one shave down. no blood :) not sure if bad technique or too long of hair :(

So I have been shaving with a snapped DE shavette for a couple of months now and I just completed my first legit straight razor shave.
I wanted to see how close it shaved so I skipped a day and had a little more scruff than usual. My first pass was....suboptimal in the comfort department and seemed to barely reduce the scruff. I think my angle was way off. but I kept going with XTG for the second pass. that got a little more comfortable and then back to WTG. BINGO! ended up with a 5 pass shave(My AAS let me know that was too much:nono:.) latter passes seemed much better comfort wise and reduction as well.

Does having longer hairs change the feel of a shave or was that just being my first go with a straight?

If it's just rough stubble, I tend to knick myself more and not have the best shave. I find that I get smoother shaves with slightly longer hairs. (If it's way longer, that's a different story.) And yes 5 passes seems a bit much. 3 is my maximum and most of the time I shave with 2 passes. You should always shave WTG on your first pass. Generally it's best to go in this order 1) WTG 2) XTG 3) ATG.

Well for one thing your new, don't expect too much , secondly try just doing your cheeks till you get the technique down then move on, too much to learn at once. Thirdly, who honed your razor, because with newbie technique and poor edge, you are going to get poor results. Also it does not really matter the length of your beard the blade is at the skin level it doesn't know how long your beard is.

Prep, shave ready edge, great stropping skills, and experience will get your shave right, this all takes time. Especially the technique and stropping. So slow down and try just doing a section for a few days getting the right angle and pressure then as your comfortable add in more, but don't just keep hacking at it. Good luck. Tc

BTW, what is an AAS?

It took me about four shaves before I finally drew blood. And this morning, I actually managed to cut my earlobe. My EARLOBE!

Don't worry about cutting yourself. You'll do it. :cool:

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Originally Posted by quicksilver

BTW, what is an AAS?

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I was trying to be cool with the lingo here :/
I thought it was
Alcohol based After Shave?
Fail

Yeah, Aftershave is pretty good about telling you just how good a job you did with pressure and angle. I've had 2 pass shaves and 0 burn, and I've had one pass shaves where my Captain's Choice cat 'o nine tails lit me up and almost drew a tear to my eyes. That stuff is very aptly named, if you get it wrong it will sting like the devil. Smells good though.

The angle on a real straight is much more shallow than a shavette, that could be the problem.

If you are approaching the whiskers from the edge and cutting under the length it should not matter. Doing that many passes in the beginning is just asking for a burn. yes the after shave is a great indicator of how well you shaved. The key items for me are keep the lather wet and slick, your skin tight and your angle low, and your pressure to a minimum. As far as pressure goes, shave the lather and the whisker will come too.

I guess by now you've noticed that the angle for a SR is less than the angle for a shavette. Keep the angle between 1-2 spine widths away from your skin and then use feel to get the angle just right. Don't get out much past 2 spine widths or you'll start scrapping the skin. Like others said, the blade doesn't care how long your whiskers are. It will shave off a full beard or 1 days growth pretty much the same -- if properly honed.

Today went much better. Two passes less owgddamit with the aftershave and keeping the angle shallow was better for sure. I am tryin g to use my non dominant hand but I am rediculously right handed at this. I am going to like this process I think :)

Must not have been that bad if you're shaving the following day. Usually I give my face a day or 2 to heal up after a bout of razor burn. Took me a while to get the hang of the southpaw half of the shave too. Still feels a little awkward, but much better than when I started.

No shame in a dominant hand only shave. There are a lot of guys that do it that way. It is all going to get better and better. You should have most of it figured out in about two or three months. At that point your shaves will be very consistent with random ahhhhaaahh moments. Those little moments have never ended for me, they are simply less frequent. Resting your face can be good for it and give you a moment to contemplate, but tiebreaks can be hard to take when despite your rash you cannot wait for the next shave.

You can use some sort of dull razor shaped object and practice with it, I used a butter knife to do some safe left hand practice. I still after 8 years don't use my non dominant had for an ATG pass so what ever works for you.

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Originally Posted by pooLShark

Today went much better. Two passes less owgddamit with the aftershave and keeping the angle shallow was better for sure. I am tryin g to use my non dominant hand but I am rediculously right handed at this. I am going to like this process I think :)

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Playing an asinine amount of handball in my life (like racquetball, not the olympic version) I have had to develop my left quite extensively. Here are some day-to-day things you can do with the off hand that help with coordination.

1) brushing your teeth and hair, looking in the mirror
2) scrubbing dishes (avoid knives at first)
3) get a "Paddle Ball"
4) Using your shave brush to build lather with off hand

My issue wasn't actually using the left, it's looking in the mirror that gets me all wonky. That's why I recommend brushing first.