Thread: Shave Number Three - Making Progress

Fellow Straight Razor Enthusiasts,

As some of y'all might recall, I reported having a little bit of a drag problem on my first couple of shaves.

I just finished my third straight razor shave. Based on some of the advice I had received here I tried using a hint more pressure when stropping. I think before my first couple of shaves I was trying to be so careful to avoid using too much pressure that I wasn't really accomplishing anything when I stropped. Also, I tried a different soap. For my first couple of shaves I used Roxi Crema Barba from RazorAndBrush.com. Today I used some Crabtree and Evelyn Sandalwood soap.

Anyway, today's shave was much smoother. But, I also realized that some of what I was interpreting as drag on my first two shaves might have partially been getting used to the feel of a much wider blade than I had been using. Although today's shave was smoother I did end up with a couple of minor nicks, and almost ended up with a gash. About midway between my lower lip and chin I somehow let the razor slide sideways. Just as I started to do it I realized what I was doing and lifted the razor off the skin. I ended up with a very shallow slice that almost stopped bleeding without using a steptic pencil. It could have been worse. Fellow newbies - as others have warned - if you let your attention wander a straight will bite.

All in all I think I'm making gradual progress. I didn't have to touch up an areas with my DE after today's shave. I was expecting to only be shaving parts of my face with a straight at this early stage of the game.


I'm definitely going to have to watch out for the various forms of AD. I've already found myself keeping close tabs on the Buy/Sell/Trade forums and have had trouble resisting some of the recent offerings there. After my second shave I found myself closely examining my bathroom and thinking, "You know, there's almost enough room in here for a barber chair. It would be nice to have a chair I could lay back in for hot towel treatments." Am I in trouble?


Kevin

Sounds like you're definitely making good progress, it took me 7-10 days to get to the point where I wasn't using a DE to touch up, so well done.

It's really just a matter of practice now, at all the different techniques that go together to make a shave. Correct stropping every time, building a consistant lather every time, developing your system/pattern of strokes - then refining it further.

The good news is it's all good fun, so just keep at it and you'll see it getting better and better.