Thread: Reaching back to go into the future

Yes, yes I know, but please bare with my American need for results immediately.
The thing that is hardest for me is getting the angle right whilst looking in the mirror. It becomes so very counter intuitive.
And then I think about the blind shaver who shaved Michael Palin when he did his series for the BBC.
So I close my eyes, take a deep breath and cut myself.
The angel and pressure are it.
Another question is that my beard grows fast so how long before I shave? Should I do it every day with SR just as a matter of course?
F&H

That would be, as many things, personal preference. If you find you cut yourself up too badly to shave every day, you could take a DE every other day.

I understand your desire for immediate results, as I find I do the same thing. What helped me was taking a lot of time and concentrating hard on all the advice I had read, trying to perfect every single stroke. If you rush your shave, it will take many more shaves to develop your technique, whereas trying to make every stroke count will get you there much quicker.

How Stubbly do you like to be/ can you get away with being day to day.
I took 3 days off and had a really good shave , my face had been fairly abused prior. You are even allowed to use an electric or cartridge.
How long do you spend on your shave? Mine easily takes 35 mins for a.full shave or about 20 minws for a one pass.
If you expect immediate results then maybe you are right about it not being for you. No one can help you to get immediate results, but we can help you improve over time.
Just do a.partial straight shave then finish with something else.
I was having fairly ordinary shaves until I started pm-Ing a mentor over a few days explaining exactly what I was doing. The act of writing it down helped me to understand where I was going wrong, in addition to the really helpful advice I got.

this will sound bad. Shaving is a simple thing relax, slow down and it will be over soon. Seriously, worrying about shaving perfectly leads to mistakes. providing that the edge is sharp and well stropped the angle needs to be low and the pressure light.

As for how often to shave no more than once a day. If you are only doing a WTG pass daily shaving should be a breeze. Also if you have any cuts on your face let them heal up before using your straight, my experience is that if you don't you will just open them up again when the blade passes that area.

i sometimes close my eyes and shave WTG in preparation for old age or if i am not wearing my glasses, darkness is better than seeing the very blurry reflection in the mirror.

jim

Thank you,
Laurens, Edhewitt, et all.
Good advise.
I've written a letter to my mother stating that if I should be found dead from a razor cut to any of the major arteries in my neck, that they were sustained from following your advice; as well as G's and Mister Moo's.
Cheers!
F&H

Cutting arteries? I thought you wanted to cut fly dicks! Oh well...

I saw a bid where a guy cut his throat with a straight, he was showing how to shave really badly, and as he put the razor on this throat he leaned into the camera, he needed 4 stitches. But he was a complete moron. He had the blade at 90 degrees to his face. The point is that he basically stabbed himself in the neck and didn't die, so you should be good. Oh and S-L-O-W D-O-W-N, and keep your angle.
Low.

Originally Posted by foldedandhoned

Ok,
So I've decided to go the way of the straight razor because of economic and environmental concerns.But what I have found is that the SR community is a very close cousin to the cigar crowd. Totally provincial and full of shit. I need some real advise and encouragement without all the advertisement.
All I want to do is shave and leave a little less foot print on the earth. I bought my first razor from Vintage Straight Razor and I was not happy.
Can anyone out there offer me any words of wisdom?

Hmmmm. Spamalot?

That is way to deep for me!
Do you have regular office hours?

I'm happy to say that I just had my first total face shave with an SR! I got a few nicks and there was some blood but I was able to shave my entire face using a Schlieper blade that I bought from Glen. The reason for such a good shave was the pre-shave called Olivella. After using this I figured you could use any olive oil you have around the house...makes sense to me.
Now is the question of stopping.....
Any one have some wisdom to impart to me?
folded