Day Two

Took the advice that I was given yesterday and practiced stropping with a butter knife and then did strop my razor. Felt more anxious putting blade to leather than I did blade to face.

Must have done okay as the shave felt really good.

Tried the Baume.BE today and had no problems with lather at all. Really liked it.

Shaved right side again and also tried some across the grain. Switched to the left side and just did with the grain. At one point forgot what I was doing and tried using right hand on the left side and that felt very uncomfortable (just blade on face not even a stroke) so quickly switched back to the left.

Need to do some work with positioning in mirror for side burn line (I have none so line is above my ears) and the side by ears. Seems that I had to do that by feel instead of sight.

Last night at work I kept checking difference between right (side I did with straight razor) and the left side. As the night continued I could feel more and more of a difference with the right side being much smoother.

No cuts (knock on wood) no razor burn, just a great feeling shave.

Can't wait to shave again tomorrow.

If my progression into straight razor shaving is boring, I can stop posting. Not really sure what is appropriate on this sight, as I am so new.

apipeguy:

Not boring at all, many of us here posted a shave journal when we started. A great way to let us know how you are progressing and a vehicle for some great advice.

Sounds like you are right on track, steady progression, and as your skill set grows so will your confidence.

May I suggest updating your original thread instead of opening new threads? Just easier to keep track and refer to your earlier entries.

This is one of the most helpful forums I've had the pleasure of joining. Trolling/flaming is at an absolute minimal and everyone is eager to help beginners. Ask anything no matter how trivial you judge your question to be. Slow and steady is key for me, learn to relax and enjoy it. I even enjoy stropping now.

Glad to see that you enjoyed your day 2 shave and are taking steps already to progress. The left hand is a biggie. As you already found out, using it makes it way easier in certain spots. Go slow and soon it will be second nature. Some people never get accustomed to using their non-dominant hand. Nice job!

Pete <:-}

Stropping reminds me of a Navy Seal saying, "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
Enjoy your shaves!

Day Three

As was suggested, just adding to post instead of starting new one.

Again, did my right and left cheeks and even edged up to my mustache. Have had that for 40 years so a little extra cautious but all was well and it is still there.

Tried a little on the neck both sides and need to develop more dexterity with the razor but it went pretty well.

Attempted a little bit of the chin and got my first little nick, no big deal but realize now that I'll probably wait a week before trying that again. Need more practice on the easy parts.

Did use the styptic pencil and it stopped bleeding immediately. Never used one before, just held it on the nick with a little rib and that was it.

Question would be do you then run water over the pencil to get the blood off it, or just leave it. No instructions and I have no clue how to really use it, just guessed.

Did more stropping prior to shaving and feel a little more comfortable with that, need lots more practice though.

Do really like the Baume.BE.

Still having fun and will actually shave on my days off now, haven't done that in about 35 years, unless there was a special occasion. The Mrs will appreciate that.

Run water over the pencil and wipe/dry it off with a tissue. That pencil if you do not drop it will last you a life time and you will probably not use half of it. When it's wet and you are setting it down, try to point it downwards so any water runs towards the tip and not the base. I don't use mine anymore, though I use an alum block everywhere post shave before applyng AS.

Nicks will happen, they happen to everyone. You may need to shave around the nick to avoid reopening, though in my experience a full days rest is suffient to heal before shaving over again YMMV. 100 shaves in and nicks become very rare indeed.

On the plus side, you know how a nick feels now, they're not too bad and not going to kill you :D

Sounds like you're doing fine, you're enjoying it and that's the most important bit, you will enjoy it more as you get better.

Last note, this thread could do with some pictures of your razor ;)

Tomorrows my day off so I'll try to post a picture. Wasn't fazed at all by the nick, had much worse with grocery store razors. Thanks.

The one place you really don't want to nick is your earlobe. It's not really painful, but it will bleed profusely.