Thread: Another newbie nervious as heck!

Originally Posted by jmueller8

I'm getting a professional shave in the morning to get the feel of a great shave and to take some notes! Good idea or bad?

Hell, why not!

Originally Posted by jmueller8

I've read that the blade needs 24 hours to rest between shaves

Nonsense. How many times a day were you thinking of shaving anyway?

Originally Posted by jmueller8

there's really no set number of strokes with the strop.

60 strokes on the strop is optimal.

Get on 'er!

X

Had my "professional" shave this morning and my face is still stinging. Colorado law banned the use of honed razors a few years back due to bacterial and viral disease transmission. He had to use a straight razor with a disposable blade and it was neither close nor comfortable; however, I did learn a ton!

He said that my Dovo will be 100 times better than his and he gave some excellent advice: the tighter the skin the closer the shave, showed me his finger position while shaving and let me get a feel for the razor without the blade. My first stroke was about half an inch into my ear and completely parallel to my face. In my defense: the mirror was to far to see correctly and I was doing it by feel.

The shave sucked but the lesson was invaluable! I would have rather taken the dude to lunch and just listened; but, what's done is done!

As of today, this forum has 8422 members and counting. What makes you think that you are going to be the first casualty? ;-) You will be fine, there is plenty of help here. In any case, I just wanted to tell you that bans on straight razors are not restricted to CO. Entire countries have similar laws (Spain once straight razor producers has a similar law). The "learning" would probably be similar anyway, the feel, however, may not.

Al raz.

First welcome to SRP!
You will do fine. If you don't have it, I would suggest that you get Lynn Abram's DVD on shaving. It is well worth the money.
Take your time. Don't push doing everything perfectly all at once.
Most importantly, if things don't go perfectly, don't despair. You will get the hang of the techniques required.

If I begin to show symptoms of RAD I'm sure she'll rectify it with her foot

welcome to srp. foot in rear =no r.a.d thats gonna be a classic

Hi and welcome!
This is a fun place and you have already received alot of great information. I started with a straight razor about 2 months ago. Still a tiny bit spooky specially when I'm doing the neck and I envision slicing into veins and blood spurting all over and no one else here to dial 911 and then I turn into a Zombie and attack the neighbors. BUT, that hasn't happened yet so I'm enjoying the shave.
The important part to me was learning a comfortable grip on the razor, where I felt like I was in control, and also finding the correct angle of the blade to face, so that I was actually cutting my whiskers and not just slipping over them. With the blade against your face tilt the back away from the skin about 1-2 blade widths. You hear the blade cutting whiskers.
I hope I made sense. Any way, get a good after shave lotion and balm or facial moisturizer to finish off with and you will feel great!
Dannyr

Originally Posted by jmueller8

Well; it's more than obvious the blades are much stronger than I thought! I was given the impression that the edge was very fine and brittle. I have also focused too much attention on the safety issues. Looks like I just have to dive right in and get the feel for it.

My whole perception of the blade, itself, has changed significantly and I finally understand why people collect them; they are just magnificent in every way!

Well, yeah, the blades are pretty hard steel so normal use won't hurt them. Just be careful closing the razor so that you don't flex the scales. The edge will suffer damage even with a 'touch' against most hard surfaces..

Welcome & enjoy.

Originally Posted by jszabo

If I begin to show symptoms of RAD I'm sure she'll rectify it with her foot

welcome to srp. foot in rear =no r.a.d thats gonna be a classic

Very few people get my references and word play! Thank you for catching that!

Well everything has arrived today with the exception of the strop oil! I'd love to give it a go tonight; however, experience has taught me to be patient when it comes to the right tools. So; do I need to order some oil for my strop and wait for it to arrive, is there an alternative to the strop oil that I could use, or could I just apply the oil when I get it next week?

You can use the strop without putting anything on it. It is optional to add yellow paste, which is not abrasive paste at all, just a grease that increases drag as you strop on the leather. There are alternatives to using yellow grease on the leather for conditioning it and increasing drag, you can search the forums for info.

Just don't add anything abrasive to the leather side.

Originally Posted by jszabo

If I begin to show symptoms of RAD I'm sure she'll rectify it with her foot

welcome to srp. foot in rear =no r.a.d thats gonna be a classic

Nothing like a foot in the rear to make you feel anally repentive!