Thread: First SR Shave

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.

I’m new too,about a month, It sounds like you’re off to a really good start . I’ve gotten lots of help here from more experienced shavers so don’t hesitate to ask questions Everyone seems eager to help

Way to go. Most likely, the first question all veterans are going to ask is "Is the razor shave-ready?". You can get away with a marginal edge on the flat parts of your face, but not the curved parts.

It was wise to only shave the cheeks.

If you practice making lather with your brush, you will progress faster. By practice, I mean make lather even when you're not shaving. You can do this in the palm of your hand, and this will give you a good feel for what you are doing. This is also a fast way to break in a boar brush.

Congrats on the first shave and welcome to SRP.

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

Way to go. Most likely, the first question all veterans are going to ask is "Is the razor shave-ready?". You can get away with a marginal edge on the flat parts of your face, but not the curved parts.

It was wise to only shave the cheeks.

If you practice making lather with your brush, you will progress faster. By practice, I mean make lather even when you're not shaving. You can do this in the palm of your hand, and this will give you a good feel for what you are doing. This is also a fast way to break in a boar brush.

Congrats on the first shave and welcome to SRP.

Thanks. I believe that the razor is shave ready, since I purchased it from SRD, and from what I've seen on the forum and their website, it's shipped only after being honed and made shave ready.

Originally Posted by Bigleaf

Thanks. I believe that the razor is shave ready, since I purchased it from SRD, and from what I've seen on the forum and their website, it's shipped only after being honed and made shave ready.

Should be good to go then, just be aware it is easy for beginner to dull a blade with stropping when they start. For someone without a honing stone I recommend using pasted strop of some kind to increase lifetime of edge. Although might not want to start doing that after you have had razor honed 2-3 times so you have good idea of what razor should be doing

Hello and welcome to SRP.
Very nice setup.
As you progress, remember to always stay in your comfort zone while shaving. Take your time. Slow and steady is the key.
Keep learning and practicing and in no time you'll be shaving like an old pro.

Pete <:-}

You are off to a good start. The first shave is rarely a close one, nor are the first several.
Do as you are doing now, take it slow and clean up with what you are used to. Eventually the clean up will be less and less.

Nice setup. Sounds like you are being smarter than some of us (by us I mean me) in your approach as a beginner.

Nice Strop, is that the SRD modular Strop?
What type of razor?

Originally Posted by JP5

Nice setup. Sounds like you are being smarter than some of us (by us I mean me) in your approach as a beginner.

Nice Strop, is that the SRD modular Strop?
What type of razor?

It's not the modular, it's their 3" premium paddle strop. If I didn't travel often, I would probably have purchased a hanging strop, though. The razor is a 6/8" Ralf Aust African Blackwood Spanish Point.

Originally Posted by criswilson10

You are off to a good start. The first shave is rarely a close one, nor are the first several.
Do as you are doing now, take it slow and clean up with what you are used to. Eventually the clean up will be less and less.

It's good to know that first few shaves are unlikely to be close, because I had my second shave today and, while slightly better than the first, it still wasn't a terribly close shave. Today, I did the chin, top and bottom of the lips, the neck, and redid the cheeks. I was still extremely light with the pressure. I had to keep lathering the same areas since my attempts were rarely clean. I found the top lip to be the most difficult. Bottom lip was also tricky, since I have a horizontal scar there. Since I don't have the shaving skills, I think the spanish point really helped me in top and bottom lip areas.