It Begins

[Ansuz]

I almost feel a little guilty posting this, concidering that this subforum is filled with "Today was my first straight shave" threads, but I'm so darned excited about it I'm going to post it anyway.

I got a beautiful straight in two days ago from fellow B&Ber Wdwrx. I was in too big a rush yesterday to give it a go, so I made sure to get up extra early this morning in order to give myself plenty of time for the prep.

I'll admit, when I first touched the blade to my skin I was scared to death (the gf made me watch Sweeny Todd the other day and I just couldn't get it out of my mind ). After a few strokes I convinced myself I wouldn't kill myself, so I pushed through the rest of the shave. Shaving with my right hand was a bit odd (I'm a lefty) but I managed to get through it with no nicks or irritation.

As far as the results go, I can't say I'm "happy." The WTG pass left a bit of stubble in places and its no where near as smooth as my DE shaves - I had to finish up with the DE before work. That being said, I'm not discouraged. Its a great blade so I know its all in my technique. I know this will take a few months to really get down before I'm good at it. Despite the poor shave, I couldn't help but have a sly smile my whole drive to work, knowing what I had just done this morning.

 

[Woodash]

As one new guy to another, don't expect to get it perfect with one WTG pass. That will likely take a lot of technique and the sharpsest razor. Most folks do WTG, XTG, and ATG, or some combination. I now get by pretty well with at least WTG, XTG and touchup. Usually I go ATG as well. Hang in there. Keep 911 on speed dial, and alert your local paramedics of your blood type. You'll get it sooner than you think.

 

[mattbikes1]

Welcome to the straight razor newbie class of '10. Good to have you here. I think if you just take it slow you will have success. Switching from the DE to the straight gives us an advantage because we understand the importance of good blade angle. I do have to say, even though I was getting better shaves last week with my DE, this is way more fun! Best of luck to you! Btw, great looking razor. Watch that point!

 

[thecornerbooth]

For the first several shaves, each one will get exponentially better than the previous one. Don't worry about the quality at all. Just shave what feels comfortable and touch up with a DE or whatever.

After 10 shaves, you will be amazed at how much you have progressed.

 

[Ansuz]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll admit that I just did the one pass because I didn't want to press my luck on the first shave. Now that I've gotten over a lot of my initial fear, I plan to hit it with at least 2 WTG passes tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not upset at all about the shave quality on day 1. I've scanned a number of threads in this forum and I don't expect to get a "quality" shave for several weeks, on the good side. I'm commited to learning, so I'll keep posting my improvement.

 

[Klarion]

As one new guy to another, don't expect to get it perfect with one WTG pass. That will likely take a lot of technique and the sharpsest razor. Most folks do WTG, XTG, and ATG, or some combination. I now get by pretty well with at least WTG, XTG and touchup. Usually I go ATG as well. Hang in there. Keep 911 on speed dial, and alert your local paramedics of your blood type. You'll get it sooner than you think.

C'mon, we can let him know the real number is 912.

 

[Luc]

Excellent! With time, it will get better don't worry about it! I don't think I shaved anything on shave #1...

 

[Ansuz]

Second shave this morning. Most of the fear I had from my first is gone, though I'm still a bit cautious on my neck. I think I'm getting the knack of stropping - the sound coming off my razor during the the process sounds much better than yesterday.

Shave was quite a bit better too. I did two WTG passes and it was pretty smooth rubbing WTG afterwards. I started an XTG pass but the angles felt a little uncomfortable so I quit that pretty early (I need to watch a few more videos). Finished off with the DE and, surprisingly, I found the DE touchup much smoother now that I'm really paying attention of stretching the skin and watching my angles.

No nicks or cuts, though, so I'm pretty happy with it. Only problem is I have to wait until tomorrow morning for shave 3...

 

[Antique Hoosier]

It appears you are doing quite well here early in the game and that is satisfying for you personally Im certain. Thanks to Joel's (& Chimensch's) video, I believe this may be the largest group of new guy B&B members to take up straight razor shaving en mass. You can help each other with your experiences and take strength in knowing someone else is in your shoes. Keep up the good work!

 

[thecornerbooth]

It appears you are doing quite well here early in the game and that is satisfying for you personally Im certain. Thanks to Joel's (& Chimensch's) video, I believe this may be the largest group of new guy B&B members to take up straight razor shaving en mass. You can help each other with your experiences and take strength in knowing someone else is in your shoes. Keep up the good work!

I agree. Joel's video totally sold me. I was on the fence for a while, but he made it look so quick and effortless that i was powerless to resist.

 

[Ansuz]

Same here. I'd always been curious about straight shaving but had been a little to afraid to give it ago. Thanks to many of the guys here, Joel included, it didn't seem quite as daunting.

 

[Ender Wiggins]

I agree. Joel's video totally sold me. I was on the fence for a while, but he made it look so quick and effortless that i was powerless to resist.

+1 Joel's video helped me make up my mind to give it a try too. Today was my first straight razor shaving day (I briefly messed around with it last time I shaved, but didn't actually do much with it). I did one pass WTG without getting any nicks at all. I did it VERY slowly, but actually found it easier to shave my neck and mustache areas easier than it usually is with a DE. For some reason, the sideburns areas felt pretty awkward though. I was running out of time, so I did a quick ATG pass with my 47 SS and left for work with quite possibly the best shave I've ever had. (Now I'm attempting to get some work done in between looking at straights for sale here and other places...)

 

[Ansuz]

Shave #3 this morning. Well, it had to happen eventually - I got my first nick during the shave. Nothing too serious, just a nice little gash on my chin that closed up nicely with a breif styptic application. I decided that I wasn't going to clean up with my DE afterwards in order to force myself to try harder on the shave.

I got two solid WTG passes in and a so-so XTG - attempted an ATG go but I just wasn't getting the angle right so I gave up on that pretty quickly. All in all, not a bad shave. Far from smooth, but visually I look pretty clean shaven, so I'll call that a win for shave #3.

 

[JPM]

Congrats on getting your first razor! The learning curve is a bit long, but it is definitely worth it. I'm about 5 months in, and I have never gotten as good shaves as I do now with a straight.

 

[Luc]

Good work!! The shave will become closer with time!

 

[wazazzle]

Congrats on the switch! Don't worry the learning curve isn't as bad as one would think. A bit painful the first few days, but you'll get the hang of it. Took me 4days to get nick free. What works for me is wtg on face and neck... finishing up with xtg on face and atg on neck. The angle for xtg on neck is bit tricky and atg on face is bit too much for me. But atleast that'll give me bbs for 18hrs and i could literally skip shaving next day if i wanted. Although about noon-2pm i'd have a 5clock shadow. That's usually how i do it. Plus keeps my neck from getting ingrowns if i skip the next day.