Golly, is my face red.

Hello everyone,

Here goes my first post. My first straight razor came in the mail today and it felt just like Christmas. :yI just finished my first shave and man, I've got some serious razor burn. I nicked myself a little under the nose, but not too bad. Also, not the closest shave I've ever had, but I guess that will come with practice. Over all, it wasn't a bad experience and I can see how, over time, this can be a very enjoyable pastime.

I just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce myself. And I'm sure I'll be posting more in the future as I try to figure out all this shaving stuff. Though, I got Lynn's DVD to give me a headstart on it.

-Mike

Good Luck! Your 4th or 5th shave will be awesome, then you'll start with the RAD, BAD, and HAD.

Welcome to SRP, and congratulations on your first shave. Keep us posted on how are they coming,

I am a newbie, too. If you haven't already done so I highly recommend purchasing Lynn's CD. In it he recommends that you start by shaving just the area under your side burns until you get used to handling the razor. And just WTG until you are comfortable with manipulating the razor.

Dan

Gotta say one nick on the first shave is pretty good! I still get myself as I'm going for the corner of the mouth more often than not. (and the under the nose is one of the toughest spots to get too, so don't feel bad about it.)

Glad to hear you got Lynns DVD it's a great resource... months later I still go back to it. (but it doesn't help me with that corner of the mouth thing.)

Anyhow welcome! and don't feel shy about asking questions either in the forum or the chat. I've never met a friendlier helpfullier (is that a word?) group of folks than I've met here.

Sounds like you are off to a fabulous start!
Shaving your whole face this early is quite impressive.
Lighten up your pressure and watch your angle to minimize razor burn. Remember, you are doing progressive beard removal not trying to get it all in one pass.

Congrats again a a great starter shave and WELCOME to the forum!

The biggest problem I actually encountered was lather. I had bought a cheap boar hair brush and soap from Walgreens and was getting a rather thin lather. My cartridge razor actually worked better with the thin lather, but the straight wouldn't budge, it felt like pulling the hairs out individually and made a terrible noise scraping my face. When I tried the straight again with the can of gel I had, I got a wonderful shave, however the gel sticks to the blade and is hard to rinse between strokes. I suppose what I need is a quality soap and brush.

Welcome to SRP. Stay with it and you will be rewarded with not only a great shaving experience but also the acquaintence of some really friendly people here at SRP.