Looking into Straight shaving

[Royall Lyme]

For the past month and a half I have really enjoyed wetshaving with a DE. I have experimented with various blades and a couple of razors and ended up with success with a Merkur 1904 with Personna blades. But.....as refined as my technique has gotten I am still unable to attack certain areas on my face (both flanks above upper chin, neck area, and lip) with total BBS. The rest of the face is glass smooth 99% of the time.
Frustrated with the results in my trouble areas I decided more drastic measure were needed. Last night I grabbed a pair barber shears that I had and took them apart. The edges were already sharp so I just stropped it on a pair of jeans. I lathered up some proraso and stretched my skin and then carefully passed the blade over my trouble spots and pinged the stubble off my face with no trouble at all. I ended up "finishing up" with a straight blade after a DE shave! And surprisingly with no irritation.

My problem with DE shaving is that to get to those stubborn areas BBS I have to apply pressure to get the blade at an angle to where it can mow down the whiskers.....and the irritation that follows is bad. My only worry with straights is that I am afraid I will cut myself on the other parts of my face. So I am debating between settling for for DFS with DE and living with some slight roughness on my face -OR- taking the plunge on Straight shaving and shelling out more $$ for a razor, strop, and hone and risking a gash on my face. I will say this...I liked the control of a blade on my face vs. the fixed unyielding angle of a DE. I feel like I could get a more controlled and precise shave with a straight.

How did you guys know when it was time to ditch the DE and move to the STR8?

 

[Seraphim]

For the past month and a half I have really enjoyed wetshaving with a DE. I have experimented with various blades and a couple of razors and ended up with success with a Merkur 1904 with Personna blades. But.....as refined as my technique has gotten I am still unable to attack certain areas on my face (both flanks above upper chin, neck area, and lip) with total BBS. The rest of the face is glass smooth 99% of the time.
Frustrated with the results in my trouble areas I decided more drastic measure were needed. Last night I grabbed a pair barber shears that I had and took them apart. The edges were already sharp so I just stropped it on a pair of jeans. I lathered up some proraso and stretched my skin and then carefully passed the blade over my trouble spots and pinged the stubble off my face with no trouble at all. I ended up "finishing up" with a straight blade after a DE shave! And surprisingly with no irritation.

My problem with DE shaving is that to get to those stubborn areas BBS I have to apply pressure to get the blade at an angle to where it can mow down the whiskers.....and the irritation that follows is bad. My only worry with straights is that I am afraid I will cut myself on the other parts of my face. So I am debating between settling for for DFS with DE and living with some slight roughness on my face -OR- taking the plunge on Straight shaving and shelling out more $$ for a razor, strop, and hone and risking a gash on my face. I will say this...I liked the control of a blade on my face vs. the fixed unyielding angle of a DE. I feel like I could get a more controlled and precise shave with a straight.

How did you guys know when it was time to ditch the DE and move to the STR8?

I think it's time I ditched the straight, and started using a scissor!


Sounds like you've already made up your mind. Just go buy one! Just get a razor and strop for now, no need to fuss over what hone, etc to get at first.

 

[Royall Lyme]

I think it's time I ditched the straight, and started using a scissor!


Sounds like you've already made up your mind. Just go buy one! Just get a razor and strop for now, no need to fuss over what hone, etc to get at first.

Hey I might just stick with the scissor and jeans!!!!

 

[taffy]

Well i have used a de for around 5 years, so the next step was............go on, give it a go

 

[dpmtherrien]

Sure, go ahead. Sounds to me like you want to anyway. Just take it easy and go slow. Its a bit of a longer learning curve, but well worth it.

 

[dartmn9]

I don't think you need to give up one for the other. I would suggest starting once you have a solid pre-shave routine. Straight shaving is less forgiving on a poorly prepped face IMO.

 

[kg4ghn]

Shaving with a straight is a lot of fun. I enjoy it a lot. Be prepared for at least a couple of month learning curve. I have been shaving with a straight since March and I get DFS every time with very little irritation. I say DFS, it is BBS in 3 directions but I just can't get BBS in the ear to nose direction without irritation. I stick with a 2 pass shave and am fine with that.

 

[ambrose]

you need to feed your curiosity

 

[luvmysuper]

You can do both. I use a DE on the road when I travel mostly, and mostly a straight at home, but sometimes I'll grab a DE or an Injector at home too.

It is a lot of fun learning the process, and it's a whole new world of AD's to get into!

 

[Luc]

I ditched the DE when I was getting acceptable shaves from it. DFS, it look presentable and it took me a reasonable amount of time. I had a few BBS with a straight while I was at the first few shaves but now I get BBS most of the time. I'm very happy with that!

 

[California Cajun]

For the past month and a half I have really enjoyed wetshaving with a DE. I have experimented with various blades and a couple of razors and ended up with success with a Merkur 1904 with Personna blades. But.....as refined as my technique has gotten I am still unable to attack certain areas on my face (both flanks above upper chin, neck area, and lip) with total BBS. The rest of the face is glass smooth 99% of the time.
Frustrated with the results in my trouble areas I decided more drastic measure were needed. Last night I grabbed a pair barber shears that I had and took them apart. The edges were already sharp so I just stropped it on a pair of jeans. I lathered up some proraso and stretched my skin and then carefully passed the blade over my trouble spots and pinged the stubble off my face with no trouble at all. I ended up "finishing up" with a straight blade after a DE shave! And surprisingly with no irritation.

My problem with DE shaving is that to get to those stubborn areas BBS I have to apply pressure to get the blade at an angle to where it can mow down the whiskers.....and the irritation that follows is bad. My only worry with straights is that I am afraid I will cut myself on the other parts of my face. So I am debating between settling for for DFS with DE and living with some slight roughness on my face -OR- taking the plunge on Straight shaving and shelling out more $$ for a razor, strop, and hone and risking a gash on my face. I will say this...I liked the control of a blade on my face vs. the fixed unyielding angle of a DE. I feel like I could get a more controlled and precise shave with a straight.

How did you guys know when it was time to ditch the DE and move to the STR8?

I just wanted to do it, regardless or factors. Over the years, I noticed that I enjoyed watching straight razor shaving in movies and at the beginning of this year I didn't know they were still manufactured or if anyone still did it.

What I have noticed is that when I get a good shave with a DE and a straight, the straight shave lasts longer. I can get a great shave with a DE but by quitting time at work I'm already getting razor stubble.