Thread: My First Shave

This afternoon, while killing time to avoid putting the laundry away, I heard the telltale clunk of the mailbox. Ah HA! I said to myself, Maybe my razor is finally here!

Sure enough, fresh from Josh Earl's hot little hands my Tonsorial Gem had arrived. I marvelled at how much sharper it looked with a honed edge, and immediately passed it over my arm hair. With dozens of tiny little screams, the hairs lost their heads.

To the Bathroom! I yelled, and charged up the stairs. Carefully, so as not to drop my precious.

After a long hot shower, I whipped up some lather on my Col. Conk lime soap block in my Col. Conk mug with my Col. Conk brush. Not the best quality stuff, but I am avoiding spending money right now, and what I have will work, from what I have read. Not trusting my crappy strop, I did a 3-4 dozen strokes on some paper on each side, just to freshen the edge.

I applied lather, let it sit for a minute, and began my shave.

Things I learned:

1- Angle is key. For your first time, get it to the angle you think it should be, then drop that angle just a bit. Trust me, it seemed to make all the difference.

2- Don't forget you're holding the sharpest thing ever in your hand. I did, and managed to get myself with my square-point. Ouch. Bled like a stuck pig.

I did one pass WTG, and another ATG. A minute of hesitation when shaving my adam's apple area, but overall, I think I did ok.

For the most part my face is enjoying the smoothest shave it has ever been my pleasure to have. There are a couple of spots that didn't get as smooth as the rest of it, but overall, I am VERY happy.

I am also grateful for my goatee/ring beard, and it has managed to keep me from having to shave my chin. Hehehehe

Now to get another blade, to trade off with. And a better strop. And some more soaps. And a nice aftershave....

Edited to add: Also, bit thank you to Josh Earl. His communication was great, his service was a good price, and his work, obviously, was exquisite! Highly recommended... I think I'll be sending more work his way in the future.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. That was a nice little razor. Some of the best shavers I've ever worked on were 4/8.

Sounds like you're on the verge of a really bad case of the ADs... Good luck with that.

Josh

It sounds like your well on the road to str8 shaving!
Now do yourself a big favor and purchase a quality hanging strop. 30-50 roundtrip laps just before each shave and you will be set to go.