Thread: WOW, my first straight shave

WowI received a restored Gibsen & Forsthoff "Adoration" 5/8 blade this past Saturday and performed my first shave that afternoon. Two nicks but all was fine, I need to work on my opposite hand so that both sides come out about the same. As stated by many I can't believe the smoothness of my face. Thanks for all of your input, glad I joined this forum.

Congratulations! The shaves only get better from here.

Congrats on the first straight shave. There have been many...many with less stellar results. The off hand is a challenge, or more of a challenge in the beginning. But in my experience, and others, it conforms quickly and in my case rapidly became the more proficient hand. No bad habits or muscle memory to compete with.

Nicks, and some cuts are the price of admission, but the main show is great. The challenge of....learning, results, and just overall satisfaction in mastering an older day-way of doing something that doesn't require mass technology and support and, is sustainable, makes all the difference. Just a good old way that still works, and well....!

Look forward to hearing of your progress.

Best Regards,

Howard

Glad to hear of your straight razor success and welcome to our crazy world. IMO, becoming proficient with both hands is the way to go.

Congratulations, a really great feeling I remember well.

Take your time, each shave is a learning experience, it never stops, so enjoy each one, as you hit 20 shaves, add another pass, XTG for instance, and when you get 100 shave under your belt, you should be going the full Monty if you want, WTG, XTG, and ATG...I've even recently changed things up by going WTG, ATG and finishing with XTG...congrats and enjoy, don't forget - speed kills (and makes you bleed)!

And yes, both hands, learn to do it....

Originally Posted by Phrank

Congratulations, a really great feeling I remember well.

Take your time, each shave is a learning experience, it never stops, so enjoy each one, as you hit 20 shaves, add another pass, XTG for instance, and when you get 100 shave under your belt, you should be going the full Monty if you want, WTG, XTG, and ATG...I've even recently changed things up by going WTG, ATG and finishing with XTG...congrats and enjoy, don't forget - speed kills (and makes you bleed)!

And yes, both hands, learn to do it....

Still learning to use the opposite hand. Tried ATG this morning with some nicks, overall I am getting better every shave.

Originally Posted by jlf634

Still learning to use the opposite hand. Tried ATG this morning with some nicks, overall I am getting better every shave.

It does get better with time. Don't rush into the XTG and ATG stuff. Just get used to the razor in the hand and remember, no pressure is needed. I was weeks before I started doing anything other than WTG and my shaves still improved day upon day. I found that when I did try different things the fact that I was really used to a straight razor in the hand new things seemed more natural to me YMMV.

Well done on your first shave and good luck getting to grips with it all.

Learning to shave with both hands is desirable. Learning early is ideal... Try brushing your teeth with your offhand. That will speed up the muscle learning and won't do any damage if you make a mistake.

The third week in and still enjoying this experience. I have had some nicks on the earlobes and neck but other than that all is well, I am getting better with my left hand as well.

All of the links to vids and suggestions from this forum do help us noobs THANKS.

Grats! I'm glad it's going so well for you. I never bothered to train my offhand. Took a while to keep my left cheek visible but what can I say, just stubborn like that. Things should go a lot easier being able to shave with either hand