Thread: Another newbie nervious as heck!

Originally Posted by jmueller8

LOL! Well one minor thing I had not been able to figure out (until now) is how the heck you all build your foam up so well! I was working at it so hard one day my wife had to ask if there would be anything left for her afterwards... thinking I was perhaps..... working on… my… stamina! All said and done; I was drenched in sweat with foam all over the bathroom whining because I just couldn’t get it to firm up… and now I know where my wife got that idea from!

Turns out you put the soap into the mug! That was another piece of information I could have used; however, what’s done is done and whenever my wife hears me building the foam she gets a little grin! Not a bad consequence I’d have to say!

Never thought of lathering as aerobics. Might try it

Seriously tho. There are lots of ways but the principle remains the same.
Hot wet brush - Shake most of the water out. Soap up the brush then slowly add a little water as you go.
Lots of videos around to learn from. Mantic59's on youtube comes to mind but there are heaps.

I've decided to continue shaving with the straight until my other one arrives; because I'm stubborn and I don't want to loose the feel for it. I'm getting better and stropping between the shave really helps out.

Woho! Just got my blade and stone! Time to fix my other blade, learn, and have fun! First shave with the "sharp" one oh man what a stark difference! I went with the 6/8" Dovo this time just to see the difference myself and I really love the extra weight, size, and feel of it!

The shave was so nice! My tuft didn't even perturb the blade. It's days like these that make me not feel like such a newb! Tomorrow I'll be back at the strop like the Special Olympian that I am!

Absolutely no disrespect to Special Olympians or people with disabilities either; my oldest son is a child with special needs!

Originally Posted by jmueller8

I've read that the blade needs 24 hours to rest between shaves and there's really no set number of strokes with the strop.

I don't know if this is true or not, but if it isn't please don't tell my wife. It's a good excuse to buy another razor.

Originally Posted by jmueller8

Stropping felt a bit better this morning. Onimaru55; great idea, I was putting too much into my wrist and keeping my fingers too tight.

Rrp150; the hot towel was a great idea and I think I will shave at night from not on.

Here's a question I'm almost too embarrassed to ask: does anyone ever strop in the middle of a shave? When I went to the barber he had to replace the blade twice because my beard is so dense. I shave the left side first and find that my blade is not nearly as sharp when I start the right side. Or is this another stropping issue in that I'm not getting the blade sharp enough?

good question, nothing embarrassing about it. some people with with very thick beards do strop while in the middle of the shave.how do you prep your beard? if you have thick hair i would try shaving right out of the shower so that your beard is good and soft and one thing i found that made my shaves a whole lot better was how i applied my lather. if you apply your lather like you are painting a wall it glues the hair flat on your face. try using a swirling motion so that your whiskers are held straight up by the lather, you will notice a big diference

Originally Posted by jszabo

good question, nothing embarrassing about it. some people with with very thick beards do strop while in the middle of the shave.how do you prep your beard? if you have thick hair i would try shaving right out of the shower so that your beard is good and soft and one thing i found that made my shaves a whole lot better was how i applied my lather. if you apply your lather like you are painting a wall it glues the hair flat on your face. try using a swirling motion so that your whiskers are held straight up by the lather, you will notice a big diference

I shave straight out of the shower. First I oil, then hot towel while I build my lather, then I lather swirling it all over, then hot towel, then re-lather, and shave. Yesterday I shaved with my newer blade and found it excellent. It's my stropping technique and it's still not a comfortable feeling.

I've just got to keep at it! Thanks Jszabo

Hey; am I the only one who cuts themselves while shaving? I mean; seriously, 2 nics is perfect for me and there's some here that have "never" cut themselves.... or so they say. It's not like you're uber-manly if you don't cut yourself.

Ok; I have no idea how I did it or did not do it, but, I did not even nic myself shaving last night. That's just weird! I'm thinking it's a once in a lifetime thing so I'm not too fussed about it. Stranger things have happened!

It can be pretty hard to nick yourself with a straight razor. They shave pretty smoothly. Then again, if you do cut yourself, its a really serious event.

Well, I must be doing something right; because this is my third shave and still no nics. It's weird; however, I must be getting used to the feel of the razor. Even stropping is becoming more familiar to me.

I'll never go back to the old way of shaving! The Dark Side of the Shave!

My 12 y/o begged me to use this smiley!

Originally Posted by jmueller8

I'll never go back to the old way of shaving! The Dark Side of the Shave!

My 12 y/o begged me to use this smiley!

When mine hits 12 he'll be begging me to stop.

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