hello, my name is vincent van gogh

so i go to shave last night, and on my 1st pass, heck, 1st stroke, my tip cuts my right ear in 2 places(same stroke!) then, with my xtg pass, i put a 1/2 inch long cut under my left ear. my last 4 shaves, near BBS and i have not used the styptic at all, cold water tightens up any nicks i had made. however last night, the styptic did not stop the ear. not deep or anything, just in the perfect spot.
maybe i was in a hurry, or it could be the fact that i am learning to shave now with both hands. (i get the same newbie shakes with the 1st left hand pass) and i was trying to see how long it took me to shave. 15 min 2 passes with cleanup of equipment, not my ear, that was another 5 min.

just when i start thinking i am not so much a newb, i go and prove myself wrong. dang!

vgod

Hello Vincent! Welcome to bleeders anonymous. What type of point did your razor have?

spike point, and it still has it.

vgod

Hi my name is floridaboy, and I'm a bleeder.:roflmao Seriously, welcome. we all get nicks and cuts, most of the time mine are from lack of attention. Keep at it, and let us know how you get along.

Phil

In my limited experience, we all get cuts, we just get bigger ones with a straight razor.

I have nicked both my ears at different times. They do bleed pretty good don't they...:roflmao

Got a little cocky , did you ? Welcome to the club :D

I usually avoid spike razors now, having nearly performed surgery on one of my ears awhile back. But when I have used a spike since the "incident", I basically never take my eyes off that point, and I've avoided mayhem, by and large.

I bleed, therefore I am............

:D

Slow and steady...but sometimes, the blade just demands a blood sacrifice......


Greg

About a month ago I somehow managed to take a good sized divot from my face about an inch to the right of my mouth. It didn't hurt since the blade was so sharp but it bled a lot. It is by far the worst cut I've had shaving and has made me a bit blade-shy since. I've just been taking it slow now and haven't had any mishaps since.

Pheww! I feel better reading this thread. Last week I managed to not only slice my ear but put a nice divot in my chin. Same shave too. I was feeling overconfident (although how one does that after only a handful of shaves is a mystery) and took my eyes off the blade for just an instant. Not once but a couple of times. Ergo, one cut for each time.:shrug:

I wish I could blame a not-sharp-enough razor but like everything I've read here says, you gotta pay attention. So, I didn't shave again for a day being a little leery. My last shave over the weekend was much slower with a great deal of concentration. Funny thing but no nicks either.:w

Now as soon as my Norton stone gets here, I'll try to get the blade sharper which I know will help both my technique and confidence.

Tennskjaer

Well, you see everything balances out. There are some who never nick themselves ever even on the first straight shave and there are some who turn their faces to hamburger the first time they shave. So your just one who has a few more accidents than most others. Just keep at it and the nicks will decrease. I realize there are some who say they never nick themselves but I think most of us on ocassion do get them.

Thanks alot Vgod... Guess who nicked his ear this AM...:eek:

I don't think I've nicked an ear yet - guess it's in my future, I just hope it's not a big one :)

Cheers
Ivo

sorry to hear about the ear RichZ. i have shaved twice since then, and basically have sideburns now because i won't even get close. maybe tonight.


vgod

Quote:

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Originally Posted by floridaboy

we all get nicks and cuts, most of the time mine are from lack of attention.
Phil

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Speaking of... The worst cut with a str8 I have (yet) received was on my THUMB when I wasn't paying attention and I thought I had the tang but really had the edge (there's a double entendre, eh?!?)!
:roflmao