Thread: First shave went well; didn't cut my jugular anyways

Well I arrived at my Apartment for school and was ecstatic to see 2 boxes, and 2 envelopes waiting. Two razors, and all the other bells and whistles.

I got right into it. Lathered up. (After a few failures of turning the cream into slush)
Went to strop the blade; got that drag sound going about half the time. So I knew I wasn't doing a great job. Relathered; and blade to face. Pulled real bad; so I was over it and decided I would take a nap after my 10 hour drive.

Showered, lathered and stropped; this time with more of that satisfying drag sound. Blade to face again and it still pulled; but not to the same degree. After the shave I checked my strop(brand new) and its not exactly flat, tested with a flash card edge. Anyways there is a concave in the middle. I know there are ways to break in a strop and I need to go research those; and any suggestions would be appreciated, especially for my particular strop; here's the one I bought.
Razor Strops, Hones, and Accessories
Back to the shave.
Anyways I was a bit timid to start; that was a sharp blade against my face after all for the second time. It flowed over my face much easier. Cheeks were super easy. I have a whorl at the back of my jaw on one side; and I felt I did decent there. Had to hit it at a few angles. I actually found myself moving my hand around to see if i could find a comfortable way to hit the angle.
My chin was a different story; I couldn't get the left side; opposite my dominant hand. I plan on making this an ambidextrous practice eventually; seems like the way to get the best shave.
My neck didn't get as close as my cheeks; but I was a bit more timid there being my neck and my jugular right under the skin. Then the 'stache I found easy enough, and the only spot that I drew blood. It was reminiscent of a pin prick from the point of my square blade. Alum bloacked that and ahhh what a great sting I might cut myself on purpose for that. jk
I found that finding the angles for the most part was easy; in fact I felt incredibly competent about the blades angle and contorting my hand to make the angle. I've always had great hand eye coordination and the mirror didn't screw with me to much.

I had a good time figuring everything out; I couldn't resist going W/X/ATG; I had some baby butt cheeks on my cheeks for a few hours anyways.

Afterward i was kind of confused. HOW DO I DRY MY RAZOR!!! AHHHHH!!!!!! I ended up just pulling it across the towel around my waist from the shower; if I should do it another way scream at me in a post how. I don't live in a particularly humid area; and I was wondering if there was anything I should really do for my razor after I shave as far as drying or storing. Whether its periodical or everyday I could use some pointers.

One thing I can say to people going for their first shave is; look at the blade and know which way its facing before you look at the mirror, its much easier to figure out how to make the angle looking at your hand directly than looking in the mirror and moving your hands around

I guess in conclusion I believe my strop needs to be broken in; and hopefully that results in my stropping not being as bad as I thought it was; meaning a straighter edge and less pulling. I know I can get closer; and I know I'm going to stick with this. If I'm ever in a hurry and reach for a 5 blade cartridge; I am still going to lather up with some badger; because honestly badgers kick ass. I want to thank everybody that helped me get started and answered my questions. Hopefully eventually I'll be helping the new people.

I love stories like this! I too wipe the blade on my bath towel, just be careful as to how you wipe the blade, there is flesh beneath the towel!