So I finally got all of my gear together to shave with a straight this morning. For the most part it went better than I expected, especially considering I decided to go against my better judgement and just do the entire shave with the straight. I prepped my beard as I normally do, hot shower, hot towel, lather, hot towel, relather then shave. I did two passes, one WTG and one XTG. I figured for my first time a superlather wouldn't be a bad idea, so I made one out of Tabac and Nivea shave cream, whose scents work well together for me.

I got an easy DFS on my cheeks and upper lip, just as good as I normally get with my DE, and I assume that will improve with time. I'm still trying to get a handle on how to shave my neck properly, leaving me with a little irritation there, but it was mostly cleared up with some generous application of witch hazel. There was significantly more tugging than I'm used to, but I expect that comes from poor technique.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my first shave, and I have a better understanding of the steep learning curve ahead of me.

Additionally, I used two razors for this shave and I'm very impressed with the Bruno Custom that I got from a member of another shaving forum. it surprised me how the slight smile and shorter blade made it much easier to maneuver than my whipped dog sight unseen, even with the 8/8 blade.



Finally, I thought I was going to make it through with no nicks, but right at the end of the shave I got the bottom of my earlobe with the toe of the blade. live and learn.