First shave. Any Advice?

Hi all,

Just got my new shaving kit today and of course had to try out the new razor (shave rdy from Tony Miller) Got the beard ready with shower and hot rag, followed all the instructions on stroping Tony gives with the kit (Been also been practicing on w/ crap blade and strop I have), lathered up, and started to it.

Being a bit scared so I took it slow and thought I had the angle right but wasn't really cutting beard so went to a wider angle, wasn't as close as I thought it would be in the end and got one Major razor burn..

Any advice on what I could be doing wrong?

Wes

Momentum can play a big part in your shave when you first start out. Stretch your cheek skin out and start just above where your ear lobe ends. Come down smooth and in a soft stroke. You should have just cut a nice swatch out of your cheek beard, thought not BBS of course. The main thing to remember is use little to no pressure but keep your movements fluid. Jerky, slow movements are the ingredients to a bad shave.

On the angle, practice on the tight spots on your arms or legs. You'll look weird, but you can really get a sense of the angle. You want it to be just angled enough that it glides over the skin, shaving the hair away. You'll know you have it right when you can take your razor and clean shave your arm/leg with little trouble.

start on an easier area like your cheek, and just shave that. finish with your old DE mach3 electric... and build up to greater areas.
your first pass with the grain will not take all the hair, your 3rd pass or ATG pass should finish what's left.

Sometimes razors get bumped out of alignment in shipping, a few passes on a pasted strop or newspaper might be needed to polish the edge.

Take your time and get comfortable. Rome wasn't built in a day. :)

Thanks for the replies.. thinking I used too much pressure, not pulling skin tight enough and was at the wrong angle. I am seeing that it takes a bit of practice.. :)

Try and use a light touch and not go over the same area many times. This can induce irritation.

Also make sure your face is wet (as you may be a little slow to begin with)

Most of all, enjoy it.

The only thing I would add is it's mostly a matter of persisting day by day, shave by shave. The learning curve for straight razor shaving is measured in months and not days. Just keep shaving!

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Originally Posted by GibII

Being a bit scared so I took it slow and thought I had the angle right but wasn't really cutting beard so went to a wider angle, wasn't as close as I thought it would be in the end and got one Major razor burn..

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This could be the only problem. The wider the angle the more skin cells you are scraping off your snout. This of course is a huge factor in razor burn. I'm sure you were pushing too hard too. When you first get started I think people start out with close to the right pressure but the blade skips because of technique and to compensate, they push harder. You dont need to push harder, you just need confidence in your shaving strokes. You'll get there. Get Lynn's DVD, watch it a few hundred times and read through all the newbie threads that are applicable and you'll be well on your way to success.

Before you go to the pasted strop or send it to be rehoned, try stropping the hell out of it on the linen (not hard, just a lot...100-200) and then 50 laps on the leather and try again. You may have dulled it a bit by your steep angle, but I bet the bevel is fine and proper stropping should correct it.