First Shave - oh so very interesting
Hi,
After a good deal of perusing information online, and at least as much excitement at the idea of learning something new, I decided to join the club/experience with a "shave ready" Le Grelot P. Hospital Cie. 151 5/8 I found online. My comments here might well just echo what so many others, all more able shavers than me, have mentioned in their posts, but here goes.
First I had to get used to just holding the razor. The finger position is not self-evident. I´d call it rather "delicate." The razor itself feels much lighter than I would have imagined a straight razor to feel. The razor tends to shift around inside my hand. (I´m 6´4".) It´s as if my fingers were looking, on their own, for balance and feel.
My new strop is a bit narrow and short, so I had to use the x pattern all the while trying to keep the movement flowing relatively briskly. I´ll definitely need lots of practice in that department and hope I didn´t dull the razor more than I sharpened it...
The lather-building process is kinda cool. To see so much lather come off of such a small amount of soap. It reminds me of the magic of cooking, (like beating egg whites). But since it takes me a while, given my lack of technique, to finish my shave, next time I´ll use a little more soap.
The shave itself was definitely interesting. One side of the face is evidently easier to shave than the other (I could have taken a photo to prove it, but Halloween is behind us...:w)
But even on the easy side of the face I had to find a way around those blind spots (what with my hand hiding the reflection in the mirror and all). So I went by feel in those sections. That´s fine for the contact on the cheek, but I noticed the point gives less immediate feedback than the main portion of the edge (I´m thinking namely of the ear. But as I took it easy, no cuts to report ... there.)
Other basic challenges included: directly under the nose (dang, how do you do that at a 30º angle, http://straightrazorpalace.com/images/icons/icon6.png?); the right side of the face over all (maybe I´ll try to switch hands next time?); just under the jaw; and around the chin where, given my Kirk Douglas-style dimple, I ended up saying: "You´ve done well enough for one day, mah boy..." and left that area for when I have a better feel for the razor.
Still, although I didn´t get anywhere near an ideal (or even real good) shave, I feel a strange kind of satisfaction. The kind that makes you say, "I wanna go on that ride again! As soon as my stomach (read "skin") can take it..."
Cheers to all.
