How is this possible? 1st ever straight razor shave= better results, less nicks than my DE razor

[nicepatina]

Little background, so I recently got my first DE razor coming from cartridges and electrics. I felt like I tried everything from prep, varying pressure, and techniques, but no matter what, I either ended up with nicks and irritation, or not a close enough shave. It didn't matter how careful and slow I went, I always got a bad result. After a month, I decided, hey maybe I will also try a straight razor, so I started researching on this forum.

Well I ended up buying a Ralf Aust from the research I did on this forum. Today, I gave it a go, and that first couple of strokes was scary, I can tell, if I get complacent, I'm going to end up with a way more serious cut than a DE razor, but, at the same time, I felt like I had so much more control over whether or not I would get cut or not and as long as I was careful and slow, I could get a really close shave while not getting nicks.

I only have one shave to go by, but it almost feels way more dangerous, but way more safe than a DE razor. I think with more practice I am really going to prefer the straight razor. I am hooked. I only had 1 tiny small nick for my first straight razor shave, but the rest of my face had a super tight shave with almost no irritation. A month with the DE razor, I always ended up with lotta irritation and nicks OR Not close shave. Totally shocked and amazed at my result with the straight, a close shave AND 1 tiny nick only. Kinda proud of myself, and thankful to this forum because everything I did with the prep and technique is what I gathered from all of you guys here.

side notes:
*maggardrazors FEDEX option got this to my house FAST! I am in Asia, ordered on the 14th and got to my door today on the 18th!
*ordered a belgium coticule and a small coticule slurry in hopes that itll be all I need to maintain the edge. I am poor but I heard this stone is a pretty versatile stone if you can get it to work for you.
*Got a strop from Razoremporium. Anyone have one from them? any thoughts on the quality, mine comes tomorrow, kinda excited to strop on it.

 

[Gamma]

Congrats, you were paying attention. That's how it works. Happy Shaves!

 

[Slash McCoy]

You are off to a good start.

I would have suggested something other than a natural, particularly a coticule, but you can make it work. Don't hop around from one honing style and tool set to another... stick with what you got, and learn how to do dilucot. If you finish with dish soap solution on a clean stone, and gradually lighten up on the pressure until it feels like you aren't really touching the stone, and hone in hand, you can possibly achieve an edge significantly sharper than what the stone is normally good for. Anyway, stick with it for a while. Initially, if your razor arrived shave ready and it sounds like it did, you don't need to do anything for a couple of weeks and you should never need to do the full dilucot routine with that razor, just touch up under running water or with the dish soap trick. Raising a slurry is what you do early in the full honing process, to speed up the cutting, at the expense of refinement. The thinner the slurry, the finer and slower the stone cuts. The slowest and finest action you can get out of your coticule is all you need for maintenance. Later on you can try more cool stuff like the pasted balsa progression, but it is quite possible to get by nicely with just the coti for now.

The strop will probably be fine. You don't want a nice expensive one right now, for making your newbie mistakes on. Pay $250 for a top shelf strop, and slice it up while learning to use it, is not very cost effective. A decent under $50 strop from an established maker will do fine, and if you trash it, that's the way it goes, no biggie.

The particular strop, as long as it isn't a piece of total crap, is not as important as USING it, and using it correctly. Nicer strops are nicer to use, yeah, but there isn't much difference in the actual edge off a fine strop and a not so fine one.

 

[Kyle89]

Welcome!!!

I've yet to master the no nick/no irritation DE shave, but can get it with a straight consistently.

Hope to see you around!

 

[Frank Shaves]

Good for you - congrats! And welcome to Badger & Blade!

 

[nicepatina]

You are off to a good start.

I would have suggested something other than a natural, particularly a coticule, but you can make it work. Don't hop around from one honing style and tool set to another... stick with what you got, and learn how to do dilucot. If you finish with dish soap solution on a clean stone, and gradually lighten up on the pressure until it feels like you aren't really touching the stone, and hone in hand, you can possibly achieve an edge significantly sharper than what the stone is normally good for. Anyway, stick with it for a while. Initially, if your razor arrived shave ready and it sounds like it did, you don't need to do anything for a couple of weeks and you should never need to do the full dilucot routine with that razor, just touch up under running water or with the dish soap trick. Raising a slurry is what you do early in the full honing process, to speed up the cutting, at the expense of refinement. The thinner the slurry, the finer and slower the stone cuts. The slowest and finest action you can get out of your coticule is all you need for maintenance. Later on you can try more cool stuff like the pasted balsa progression, but it is quite possible to get by nicely with just the coti for now.

The strop will probably be fine. You don't want a nice expensive one right now, for making your newbie mistakes on. Pay $250 for a top shelf strop, and slice it up while learning to use it, is not very cost effective. A decent under $50 strop from an established maker will do fine, and if you trash it, that's the way it goes, no biggie.

The particular strop, as long as it isn't a piece of total crap, is not as important as USING it, and using it correctly. Nicer strops are nicer to use, yeah, but there isn't much difference in the actual edge off a fine strop and a not so fine one.

Thanks for the coticule tips! The strop came in today and I have it a few strops and I see what you mean with the slicing it up!, I was being pretty careful, but just watching Youtube and following forum tips can only give you so much info until you actually try it and see first hand the nuances of your mistakes. Great advice to any newbie like me to get a quality more budget friendly strop at first. Maybe in a few years, Ill get me one of those high end strops if needed. Again thanks!

 

[Sukeroku]

Sometimes, slow and steady wins the race...

SR's definitely make you pay more attention
which can result in better angles and less pressure.
The advantage of using a DE for a bit of time is
that you can get your pre-shave routine and your
lathering technique down. I still break out a DE
occasionally, usually when traveling, but nothing
beats the degree of control that you wield with a
SR...once you get over the scary bit. Congrats!

 

[TSENG]

Congratulations, the edge of your straight razor is normal,
let you quickly experience the feeling of a straight razor.

 

[Frank Shaves]

With regard to your Coticule:

1. Read the below page
2. Watch some of the videos
3. Try it yourself
4. Go to step 1

Note that there is a stage 0 - bevel setting. As @Slash McCoy says, getting from step 1 through step 3 takes practice. I can personally guarantee that you will not be arrested for just using your Coticule for only stage 3 (finishing) or for stages 2 and 3 (dilution and finishing). Many folks use their synthetic stones for the earlier stages.

 

[Steve56]

Congrats, and it only gets better with experience!

 

[cotedupy]

Nice.

My experience was the same fwiw; I'd been using a DE for a couple of months, and cut myself maybe ten or more times (I clearly wasn't very good at it!), but that's probably more than the year and a half after since going to straights.

Also - I personally think a coti is a grand choice for a stone! As you say they're extremely versatile, very consistent in terms of not having inclusions &c., and in the grand scheme of things they're pretty easy to use too.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

Welcome, and great to hear your good results. Watch yourself, though...about 15 or 20 shaves in you might start to get a little too comfortable, and then you might nick your face or your strop. The razor will remind you to pay attention.

 

[nicepatina]

Nice.

My experience was the same fwiw; I'd been using a DE for a couple of months, and cut myself maybe ten or more times (I clearly wasn't very good at it!), but that's probably more than the year and a half after since going to straights.

Also - I personally think a coti is a grand choice for a stone! As you say they're extremely versatile, very consistent in terms of not having inclusions &c., and in the grand scheme of things they're pretty easy to use too.

Yeah, I read about balsa with paste, naniwas, escher, jnats, and I got absolutely infatuated with jnats, almost even ordered myself I kamisori, but after looking at all the different stones and levels of hardness and fineness and all the different naguras, I noticed I was way in over my head. Not to mention the price. Seems like many people are satisfied with their coticules and they seem a little bit more straight forward in approach than jnats.

 

[Eastcoast30]

Perfect! I would always get nicks, cuts and weepers from DE and cartridge razors. But I have never cut myself with a straight. I did once get a tiny weeper going over a bump in my skin. But now I am careful on those bumpy areas. Welcome to the world of straight razors!

 

[JPO]

Yeah, I read about balsa with paste, naniwas, escher, jnats, and I got absolutely infatuated with jnats, almost even ordered myself I kamisori, but after looking at all the different stones and levels of hardness and fineness and all the different naguras, I noticed I was way in over my head. Not to mention the price. Seems like many people are satisfied with their coticules and they seem a little bit more straight forward in approach than jnats.

A good jnat in a smaller size is priced at the same level as some of the highly regarded coticule veins.
These jnats can be quite simple to use. You can make it as complicated as you like, by playing with different naguras, or you can use it more as a finisher. If you find a god vendor he should be able to find a good matching slurry stone.
If you can master a coticule, the jnat learning curve should be easier.

 

[TSENG]

You can refer to this video method.
videos - ShavingUniverse - https://shavinguniverse.com/videos/

 

[aussie]

I had been using DE razors for about two years before i started with straights. I had already mastered the DE but my first shave with it was a real mess. My first shave was much better but still far from perfect. I think the skills attained with the DE helped much with the straight.

 

[bmiller3230]

Little background, so I recently got my first DE razor coming from cartridges and electrics. I felt like I tried everything from prep, varying pressure, and techniques, but no matter what, I either ended up with nicks and irritation, or not a close enough shave. It didn't matter how careful and slow I went, I always got a bad result. After a month, I decided, hey maybe I will also try a straight razor, so I started researching on this forum.

Well I ended up buying a Ralf Aust from the research I did on this forum. Today, I gave it a go, and that first couple of strokes was scary, I can tell, if I get complacent, I'm going to end up with a way more serious cut than a DE razor, but, at the same time, I felt like I had so much more control over whether or not I would get cut or not and as long as I was careful and slow, I could get a really close shave while not getting nicks.

I only have one shave to go by, but it almost feels way more dangerous, but way more safe than a DE razor. I think with more practice I am really going to prefer the straight razor. I am hooked. I only had 1 tiny small nick for my first straight razor shave, but the rest of my face had a super tight shave with almost no irritation. A month with the DE razor, I always ended up with lotta irritation and nicks OR Not close shave. Totally shocked and amazed at my result with the straight, a close shave AND 1 tiny nick only. Kinda proud of myself, and thankful to this forum because everything I did with the prep and technique is what I gathered from all of you guys here.

side notes:
*maggardrazors FEDEX option got this to my house FAST! I am in Asia, ordered on the 14th and got to my door today on the 18th!
*ordered a belgium coticule and a small coticule slurry in hopes that itll be all I need to maintain the edge. I am poor but I heard this stone is a pretty versatile stone if you can get it to work for you.
*Got a strop from Razoremporium. Anyone have one from them? any thoughts on the quality, mine comes tomorrow, kinda excited to strop on it.

Congrats--you are off to a good start. The razor emporium strops are top notch. Its easy to replace the leather and canvas when you need to--and to try different types of leather. Horse, English bridle, Latigo...

 

[nicepatina]

Congrats--you are off to a good start. The razor emporium strops are top notch. Its easy to replace the leather and canvas when you need to--and to try different types of leather. Horse, English bridle, Latigo...

Everyone in this forum is so welcoming and informative! I followed most of your guys' advice, but one thing that I should have followed but didn't, was to get a cheaper/vintage razor at first. I tried to sand the pivot area of my razor because I thought I saw some hairline crack, but it wasn't a crack, it was just the bone grain pattern and now it looks like..."a homemade tapered scale" due to over sanding lol . I'm a tinkerer by nature. All that handling, loosened the tang a big so I did the spoon tapping trick and it worked! Point is, I should have listened to EVERYTHING you guys recommended to newbies instead of thinking I was making a smarter choice by starting off on the more premium side. No regrets, the razor is still working flawlessly. But I should have known that I would get experimental with my first razor, and a beautiful Ralf Aust razor, probably wasn't the brightest choice lol.

I got a gold dollar razor coming in the mail to practice honing and rescaling now, if the rescaling is successful, might take a swing somewhere down the future and rescale the Ralf.

*THIS IS A MESSAGE TO ANY NEWBIE...LISTEN TO WHAT THESE GUYS SAY AND RECOMMEND, THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT!

 

[lightfoot]

If seemed to have a razor that was ready to go out of the box so there’s that. Some people may have a more natural inclination with a SR. I’ve tried DE’s on and off over the years and I’ve had a difficult relationship with them. I bought my 1st shavette only 2 weeks after getting my 1st DE and it felt like there was an odd sense of familiarity there already. You could be in a similar situation.