First straight shave

[Gregny2002]

The Dovo Best Quality that I ordered from Vintage Blades arrived today. A nice looking razor, imo, although I prefer a simple aesthetic so I'm sure some would think there wasn't much to it.

Anyway, the razor cut great, but I think my lack of confidence will be my biggest hurdle...I kept forgetting the 'proper' way to hold the blade and feeling like I had the wrong angle as I went into each pass. So I ended up taking a lot of short strokes instead of longer ones, which probably isn't great. But, I ended up with a pretty decent shave imo, even if it did take me a good half hour and left me with a lot of sweat on my brow . And I only had one small weeper. I did end up with some somewhat-worse-than-usual razor burn on the right side of my neck (a spot that has always been sensitive for me and gets 'burned' frequently).

All in all, it's definitely the most interesting time I've had shaving in as long as I can remember.

 

[Legion]

Well done. Short little strokes are OK. That is how I mostly shave too, especially on my chin area. Leave the big sweeping strokes to the guys on the Gillette commercials.

 

[Luc]

Good work on the first shave!!

 

[Muscles]

Congrats, take it slow and soon enough you'll find it hard to remember that you had problems with angles etc. The Dovo Best Quality's are a good razor to learn on - what size & grind did you get?

Oh and do keep the strokes short unless you have very sparse stubble

 

[Alacrity59]

Wonderful . . . another convert.

Keep it up . . . be careful. . . time flies . . . it all becomes second nature . . .but at first . . . yup . . . these things are sharp.

Mike

 

[Gregny2002]

Thanks everyone.

Muscles: I got a hollow 5/8 blade.

 

[Gustav]

Well done! Half an hour on the first shave is not bad at all.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Contests dude! Getting over that first hurdle is usually the roughest...best of luck in future shaves

 

[sanfranciscian]

Bravo, that sounds like a better than average start. That razor will serve you well for the rest of your life if you so desire. lets say 3 months is the over under on getting another razor, I will take the under. any way great job and stay with it, the worst straight shave of your life is behind you.

Ian

 

[Gregny2002]

Well, actually my second straight shave was today, and it didn't go nearly as well as my first. The shave I got is good but I got a whole bunch of cuts and burns, I look like I just went a couple of rounds with a boxer.

It may be that I was a bit overconfident, and I tried to go through it faster than I did last time. Possibly also because the first shave I had a few days of beard growth and this time it was just stubble. I'll check my stropping technique as well but as far as I can tell, I'm doing an alright job of that, although I did nick my strop in a couple of spots.

On the other hand, I felt more comfortable holding the razor and I didn't feel confusion about angles or anything at any point.

 

[eto]

Just keep practicing and don't give, some times you will take 2 steps forward and one step back with learning the art of the straight shave.

 

[Muscles]

It may be that I was a bit overconfident, and I tried to go through it faster than I did last time.

Same thing happened with me, I got too confident and applied too much pressure and went too fast. The good news is that this lesson now stays in my memory and reminds me to treat every shave with a straight like it's my first and the shaves just keep getting better

 

[reyrascon]

Same thing happened with me, I got too confident and applied too much pressure and went too fast. The good news is that this lesson now stays in my memory and reminds me to treat every shave with a straight like it's my first and the shaves just keep getting better

I'll have to keep this in mind as I've been feeling a little down on the str8. My first couple of shaves were pretty good, but recently I feel like I have deteriorated. I've been getting some pretty bad razor burn, shaves are close though and only one or two small nicks. I also don't feel like I am getting all that comfortable with the grip, still feels awkward. I have about 8 shaves under my belt.

 

[Drybonz]

Well, actually my second straight shave was today, and it didn't go nearly as well as my first.

It may be that I was a bit overconfident

My second straight shave was also my worst so far... perhaps for the same reasons.

Hang in there!

 

[sanfranciscian]

Sorry about todays shave but hang in there, I think it was about my third shave that i had my razor cleaned and photographed and boxed up for sale on BST. but i just set it down for a few days and waited, well it kept singing to me and that gave me the time to review what i wanted out of straights. well it has given me all that and more. To say i am hooked is an understatement.

Ian