First straight shave

[Lereas]

I got two razors in last night: the one I got on ebay for a dollar that I'm now positive is worth less than the shipping I paid on it, and the awesome one I got from larry that is probably the sharpest blade I've ever felt.

I "practiced" some wih the crappy blade for a while last night, and then this morning I took the plunge. I've been DE shaving for 6 years, so luckly I wasn't trying out straights and wetshaving at the same time! I have my old, but trusty tweezerman brush and a cake of col. conk amber, and got a nice lather. Put it on and put steel to skin.

All in all, it was slightly easier than I expected, but yet very difficult in a number of areas. I'm not sure if you'd call my face "angular" but it seemed like no matter how much I tried to pull my skin, my face caused it to have a bunch of un-flat areas. My cheekbone would push the skin out or my face would dip somewhere else.

I had lots of issues around my jawline, but a lot of it was being unable to pull my skin much. I just coulnd't get a good hold on the skin since everything was somewhat slippery. I'm also reasonably sure I didn't have the right angle. I've seen some things saying I should pretty much lay the whole blade flat against my cheek. That sounds right in theory, but in practice I felt like I had to put pressure on it in order for it to do anything. I instead lifted the spine a couple degrees, but maybe that was the wrong decision.

Another issue I had was that I had a hard time seeing some parts while I was shaving because my hand/razor was in the way. How do you get a good view of your sideburn area when it's right level with your eye and your hand will be right there?

Other than some razor burn and a small nick on my upper lip, I came out of it unscathed and not too much worse of a shave than my first DE shave. I'm confident I'll get better, but I'm going to give my face a few days to recover before trying again.

 

[Defend Tacoma]

Glad to hear your first time was a success! I have a straight in the mail from Larry right now. Should have my first straight shave next week!

 

[sanfranciscian]

congratulations, sounds like a big success. I cant help you with the vision thing for those sideburns, all i do is reach up and lay it flat on the burn and drop it in the slot, that seems to work fine and i really dont bother looking anymore. the odd thing for me (and mind you i am only a couple of months in to this) is that i am finding that a lot of time when i am not near any thing i can lop off i will not really be studying my face so intently but go with how the blade feels on my face and use that as my guide.

Ian

 

[natchez]

I find that getting a grip on the skin much easier if you use an alum block. Just wet it and run your fingers on it. This is a tip I picked up here somewhere; I could not find the post to give credit. But, it really works very well. I keep a wet alum block right next to the sink and when I feel my fingers slipping wither on the razor or my skin I use it. Good luck!

 

[Lereas]

I find that getting a grip on the skin much easier if you use an alum block. Just wet it and run your fingers on it. This is a tip I picked up here somewhere; I could not find the post to give credit. But, it really works very well. I keep a wet alum block right next to the sink and when I feel my fingers slipping wither on the razor or my skin I use it. Good luck!

That sounds like an excellent idea. Thanks for the tip!

 

[snorian]

Glad it went okay. I'm waiting on my first razor from Larry to.

 

[luvmysuper]

Another issue I had was that I had a hard time seeing some parts while I was shaving because my hand/razor was in the way. How do you get a good view of your sideburn area when it's right level with your eye and your hand will be right there?

Took me a little bit to take care of this particular issue till I realized I don't have to actually watch the razor cutting the hair.
Don't turn your head so that you see the side of your face in the mirror, look straight on into the mirror, lay the razor flat against the side of the face with the edge where the bottom of the sideburn hair is, lift the spine away from the face and make a stroke.

If you keep trying to watch where you start to shave by turning your head, you're going to wind up with little horizontal cuts at the bottom of your sideburns.

 

[Luc]

Congrats!!

+1 on Phil's advice

I usually try to go over my head and pull the skin up to prevent any hands blocking my view.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Congrats on your first str8 shave...as a fellow Newb to str8s, I can tell you it WILL get better over time!

 

[Barbash]

Congrats on the first passes with the Straight.

 

[Gustav]

Congratulations! This alum block business sounds a bit funny but it really works. Just moisten your fingers, grip the block briefly and you have enough alum on your fingers to get to work.

 

[W_B_K]

+1 on Phil's and Luc's advice and congrats!

Also, sometimes you may think you have the skin stretched enough but it is not. Try stretching it from a different spot. Sometimes I have to stretch from two spots at the same time... use my thumb and fingers to stretch it in two directions, then also pull down... in effect your are stretching in three directions.

As far positioning to not block your view, you can practice in the mirror with something like a butterknife just to see what positions work best for you.

 

[Lereas]

So I've had a few more straight shaves, and while I'm going to continue practicing, straight razors may just not be for me. I do know it took me a while to get a decent shave with a DE razor, so I'm going to keep at it for at least another month.

When I shave with a DE, it just glides over my face, chopping off the wiskers like they're nothing. I get a bbs shave almost every time when I'm not in a hurry.

With the straight (honed by Larry, so I know it's sharp...also I know from the cuts I've got) it just tugs. When I asked larry about this, he said that that's pretty much just a part of the straight shave. He has suggested the technique where you start at the bottom and work up, and that seems to help a bit.

With two WTG passes on my cheeks I can get an OK reduction to something like a shave from some disposable razor, but nothing even close to a DE shave.

I'm going to keep trying, and I do feel accomplished having a couple shaves with it regardless of their quality (everyone goes "holy ****, you used a straight and didn't slash your neck?" though that could be a comment on my klutzyness, and not my manlyness for using a straight) but I may have to go back to DE if this doesn't get any better.

 

[luvmysuper]

So I've had a few more straight shaves, and while I'm going to continue practicing, straight razors may just not be for me. I do know it took me a while to get a decent shave with a DE razor, so I'm going to keep at it for at least another month.

When I shave with a DE, it just glides over my face, chopping off the wiskers like they're nothing. I get a bbs shave almost every time when I'm not in a hurry.

With the straight (honed by Larry, so I know it's sharp...also I know from the cuts I've got) it just tugs. When I asked larry about this, he said that that's pretty much just a part of the straight shave. He has suggested the technique where you start at the bottom and work up, and that seems to help a bit.

With two WTG passes on my cheeks I can get an OK reduction to something like a shave from some disposable razor, but nothing even close to a DE shave.

I'm going to keep trying, and I do feel accomplished having a couple shaves with it regardless of their quality (everyone goes "holy ****, you used a straight and didn't slash your neck?" though that could be a comment on my klutzyness, and not my manlyness for using a straight) but I may have to go back to DE if this doesn't get any better.

I certainly understand what you are saying. In order to do this, you simply must prepare yourself for a lot of pretty crappy shaves till you get the hang of the angle right and where to stretch and which way to make your strokes.
Joels Tutorial is pure gold, and he warns against expecting good shaves too soon.
This is a totally different way to shave and it takes a LOT of practice.
Once you get it though, it's just sublime.
I had tugging at first as well, and that turned out to be me, not the razor.
With a DE you have a pretty small margin of angle to work with, from not cutting hair, to cutting hair with no irritation, to cutting a little hair and irritating the heck out of your skin, but with a straight the angle possibilities are much broader, and you have to learn to angle it properly, and KEEP it angled properly over different areas, which means that the proper angle will change with a different part of your face.
I wish you luck, and hope that you can keep with it long enough to get those great shaves that are possible.

 

[Lereas]

Thanks for the encouragement...I'll have to check out this tutorial.

I've tried shifting the angle around a lot, and I just simply can't get a shave without pulling, and I can't get a close shave. I'm going to very carefully try the "slicing" movement and see if that helps any, though.

I also have a hell of a time getting the area around my mouth and nose, but that's also just practice.

 

[chickpea]

You're doing fine. I felt the same way about 5 shaves in too. I'm a year into straight shaving and I still have the occasional bad shave and I am still perfecting my technique. It takes a while. I have found, however, that it has been worth it. I really do get a great shave, when I get a great shave from a straight. Closer than a DE? Maybe. More comfortable than a DE, yes. More fun than a DE, yes.

Also, just when you have learned how to get a great shave from one razor, you will buy another, and then learn that you have to learn all over how to use the new one.

All in all, it is worth it. But you will simply need to put in the practice. It doesn't come until a month or so in. Then usually things start to click.

 

[Luc]

It took me a bit of shaves before I got DFS. It took about 70 shaves for me to get a BBS.

The tugging is something I experienced at first. The straight was sharp but time to get use to it. It doesn't tug anymore, same blade.

 

[Defend Tacoma]

Sounds like you are going through some pretty normal stuff. I get the tugging feeling myself. I am just about 7 shaves in though, most of the time I seem to improve each time, but on those ones that aren't improved over the prior shaves, I usually learn something valuable!

I think it's worth the time and energy involved. If you are enjoying yourself, I'm sure all of the issues will work themselves out! Good Luck!

 

[schatz]

You made a very wise choice in getting a blade that was known to be shave ready to begin your learning. Problems arising from the shave, are both expected at the beginning, and will likely be corrected as you gain experience.

It should also be mentioned that many brave souls who venture down this path have less than perfect stropping strokes at the beginning and sometimes damage their edge in the process. In order to rule this out, you may wish to use some type of test procedure (see Wiki). My favorite, which I use frequently, is the thumb pad test (tpt). Wet your thumb and move it slowly and with no pressure over the upside down edge. You are looking for a consistent stickiness which indicates the edge is biting through the initial layer of skin. If the stickiness is not present over a section, the edge likely needs to be touched up in this area.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Glad to hear you rocked your first....hang in there! The jawline is always difficult to master....I'm not there yet after 40 or so shaves but I'm definitely better at it!

Chris