First Straight Shave

[Aloxite]

I got my first straight and strop in the mail this morning. Thanks again FiveOhNine. Against my better judgement I went ahead and gave it a try. It was a bit of a risk since I have to work in three hours and need to look presentable. It's at a wedding.

Anyway I lathered up with Tabac after my shower and stropped up the Wostenholm Wedge. I did manage to get all of my facial hair removed although it was a bit difficult around the chin and neck. I managed to slice into my earlobe when I was shaving across the grain. Hopefully I can take the bandaid off before the wedding. I got a bit of burn on the lower edge of my neck. I did the hot rinse and cold rinse followed by some Nivea balm.

If my face felt like this after a DE shave I would consider it a failure but since it's my first straight shave I'll give it a C-. Job done but with issues.

 

[Leche]

It's a learning curve. You will get better with each shave, just stick with it.

 

[taffy]

Yep, practise makes perfect!

 

[Luc]

What they said!

Good work on the first shave! My first shave was a 3 passes WTG/XTG/XTG and it was like I didn't shave at all!

 

[BladeRunner001]

I got my first straight and strop in the mail this morning. Thanks again FiveOhNine. Against my better judgement I went ahead and gave it a try. It was a bit of a risk since I have to work in three hours and need to look presentable. It's at a wedding.

Anyway I lathered up with Tabac after my shower and stropped up the Wostenholm Wedge. I did manage to get all of my facial hair removed although it was a bit difficult around the chin and neck. I managed to slice into my earlobe when I was shaving across the grain. Hopefully I can take the bandaid off before the wedding. I got a bit of burn on the lower edge of my neck. I did the hot rinse and cold rinse followed by some Nivea balm.

If my face felt like this after a DE shave I would consider it a failure but since it's my first straight shave I'll give it a C-. Job done but with issues.

Don't worry...we've all been there at some in our shave career.

 

[sanfranciscian]

doing your whole face the first time, i think you deserve a better grade. good news is your first straight shave is in the books. congratulations and keep us up on your progress.

Ian

 

[dpmtherrien]

Doesn't sound like things went all that bad for your first straight shave. I wouldn't have tried my whole face for the first shave, but I guess you did O.K.

Try to remember what you did and apply it for your next straight shave. Just take it easy and let your technique develop at its own pace. Its not worth the risk nor the possible damage to rush things.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

The first str8 shave sucks...plain sucks. No way around it. But it sounds like you did ok...I'm with Luc...my first I barely cut any whiskers at all!

 

[Wid]

I have to agree, the first time out wasn't the best. I don't think my second time out was all that great either. Stick with it, you will get the hang of it.

 

[dakotaev]

My first attempt was with a "Factory sharpened" Dovo. 2x more suck.

 

[Walker]

That FiveOhNine sells some great stuff doesn't he? My Three Kings razor came from him. Keep at it with the shaving, i have been using a straight for about 7 months and i am still learning little tricks to make my shave better

 

[ImaWestie]

My first "straight" was a shavette. I shaved my cheeks, once each WTG, then finished with an electric!

So - you're way ahead of my effort!

 

[Walker]

My first "straight" was a shavette. I shaved my cheeks, once each WTG, then finished with an electric!

So - you're way ahead of my effort!

+1 i did a WTG pass and finished with a safety razor my first time

 

[Aloxite]

That FiveOhNine sells some great stuff doesn't he?

He sure does. He really took care of me. B&B and the people on it have been quite impressive.

I did actually buy a Dovo Shavette and gave it about 10 seconds worth of effort before I decided I needed to ditch it and buy a real straight.

Thanks for all of the encouragement. I'm going to rewatch a couple of shaving and stropping videos and give it another go before I go to work this afternoon.

ETA - This really seems like a good time to pony up a contribution to the site. I'm really impressed.

 

[Aloxite]

Day 2 shave went a whole lot better. No major bleeding. A few minor nicks that stopped with a styptic pencil. I did about four passes and got a good shave as far as getting all of the whiskers cut down close. I still had quite a bit of irritation. I stayed with the Tabac soap but I used a Witch Hazel as an aftershave. Worked pretty well.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Hang in there Alox...it takes time and practice....practice....practice!

 

[Gustav]

I am really impressed by these first efforts. During my first 7 shaves, I used my DE for touching up. You have just skipped that part and seem to be doing beautifully for yourself nonetheless. Mind you, try not to overdo the bravado at first because a nasty nick can seriously dampen your enthusiasm. Do not worry about the issues, practice makes perfect and you will figure out how to tackle difficult areas.

From my own experience here are some pointers that might help you:

1. spending more time on prep to really soften the whiskers is very useful, particularly lathering up, letting the lather sit on the face whilst f.e. stropping, then applying a hot towel to the face on top of lather, then rinsing followed by lathering up for the shave.

2. pay attention to lather quality, it has to be top notch. You can get away with crap lather using a DE but with straights it is downright dangerous.

3. If you shave with both hands start with the non dominant one, that way the lather will not have has a chance to dry out. In the beginning I would lather only one side of the face at a time.

4. Skin stretching: it helps to get an alum block, moisten your fingers and grab the block you will get far better grip on your wet face. Watch Chimensch's video in the "stickies" to see how this is done.

Happy shaving!

 

[Aloxite]

Shaves numbers three and four went well.

I didn't have to go to work so I didn't bother going for BBS on shave number three. I wanted to give my skin a bit of a break and let it heal. I did a two pass and got a decent shave with no irritation.

I wanted to see how smooth I could get for shave number four. So I did at least four passes and kept working until every part was smooth. I still feel like I could do a better job on the corners of my mouth and on the chin.

I think I'm really getting the hang of this. I think the biggest room for improvement is in stretching the skin enough. I need to pick up an alum block as well.

 

[Luc]

Shaves numbers three and four went well.

I didn't have to go to work so I didn't bother going for BBS on shave number three. I wanted to give my skin a bit of a break and let it heal. I did a two pass and got a decent shave with no irritation.

I wanted to see how smooth I could get for shave number four. So I did at least four passes and kept working until every part was smooth. I still feel like I could do a better job on the corners of my mouth and on the chin.

I think I'm really getting the hang of this. I think the biggest room for improvement is in stretching the skin enough. I need to pick up an alum block as well.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Shaves numbers three and four went well.

I didn't have to go to work so I didn't bother going for BBS on shave number three. I wanted to give my skin a bit of a break and let it heal. I did a two pass and got a decent shave with no irritation.

I wanted to see how smooth I could get for shave number four. So I did at least four passes and kept working until every part was smooth. I still feel like I could do a better job on the corners of my mouth and on the chin.

I think I'm really getting the hang of this. I think the biggest room for improvement is in stretching the skin enough. I need to pick up an alum block as well.

Congrats dude! You're moving along nicely!

I haven't used my alum block since before I started str8 shaving...its nice to have, but you can dry your fingers and get a decent grip normally IMHO.

I do the same thing you did on the weekends (cut down passes). Lets me keep practicing but also lets the face heal. Win win in my book!