Thread: compelte and utter newbie

Im 17 living in the UK, ive just bought myself a pair of Sheffield straight razors as I wanted to start shaving with a straight razor, im tired of mach 3's just pushing the remaining hair into my skin, however I dont know how to use these razors or what to use them with, someone reccomended i usse proraso, an italian product, but what do i need to use, like i dont know if i use pre shaving cream, wash it off then use shaving cream, then after shaving use aftershave, im completely new, please share some advice with me, it would be greatly appreciated.

plus ive got no idea on how to maintain these beautiful razors.

Hey there!

I'm new too, but I've done quite a bit of research.

Here is a link that provided to me by another member....LOTS of good information:

CLICK HERE

For learning about the upkeep (sharpening/honing, stropping, etc) I would suggest buying the DVD listed in the Buy/Sell/Trade section on here. About 3 1/2 hours packed with information.

You could also check out a couple videos on Youtube. There's a good 3-part video on there. Just search Straight Razor Honing.

Also, I didn't see anything in your post about a strop. If you don't have one, you will NEED one before you shave. www.thewellshavedgentleman.com

You are further along than me, just ordered mine today.

Originally Posted by urahara454

Im 17 living in the UK, ive just bought myself a pair of Sheffield straight razors as I wanted to start shaving with a straight razor, im tired of mach 3's just pushing the remaining hair into my skin, however I dont know how to use these razors or what to use them with, someone reccomended i usse proraso, an italian product, but what do i need to use, like i dont know if i use pre shaving cream, wash it off then use shaving cream, then after shaving use aftershave, im completely new, please share some advice with me, it would be greatly appreciated.

plus ive got no idea on how to maintain these beautiful razors.

Hi and welcome!

Congrats on getting Sheffield razors, they should be good shavers.
The best advice I can give you is to make sure your razors are really shave ready, there are some honemeisters here that are based in the UK or Belgium. I think a couple of them are poona and Bruno

There is a pdf file by Christopher Moss that you should read, it has some great info: http://www.shavemyface.com/downloads/The-Straight-Razor-Shave.pdf

As for a strop I've heard that the strops that open_razor sells on ebay are ok: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZopenQ5frazorQQfrppZ50QQfsopZ32QQfsooZ2QQ rdZ0

btw he is wojtec76 here

As for the brush and soap I think others are more into that part of the shave than me

so far i gotta say thanks so much for all the advice from you guys, and talk about fast, way to mek a newbie feel welcome.

Just wondered if anyone could advise me on proraso, which products to use as im a newbie to it, i dont know what each proraso product does, or which order to use em in.

Welcome to SRP!

I also live in the UK. I have, and would highly recommend Lynns DVD, referred to above. Also I believe It is the general consensus that you should get at least one of your razors honed (Sharpened), by a pro. I believe there is someone based in the uk on the forum, but I don't know who.
The only place, I could find the DVD was on classicshaving, which is a US site, so you would have to pay an extra 8 pounds plus the vat in order to get it from the post office.
If you are strapped for cash, and it is OK with Lynn, you could pay Lynn for the DVD and I could send you a copy of mine ( if this doesn't break any laws), thus saving on customs duties. Or maybe there is a UK retailer that I couldn't find in my searches.

Good luck
Connor

welcome to srp.

Not sure where you got your razors from, but as long as they are honed properly you should be good. If not, perhaps your best option is to send them (at least one of them) to some of the members who offers honing services. Poona is in UK and does that iirc.

As far as proraso products, or any other shaving products for that matter, different people prefer different things. The most basic stuff is shaving soap or cream and a brush. There's preshave, postshave oils and lotions and a lot of other things, but a lot of it is just marketing gimmicks. I'd say the simpler the better, get a soap or cream and a brush and if you need it use whatever aftershave you've been using before.

if you ask them trumpers will probably send you a sample of their products. i very much like their skin food (usually used as aftershave, but some people like it as a preshave)

thanks for all the help, one last thing, how much do i have to send through paypal for the DVD, ill need all the help i can get before my first shave