My first successful straight shave

I've been sharpening my razor myself while teaching myself how to shave and strop properly, with the help of the people on here i got what I consider my first successful straight shave because i got my cheeks and neck to be baby smooth with a razor I sharpened myself. I would get my face completely clean of all whiskers with a safety razor but it hasn't been as smooth as my straight shave was tonight for a couple of years. I'm very excited right now because I thought I would never get a shave this smooth from a straight razor and now I have a new found confidence in my razor.

Congratulations!
It is a great feeling when you can do that.
And as time goes on the shaves will get better and more consistent, your edges will improve and the shaves will get better (bit of a vicious cycle :p).

p.s. don't let the confidence bite you....;)

Hurray for you! I just did my own very first shave, and only nicked myself once on the chin, hardly a drop came out so I'd say that went pretty well.

I'm so envious of your apparent ownership of hones though, still waiting for mine to arrive in the mail :( Which grains are you using?

Shaving with a straight can be frustrating. One day to the next you may swear you did nothing different, but results are not always the same. Always striving for the consistent ultimate shave. Glad you had a great day with it though.

Feels good right?! Knowing that you put that razor into the right condition to do what it was meant to do!! Keep at it.

Congrats on the shave. As gonzo said it tends to be up and down and then cha ching JACKPOT. And its all worth while. Hope you continue to have great shaves. Ed

I just have an 8k naniwa, my razor was incredibly dull when I bought it so it has taken me forever to get my razor even remotely sharp with that thing, i've just been chipping away at it for about a month and a half now.

Well done I am at a similar stage now and thought I would share this with everyone on this site. I finally plucked up the courage to strop my newly honed razor and find out what it shaved like (was previously shaving with a shavette with DEB snapped in half). Well.. the first one wasn't great; I managed to shave but it wasn't that close. (after 20/50 canvas/leather). The next time was excellent because I stropped it about 50 times on the canvas and then about 60 or more on the leather (not sure if that's excessive but that's what I did). This time (today about half an hour ago) was really excellent. I've managed to shave to at least the standard I was at with the shavette). Really pleased with myself. just hope i can keep it up. For anyone else out there just starting - it's a slow process but you get there!

Congrats on the first shave! I still have not pulled the triger yet I think mainly because I have yet to find a razor I am in love with. I am still looking and still need to get a good strop( not sure what to look for).
At any rate it is great to hear that someone else has broke into this straight thing.