first shave, need a little advice please.

i ordered a dovo "Bergischer Lowe" 5/8 carbon steel blade from vintage blades and had it honed by lynn abrams. i also bought lynn abrams video, a silvertip badger brush, some d.r. harris & co soap, a dovo 2" leather/linen strop, and red,white,black and yellow strop paste. i just shaved today after a hot towel and soaped my face up good.i didn`t strop it but i probably should have because it felt like it was dragging on the hairs even though it was cutting them,just not well( i had the back of the blade slightly raised off my face so i had about a 30 degree angle).it took me awhile to get my whole face. i had to go over it a couple of times and i had some stubble left and some red marks and some burning. overall i did an o.k. job without cutting myself at all. can some1 tell me what i did wrong or does it take some getting used too. i don`t know what color strop paste to put where or should i use the .50 diamod paste? i ordered a 3" strop for daily use so i will use the 2" for the paste and do i put it on the leather or linen side? i`m also ordering the norton 4000/8000 wet stone and the belgium coticle stone so i can hone my own razor. sorry for all the ?? just wanna learn the right way to shave and take care of my razor. thanks

welcome welcome....

just keep at it.. you'll eventually get the hang of it.

Did u go ATG or WTG ? When you went over a couple of times, did u mean u did a couple of passes (shave the whole face) or did you do a couple of strokes ( a cutting motion ) ?

I've not used any pastes on my strops. I have a barber's hone that I occasionally do a few strokes on. Not at the honing stage yet....

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Originally Posted by Assassin

i ordered a dovo "Bergischer Lowe" 5/8 carbon steel blade from vintage blades and had it honed by lynn abrams. i also bought lynn abrams video, a silvertip badger brush, some d.r. harris & co soap, a dovo 2" leather/linen strop, and red,white,black and yellow strop paste. i just shaved today after a hot towel and soaped my face up good.i didn`t strop it but i probably should have because it felt like it was dragging on the hairs even though it was cutting them,just not well( i had the back of the blade slightly raised off my face so i had about a 30 degree angle).it took me awhile to get my whole face. i had to go over it a couple of times and i had some stubble left and some red marks and some burning. overall i did an o.k. job without cutting myself at all. can some1 tell me what i did wrong or does it take some getting used too. i don`t know what color strop paste to put where or should i use the .50 diamod paste? i ordered a 3" strop for daily use so i will use the 2" for the paste and do i put it on the leather or linen side? i`m also ordering the norton 4000/8000 wet stone and the belgium coticle stone so i can hone my own razor. sorry for all the ?? just wanna learn the right way to shave and take care of my razor. thanks

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First let me say welcome to the SRP we are glad to have you here. Your experience sounds pretty common for your first shave. Your shaves will improve as time go on and your tecnic improves. stropping will help smooth out and align the edge on your razor and help you get a smoother shave with out the pulling. You want to strop your razor around 40 to 50 strokes. 1 stroke = one trip down and back on the stop. Go slow on your strop for a while and make sure your not lifting the spine as is is easy at first to roll the edge on your razor and dull it through improper stropping. Pastes are usually put on a paddle or separate strop from your every day strop and only used when the blade becomes a little dull and needs a quick touch up. When you receive your hones you might want to pick up a ebay junker to practice honing on and use the razor Lynn honed as a point of reference as to what sharp is and how close you are getting to it. anyway hope this answers some of your questions and any help I can give feel free to drop me a Pm

I have similar troubles, but the same razor will cut better when I get my skin pulled very tightly, and I try to find the best angle to go through the grain. Some angles are rougher than others but I always have an easier time when I have the skin pulled very tightly (not just snug)

There are probably a hundred things you didn't do as well as you will be able to do a hundred shaves from now, and the most basic way to get there from here is keep looking for the best way to get the razor across your face (some call it technique?)

Anyway, somehow I doubt that the pastes or the hone is going to help reduce the need for improving technique at such an early stage for you. My suggestion is to focus on learning how your razor interacts with your hair and skin and what you can do to improve an easy pass with the grain.

* disclaimer *
I've only been shaving with a straight for two weeks

thanx for the info. i went wtg first ,with short strokes and had to go over my face a couple of times then i went atg once. still have some spots i couldn`t get good like my chin.i`m gonna get a junker to practice honing on first. thanx for that tip. i`m gonna practice my stropping and honing and hopefully i can get a great shave soon. i can`t wait to try in a ew days again. can anyone recommend a really good preshave, aftershave, and shave soap? i don`t really know what`s good and what`s not. also do you think my first razor choice was a good one? thanks for all the help

Your first shave sounds like my first shave, which was also earlier today. I only went WTG and XTG though since my technique is non-existent. ATG would've been painful. You might try skipping that the next few shaves until you get stuff down better.

You first razor is a good one. Can't really go wrong with Dovo, especially if it was honed by Captain Abrams. I would recommend Proraso liquid cream aftershave. Smells good and is nice and cool for the coming warmer months.

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Originally Posted by Assassin

can anyone recommend a really good preshave, aftershave, and shave soap? i don`t really know what`s good and what`s not. also do you think my first razor choice was a good one? thanks for all the help

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There are SO many options out there, it's really best to try a few out and find what fits your face best. I would suggest ordering the free samples from The Art of Shaving. I received mine a week ago (they sent two sample packs, each w/ unscented Pre-Shave Oil, Shaving Cream, & After-Shave Balm). The oil made a HUGE difference in the shave.

For soaps, check THIS THREAD out. Lots of good recommendations, and you'll notice that most people like soaps. I would suggest Colleen's soaps from The Gentleman's Quarter. I love the old-time William's Mug Soap as well.

Aftershaves...there are tons of options here as well. I typically prefer the alcohol-based AS like Aqua Velva and Clubman Pinaud. Recently, I've been adding in a little Witch Hazel.

Try 'em all out. I have a list of about 30 items to get...don't know how I'll OK that with the wife though. :shrug:

EDIT: Oh yeah, check out the Shave of the Day (SOTD) threads. You'll get an idea of what these guys use on a regular basis, and they even detail what they did DURING their shave (hot towels, WTG/XTG/ATG, etc...)

One point that has only been touched on in this thread is the importance of stretching your skin taut as you shave. One of the differences between using a safety razor (inc the cartridges) is that with a straight you don't have the safety bar pulling the skin taut ahead of the blade(s) so you have to do it yourself. It makes a huge difference in the quality and smoothness of the shave. There's a bunch of great advice in this thread, so the only other recommendation I have is to look at the stickys and search the forums and keep posting your results. Congratulations.

i got a bunch of great tips and i ordered a bunch of shaving accessories. also i think that was my problem. i didn`t stretch my skin to tight or sometimes at all. i see know that is has to be very taught. thanx for all the advice.

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Originally Posted by cwrighta70

There are SO many options out there, it's really best to try a few out and find what fits your face best. I would suggest ordering the free samples from The Art of Shaving. I received mine a week ago (they sent two sample packs, each w/ unscented Pre-Shave Oil, Shaving Cream, & After-Shave Balm). The oil made a HUGE difference in the shave.

For soaps, check THIS THREAD out. Lots of good recommendations, and you'll notice that most people like soaps. I would suggest Colleen's soaps from The Gentleman's Quarter. I love the old-time William's Mug Soap as well.

Aftershaves...there are tons of options here as well. I typically prefer the alcohol-based AS like Aqua Velva and Clubman Pinaud. Recently, I've been adding in a little Witch Hazel.

Try 'em all out. I have a list of about 30 items to get...don't know how I'll OK that with the wife though. :shrug:

EDIT: Oh yeah, check out the Shave of the Day (SOTD) threads. You'll get an idea of what these guys use on a regular basis, and they even detail what they did DURING their shave (hot towels, WTG/XTG/ATG, etc...)

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could you tell me how to order the samples from the art of shaving? i don`t see where there are samples. thanx

GO HERE and click on "Email". Just fill out the form and ask if they have samples of their shaving oils/creams they can send you.

They'll email you back and ask for your shipping information and such. :)