Thread: 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 ) 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

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….