Thread: Made it through my first straight shave today!

Originally Posted by Guitarguy118

I wouldn't say its "easy" but it's definitely not as hard as I expected. And you're not constantly at risk of auto-decapitation. I think once you realize that the blade isn't so scary as long as you take care with it, it's definitely a learnable skill

I like this advise very much!

I think shaving with confidence rather than trepidation is a big key, but don't confuse confidence with carelessness. You have to respect the razor...I know that sounds ridiculously corny, but I think it's true.

Originally Posted by NewellVW

Good post and good advice. Glad it went so well. Still on the fence on trying a straight and posts like this help my confidence. Perhaps I'll look for a good, shave ready and give it a shot.
Got into DE a few months ago and the keys are prep, good lather/soap and take your time! It's one of the things I have come to love about wet shaving is slow down and enjoy it. So many years spent doing the deed as quick as possible and get it over with!
Good luck in your SR journey!

Go for it! I was first drawn into wet shaving by the straight razor but decided to go with DE first, due to budget constraints and trepidation. But a year later I figured why not? I think it's easier going from DE to straight than from cartridge simply because when you join these forums and take up traditional shaving you learn best shaving practices. So by the time you take up the straight, you already have a solid foundation of shaving knowledge and all that is left is to learn is the physical mechanics of straight shaving.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

Congratulations and thank you.

You have hit on some key points that all beginning SR users should pay heed to.

The first is lather -- I still occasionally skimp on lathering when in a rush and I can never get a good shave then, usually reverting to my DE and some extra water (and care). Building a lather is an important learned skill!

The second is knowing your face. As odd as it sounds to someone starting out, you should go over your face with your hands to learn the contours and beard pattern to enable you to better approach it successfully with a SR.

Last, as you pointed out, there are some areas that just make more time to figure out, and they shouldn't be rushed. Every time I see someone new saying they shaved with only 2 or 3 "nicks" I wonder what they tried to do that they shouldn't have.

Good advice in your post.

Originally Posted by murf

I like this advise very much!

I think shaving with confidence rather than trepidation is a big key, but don't confuse confidence with carelessness. You have to respect the razor...I know that sounds ridiculously corny, but I think it's true.

I'm glad people are finding this helpful! I intended it to simply be a place to organize my thoughts about my experience, but if it helps others too all the better!! I think I'll continue documenting my straight razor journey here, for my own benefit as well as whoever wants to follow along.

And let me say again, a large part of my success is due to all the information I found on this site as well as in the shaving videos. So thank you to everyone for helping my first experience go so smoothly!

This is definitely the place to learn the details of wet shaving. Glad you're happy with it.

Big time congratulations on a great first shave! Great post too.

Since I didn't have time to write anything down yesterday, today's entry is shaves two and three.

Shave two went well. I waited two days because I have found that with my DE, two days is usually what it takes for my face to heal up as long as I didn't draw blood. The first pass was a little closer than last time I think. I kept the second pass XTG on my neck and around my mouth but decided to try ATG on my cheeks. Zero irritation or blood, success! I needed a little DE cleanup on my upper lip because it was a little uneven but otherwise a nice comfortable shave that got pretty darn close. My cheeks were near BBS and my chin was a little rougher, but not unacceptably so.

My biggest thought was with regards to razor grip and pressure. It seems you need a much firmer grip on a straight than is necessary with a DE. A firmer grip helped with the confidence of my strokes and actually made it easier to use less pressure. Because of this, the razor glided through hair across and against the grain much easier than last time.

Today was shave three. I probably should have waited another day to shave, but I got excited. I did the same shave as yesterday, but it felt a little rougher and I had a few dots of blood that disappeared with the cold water rinse I do at the end of my shaves. So nothing too bad, but my face definitely feels a little more raw than it has the last two times. So maybe while learning I should make sure to give my face the extra day of rest until I improve my skills a bit.

The other possible reason for the higher level of irritation today is that I did use a different soap. I have been using Cade a lot lately and I love it. But I also have soap and cream samples from Queen Charlotte soaps I got months ago that I haven't tried yet. So today I tried one of the creams, and the lather was wonderful for the first pass. It was super slick and shiny, and very nice to use. But by the second pass it had degraded a bit. I tried adding some water and working it some more, but it didn't come fully back to life. I probably should have just mixed up new lather but I pushed on anyway. Slickness seems extra important on later passes, so this might have been a worse plan than I thought.

The thought that I have today is that beard reduction is more important with a straight than with a DE. With the latter, I could get away with doing one ATG pass if I had shaved the previous day. I guess it could be a matter of skill level, but I'm inclined to believe its a difference between the blades. My question is; Is reduction more important with a straight? If you want to do an ATG pass, is it more necessary to go XTG first, or at least have a supper close WTG pass?

Originally Posted by Guitarguy118

Since I didn't have time to write anything down yesterday, today's entry is shaves two and three.

Shave two went well. I waited two days because I have found that with my DE, two days is usually what it takes for my face to heal up as long as I didn't draw blood. The first pass was a little closer than last time I think. I kept the second pass XTG on my neck and around my mouth but decided to try ATG on my cheeks. Zero irritation or blood, success! I needed a little DE cleanup on my upper lip because it was a little uneven but otherwise a nice comfortable shave that got pretty darn close. My cheeks were near BBS and my chin was a little rougher, but not unacceptably so.

My biggest thought was with regards to razor grip and pressure. It seems you need a much firmer grip on a straight than is necessary with a DE. A firmer grip helped with the confidence of my strokes and actually made it easier to use less pressure. Because of this, the razor glided through hair across and against the grain much easier than last time.

Today was shave three. I probably should have waited another day to shave, but I got excited. I did the same shave as yesterday, but it felt a little rougher and I had a few dots of blood that disappeared with the cold water rinse I do at the end of my shaves. So nothing too bad, but my face definitely feels a little more raw than it has the last two times. So maybe while learning I should make sure to give my face the extra day of rest until I improve my skills a bit.

The other possible reason for the higher level of irritation today is that I did use a different soap. I have been using Cade a lot lately and I love it. But I also have soap and cream samples from Queen Charlotte soaps I got months ago that I haven't tried yet. So today I tried one of the creams, and the lather was wonderful for the first pass. It was super slick and shiny, and very nice to use. But by the second pass it had degraded a bit. I tried adding some water and working it some more, but it didn't come fully back to life. I probably should have just mixed up new lather but I pushed on anyway. Slickness seems extra important on later passes, so this might have been a worse plan than I thought.

The thought that I have today is that beard reduction is more important with a straight than with a DE. With the latter, I could get away with doing one ATG pass if I had shaved the previous day. I guess it could be a matter of skill level, but I'm inclined to believe its a difference between the blades. My question is; Is reduction more important with a straight? If you want to do an ATG pass, is it more necessary to go XTG first, or at least have a supper close WTG pass?

Yes a firm grip is good but make sure to let the blade gilde the less pressure You use the better shave You get. Me i could straight shave every day 3 pass whit no irritation or neither Blood, the most important thing to my opinion is to pay attention to the direction of the growth, the curves of your face and not to shave in a rush, take your Time and enjoy the shave. Congratulation and keep up shaving straight is to my opinion the best way to shave. Gino

Congrats on your first straight shave. I still have vivid memories of mine, sweat running down my back from nervousness and the whole thing seeming to take an hour, LOL. After a couple of shaves you realize there's nothing scary about it as long as you concentrate and don't do anything stupid. It took me 4-6 shaves to stare getting results on a par with DE shaving, and I haven't used my DE since.

Originally Posted by EV2

Congrats on your first straight shave. I still have vivid memories of mine, sweat running down my back from nervousness and the whole thing seeming to take an hour, LOL. After a couple of shaves you realize there's nothing scary about it as long as you concentrate and don't do anything stupid. It took me 4-6 shaves to stare getting results on a par with DE shaving, and I haven't used my DE since.

Haha my first shave wasn't that harrowing, I just took my time and stopped before I felt uncomfortable. But I'm not quite at the level of my DE shaves yet, and am looking forward to being there. I still need it for some cleanup work. I'd love to be at the point where I can use a straight exclusively, three shaves in and I'm already hooked!

Nothing to report but progress today. I think I can chalk up the roughness of my last shave to ineffective lather. Today was much smoother. I also really paid attention to skin stretching behind the blade and that helped tremendously with the smoothness and closeness of the shave.

Your post was rather short I thought compared to some I have seen on their first experience...LOL! I still somtimes have to use my electric to get those crazy little areas when done!!!! Makes me insane to know my face has those areas and it is mainly on the neck area. I have been experimenting with some swiping techniques as given to me with warning to do so slowly and with little pressure so as to not perform the slice of death stroke!!!!!

It takes time for sure and different hold techniques a must!