Thread: First shave and blood

I finished my first shave 6 days ago and my ear finally stopped bleeding after day 3.

The first shave was less than stellar but about where I had my expectations set. Thanks to all the advice on the forum I decided to start slow with cheek area only and I will worry about a quality finished product later. I made a few passes on my right side(I am right handed) with no problems. I started on the left side and lost focus for a moment. I never felt the blade even touch my left ear lobe(I guess that indicates the blade is sharp). After another pass with the blade I noticed blood dripping from my ear.

For some reason it is really difficult to get an ear to stop bleeding. I held a styptic pencil to it for over a minute and it was still bleeding. After another 3 or 4 minutes I got the flow to stop and covered it with liquid band-aid. As a side note it did contain the blood but formed an interesting looking red/black tear drop shape bubble. Since I did not want to chance starting the bleeding again I went to work with it still there. I got quite a few questions and odd looks about my ear.

My wife now thinks I am a little crazy for continuing with this endeavor. But I will keep going.

JeffH
Six total attempts and only one blood letting.

Welcome to SRP. The two spots I've really got to watch out for are in front of the ear when doing the sideburn and my right nostril when beginning to approach my mustache. I've nicked both when I had a moment of inattention. When I first came around I read someone say that you should keep an eye on the point that way a batter keeps his eye on the ball. Doing that has been working when I'm in those areas. Read my sig line below to avoid nicks and cuts.

Originally Posted by JeffH

My wife now thinks I am a little crazy for continuing with this endeavor. But I will keep going.

She'll change her tune when she gets used to the BBS feeling. Then she'll be complaining when you don't shave.

Originally Posted by JeffH

For some reason it is really difficult to get an ear to stop bleeding.

My wife now thinks I am a little crazy for continuing with this endeavor. But I will keep going.

JeffH

Welcome to SRP from a fellow Alabamian!

The ear is a pretty vascular organ, and clean cuts anywhere tend to bleed more than ragged or torn tissues. Hopefully this will become less and less of an issue with experience.

It took a while for my wife to stop rolling her eyes about straight shaving. Don't worry your wife will come around before too long.

Greg

Once you cut the other ear lobe too it will probably become more of a rare occation
Once on each side was enogh for me. So far...
On the other hand there is plenty of other places to cut
and nope the ears was not what bled the most

I once read the biography of the American comedian Joe E. Lewis, The Joker Is Wild by Gene Fowler. Lewis was shaving with a straight razor on February 14th, 1929 and cut himself badly enough that it took fifteen minutes to stop the bleeding.

This made him late for an appointment at 222 N. Clark St. in Chicago. He was to meet a gangster there named Pete Gusenberg. So Joe E. Lewis narrowly missed being one of the victims in the St Valentine's Day Massacre. Funny how things work out sometimes.

I've cut my ears too. Even though they were small cuts, a lot of blood came out.

Now I always pull my ears back when I'm shaving near those areas.

Thanks for the encouragement.

I believe I have managed to dull my blade with poor stopping technique. I have a question. How long should I work on stopping until I get my razor honed again? I don't know if there is any value in getting it honed when I may just dull the razor quickly. I am getting better at stropping. Every once in a while I get the nice zing sound and feel a slight vacuum as I pull the razor. But I am not sure if I want to spend the money to get it honed yet.

Also a note of irony. I was folding the receipt from my razor purchase, for filing, and gave myself a really nice paper cut. I chose to not tell my wife about this.

JeffH
Nine attempts and only one blood letting

Jeff,
From one bleeding newbie to another, I think that the sharper razor will shave you better and cut you less, actually. I bought two razors to start so that when the first one starts feeling dull and I can send it to Lynn for honing and use the second one for awhile. Barring a second razor, (again this is coming from a fellow newbie, so take it for what it's worth) I would still send my razor out for re-honing if I thought it was getting dull because I've found that the less pressure I use the less I cut/nick myself and I don't think the razor would cut well using little/no pressure unless it was sharp. My two cents. Keep at it.