Thread: Beginner with some problems

Hey All -

So I'm relatively new to SRP, and to straight razor shaving in general. I purchased a razor from a fellow Minnesotan in the classifieds, and it seems to be a pretty good quality razor for the price. It says "Le Grulet Hospita" on one side (I think the "L" has worn off of the engraving) and "Depose" on the reverse. See images here:

https://goo.gl/photos/T9HnyzkgxHwPAkTb7

It came "shave ready" from the seller, and he gives classes on how to hone, so I suspect it's actually pretty well honed already. That said, I'll probably refresh the hone as soon as I get my oxide crayon in the mail. Using the thumb test that Lynn shows in his honing youtube videos seems to indicate a good edge, and it definitely will take hair off my arm if I lightly run it against the grain, so I think the edge is good.

I have the following strop: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00 This is a pretty low-quality strop, and I bought it before I knew what I was doing. I strop the razor by running it over the black side (which seems coarser) 10-20 times, and then over the actual leather side (brown) 40-60 times. Both of the sides of the strop are leather, so I'm not sure what I should do first. I'm going to get a better quality strop, but this was probably good to get first, because I sliced into it a little bit when I was learning the pattern of stropping.

Anyway, to my problem. I am able to shave with my straight razor just fine. However, it doesn't get the shave quite as close as I would like. Namely, when I shave the sides of my cheeks from the sideburns to the jaw line, it's smooth if I run my hand (after the shave) down with the grain, but I can definitely feel hairs catching when I run my hand against the grain. On the chin and the jawline, I have a really hard time getting the hairs such that I can't feel them (really smooth). Often I have to shave once with the grain, once cross-grain, and once against the grain, and then go back and touch-up. This, obviously, leads to quite a bit of razor burn.

I'm thinking one of three things is a problem here. Possibly, it's my razor. I originally started with a gold dollar razor, but I was having these problems, and after realizing my mistake in purchasing such a cheap razor, I went with the Le Grulet one. Eventually, I'll buy a nice Dovo or other razor, but, for now, I'd like to perfect my technique before investing that amount of money in a high quality razor.

The next thing I was thinking is it could be the hone of the razor. As I stated, I think the razor is honed, based on the tests that I have done (and if I let my facial hair grow a bit, it does take it down to barely any stubble, but there is always some left over that I can't manage to get without burning my face worse than the sun).

Finally, the most likely culprit is my technique. I try to keep the angle of 1 spine width between the spine of the razor and my skin, but this is obviously hard to do around the chin area (which is why I seem to be having troubles possibly). I'm wondering if there is anything I might be able to do to help perfect this technique as I'm shaving (any tips or tricks on how YOU maybe learned to keep the angle correct). Also, I attached images showing my shaving angle, in general. I follow this procedure when I shave, too, so I don't think it's my prep:

1. Shower & wash face. (As I do this, I soak my badger brush in hot water in my scuttle)
2. Place a wet hot towel on my face for 30-45 seconds (about the time it takes for the heat to go away).
3. Lather my face with Catie's Bubbles shaving soap.
4. Rub in the shaving lather really well.
5. Strop my razor, allowing the soap to soak in.
6. Re-apply the hot towel for 30-45s.
7. Re-apply the soap (as some came off from the towel).
8. Shave, and as I do so, rinse the razor in hot water and rub off on a towel I have situated on the sink.
9. Apply lather and wood after shave. (After disinfecting cuts and splashing with cold water).

Thanks for any assistance you can give!