First straight shave... didn't go too bad.

[physiognomy]

Late this evening probably wasn't the best time to try out my new straight, but it has been here since yesterday & I had to give it a go... A quick second look at the straight razor guide to confirm proper grip & I was away The feeling of lifting the blade to my neck for the first time is one I won't forget for quite a while! I went mainly by feel in terms of blade angle and concentrated on short, light strokes. It worked pretty well for the most part & I was surprised how close my shave was considering I don't have a strop yet. I stopped at ~2 light passes on my neck that removed quite a bit of beard. The best part was that I didn't cut myself! The pic below shows the results before I rubbed on a little AS balm. This smoothed my skin out quite a bit & it's doing fine now... I'm pretty happy with this first experience and will look to the forum for more advice on technique and blade maintenance... More to follow.

 

[Luc]

Good work!

I was pretty scared of the straight before I actually tried one. Sure, you can cut yourself, if you are a bit careful, you will be fine!

 

[PolsBirthday]

I just hacked off a beard like that (grown to show a friend of my the supremety of the straight shave capabilities)

 

[mdunn]

congrats - nothing like the feeling of a good straight shave

 

[Jwolf24601]

Uh you missed a spot

 

[leighton]

Where did you get the razor from? Was it advertised as shave ready?

Doesn't look too bad at all.

 

[tsmba]

Funny....whenever I mention my interest in straights, I almost always hear something like, "if I even tried that, I'd cut the **** out of myself". It seems most men are afraid to even consider a straight razor.

 

[sapito318]

Congrats! Nothing makes you feel more manly than successfully shaving your beard off with a precision tool

My first straight shave, I was so excited/nervous that I had to take a 10 minute break to calm down

 

[physiognomy]

Thanks for the comments guys...

Where did you get the razor from? Was it advertised as shave ready?

Doesn't look too bad at all.

My razor came from everyone's favorite auction site after placing a few impulse bids late one night... The description did say "shave ready" and so far I'm happy given the price. I fully intend to send it off to someone who knows what they are doing once I detect any considerable dulling of the blade. For now it seems good to go. I'm hoping to pick myself up an affordable starter strop at a local store tonight.

 

[md86]

Good Job!!! When i first started with a straight i was deathly afraid of shaving my neck