no longer a virgin to staright razor shaving

Well I did it...I am not sure just how successful it was. I received my first straight razor today. It was given to me for free amd shave ready by a member of this website. Goes to show you all what a great bunch of people we have on here.

Any how I shaved my right side of my cheek. From the sideburn down. I was a nervous wreck at first. The hardest part was trying to maintain the 30 deg angle need to cut the whiskers. I wanted to shave some areas but I was noticing that I was dragging the blade and not shaving. So time to catch a break and breath. done for the night.

At first I didn't think I cut any whiskers off. I noticed now that I did. My face is smooth but sore, shaving balm did help a lot. I did notice also the clean but sore smoothness it created on the skin.

I can see this is going to be a slowlearning curve. I guess as I tell people learning something new a little but often works the best. For shaving a small area often will do best.

I will keep you in touch as I do more. Time to put more shaving balm on.

Goodnight.

Sounds like a good start and it's good to start to slow.

A little less angle on the blade and a no pressure on it, just the weight of the blade, and you won't have soreness.

You have to start somewhere! Well done. Be gentle with the razor. Just aim to shave off your lather and the whiskers will come with it. Be patient. It's a very long and steep learning curve but, you are on it! Good luck.

Pressure is a big problem for many, me included, when starting out. Think of it like running your fingers over your face with the lightest touch. You want contact but no pressure. It is something you need to keep reminding yourself and I know I still have to remind myself. Stretch, keep it light and keep the angle low and you will be fine. Good luck

eddy79 is correct. Low angle. 30 degrees is a little steep. About one to two widths of the spine is generally the accepted angle. A statement that has helped many to an irritation free shave is "Shave the lather, not the beard." And always be aware if where the razor's point is.

As others have said, lower angle and less pressure and remember to stretch your skin. You are on your way though. Keep practicing and add a little more area to the shave, but only when you feel comfortable enough to do so. It does get better and you will soon enough start to enjoy great shaves.

Congratulations and enjoy.

If you didn't bleed, you weren't a virgin.

Congrats and keep at it! Last night was my shave #6, take your time and don't rush!
The best advice I received is to shave the lather and keep the angle (videos in the library are the huge help).
Developing the necessary muscle memory is the key in this process.
Enjoy!

stick with it and us your straight razor brotherhood. :)

Congrats and welcome to the journey. I can relate to your initial fear of the blade. Rest assured that each shave will get a little easier. I am only into it for a month or so and can assure you it is quite a learning curve. Don't get discouraged, it will come. The guys on this forum are immensely helpful.

Congrats on getting started. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.

I remember my first SR shave in the late 80's as if it was yesterday. I dove in and did the whole shave with a DOVO I bought in a little hardware store. It wasn't shave ready, which I didn't know anything about then. I did the whole thing in one pass and shaved over my face in different directions without relathering. It cut me up pretty bad the first five times or so. Precious blood to gain me experience. :D After that and probably due to wrong stropping I guess it was really dulled and some weeks later I quit.

With what I know now I would start just like you did: Take my time and make sure the razor is sharp.

Better shaves,
OldSalt

Hi path,

When shaving with the grain (direction of hair growth) about 30 degrees is a good blade angle. (Going shallower can result in partially-cut, "shredded" whiskers. But like the other fellows said, don't press down on the razor; just let the razor touch your skin with a feather-light touch.

When shaving against the direction of growth, then it is a good idea to keep the angle quite low - about a spine width or even less. Otherwise, the razor will pull and tug at the whiskers. Keeping the blade angle low going across or against the grain will result in a smooth glide through the whiskers.

The main idea at all times is to keep the angle of the blade aiming to cut as straight across the shafts of the whiskers as possible.

To repeat, remember to always keep the pressure of the edge against your skin very, very, very light. It's the abrasion of the edge against the skin that causes a lot of the razor-burn one can experience.

This all might sound kind of complicated. But it won't be long before you'll be automatically changing the razor to the best angle as you shave without even thinking about it. ;)

Be careful and have fun!

Jeff

That's what I did to start too, just shave a cheek! It will gets easier as time goes on, just don't rush your progress. I remember shaking when I first put that razor near my face...

Congratulations on a new beginning. If you remember that we were all in your shoes once, and that learning the age old art of straight razor shaving will be one of lifes most rewarding experiences, you will enjoy the journey immensely. Keep at it and enjoy the ride down the rabbit hole! You will find all of the encouragement and advice that you need here.

Pete <:-}

Congrats, I just did my first shave this morning. I was planning on just doing sideburns down but couldn't stop myself and ended up doing 2 passes. Very nerve racking but well worth it. A couple times there was a gasp and a uh-oh but I only had one small nick.

Congrats and welcome to Humpglide. We are on the same journey; I just finished my 20th SR shave and I can assure you it gets better each time. I am a long way from having the process down. I was amazed in the beginning as well and I couldn't stop either. For some reason it is very addictive.

Enjoy!!!

Hey its a great addiction being well groomed no matter how far you take it. I just live for my morning shave and the smell of my chosen cologne or aftershave. I even have some hair tonic as well.
The women at work may tease me about it, bur there is nothing live a great shave.