First Shave today

Hello all,

as you can tell I am a newbie here as well, and today I had my first straight razor shave. Well OK I just shaved my sideburns and cheeks but it is a start.

I have the following equipment.

DOVO black star
Vulfix Super Badger brush
Illinois hanging leather strop.
Classic Brand Fresh Lime shaving soap.
Lynn's DVD

Norton 4000/8000x honing stone.

So I ordered the razor before joining the group and so I didn't get it honed before being delivered. I do have a lot of experience sharpening knives and chisles however so I was pretty sure I could hone the razor OK as long as I took my time. Well it arrived yesterday and I watched Lynn's DVD and found out about the pyramid method of honing the razor and followed his advice about new razors and did a 3/3 1/3 1/5 honing sequence. Then I followed that with 30 passes on the linen strop as I had read that this is a good way to make sure any metal shavings had been removed before touching the leather side!

So this morning I decided that I was going to shave, I did not have to be at work until 10 so it was a good day. First I stropped the razor 30 passes on the leather. Then I showered well and used some mild face scrub to prepare the beard area. I lathered up the soap (which I think needs some work on my part but that will come) and lathered my face. Shaved the side burns and my right side and wow it is cutting with no pulling at all, 1 pass and it is as smooth as with the M3, then I did the right cheek and that was pretty good as well. Then came the left side, and I decided I would try switching hands, now I am not very good with my left hand at all and I managed to catch my earlobe with a small nick:thinking:, this made me decide to use my right hand in a cross side motion. This actually worked really well and my left side turned out smoother than the right:). With everything going so well I decided to do some of my neck as well and this worked out OK. I still need practice on changing angles as I go down my neck but I know that will come. As for the chin area, well I was not brave enough to try that on my first go, so finished up with the M3.

Overall I am very happy with the way the shave went and am looking forward to getting better and being comfortable doing my whole face.

Thanks

Right on!:y
I will be getting my razor (prehoned) on Thursday and can't wait to try it out!

Welcome! Sounds like you're doing things right. I'm still a newbie myself, but have a few more shaves under my belt. I'm still working on the adam's apple area and getting the angles right (I don't do my chin as I have a full beard). Cheeks are a great place to experiment.

Keep up the good work.

Jim

Welcome to SRP - sounds like you did your research, and got a good first shave as a result - not all are so lucky...:cry:

You're definitely on the right track - just keep at it - it only gets better from here. The one piece of advice I've come to heed in the short time I've been straight shaving is to always respect the blade. The moment you become comfortable with it, you may end up complacent and then get a good slice.

Keep up the good work!

Mark

Welcome to the fold, amigo.

Jim

Thanks Everyone :bow

Congrats on a damn nice job. If only my first had gone that well. I'm waiting for my DVD before I go in for round two hopefully this weekend.

For me the upper lip was sheer terror, but after two weeks it got better. The chin still confounds me regularly (so round and curvy:hmmm:), sometimes I get it good, other times after the second pass i give up and touch it up with the DE, but I think it's been a week since I had to do that so I must be making some progress.

Welcome and good work Scott. Keep trying your left hand. You will get more comfortable as time goes on. I had the same issue with my left hand in the beginning but after a few shaves it seems natural.

bj

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2Sharp

Welcome and good work Scott. Keep trying your left hand. You will get more comfortable as time goes on. I had the same issue with my left hand in the beginning but after a few shaves it seems natural.

bj

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Thanks I will come back to it, but first I will let my ear heal ;)

I have never been very good at anything that requires any kind of ambidextrous skill, but as you say practice makes perfect.

Using my left hand was very difficult for me as well at the beginning, but I also started using my left hand with my cartridge razor when I was doing clean up just for the practice...after a month, it makes no difference which hand I use, and I often get better results out of my left hand because I'm more careful of the pressure with that hand.

Good luck

Mark

Hello and welcome to SRP! It sounds like you're off to a great start. Keep watching that dvd, and feel free to ask the forums about any troubles that comes up. Lots of great honing advice on the honing section too.