Thread: And then I peeled my face off.

Great!!! The first shave is the scariest and it only gets better from here!
I would be careful around the 5-10 shave, that's when over confidence starts to kick in and you start rushing a bit and stop watching angles. I probably have the scars to prove it!! lol

Has to be in my top 10 of thread titles!

Stropping question: watched several videos and obviously this is something I need to get proficient at. Today I pretty much just pushed or pulled the razor letting only the weight of the razor be the pressure on the strop, is this something that even works or am I just practicing the motions with no effect (not that that would be an entirely bad thing)?

Pull tight strop light. I read that somewhere here and it stuck with me.

I'm still chasing my success of my first straight shave. Lol its a great endeavor, the learning of the craft, keep reading and asking questions. I'm new too and loving it. Glad to hear you didn't actually peel your face off haha!

Practice with a butter knife or other dull razor shaped object, it builds muscle memory without worry of cutting the strop

Originally Posted by WildeTee

Stropping question: watched several videos and obviously this is something I need to get proficient at. Today I pretty much just pushed or pulled the razor letting only the weight of the razor be the pressure on the strop, is this something that even works or am I just practicing the motions with no effect (not that that would be an entirely bad thing)?

You stropped just fine from what you said. Your next shave will tell you all about how good you did like the Alum tells you how good your technique is :<0) Lots of laps like you describe is better than trying to force it. You can't rush anything with this type of shaving.

Originally Posted by WildeTee

Well, just Finished laying the straight razor across my face for the first time. Despite the title it was a smashing success. I'm not even bleeding anywhere. (beginners luck i am sure)

I started exactly where i was supposed to. With the grain, right hand right sideburn, left hand left sideburn, then i set the razor down. Then i picked it back up. Then i finished up the right cheek, and then the left cheek, and then i moved below the jaw line. Things definitely got more complicated there but i was feeling surprisingly comfortable and a little adventurous so sticking with the standard N-S rule and what i'd seen in videos completed the neck. Around the chin and under the nose... well that is going to take some more work.

Rinsed off and thought... wow i missed quite a bit. So i completed another pass generally WTG. I decided to just go with my gut and rather than concentrating exactly on going N-S or holding the razor exactly how it is recommended i went with trying new grips as long as it felt sturdy and like i was in control of the blade I gave it ago. I also played more with the direction i knew the hair was growing. Cheeks went great and below the jawline definitely went better. Under the nose and the chin area are still a little furry though.

Had some issues with my Lather, I think a lot of it had to do with not concentrating on it enough due to excitement about the shave. That combined with taking it slow meant i had to re-lather a few times during the shave, but hey that's not really a big deal. The alum definitely lets you know where things were a little rougher haha... namely below the jaw line... but even while shaving i could tell my angle was off a bit. But that all comes down to practice and experience I'm thinking.

All in all I am calling it a success.

Will probably need to shave again later today so I'm good to go for work. May give the Straight another go with disposable for clean up or may just use disposable for a quick shave.... will make that decision later.

It takes about 90 days to get it down. Sounds like your off to a great start!

Things I learned today:
1. If i don't have at least 45 min (at this point) to dedicate to my shave, its probably best if I leave the Straight razor out of it.
2. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with my lather, it seems to later up nice in the bowl but seems to dry quite quickly. Maybe it has something to do with my face prep? Today it was just regular soap in the shower, then hot cloth on my face before lather. Really need to figure this one out. Using Proraso Cream, any thoughts on what to try? How wet should this be? What should it look like in the bowl.. hahaha
3. If quality of shave (where i had angles right) is any indication I don't seem to have hurt my blade stropping.
4. Little cuts don't seem to hurt when they happen, there is just suddenly some added color to the shave.
5. Styptic pencils let you know your alive.
6. I need to find a better way to hold the razor for under the jaw line.
7. Reaching across my face with the opposite hand seems to work well for me for getting that pesky hair along the corner of the mouth.
8. When you get the angle on the blade right, you get an incredibly smooth, comfortable, and close shave

That's about all i can think of right now, looking forward to learning more things on tomorrows shave.

I'm probably going to post quickly after each shave for the next little bit in addition to reading up on what i can do better.

You'll be surprised how much water you can add to the lather before it gets too thin, also if you are taking a long time to shave there is nothing wrong with re-lathering the places you haven't gotten to yet.

Tallow based hard soaps seem to last better at least for me, if possible try another soap or cream, they are all different on everyone's face

Sounds like you had a god first run. Congrats to you and welcome to the journey. I did a full run my first time, too. It just gets better.