Zephyr's straight shave journey

[Zephyr]

Finally the moment was here, my first ever straight razor shave!

I skipped shaving yesterday to have a little more growt for my first straight shave today, I started stroping my razor aprox 40-50 strokes, then doing my usual prep, cleaned my face with L'occitane facial cleanser, applied a layer of lather on my face to soften my beard while whipping up a bowl of Proraso, put a hot cloth on my face for about a minute, cleaned my face and lathered up.

Starting with my right cheek, short strokes, went really well, no nicks or cuts. I was planning to just do the cheeks, but since it went this well I thought why not? I go all the way! Jawbone and the right half of my neck went just as good as my cheek, then it was time for the left side, a little more difficult since I'm right handed, and because of an injury to my left arm some years back I'm not able to do certain things that demands the accuracy as shaving with my left hand, so I have to use my right hand on both sides, this gave me a bit of a challenge to find the right angle not covering my eyes with my hand, but it went pretty well, same with the rest of my neck. Then to my chin, the most challenging part, no nicks or cuts, but I didn't get as close shave as the rest of my face, first pass went pretty well all in all, no blood and very happy with that, so I went for a second pass.
Cleaned my face and lathered up again, did pretty much the same as on the first pass, exept that I now knew how to approach my left cheek and the chin, still no nicks or cuts, but I found that my chin needed little touch up, here's where it all went wrong, I should have have left it as it was, and not gone for the touch ups!!!
I needed two touch ups on my chin the get the same closeness as the rest of my face, and that was just too much, I have never had a razorburn that bad, I didn't notice at once, but when I put on Proraso AS, it burned like he**

Cleaned my razor, dried it carefully on a towel and gave it 15-20 strokes on the strop.

All in all I am pretty proud of my self, a two pass full face shave, not a BBS, but pretty close to a DFS, no nicks or cuts at all, just a terrible burn, could definitively been a lot worse!

Now I will let my face (chin) rest untill tomorrow, and if it is ok I will go for my second straight shave, if not I will wait till Monday.

 

[Luc]

It's a first shave! Good work! Try less pressure next time. You need to firmly hold the razor but don't press too much on the skin.

 

[Zephyr]

I suppose the burn is a result of to much pressure and wrong angle and that I made two touch ups just made it worse.

 

[Skrymr]

Congratulations on you're first straight shave. I am looking forward to reading about you're progress.

My only advice is stay vigilant about you're prep and technique. I relaxed a little too much after a couple weeks and paid for it.....

 

[Mink]

Congratulations on your first shave. That's as good or better than most first straight razor shaves I've read about. I'm still learning too. The Proraso pre/post cream helps me with my chin and mustache area which might help a little for you.

 

[global_dev]

good work. fighting the urge to touch-up is difficult...

 

[walto]

Good to hear you made such a good start. With time you will improve your technique (using very little pressure, keeping a low angle) and razor burn wil be no issue anymore.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Sounds like you had a great first shave. I too started today but may not have been as successful as you. Does not really matter? Practice makes perfect. Look forward to reading your progress.

 

[Zephyr]

Sunday and just finished straight shave #2.

More or less same procedure as yesterday, exept that I used Tabac today, started with right cheek-jawbone-neck, then the same on my left side.
Then it was yesterdays problem area's turn, my chin, payd more attention to both pressure and angle, and I used the blade a little different from yesterday, and it worked!
Only needed a little touch-up on the left underside of the chin/jawbone, I blame this to that I use right hand on both sides.

Only did a one pass WTG today, but I still got a shave very close to DFS, and no nicks or cuts, just a slight burn on my lower neck as I felt some stinging when I applied Tabac ASB.

I'm really enjoying this, and so far it have far exceeded my expectations, and I'm allready looking forward to next shave.

I have promised my six year old son that we shall shave together tomorrow, so it will be DE tomorrow, and back to the straight again on tuesday.

 

[Mr. Scruffy]

Congratulations Rune!

 

[Gustav]

Gratulerar Rune!!! Sounds like you are doing great! Keep it up.

 

[Zephyr]

First I want to thank you all for the support and feedback

Today was my third straight shave, same prep as I always do.
Today I used Queen Charlotte's Briar Cream (Yes, I know that I should stick with the same setup in the beginning, but I got my sampler yesterday and that Briar just smelled soooo good! I will stick to MWF for a couple of weeks now)
Same procedure as before, right cheek-jawbone-neck, left cheek-jawbone-neck, chin. (I currently have a moustache, so I don't have to worry about that part for now)
First pass went very well, no trouble at all, no nicks, no cuts and no sign of burn, cleaned my face and lathered up again for a second pass.
Same procedure, no problems with cheeks and neck, but with the great result so far I got a little too confident when I got to the area between my chin and lip which resulted in four small nick, not a bit thing, but it made me remember to focus and take it easy. Only needed a small touch up on the right cheek and on my lower left side of the neck today. Still a slight burn a few places, but hey, what can I expect after only three shaves? I will get there eventually

All in all another satisfying shave, closer than the first two, so I guess I must be doing something right

Almost forgot to mention that I got my new RupRazor Filly strop today, I'm not the one to tell yet, but it felt much better when stropping the razor than on my Dovo, more draging if you know what I mean? And it seemed like it did a better job to the blade.

 

[Drybonz]

Good stuff man! Other people's "good shave" stories are inspiration for me.

 

[Luc]

Nice work!

 

[Zephyr]

It's been a busy week, so I was pretty excited about todays shave with a three days growth, haven't had a beard that long in months.

Todays setup:

Got this beautiful brush today, made by fellow member Gamma!
New straight aswell, 5/8 Hamburg Ring.


Now the important part, the shave!

As I said I was pretty excited about todays shave, attacking three days growth, but I think I might have hit a magic spot today.
I decreased the angle a little compared from my earlier shaves, I also paid a lot attention not to put any pressure on the blade and did a two pass WTG, had to do a little touch up on the underside of left jawbone, no nicks, no cuts, no burn, just a very smooth and close shave, I'm a really happy man right now

 

[Gustav]

Nice work, you can be proud of yourself!

 

[Zephyr]

Not much to say about shave #5, second shave with the Hamburg Ring, MWF and my new custom brush. The shave went pretty well, a relatively close shave with just a small nick at the end of my moustache and just a slight burn on my chin.

Shave #6 started very nice, used T&H 1805 SC and the Stabil straight today. Both cheeks and both sides of the neck went well, but then things started to happen.
First I ran the toe into my right cheek, didn't hurt, but I felt the blade go into the skin, looked for blood, nothing, so I continued as nothing happened. Finished my chin, cleaned my face and lathered chin and upper part of the neck for a touch up pass, then I saw it, through the lather blood came out, not only from where I cut myself with the toe, but two places on the neck, one on my chin, and two on the side of my mouth. Finished the shave, pulled out my styptic and stopped the bleeding, despite the cuts and nicks it was an okay shave, just as close as the last few days, and no burn, I thought.....
Almost an hour after finishing the shave I felt a burn, not terrible, but worse than before, and it was on my cheeks, not chin or neck as before.
Right now it doesn't make any sense to me, I don't think I used any more pressure than before, and the angle should be about the same, but I must have done something wrong.

 

[Luc]

Not much to say about shave #5, second shave with the Hamburg Ring, MWF and my new custom brush. The shave went pretty well, a relatively close shave with just a small nick at the end of my moustache and just a slight burn on my chin.

Shave #6 started very nice, used T&H 1805 SC and the Stabil straight today. Both cheeks and both sides of the neck went well, but then things started to happen.
First I ran the toe into my right cheek, didn't hurt, but I felt the blade go into the skin, looked for blood, nothing, so I continued as nothing happened. Finished my chin, cleaned my face and lathered chin and upper part of the neck for a touch up pass, then I saw it, through the lather blood came out, not only from where I cut myself with the toe, but two places on the neck, one on my chin, and two on the side of my mouth. Finished the shave, pulled out my styptic and stopped the bleeding, despite the cuts and nicks it was an okay shave, just as close as the last few days, and no burn, I thought.....
Almost an hour after finishing the shave I felt a burn, not terrible, but worse than before, and it was on my cheeks, not chin or neck as before.
Right now it doesn't make any sense to me, I don't think I used any more pressure than before, and the angle should be about the same, but I must have done something wrong.

Not so bad for shave #5-6... It's still very early and those cuts will happen here and there. So far, I think you're doing good!

 

[Zephyr]

Thanks Luc, I know, it's just that the previous shaves has gone by almost without any blood, and then getting five "big" nicks and a small cut on the same shave irritates me, probably some of the reason is that the previous shaves has been that good, so I might have been a bit too confident, and not focused enought.
I'll let my face rest for a day or two, using a DE, and then it's back to straights, I like it too much to let a small setback worry me.

 

[johnmrson]

Sounds like you're doing really well.