Thread: First straight razor shave a success!

After a long while, I finally got a refund from the straight razor I had gotten for Christmas. Ordered from SRD and got a Ralf Aust Solingen 5/8, some soap and sample pack of soaps, and oil with an applicator. I decided to try shaving with it last night, and overall it went well. I had some friends coming over and didn't give myself quite enough time, so the shave wasn't as good as it could have been.

I stropped it a couple times, just to get a feel for how to do so. It was my first time stropping as well, so hopefully I didn't partially blunt it. I took a quick shower (not long enough to soften the hairs as much as I should have), then lathered with the blood orange SRD soap. I did a single WTG pass below the sideburn. Then I thought that since I had success learning with a DE fairly quickly I would do a full shave. Perhaps not the smartest, but thought I would try. I even tried to do a coup de maitre. The hair pulled a decent amount, but I re-lathered and did XTG on my cheeks and neck.

I think I got one or two small nicks, but they stopped bleeding almost immediately and didn't require a styptic. It's definitely something I can tell has a big learning curve, but it was interesting. Had to rely on feedback against the skin, since it's hard to see the correct angle and where you're shaving all the time. Skin is quite forgiving assuming you go at the shave carefully. Overall I enjoyed it, despite not giving myself enough time, and think next time will go a little better.

Sounds like you had a good time and enjoyed yourself. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on your first straight razor shave. I am also a newbie and have been straight razor shaving about three days got a lot to learn still have
got a great shave but all his been good and very happy for the amount of time so far.

Roger

Nice. You ARE the man in Saskatoon.

Congrats on your first "MAN Shave".

Did you use Alum on your face after shaving?

Sweet! Congrats on a good first shave!

Originally Posted by Raol

Congrats on your first "MAN Shave".

Did you use Alum on your face after shaving?

No, I don't have one. Are you asking in regards to personal preference/routine, or because it would help with something? Not sure what you might have been referring to.

Originally Posted by mythyk

No, I don't have one. Are you asking in regards to personal preference/routine, or because it would help with something? Not sure what you might have been referring to.

The following is a quote from a search on "Alum"

An alum block is used both to seal nicks and cuts, and as an after-shave treatment. The alum block is used by wetting it with cold water and rubbing it onto wet skin. The blocks are most commonly made from aluminum potassium sulfate, and are therefore milder than styptic pencils. They also take longer to seal cuts, therefore making them more useful as an aftershave treatment.

Alum is an important part of my shaving ritual and i would expect it should/could be an important part of yours......

Hi there and welcome it does get easier the more shaves you have but don't get over confident otherwise mistakes will creep in. Regarding not being able to see where the razor is are you using both hands? Take a look at this video which is on another thread here on SRP watch how he swaps hands to bother improve the angle and get a better view. Watch it a couple of times at least.



http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ing-video.html

Originally Posted by Anthony1954

Hi there and welcome it does get easier the more shaves you have but don't get over confident otherwise mistakes will creep in. Regarding not being able to see where the razor is are you using both hands? Take a look at this video which is on another thread here on SRP watch how he swaps hands to bother improve the angle and get a better view. Watch it a couple of times at least.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ing-video.html

I've watched a few videos, that one was helpful and well done. It may be that I need to hold the scales of the razor at a different angle. I was using both hands, and may need to just play around with when to use the razor in one hand versus the other.