Thread: My first two shaves with a straight razor

Hi,

I'm 2 shaves into the world of straight razor shaving a thought i'd share my tale.

I bought my razors (two double arrows) off ebay and a strop of KenRup, and spent the time for postage reading op on technique.

The razors arrived substantially less sharp than i was expecting. I tried the HHT, TNT and worked up the courage to put it to my thumb pad. Then, my little brother asked me how sharp they were. I answered hip by lightly running it along the palm of my hand, and cut myself.

I sent the razors to Jimbo to be honed while i waited for my strop to arrive. Both the razors and strop arrived on the same day. This was when i had my first shave.

The WTG pass went quite well except that at one point the blade didn't want to move so applied pressure (BAD IDEA), now i have a deepish cut on my lip that is still healing.
Then two other nicks when i decided to try XTG, this left me too afraid to attempt my neck.

The second shave went better. All went well except forone nick low on my neck, where i was only paying attention to half the blade (Also a bad idea). Then i figured i'd do a post shave stropping. After this, i was trying to put the razor in the scale with one hand while cleaning with the other (Another a bad idea) and dropped the razor with the blade exposed. At first i put out my foot to catch it, but pulled it away deciding a dull blade was better than a cut foot. The razor hit the ground and about half the edge broke off.

So, i'm two shaves in, i have 4 cuts on my face, and one less razor. I'm sure glad i bought a second.
But, despite all this, i'm looking forwards to my next shave.

What an interesting hobby

good decision on the foot - the cut ain't worth a double arrow. however i have some razors that i'd sacrifice a foot for, cells grow back, steel doesn't

Definitely don't shave commando!

Sorry about your razor....

If it makes you feel any better today was my first day too....
I went to wash off the shaving cream off my face after the 1st pass and just barely touched the sink faucet...

Now I have a small mark on the blade, and have to get it honed (but it wasn't really shave ready in the first place so I suspect)

I'm thinking it would be a good idea to buy a 2nd razor soon as a backup



Lesson learned... be extremely careful with the blade, never let it come close to anything but your face and make sure you have a firm grip on it. Hope I can follow that 100%

Sorry to hear that Robert. But, as Gugi said, better a broken DA than a chopped up foot.

My best advice is to take everything slowly and carefully. A lot of new guys start with easy parts of the face like the cheeks, and finish the rest with their usual razor.

Good luck.

James.

Rob, may I recommend a copy of Lynn's CD? It's worth its weight in gold. In it he recommends (and I can attest to it) that it's best to start with the area between the sideburns and jawline, and WTG only. Finish the remainder of your shave with what you were using before. Do this until you are comfortable with the angles and manipulation. As you get more confidence add other facial areas, and XG and ATG. No reason to hurry. Be patient. In no time you will know what is truly like to shave!!

I have been using straights for a little less than 3 months now and just starting to get that coveted BBS. Yes, I have had my share of nicks (and a few downright cuts) along the way. But I am finally arrinving there...

Disregarding all advice about only shaving selective parts of my face i did the whole thing again yesterday. Best shave of my life.

I did 2 runs (WTG and ATG) all over, with XTG on my cheeks and under my nose. This time no dramas. one tiny nick under my bottom lip. Where i did three runs it felt BBS.

That one shave justified the bad experiences from the previous 2.

Jimbo: i think i the worst thing about the broken razor is knowing that you put your effort into sharpening it and it only lasted 2 shaves.

As for Lynn's DVD, i'm thinking of putting in an order at classicshaving, so if i do i'll get it then.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the comments.

Sorry 'bout the break mate but it's happened to most of us. Don't scrap it, it may be useful.
I broke this one but I reground it into something that makes ATG passes I can't do with a normal size razor on my multi directional throat stubble.. Maybe there's a bright side

Originally Posted by RobJ

Disregarding all advice about only shaving selective parts of my face i did the whole thing again yesterday. Best shave of my life.

I did 2 runs (WTG and ATG) all over, with XTG on my cheeks and under my nose. This time no dramas. one tiny nick under my bottom lip. Where i did three runs it felt BBS.

That one shave justified the bad experiences from the previous 2.

Jimbo: i think i the worst thing about the broken razor is knowing that you put your effort into sharpening it and it only lasted 2 shaves.

As for Lynn's DVD, i'm thinking of putting in an order at classicshaving, so if i do i'll get it then.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the comments.

Good for you Robert - that is great.

Don't even give a second thought to the razor mate. These things happen.

James.

Great post, RobJ

I just did my second shave today. Surprisingly, it went worse than the first...it's really hard to put a band-aid on an ear.