First straight shave a partial success

I finally had my first straight shave today with a Kropp I got from drfred. The razor is in great shape and appeared to be very, very sharp. I haven't had a razor honed by a known honemeister, so I'm not sure what "shave ready" really is. As sharp as this razor is, I imagine it's pretty darn close if not truly shave ready. Did about 25 passes on the strop beforehand. Lathered up, used a hot towel for a couple minutes. Lathered up again and went for it. The razor was a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be.

My cheeks and neck turned out flawless. It was as good a shave as a DE. In fact, I found it a little easier on my neck with the straight than with a DE. My upper lip and sides of my chin weren't as good though. I've got some pretty good razor burn going on there. It felt like the razor was pulling instead of cutting like it did on my cheeks and neck. Also got a few weepers on the side of my chin, but nothing a little styptic pencil couldn't sting away.

Overall it went WAY better than I expected it go. It took about twice as long as I normally take with a DE, but that's to be expected since it was my first go with a straight. As manly as I felt when I first tried a DE, I felt 10x more manly when I was done with the straight. I believe I'm hooked!

Congrats! The irritation is probably from not contorting yourself to the weird angle you have to shave at in those areas because drfred's razors are sharp(i know because I have one!). If you got the cheeks and neck nice and smooth, the chin and upper lip will catch up soon, don't worry.

Congrats on the 1st shave! Always a great experience to get it out of the way. Irritation is definitely normal with the first couple shaves. As Mr. Golem noted, once you get the technique down, and you've had a chance to experiment with soaps/creams/oils/aftershaves that fit the sensitivity of your face, the irritation should pass quickly.

Keep it up! :)

Just had my second shave today with a Christenson. Had basically the same experience as with the Kropp, but I think it was a mistake to shave so soon after the first one. My face hates me now. Had a small nick, and more visible razor burn than last time. I'm going to give my face a rest for a couple days and try again.

It keeps getting better as your face gets used to being pealed ( I think that's what they call it) and as your technique improves. I'm just a bit ahead of you and even though my shaves take 3 times as long as with the DE and are more "stress filled" the shaves are already mostly better than with the DE. While I have no problem getting a BBS wiith a DE what "they" say about how long a Straight BBS lasts is spot on. I had one last week that lasted 16 hours before I felt stubble. It was by far the best shave I can ever remember having. I was having fun and things were so smooth that I didn't want to stop so I had fun with touch ups and coming up with new and novel ways to stretch my skin......

Welcome to the crowd of the shaving obsessed. I went from a Gillette Fusion to a DOVO about a week and a half ago and haven't looked back since. Except to wonder why all those silly people back there in the dust are still rubbing 13 blades across their faces...