Thread: First Shave Questions

Hey everyone, I just got my first straight razor. I thought they looked really cool and decided to try it, i dont have a tonne of facial hair but still enough to have to shave every 4 days or so. My fist shave went fairly well, i lathered well and went WTG everywhere.

The only issue is my face is a little sore and a bit red the next day, razor burn i guess (never had this before regular shaving) what do you guys think is the cause? I did 2 passes total, i had a hot shower before i shaved also, is aftershave a must when using straight razor? Thanks in advance for any help, hope to shave like this for the rest of my life!

Did you try any post shave balms? Nivea sensitive skin is great for me.

It could be sensitivity to shave soap.

Your angle or pressure could be off. Pressure should be light and the spine should be close to your skin.

As dinner mint suggested, angle and pressure are the most suspect. The other two things for me are skin holding and stretching and shave ready blade. Where did you get the razor from? Mostly I'm trying to figure out if your blade was in fact shave ready. There are many vendors that sell factory edges and pressure they are shave ready, often they are not. There are also many on eBay claiming shave ready that also are not. There are several vendors that hand hone every blade and have a great reputation for shave ready.

I did not use anything post shave, I got the kit from classicedge.ca and it says they are honed and shaveready, angle could have been off a bit and i might have pressed too hard, also i was not focusing on skin stretching very much so that could be it, but i noticed while the shave cream was sitting on my face it burned a little bit, so that could be it also :/

Excellent news on where the razor came from. Phil puts a proper shaving edge on his razors. It takes so very little pressure to shave with a straight. Shave the lather only and the whiskers will come. If you have a rash you should put a little something on it. Nivea is as good as any. Your location will likely get you to help close to home. There is nothing like face to face lessons to get you going faster.

P.S.
Noxema as a pre shave works well to protect your skin. You can also try cold water shaving, and of course keep the lather nice and moist.

Thanks for the reply, im assuming I can grab those product at any shoppers drug mart or walmart? And the blade i got is a Dovo, could the irritation possibly be from my face just not being used to this type of shave?

Welcome to an Older but Better way of Shaving.

As has been mentioned, your angle of the blade will make a Big Difference. If the angle is too high you are 'Scraping' the hair off and that will cause irritation. If the angle is too low you won't be cutting your beard.

It takes time and patience to get it down, keep at it, take your time and enjoy the experience.

It's a long strange trip but well worth the journey!

Did you make your own lather, or use an aerosol can? A poor lather won't provide enough glide and cushion, which can cause irritation.

I hear people say that your face just has to get used to saving with a straight. I think it is more like your hand has to get used to shaving with a straight and quit irritating your face. Nivea after shave balm is at shoppers and so is noxema. Shoppers used to carry Proraso products as well but not the ones around here anymore. There are getting to be more and more places to get good soaps and the like.

If I recall you have to pay extra for the razor to be honed up?

Sounds like it's not truly shave ready, maybe?