Thread: Hello to all

Hello everyone. I am new to straight razor shaving. The SRP is amazing...so much informantion to absorb. I made the mistake of buying a razor before knowing about the SRP..what a mistake. Thankfully, I sent my razor to Utopian to be honed. I hope he can put a good edge on it. After reading some threads, I purchased a Dovo Special from Straight Razor Designs that comes professionaly honed by Lynn Abrams. I am sure that razor will be much better quality than the Mehaz I originally bought. I can't wait until my first shave. I only have a mug and brush. I may purchase a scuttle down the road, but I will wait a bit. Again, hello SRP members.

Welcome to the forum.. The're surely be lot's of learnings here from
professional shaver.. I have proven it...they've taught me how to
shave..

Hope you'd enjoy your stay here..

Welcome to SRP and smooth shaving !

Welcome to SRP,

Originally Posted by razorman

only have a mug and brush. I may purchase a scuttle down the road, but I will wait a bit.

Unless you simply forgot it, you are missing a strop. You do need a strop. A strop is essential for maintaining your blade after shaving (most strop before the shave, but technically, that's still "after shaving"). There is a bit more background in this article.

You may also find this guide of interest (download as PDF). It was compiled from information in this forum targeted specifically at beginners.

Good luck, and do keep us posted,
Robin

Welcome!

you mentioned you had 2 razors mug and brush do you have a strop or soap/cream?

the easiest cream to get your hands on is C.O bigelow it can be found at any bath and body for $5-10 depending on size. It has a spingish scent and also has menthol for a cooling (I misstook it for an allergic reaction first time lol) effect and lathers well.



The soaps that are easiest to find are williams and VDH (van der hagen) they can found at wallgreens cvs grocery stores and pharmicies for a couple bucks.





If you don't have a strop yet ruprazor.com has the "filly" for $20 it comes w/ a pasted side for razor touch ups. Also (TM) Tony Miller at thewellshavedgentleman.com has some of the most highly regarded strops and you can pay an extra $8 to get a practice strop included, because you will probably nick your first one. Also I'm sure you noticed the very nice strops on SRD while you were picking out your dovo thier strops have had good ratings around here as well.

As always I suggest reading the wiki and doing a search on youtube.com for mantic59 . He has some great lathering tutorials which are sure to help. Again welcome and feel free to ask away with questions we have some unbelievably knowledgeable people here.

Let us know how the first shave goes!

Excellent advice here already. Beside the suggestions of things to buy, it may be a good idea to pay careful attention to those you can't buy. For instance, Lynn's anticipation and first shave threads suggested by BeBerlin. Perhaps the aspect of straight shaving that newbies find most difficult is stropping, read the section on the wiki for details. In addition to that, the lack of lathering skills and poor beard preparation perster newbies and seasoned members alike. I have found to be critical for obtaining good results is to use lather of the proper consistency. Lathering is a skill, which is often overlooked among wet shavers. This process can be divided into 3 stages:

1) loading the brush; 2) building the lather; and 3) hydrating the lather. It is important to pay careful attention to each stage.

When lathering, the most important thing is to be sure of finding the peak of the soap/cream (the point where no more lather can be produced). Both dry (before reaching the peak) and too wet (over the peak) lather can be problematic. Dry lather looks similar to cake frosting and can easily be detected by passing your brush over. If the brush leaves grooves, the lather is too dry. Lather has been obtained with too much water (past the peak) vanishes almost immediately after it touches the skin and can appear dry. These are very common problems among new and seasoned users. There is a good section in the wiki about lathering, if you have not done so already, a visit is in order:

Category:Lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Also, I think this that you may find this video (already recommended) useful:

YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather