Hi everyone,
I'm a complete newbie to the world of straight razor shaving, and tried for the first time with a brand new razor earlier today which I stropped slowly and carefully before use. The shave itself wasn't bad - I started slowly by only shaving my cheeks this time and was pleased with the results. However, as soon as I had finished I noticed that the blade's appearance had altered significantly. It is much duller than before I shaved and some odd rust-coloured blemishes have appeared on the blade (I'm not sure they're rust). There's a picture here:
http://www.geocities.com/soobrickay/dsc00267.jpg
The blemishes are on both sides of the blade, which is made of carbon steel.
I presume this isn't normal, since I haven't seen these kind of blemishes on any razors pictured on this forum and elsewhere, so I'd be really grateful for any thoughts on what they are and what I should do to care for the blade!
Thanks very much,
Soobrickay