The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

[sugra]

Hi gents,


First post from a lurker of a month or so. Great community with a wealth of helpful info (and a good measure of SR eye candy to boot).


I've always wet shaved with carts, for the last 10 years lathering with a brush and mostly Trumper's creams. My interest in SR shaving was piqued years ago when I had the pleasure of a superb shave-of-a-lifetime at the hands of the maestro Andreas at Trumper's old Jermyn Street location.

For the record, I have NOT seen Skyfall...

Now 4 shaves in with a Best Quality from TSS. I've switched to evening shaves for the time being to allow an unhurried attempt at this ritual; which has been very enjoyable on the whole. A bit of pink lather here and there, but nothing I'd call a cut (yet!)

Having stropped and prepped with a newbie's due care and attention before each shave, I managed a decent result on nights 2 and 3, but last night didn't go that well. Not very close with a scorching razor burn that I'm still feeling a bit almost 24 hours on.

I'd be interested in your opinions... Give it a break and go back to the cart for the morning or soldier through with this evening's shave? I'd be disappointed to skip a night, but even as bullheaded as I am I don't want to make a bad thing worse where my mug is concerned.

What would you do?

Thanks for your replies and kudos to B&B for the great site.

 

[wherndon]

welcome aboard! I say take it slow, maybe shave just your cheeks until you are comfortable with the angle and the pressure of the blade. My first couple of shave were pretty rough, burn and some cuts, but eventually I got the hang of it and I get very nice shaves now (i just started last Nov.). I pretty much shave every nite and I love it.
If yer face is still burning, you might skip a nite till it feels better.
Hang in there,
Bil

 

[global_dev]

Sometimes a new straight user will think they are stropping appropriately, but may not be. That's why is nice to have a second to compare the general sharpness.

 

[sugra]

Thanks for the welcome.

I thought better of it and went with the cart this morning for a very ginger single pass.

wherndon; I totally intended to start with only the easy sections like you suggest, but... well... I just kept going! Thanks for the encouragement.

JON: Thanks for the input. I do have a vintage razor on the way as my second. Ordered a bout and slurry stone with the TSS razor and strop, so I'm looking forward to trying my hand at honing the old one. I usually have pretty good manual dexterity and have put a wicked edge on many blades for woodworking, etc. over the years. I do appreciate that a razor is a whole other level though, and will make an honest assessment of my stropping technique.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[paco664]

your burning from too much pressure...

read all you can and watch videos and when your bout arrives the experience you have with tools and blades will put you WAY ahead on the learning curve...

enjoy...

 

[ladykate]

Thanks for the welcome.

I thought better of it and went with the cart this morning for a very ginger single pass.

If you have a nick or a burn (it happens to everyone occasionally), don't worry about whether the straight razor police will knock on your door if you go back to a cart or a DE for a shave or two. This is supposed to be fun and it is a learning experience. If you simply must endeavor to persevere (see Outlaw Josey Wales), then rub the sensitive area with some Vaseline before shaving - make it slick as snot - and then just barely go over it. Or... if you want to be like Lone Watie (same movie), just be practical and use a cart or DE and let it heal.

 

[sugra]

Much better tonight. Two passes WTG with a little ATG in on the second. Not as close as it could be, but focusing on really light pressure and not beating up on the neck... It was fun!

Grassyass!

 

[CanonSterVa]

Still learning as well and training the muscles not to apply pressure still takes some concentration.
But I am loving it.
Good luck in your quest.

 

[sugra]

You as well.

 

[sugra]

Just picked up my Wostie Pipe at the Post Office. A few nicks in the blade and in need of a good polish. Looking forward to working it up.

 

[sugra]

A great shave with the re-beveled and freshly honed Pipe tonight. I think it's somewhere around half hollow (?) and that seemed to suit the heavy growth since Thursday night. The Best Quality had a few strokes, but felt a bit flimsy.

I used a Matsunaga 800/4000 to re-set the bevel and get past the nicks in the edge, then began my courtship with the coti... interesting piece of rock to be sure. I think we'll be friends after a bit more getting to know each other.

The slurry stone parted from its slate back early in the proceedings. A bit disappointing, but nothing a dab of epoxy won't fix.

Onward....