Thread: Newbie

I'm fairly new to straight razor shaving (about a month) Most of my nicks are at the corners of my mouth and the right (my right) lower edge of my neck. Any ideas on what I amy be doing wrong?

Welcome to the Forum. I think your blade pressure, blade angle and stretching might need work. Take your time, no one here is in a hurry.

Welcome to the forum! When starting out, you can expect to get nicked quite frequently. Over time, you will find steady improvement in the quality of your shaves and much less blood drawn.

The corners of the mouth, for me, require a stretching and flattening move that took me a while to learn. As said around here, you most likely won’t have straight razor shaving down until you notch around 100 shaves. Give yourself another 2-3 months of time before passing judgment.

Besides, if shaving with a straight razor was really easy to learn, I feel it would be far less enjoyable and rewarding skill.

Agree with Speedster here. Take your time, prepare your face/beard properly, stretch that skin, and use Exclusively 100% vertical strokes with respect to the blade. It's not fun to be nicked but it sure is fun to learn. time will yield technique and technique will give you comfort and enjoyment

Good info given so far. Dont have much to add. Welcome to SRP. Be sure to read the info in the library about nubie shaving. Its been said but, stretch that skin and make it a flat as you can when shaving it. Its very important and will give you a much better shave. Even if you dont have wrinkles and your a young man. It makes a difference.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Good info given so far. Dont have much to add. Welcome to SRP. Be sure to read the info in the library about nubie shaving. Its been said but, stretch that skin and make it a flat as you can when shaving it. Its very important and will give you a much better shave. Even if you dont have wrinkles and your a young man. It makes a difference.

If you're a young man - the wrinkles won't be around until you are plenty skilled to deal with them!

Good luck - stick with it, many years of enjoyment await you.

Adam

Welcome! I too am learning and building skills. I found that when I would get a nick, often times it was at the beginning of a stroke, placing the blade on my skin at too steep an angle and too much pressure. When the steel touches skin, begin the stroke. The most difficult part of my shave is around my mouth. Trial and error, go slow and enjoy the process!

Some advice I read that really put it in perspective for me was "shave the lather".

Thanks for all you advice. Im really getting into the experience of straight razor shaving. I'm moving from a Feather shavette to a Dovo 5/8 straight (should arrive tomorrow) I prep with Porasso pre shave and just love Crown's shave cream. I also bought a 3" strop. I love the challenge and I really look forward to my shave every morning.

I truly appreciate everyone's input.

Welcome to the forum. You have received plenty of good advice already.
You did not say where you bought the razor. If not from Straight Razor Design it may not be shave ready. We live a distance from each other but I am here if you need help with anything. Just PM me with your phone number and I can send you my phone number.

Thats very kind of you. Naturally as a beginner I have lots of questions I bought it online at Razor Emporium and it's described a "shave ready"