My Turn for a First Shave Thread

I guess now it's my turn to a "First Shave!" post! :D

It went really well. My razor came in the mail today, a W.H. Morley & Sons Clover Brand razor sent by Bill Ellis. Honestly, I was thinking about it all week after he said it was in the mail, and today was the perfect day for it to arrive; my week started off with lots of tests and papers, and so now, things are easier again, and I could devote a solid, relaxed chunk of time to learning how to shave.

I was surprised with the sharpness, it cut through everything pretty easily. Of course, like everyone has said, the chin was pretty tricky, and I ended up using my Gillette to get that. I was having a really hard time with the left side of my face though, cuz I'm a righty and I wasn't feeling very confident in my left hand for the first shave. Does anybody have any tips for dealing with that? Any good ways to use one hand for the opposite side? Sometimes my hand or arm was blocking my vision (bad) but I couldn't really get around that. I guess to learn how to use my left I'll just have to try it...eventually.

I got one little slice on my cheek when I was getting overconfident and let the tip of the blade catch, but I quickly regained my focus...:o

Anyways, I feel pretty great about it; once I get confident in covering my whole face, I'll probably get rid of my fusion. I need to get a strop though, I've been waiting for Tony's site to come back up so I can check. There is a local tobacconist's that I might look at; if they have anything cheap I'd rather chew that up learning before I get a nice one. Or maybe I'll ask around here... I also might get a few new things like soaps/aftershaves/stuff. I'm currently using the Proraso cream for COBigelow and it's good, but I'd like to try something different as well. Any suggestions? Any places give out free samples? I think i saw something in another thread...

The first shave is very exciting.

As far as using your left hand, it just takes practice. Just take it slow, and really concentrate on what that hand is doing (not necessarily what the mirror is showing - this can throw you off!)

Art of Shaving gives out free samples of their shaving products. Go to the customer service page on their website and click on "Email". Then just send them a note asking about shaving samples. They'll ship 'em right to your door.

Other shaving products, I would suggest checking out TGQ or Classic Shaving. You could also try the "buck puck" - William's Mug Soap. Walmart has it.

Have fun!

~Chris

Sounds like all the reading has paid off, I'm hearing a lot more good first shave stories than I remember in the past...

As for soaps +1 for TGQ
You can also try mamabear's

-1 on the Williams... I know there are a lot of people out there that still use it, but for the price you're better off going to the soap mistresses here...

Use of the left hand is a state of mind. The artist Frank Frazetta (who began the popular style of fantasy/sword an sorcery art) lost the use of his right and and continued to work just as effectivly with his left. He conquored the problem after realizing that he didn't draw with his hands, he drew with his brain. I think it's good advice. Shave with your brain.

A good why I found to get comfortable with the left is to use the gillette once or twice using only the left hand. I found it helped get the muscle memory started and gave me confindance when I used the straight.

When I first started I had a terrible time with lefty shaving. Not only right handed but blind in my left eye. The awkward moves I went through were worthy of a you tube epic. It was a bit of a gong show to be sure. Turn your head so you can see the left side of your face in the mirror now look at where the razor is - oops wait ummmm cant see out that side - ok ok calm down - where the heck is the darn razor??? - get it where you can see it!! Wait wait my darn arm is in the way of my good eye - crud where are the band aids?
A couple of things I did.
One was to take a dead dull blade - one that couldn't cut me even if I tried. Lathered up and shaved off the lather just like when I used to shave with a bladeless safety razor next to my Dad. I concentrated just on figuring out how to get there from here. After several training wheels shaves I graduated to partial left hand shaving. Just the easy parts and then finished up with right hand or with a DE. I figured that whatever happened in the bathroom stayed in the bathroom so who would know I had cheated?
Gradually I found I was using the DE less and less and little moves that made it easier each time just naturally developed.
The other thing I did was shave - lots! Not only for practice but also to keep the beard growth down.
I found it a lot easier to handle the tricky parts if there was not much whisker growth. Just enough to hear the cutting. If that meant that a heavy beard would get a first pass with a DE then finished with a straight so be it.
Worked for me.

I agree with Mike when it comes to the soap mistress, Mamabear at www.bear_haven.com has some wonderful stuff. In fact when just starting I was getting a lot of razor burn from bad angle, and just being new. I am still learning but if you try the awakenings shave soap, I think that you will find it is very soothing to burned areas. Also if you are getting irritation order an alum block from her as well. They are worth every penny and last a really long time.
As for the lefty thing, I haven't masterd that yet, it is just too darn scary for me to be comfortable with. I can do a few strokes on the neck lefty style but I seem to always have an issue on my cheek when it comes to going lefty. I am sure it will develop in time. Good luck.
Kbs

On the lefty issue, I personally found that shaving left side w/ my RIGHT hand was too awkward. I couldn't stretch the skin as well, and because I had to reach across my face with the razor I couldn't see well (which is kind of important!). So from the first shave, I've been shaving with my left. At first, it was very awkward, but mostly because I had a hard time with the angle. I now have a couple dozen shaves under my belt, and it's much easier.

Just takes practice.

So, in my last shave, I tried using my left hand for the left side of my face and, just keeping to my cheek and neck, it worked pretty well! I mean, it was still awkward, and I definitely had to remember to think about my hand and the razor right next to my face, not what I could see in the mirror. The mirror really does throw me off a lot...

Before I actually did that though, I sort of used the combined advice of roughneck and MrScience and "shaved" with the spine of the razor, just to get the feel for it, and I think that helped a lot.

Funny though, my second shave got me more cuts than my first.. 4 cuts to 1. Though the second time, I shaved my whole face with the straight, and all the nicks are centered aroudn the trouble area / chin & moustache. It was satisfying to get it all pretty clean off, despite the new marks.

Thanks for all the tips, it's really helpful, I really appreciate it.

Good to hear...keep it up. Yeah, using the spine is a good idea (kinda wish I had tried it :)).