Thread: I am a 16 teen trying to get started with straight razors.

No we have at least one other bloke here (deerhunter) who started younger, and is probably not much older now.


Mick

Brandyn,

Welcome to the forum...


Terry

Thanks Guys!

You could also try to find a mentor in your area to help accelerate the learning curve.

im only 18 myself and the one bit of advice i would give is that when you get a spot or two (which lets face it, you will from time to time) use no pressure, just the weight of the blade, my first week consisted of me slicing off the one spot on my face until i realised i really didnt need any pressure to get a decent shave and the blade doesnt cut through your face... which is always a bonus haha!

I hope that I don't sound
like a broken record to the
other forum members but...

Checkout Youtube...lots
of videos on straight razor
shaving. A video may be
worth a million type written
words.

Terry

PS - specify Straight razor shaving
Lynn Abrams.
Mr. Abrams is the founder of SRP.

As everyone has said before make sure you do research here on SRP before buying a razor. I would suggest looking into getting a DE too for those times when you might not have the time to use the straight, or just to touch up your face because in the beginning your shaves will not be the best and will need to be touched up.

Since you're 16 I am assuming money might be an issue but once you get the initial purchase out of the way, shaving with straights can be the cheapest way to shave. If money is tight look at whippeddog.com, tweezerman has a good starter brush on amazon.com for about ten bucks, there are a lot of good soaps for around ten bucks too. You can probably pick up some Williams or Van Der Hagen for only a couple bucks at some stores like target, cvs, etc. and find an old mug or bowl that won't be missed and you're set. Maybe pick up an aftershave balm too.

Welcome to SRP. You can get plenty of help here as you can see. I am a little curious as to what made you think of using a straight razor ? I think it's great that you are !

Just don't do what I did... I was 16/17 when I started about 18 months ago. I was low on money and saw all these things saying "not for sale to under 18s" and so I started out with a shavette and yes every now and again there'd be a good shave in it but I could guarantee there'd be little nicks here and there and they are very unforgiving. Might be a different story for people with experience of a DE before going to a straight. But to learn how to shave with a straight there's no substitute for a straight.

Once you get set up though I'd advise to practice stropping with the likes of a butter knife first so that you don't dull the razor and use youtube, I learned a lot from watching various videos and from reading on here. Once you get started you won't go back

I started straight shaving at 54 after four decades of bad experiences with multiblade razors and electrics.

You're way ahead of me at a comparable age.