First straight razor shave last night.
Started with my usual prep. A shower with a good face scrub with soap. Then soaked my brush (a VDH cheapy from Walmart) then a few swirls in my AoS sandalwood. A few go arounds on the face and let the lather sit a couple of extra mins to soften my whiskers.
I have read that newbies should be doing first passes with their DEs to reduce stubble. I figured I would jump right in. Now I know different.
I would agree with a lot of other member's first experience. Blade placement was my biggest problem. It felt like I was cutting myself every time I brought the blade to my face without moving it. Also, I'm not sure I understand dull blade newbie syndrome. That edge was super sharp and I knew and certainly felt it.
The shave itself was a little dicey. There are a lot of things to juggle at once. A momentary lapse in skin pulling and I got a nice blade length slice on the bottom right of my neck. Another small nick next to my chin. All taken care of with a styptic pencil. Man that stings! Cleaned up with my EJ89. Smidge of razor burn around the slice tells me I was using too much pressure.
Shaving with a straight razor certainly helps you appreciate the advances in shaving for the past 100 years. Although not all of them were necessarily an improvement.
A couple questions:
1. It mat be personal preference, but should I strop before a shave, after a shave, or both?
2. My razor came coated in Vaseline. Is it ok to continue that? I don't really have any type of oil at the moment.
A bumpy start but I am not deterred. Looking forward to things going a little smoother down the road. Skin stretching and razor holding will be my challenges. Just need to develop my routine.
Thanks for reading.
Started with my usual prep. A shower with a good face scrub with soap. Then soaked my brush (a VDH cheapy from Walmart) then a few swirls in my AoS sandalwood. A few go arounds on the face and let the lather sit a couple of extra mins to soften my whiskers.
I have read that newbies should be doing first passes with their DEs to reduce stubble. I figured I would jump right in. Now I know different.
I would agree with a lot of other member's first experience. Blade placement was my biggest problem. It felt like I was cutting myself every time I brought the blade to my face without moving it. Also, I'm not sure I understand dull blade newbie syndrome. That edge was super sharp and I knew and certainly felt it.
The shave itself was a little dicey. There are a lot of things to juggle at once. A momentary lapse in skin pulling and I got a nice blade length slice on the bottom right of my neck. Another small nick next to my chin. All taken care of with a styptic pencil. Man that stings! Cleaned up with my EJ89. Smidge of razor burn around the slice tells me I was using too much pressure.
Shaving with a straight razor certainly helps you appreciate the advances in shaving for the past 100 years. Although not all of them were necessarily an improvement.
A couple questions:
1. It mat be personal preference, but should I strop before a shave, after a shave, or both?
2. My razor came coated in Vaseline. Is it ok to continue that? I don't really have any type of oil at the moment.
A bumpy start but I am not deterred. Looking forward to things going a little smoother down the road. Skin stretching and razor holding will be my challenges. Just need to develop my routine.
Thanks for reading.
