First Shave, Not Good and it's getting worse

Hello. I was fascinated with straights for a while and decide to buy a DOVO Classic starter set from Vintage Blades. I got the package, went to the bathroom and locked myself in. I took a warm shower to soften the facial hair, and proceeded to shave. I lathered up and proceeded to shave. It didn't go to well, but thats what I expected my first time. I didn't strop it initially, as I had it honed and it said no need to strop on the box. I decided to try again the next morning to see if It got any better. Same routine, showered, lathered, stropped and began to shave. However the shave was horrible. It was tugging almost every single hair out. However I continued to shave my whole face. The shave was quite bad. It wasn't close in the least bit. And it hurt. I had to mop up with the fusion. So I ask you people, what may be going wrong? Improper stropping? Not enough lather? Throw any suggestions you guys have. I'm too stubborn to give up on this, and I'm going to learn how to use a straight or die trying.

Try not to get too frustrated. There is a pretty big learning curve with straight shaving. My first few shaves were awful. My first was with a razor that really wasn't shave ready so that was easy enough to explain. Next I bought a shave ready razor from the BST here but the first shave with that still left my face hurting.

Eventually the shaves started getting better even less than a week later. The fact is, there are A LOT of factors at play and any one or combination of them could be the problem. I think the most important thing is to make sure you have a shave ready razor which it sounds like you do. Also, stropping is definitely important and if done wrong can cause problems with the edge of the razor.

Prep is also very important as well as is making sure you have a good lather, etc. Go slow, make sure you have a good angle and go from there.

I think a lot of it is getting used to using a straight razor. Also, from my experience, I think your face has to get conditioned to being shaved with a straight.

I'm sure some more experienced members will offer some more detailed help and advice as well...I'm still pretty new myself. Most importantly, keep at it and you'll get the hang of it.

Oh and welcome to SRP!

Cheers,

Casey

Well considering that you got the pre-honed razor option and you used the razor prior to stropping, I don't think that it is your stropping technique. Perhaps you are not getting the appropriate angle when shaving? I found this to be the biggest learning curve for me when I first started. I suggest that you keep at it and perhaps focus on your shaving technique.

Practice, practice, practice. If needs be, just shave your cheeks or other "easier" spots. It gets better as you learn to wield the blade.

Jordan

Yet another example of why I believe the "shave ready" concept is flawed. Also an example of how stropping is still so under-rated.

I think that the box instructions "no need to strop" were unintentionally misleading. Obviously this razor was pre-honed by a "honemeister" but had it been properly stropped, just before the shave, it wouldn't have tugged "almost every single hair out."

Yes, I agree that your shaving technique, and even your prep, probably played a role in your less than stellar first time with a straight razor. That will improve with practice.

Work on your stropping, as well as your technique, and your shaves will become much better.


Scott

Don't worry about it. I think we all had terrible first shaves. Myself, I managed to get all the hair off my face so I didn't have to clean up with another razor but I did get a rather bad case of what I'd call leather face. :P

My skin was sore, red in places and if anything touched it, it felt like whatever was touching it was on fire. It was pretty terrible. I was, however, heartened, I don't think I cut myself at all. (The nicks started coming later)

Now I get nice, close, comfortable shaves. What do I do different? I don't know. I feel like I do more or less the same stuff. After two or three shaves, you'll learn what works for you. Oh, also, I find it helps to Hanging Hair Test the blade after every stropping. If it won't pass the HHT with flying colours (for me, that means holding the hair well back from the blade and the end of the hair just sort of suddenly disappearing when the hair touches the razor) strop some more.

Oh, and don't worry about it. Not only will you get better quickly, but the whole ordeal is really much safer than it seems at the start (just be careful).

Have fun. :)

Thanks for the tips. I was wondering if anyone here as any advice on making lather. I use the Colonel Conk soap they gave me, but I've only shaved 3 times and the bar is almost used. All the guides I have seen for lather are using creams, not bars of soap. My method is the following. I fill up my mug with warm water and put the brush in there. Then I go for a shower. I come out and pour the water out of the cup. Then I put the soap in there and shake the excess water out of the brush. After that I stir the soap around with the brush till theres some lather on it and apply to face. Anyone have any better techniques or ideas?

Not to discourage you, but you're going to get a few not-so-good shaves, and that's ok.
The goal initialy is to get used to the blade, in different parts of your face, without major injuries. Moving the blade without any pressure, stretching the skin and trying to maintain the blade at 30 degree angle.
Don't worry about the shave, they'll come as your technique improves.
Also you should try both hands, again, try the cheeks first and go from there slowly.
Good luck :tu

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Originally Posted by kca

Also, from my experience, I think your face has to get conditioned to being shaved with a straight.

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I'm a new guy also I have the same input.
My first few shaves didn't go so well and I chalk alot of that up to my face not being used to it.
I'm still not very good...but I'm trying.
I'm stubborn like you and I will get the hang of it!!!!
Don't give up and WELCOME to SRP!

Another newcomer here. I'm only a few weeks into this, and travel almost constantly so i haven't been able to try straight razor shaving everyday (i may eventually put together a convenient setup to take on the road with me but so far i only use my straight razor at home). My first few tries were nothing to write home about, but at least i had taken the major step of making that first slice down my face with something that is otherwise portrayed as a murder weapon in pop culture. Anyway I had the same problems you mention plus a few, but yesterday i finally got a good shave, and didn't have to use a disposable to get difficult areas. What i did was to let my stubble grow for several days, i think about 5. I realize some of you gentlemen must be clean shaven every work day, but this wasn't a problem this past week for me. Anyway, letting my skin go a few days without being scraped with a razor made a big difference, and i had almost no irritation after my shave. This was a good feeling for me, and i felt the occasion deserved a Guinness :o . Practice played a part i'm sure, as angle and technique have been slowly improving, but i think letting your skin rest a few days might be a good way to sort of 'reset' it for a different shaving method. Just an idea, good luck all!

I've been at this straight thing for about a week and the learning curve has been substantial. Not impossible, it just takes some thinking and experimenting to get things right.

My first shave wasn't great. It wasn't bad either, it just wasn't one of those shaves that made me think "Damn that was a good shave."

Second and third shaves were better in terms of hair removal, but my face felt a bit rough after.

Then I figured out a few tricks:

1) Don't be shy with the lather. I have no problems re-lathering an area and going back over it. Doing this without lathering just hurts.

2) I played around a bit with how I held the razor. Gave me way more control.

3) Used a lighter touch than I thought I should be using. I tend to stand a little too close to the razor anyway so this helped. Lets the cutting edge do it's work.

4) Mange the edge. I've taken to starting out where my beard is toughest and the work is most delicate: around my mouth. This way, I'm starting with a sharper edge. Once this is done, I take a quick pass on my cheek to see whether I need to re-strop or not.

And finally, I've found that I get more confident each time I take the implement in hand. It's been said elsewhere but I'll say it again. It's like any other potentially dangerous implement (including a woman): it must be approached with confidence and respect. Do otherwise at your own peril.

I actually got a few(3) str8, but to have a point of reference I had one honed by Lynn and use it as my first str8 razor shave - it was awful!!! I stropped it after a day and use to shave just my cheeks only for my second shave, it was a bit better. Stropped it again after 48 hours and my third shave was ok. I also got a Boker off e-bay, that my wife restored for me, and it shaves ok too, but after lots of stropping, I managed to hone it myself :-)
So far all of my str8 shaves are not close or anything to brag about. I still get a better shave with shavette or DE, and I understood honed by professional will not really shorten the learning curve. When I do not have time I just do first 1-2 passes with str8 and one with DE and set full str8 shave for one of the weekend nights when I can really concentrate. I still happy to take a blade out of shavette and practice just how to move it around my face, that was a great help to stop getting nicks, of course that will not teach you angle of a real str8
Also after shaving with a real str8 it became much easier to shave with a DE somehow, I use to give myself a razor burn once in while with it, now it just does not happen anymore, like it moved to str8 razor territory. My shavette shaves are easier too, go figure.