Newbie Myths and Truisms Debunked

A dozen friends of mine and myself had a wonderful competition for March. Maybe you heard of it: Mustache March. As a reward for myself and the two other friends that completed it, i wanted to get everyone Straight Razors. That was before i knew how much they were. Unfortunately, the concept of shaving with a straight stuck with me. Within a couple weeks i found myself with a razor, strop, brush and soap. Now I'm addicted.

Shaving with a Straight is Hard.
Absolutely False. I watched a couple videos online, read through the FAQs and Newbie forum and had a great shave in less than an hour. Minimal blood and a feeling of accomplishment followed.

The First Shave is the Worst
Absolutely Really Very Super False. Barely bled on that first shave. I'm guessing it was because of the fear. On the second shave, i'm pretty sure i found every artery in my face. The third, not only was I bleeding but my skin got very angry. It was before my skin got used to that type of shave and after i started getting too comfortable with the motion. This was also my first Triple Pass Shave. From there on the shaves only got better

Shaving with a Straight will actually Result in LESS Nicks.
Pretty False. I've shaved with a Mach 3 for the last six or seven years with short periods of going to electric. I barely ever ended up with blood on my face. Even with my current proficiency with a straight (which is by no means at the pro level (i wouldn't shave without a mirror as i've heard is a good test)) i still end up with a cut or two about 2/3rds of the shaves. Nothing horrible, but i don't agree that you cut yourself less.

A Straight Shave is the Closest You'll Ever Have
True. It's amazing. The great shave i had, i thought i hadn't washed all the soap off my face because it was so smooth. I now shave at night (as i can't imagine getting up any earlier and still making it to work) and my face is still smoother in the morning than if i had shaved with my Mach3 that morning. Still have a very respectable looking face when i go out in the evening. Try that with a safety razor. Really, it's amazing.

I Want to Shave with a Straight to Save Money
False (not likely) When i started i justified the expense with the fact that i would never have to buy cartridges again. Well, then i started adding up the costs of the razors, strops, sharpening, brushes, soaps and more.... I'm sure that it eventually breaks even but i don't expect it to happen before my midlife crisis. That being said, part of this is due to the fact that i really like buying straights and expanding my collection (four now after two months). I've stopped buying for a bit because i have two great shavers.. but who knows how long it will last.

A Soap is a Soap
False. I started with one of the name brand soaps on a popular shaving website. It was okay. Then I got a few of Mama Bear's Soaps. I'm never going back.. Amazing lather, super slick and your skin feels great after using it. Don't buy a soap because it is a buck or two cheaper. Buy Mama Bears. Seriously... I'm not into a lot of they perfumy stuff or "pampering" myself, but there really is no other way to go.

You can get everything you Need at Walgreens
False. So far the only things i've been able to find at various Rite Aids, Walgreens, CVSs in the NY/NJ area are aftershaves and one of them had a cake of soap. Just buy the stuff on line and deal with the shipping.

All you need is a Blade and a Belt
Sorry, False. If you really plan on shaving for more than a couple times before throwing your blade away with disgust (and blood) you need to get all the gear recommended in these FAQs. There is no point in straight shaving if you aren't willing to do it right. While we're on the topic, i don't think this means you need the best/most expensive stuff. I have boar bristle brush that I absolutely love. I got an less expensive Illinois strop rather than the one you'll see recommended all over this site. I'm sure it's great, but trust me, you'll cut the heck out of that first strop. Especially when you start thinking you know what you are doing. That's when you start putting some nice gashes in it. Wait until your second strop before you outlay the cash on the good one.

Aftershave is unnecessary
False I thought this was something old people used in lieu of cologne. Or something that was unnecessary if you don't wear cologne. Buy it. It really helps your skin recover and after the *little* burn, feels great. Trust me, i didn't think i wanted to use it, but it's necessary.

Cutting Yourself Hurts
False. You barely feel it. You realized it when it happens, curse to yourself and watch the blood start flowing. It doesn't hurt. Styptic Pencils hurt. They hurt more than giving birth (i imagine). While teaching my friend to shave, he refused to ever do it again after using the styptic pencil. That being said, they do a great job of stopping the blood and stopping your skin from getting angry.

You need to buy an new blade/dovo/expensive blade.
My favorite shavers are a 13/16ths Dubl Duck I got on ebay for $24 and my first blade, a 5/8ths Thessen with broken scales that i got for $22. As soon as I got them i sharpened them on a Norton Waterstone and they were almost instantly amazing. Since then i've gotten a couple more blades, one of which is a Vintage Koken that is absolutely beautiful. It came shave ready and killed the hanging hair test. Still haven't been able to get a good shave out of it. My ugly-arse Dubl Duck and the Thessen (also ugly, quite a bit of pitting and i promise you cannot see your reflection in it) shave amazing everytime. Even when they fail the Hanging hair test.

Sharpening is Hard
It's not. Buy a nice stone (the Norton has been good to me (make sure to Lap it! i had no idea they weren't flat). Over a period of a couple weeks, sharpening every few days, I got the hang of it, and now can do a blade pretty easily and more importantly, consistently.

There are more things but this is already getting long. So... if you have any opinions on my debunking, let me know.. if there are other ones that i missed (or became too sleepy to add, add 'em.

Thanks everyone for being a great community. You guys are the reason I am able to shave and enjoy it.

that's a pretty good rundown of how it is :tu

This needs to be put somewhere so that newbies can get the straight info on razors. Nothing like hearing it from one of your own. Good job!:tu

I agree with everything except walgreens. Mine sells VDH pink, the lousy but capable VDH brush, and Aqua velva. There are worse setups in the world. Of course, I tossed out my VDH brush and very rarely use the soap, but it's a legit combo.

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Originally Posted by anaxolotl

Cutting Yourself Hurts
False. You barely feel it. You realized it when it happens, curse to yourself and watch the blood start flowing. It doesn't hurt. Styptic Pencils hurt. They hurt more than giving birth (i imagine). While teaching my friend to shave, he refused to ever do it again after using the styptic pencil. That being said, they do a great job of stopping the blood and stopping your skin from getting angry.

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:roflmao I agree with the whole post more or less but i really like this section.

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Originally Posted by anaxolotl

It doesn't hurt. Styptic Pencils hurt. They hurt more than giving birth (i imagine).

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I realize your intent was humor with this one, but I'll save you a bunch of sorrow if you have a spouse who gives birth naturally and try using that comparison on her.:nono:;) And, if you've ever/will ever be in delivery with a woman giving birth you'll quickly realize you'd probably rather EAT a case of styptics rather than take her place!

Welcome and thanks for posting this info for new people. You'll have fun here.

Chris L

I want to try some of the Mama Bears soaps so bad, but I am too cheap to pay $5.50 shipping for a $6 bar of soap. I just can't do it. :cry:

so order more than one bar :)

Well said. I think a lot of people start out thinking it's going to be soooo hard that they make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Use common sense and patience and you can get to a level of self-sufficiency and great shaves pretty easily.

Even with my current proficiency with a straight (which is by no means at the pro level (i wouldn't shave without a mirror as i've heard is a good test)) i still end up with a cut or two about 2/3rds of the shaves. Nothing horrible, but i don't agree that you cut yourself less.


I'll have to disagree with this one. You just need more time. I can't even remember the last time I knicked myself but it must have been some months ago. Considering that I've been using the straight about a year that's not too bad. I suspect that in a while you'll change this to "about 1/3rd" then to "occassionally" then to "rarely" and then to "huh? what nicks". :rolleyes:

Otherwise, the only thing I would change is to add Colleen to Mama Bear for soaps. I use the products of both these fine ladies. Plus they make nice gifts to those who are ready to enter the world of quality wet shaving.

Rich

Starting with a straight is a YMMV type of thing. Some guys really take to it really well from the beginning and those guys can't understand why many do struggle. Just remember that for every guy who picks up a straight for the first time and gets a perfect shave there is a guy who struggles for a year and never gets it and quits. However for most of us it just doesn't happen that way and it really does take some time to master. I also think the first shave is the most difficult. The problem is after we struggle through a few first shaves we goet cocky and thats when we do the most damage or at least that's what I found.

The only thing I disagree with is that "sharpening" as you say it, is easy.

Uh-uh. For most of us it isn't.

Honing is actually pretty difficult, and most people cannot get it going the way you describe it.


I'm not stupid, and I'm pretty good with tools, and I have been sharpening things for years.

I could not consistently get a good sharp razor until I had been honing for at least 4 months, and I tried many, many different stones, and the Norton never worked for me.

Don't know why there is such wide variation in experience with this, but there is. Part of it may be some of us have steadier hands than others, maybe some of us have tougher skin and finer beards, who knows.

Maybe some people just get lucky and get Ebite razors that aren't warped and are pretty close to shave ready when they arrive (I have gotten a few this way).

Honing is not for everyone, and newbies are better off NOT honing their own razors until they learn to shave.

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A Straight Shave is the Closest You'll Ever Have
True. It's amazing. The great shave i had, i thought i hadn't washed all the soap off my face because it was so smooth. I now shave at night (as i can't imagine getting up any earlier and still making it to work) and my face is still smoother in the morning than if i had shaved with my Mach3 that morning. Still have a very respectable looking face when i go out in the evening. Try that with a safety razor. Really, it's amazing.

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I always have an issue with this one.

A straight shave is probably the most enjoyable shave you'll ever have, but I have not found it to be closer than a good DE shave.

Better and closer than an M3? Probably so.

Closer than my Merkur Futur loaded with a Feather? Not gonna happen.:nono:

All the reasons given for why a straight shave is closer (usually referencing skin stretching, etc, can also be applied to your DE shave to get awesome results. I was travelling over the weekend, and so I packed up the Futur for hotel-room shaving. Had a fantastic 11p.m. 3 pass shave on 36 hour whiskers that was smooth as butter all through the folllowing day.

Of course it was back to the straight this morning, which was another excellent shave, but certainly not any closer (both give me BBS goodness).

I think that a good DE shave is a bit closer and gets into spots i cant even touch with my straight, i have a thin face and its hard to get in the hollow and whatnot. A DE is not as fun tho...and straights look cooler:p

I still like Williams cakes from Walgreens. Must be the smell of the stuff.

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A straight shave is probably the most enjoyable shave you'll ever have, but I have not found it to be closer than a good DE shave.

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I have to agree. I recently spent some time away from home, staying in hotels and I took my Futur with me and I got consistently BBS shaves with it. It is an excellent shave. However, it just isn't fun like a straight is.

"I Want to Shave with a Straight to Save Money
False (not likely) When i started i justified the expense with the fact that i would never have to buy cartridges again. Well, then i started adding up the costs of the razors, strops, sharpening, brushes, soaps and more.... I'm sure that it eventually breaks even but i don't expect it to happen before my midlife crisis. That being said, part of this is due to the fact that i really like buying straights and expanding my collection (four now after two months). I've stopped buying for a bit because i have two great shavers.. but who knows how long it will last."

I find that you just have to avoid confusing "want" with "need." Through judicious search and purchase methods, I found a decent Boker for $9 and a similar Wade and Butcher for $10. I added a 12k Guangxi. True, I already had 4000 and 8000 stones and a strop, but the soaps and stuff are things you'd buy anyway.

And I just looked at Walgreen's, and the latest generation Gillette cartridges are going for $3.50 apiece. Doesn't take long to cost that out.

j