Well, I finally got all my supplies in and had my first SR shave yesterday. Not too bad, not too good.
Soaked my brush in hot tap water, used a hot towel on my face (after my shower), did 50 strokes on my paddle strop, put a dime-size amount of pre-shaving oil on my face, and got an OK lather with my badger and shaving cream (first time I used a shaving brush. Got a feel for the water/soap mix by the end of the face lathering process).
I had not shaved for the past 5 days, so I had a pretty good growth. Not sure if that was wise for a first shave.
Only did the two cheeks WTG using my left and rights hands, and called it a day. I was extremely gentle and probably didn't even give each stroke the full weight of the razor. I'm not ambidextrous, so I was particularly gentle shaving my left side. My main focus was to keep the blade as flat against my face as possible to get a feel for the cutting angle. It wasn't a terrible close first shave. Nor was it like the youtube videos that showed clean smooth sweeps. For a first time wet shave, I suppose it could have gone worse. Used my braun electric razor to shave the rest of my face and get in closer on the cheeks.
I find that that with my Braun electric I can get a really close shave, if I let my beard grow out 3+ days, but I've always been dissatisfied with my daily shaving experience. I've never gotten a particularly close shave when I use electrics on a daily basis, when the beard growth is less. I'm really hoping that the SR can give me a close shave on a daily basis.
Today, I'll try my neck and chin area, in addition to my cheeks (which have minimal growth). Hope that's not too much for the face. Guess I'll find out. Would welcome any suggestions towards improvement whatsoever.
Below is the shaving kit I put together after hours of looking at forum posts and general searches on the web. Only thing left is a scuttle, which I just ordered. Looks like I'm committed to becoming adept at the art of SR shaving.
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