I plan on making this thread a kind of diary of my experience and journey through what I am calling the Straight Divide. That is the time before a straight edge razor and the time after.
Today is the first time I have ever put a straight to my face and shaved. (i did once before being really stupid and cut my ear a little, no major blood)
The experience was...wait I am jumping ahead, I should explain a little history, and method first
History
My usual shave is with a Weishi DE and a wilkinson blade. I have been doing this for about 6 years now and have developed a great technique with a nice close shave (although against the grain is not great for me).
Recently I thought I would make the jump into Straight's and bought a vintage blade. This was cleaned up and honed by Oz.
After many weeks of reading/watching/and more reading I took the plunge today and had my first shave.
Tools
Technique (well what I should do)
I roughly followed the instructions that I have set out in this PDF and will paste up in my bathroom for daily reminders
Results and thoughts
Shaving with a straight is quite different to DE. The sound of the beard being cut is a little weird at first but very enjoyable. Still have a long long way to go with getting used to moving such a long blade around on my face without cutting myself. I managed to get about 3 cuts from the blade, nothing that Styptic could not stop.
I only shaved my right cheek, a little of the left (had trouble getting the right position) and some of my upper lip (where I started to cut myself). I started to do below my chin but got a little scared since this was after my bad attempt on my upper lip.
Holding the straight is a little confusing but I think I am getting the hang of it
Stropping did not seem to bad (many thanks to Oz for showing me the correct technique). Love the sound the blade makes on the strop.
Sadly I finished the shave off with my DE.
Lessons Learned
Next Time
PS: Many thanks to all who have helped me to get to this point
Today is the first time I have ever put a straight to my face and shaved. (i did once before being really stupid and cut my ear a little, no major blood)
The experience was...wait I am jumping ahead, I should explain a little history, and method first
History
My usual shave is with a Weishi DE and a wilkinson blade. I have been doing this for about 6 years now and have developed a great technique with a nice close shave (although against the grain is not great for me).
Recently I thought I would make the jump into Straight's and bought a vintage blade. This was cleaned up and honed by Oz.
After many weeks of reading/watching/and more reading I took the plunge today and had my first shave.
Tools
- Omega Badger Brush (grade unknown but does feel soft)
- Crabtree & Evalyn Nomad soap in a wood container
- Styptic liquid bottle
- Proraso
- Japanese Tea pot as a my shaving mug (hey I like it and it has a nice strainer on the top)
- Eye Witness Straight (freshly honed by Oz)
- A printed sheet with step by step instructions (grab the 198kb pdf here) which I need to remember to try and follow
- Diamond belt paddle strop
- Crabtree & Evalyn Nomad after shave
- Inox for oiling the blade
- paper towels for drying
Technique (well what I should do)
I roughly followed the instructions that I have set out in this PDF and will paste up in my bathroom for daily reminders
Results and thoughts
Shaving with a straight is quite different to DE. The sound of the beard being cut is a little weird at first but very enjoyable. Still have a long long way to go with getting used to moving such a long blade around on my face without cutting myself. I managed to get about 3 cuts from the blade, nothing that Styptic could not stop.
I only shaved my right cheek, a little of the left (had trouble getting the right position) and some of my upper lip (where I started to cut myself). I started to do below my chin but got a little scared since this was after my bad attempt on my upper lip.
Holding the straight is a little confusing but I think I am getting the hang of it
Stropping did not seem to bad (many thanks to Oz for showing me the correct technique). Love the sound the blade makes on the strop.
Sadly I finished the shave off with my DE.
Lessons Learned
- Straight blades are long and require respect. They will cut you without you knowing if you do not watch them
- pull the skin taught
- go slowly and practice shaving my left and right cheeks first
- Straight edge shaving is fun and great challenge that I will overcome.
Next Time
- take things slowly (ie change to night shave routine so I have time and not a morning rush)
- concentrate on getting the shave right on my cheeks
- will be tomorrow night
PS: Many thanks to all who have helped me to get to this point
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