Hmm.. First shave complete?

Yep, Just finished my first shave after watching countless beginner SR videos and tips and doing a ton of reading..

What I used = Dovo 5/8 INOX Stainless Straight Razor set from classic edge.ca
( Dovo 5/8 INOX Stainless Straight Razor Set )

Firstly, I was timid.. I found it difficult to hold the razor and start at the sideburn because I couldn't really see where it was going to land. It was like my hand was always in the way of where I was trying to look, and when I tried the other side it was worse.

Second, I believe my lather was off because it seemed to dry very quickly.. Not sure what to do there? I was taking my time but I didn't think I took that long for it to dry?

Once I did a few attempts with the Dovo I called it a day and finished with the DE and the neck was screaming'.. FRIG!

Any help/comments appreciated.

It takes time,getting lather right, getting technique right. Dont give up.

I will second Chugach68,
my lather used to dry up, I got to the point I would lather a section shave and then lather the next when I first started out.
The side burn line up takes some practice, now I can shave with out a mirror if need be.
One of our members (Birnardo) posted a vid a while back doing just that.
Time, practice and patience as with so much if not all that is this passion will reap a bounty.
Start slow if you need to, just the cheeks.
Every piece needs to fall into place to achieve a great shave, it does not happen overnight.
Don't push yourself into frustration, take your time, finish with your old method for as long as you need.
Make it an enjoyable learning experience, I know we all want instant gratification but what is earned is so much sweeter.

Practice making your lather, visualize your movements before you start, relax you are only cutting hair (we hope :p) and it grows back.

Regards
Pat

I'm on my fourth shave and am loving every minute of the learning process. I've had the lather drying problem, and some minor irritation on the left side of my neck the first 2 times. I just relather and keep on going. Sometimes I just go pull out the soap, brush and bowl and practice on my lathering skills just to do it. It's still not perfect, but it's definitely getting better. For now I'm just going with the grain, but am getting comfortable enough to start going across the grain and I'm starting to practice with my left hand, I've only felt comfortable with my right hand so far. I've learned to not use so much pressure and make sure to stretch the skin. At first I was kinda skipping on the stretching in some areas, but it was a lesson learned. I know it's going to take more than a few shaves to achieve my goal, but I'm jut looking ahead knowing it's all gonna pay off when I get it perfect. Don't give up!

I'm a beginner as well (only been doing it for about 3 weeks now). Your lather problem sounds a lot like what I went through. I don't know how you're lathering, but I add soap from my brush to my face and then lather directly on my face (I feel like it gives me more of a feel for the texture and consistency of the lather, plus it's a nice facial massage before the cutting). It turned out I kept adding too much water which made the lather really thin and it dried withing a few minutes.

My advice would be to make sure you shake your bush out before working it into your soap (I mean a good two to three nice shakes, or even squeeze it out with your fingers) add you soap to a different surface (i.e. another bowl, your face, palm of your hand, etc.). I've found that the more soap you're working with, the easier it is to lather. Then, you add a little water to your brush and work the soap into a lather little by little until you're used to how much water you need before it explodes into a nice stiff, thick lather (you will know when you hit the sweet spot.)

Hope this helps

Just remember, if your not cutting yourself, you're not using enough pressure:tameshigiri:

My first shave was pretty terrible, my hands were a bit shaky, my angle was off and so was the pressure. And switching hands was really confusing. It got seriously better by the 10 shave or so. keep at it and don't feel bad about using a DE, I finished with one for a month or so until my skills got better with a SR

All good info, thank you!

I'll make another attempt tomorrow and hopefully it goes better from the lather on.

It probably means you're not using enough water to build your lather in the first place. However, since every soap or cream is a little different, that happens to lots of us if we're using a new one, or one we haven't used for a while. Sometimes mid shave I refresh the lather by adding a little water to the brush and then building the soap on my face back into a lather, or a redo the whole face. Actually the lathering is one of my favorite parts of the shave, so I take my time and really work at it, even if it means I do more passes, or lather between passes.

Firstly welcome to the world of straight shaving.

The side burn issue can be easily remedied. just tilt your head slightly forwards and look up, so you'll be looking along the blade in the mirror. I find it easier to just remove the lather (finger width) on the end of the sideburn. Enough glide will remain and you can see where your going to cut. Keep the angle high (30 degrees or so) if you want to cut a new line and don't use too much pressure.

Thats a good tip for any facial hair, if you swipe the lather away with a wet finger it will leave enough slip for a pass. but remember, do it then cut, don't wait around or it will dry.

A cure for your lather is to mix up several test batches, don't shave just make some lather. Stick to one soap and brush for now and just make some lather. Add water make it too wet, don't add water and make it dry, experiment with how much you need to shake your brush out. It won't take many batches and you'll have the soft peaks you need.

Don't forget when your shaving you can add a little water to your lather on your face by just dipping the tips in the water (not to much just a quick touch of the surface of the water).

Your lather will also be drying out because your going a bit slow as your learning. It won't be a problem soon as you'll be up to speed and your lather will last. (But we all add water from time to time so don't worry)

Learning the "touch" will take time to, guaranteed your pressing to hard and making too many passes, but we all went through that too. The important thing is your learning and things will get better with every shave.

Remember it's a skill, and skills take time to master, just like driving a car, some practice was required.

Enjoy…. :)

Thanks for the replies.

Those are great ideas and pointers.. I'll try a few batches of lather and try to get those peaks happening!

As for the pressure on the blade - No idea how hard to press but the drag on hair would mean to light of pressure? Am i reading that correctly ..?

Thanks again and i'm excited to keep practicing for sure. Love everything about it so far and am looking forward to being proficient with the SR !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mrspiffy

Thanks for the replies.



As for the pressure on the blade - No idea how hard to press but the drag on hair would mean to light of pressure? Am i reading that correctly ..?

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If the razor is sharp it will just cut the hair with no real pull. (If mine pulls I sharpen it, but it pulled a lot in the beginning because of my technique or lack of it) A light touch will do. If its pulling try changing the angle or using little short strokes. Remember its hair reduction were after, not down to the skin on the first pass. light glides in each direction. It gets easier once you work out how your hair grows in each area of your face.

Ahh gotcha, I just received it from Classicedge.ca so i'm assuming it was shave ready and thats what part of the purchase was.

Deffinately my technique or lack of haha !

Little to no pressure and keep your angles as low as you can but still cutting hair. Phil from Classic Edge puts a nice sharp honing on his razors before shipping them to you so your in good hands there. Enjoy.

awrite gents,

i have just had my first full face SR shave :). i had similar lather problem but powered through anyway hehe. i have to say i started slow but before i knew it i was doing what came naturally. it seemed as if everything just clicked into place and away i went. i was using a haryali razor i got as a present (i know mixed reviews but please no haters) and it seemed to work fine. very comfortable. now i will just have to work on how close i can get it. btw my face is now very cold lol.

cheers for all the advice guys

Attempted my 3rd Shave today...
Took my time after a hot shower, got a glass bowl to make lather. Everything was looking great and even had tips in the foam on my brush! Wet my face applied lather on the side I was going to begin with, did a few short strokes with the SR and the lather dried !!

Trust me, I've read and read on the forums so I tried to add a bit of water and this made no difference whatsoever.
Its like it dried in about 10-15 seconds.

A tad bit frustrating because I actually had time to relax and take my time, ended up using the DE AGAIN..

One little tip that helps is just before applying the soap is to wet your beard again with water….