave goes.

Let the razor do the work. Light pressure. Weight of the blade only when you strop.

I may have been the biggest critic on these boards against the "dead man's pass". I now pull it off every morning. I plant my elbows in front of a magnifying mirror holding the blade steady as I gently move my head from south to North. Naturally you have to be gentle keep the blade angled right and stretch the skin tight. It's my third pass. Works great

There is an easy solution to shaving the adam's apple--you don't have to do it. No, I don't mean to leave a weird patch there. Instead, pull the skin to the left and shave what was over the apple. Then pull the skin to the right and shave what was over the apple. Mission accomplished without ever shaving directly over the adam's appple.