Thread: Alive but...very badly burnt.

Hi there, my name is Kanah and I've been lurking here for awhile. I recently purchased a Dovo 6/8 with imitation tortoise shell scales from Straight Razor Designs. For my first shave I did not have all the suggested amenities, my brush and shave soap are still in the mail and should be here within a week, so I had to use some canned goop.
The shave was ok but could have been much better, I lathered up right out of the shower and tried to shave, there was some light tugging in some places and a lot of razor burn which I attributed to bad technique(harder than it looks). Today I stropped the blade about 60-70 times on my Illinois 206 then I heated up a wet towel in the microwave and wrapped my face before shaving and it was much worse I couldn't even finish the shave.
So is this all because of my lack of appropriate shave prep, or is my stropping bad(light pressure, tight strop, and I think the blade is even), or is it all lack of experience?

Also I'd like to express my appretiation to Don and Lynn for their incredible service

You're off to a great start with a pre-sharpened Dove from SRD, for sure. You at least know your razor is up to the task.

You'll see this said a bunch of times around here, but if you're not getting a closer, more comfortable shave with a straight razor than any other form of shaving, you're not doing something right. It usually takes a month at least, and more often a couple months to get it down to where it's as comfortable as your old way of shaving, then another month where the "wow, this is *awesome*" effect takes over, cause you've never had a better shave.

You've probably heard these tid bits repeated a bunch, but they really do help....

Concentrate on using the lowest shaving angle that still results in stubble removal. The lower the angle, the less razor burn.

Use as little pressure (razor against skin) as possible. I personally think this is the number one problem most newbs have. Too much pressure will *really* irritate your skin and cause weepers. Let the blade do the work with NO PRESSURE!!

Pull the skin tight where you're going to shave. This will reduce surface friction even more, expose more of the hair shaft, and give you a closer, more comfortable shave. It also makes problem areas easier to deal with, like the jaw line. Pull up on your cheek, and move that jaw line skin up on to your cheek to make it easier to shave.

There's also a few really good shaving videos under the General/Videos section that show some great technique and blade angles. My personally favorites are Xmans Single Handed technique cause I can't use my left hand at all to shave.

Welcome, man, and don't give up! It really is rewarding to get your first baby butt smooth shave from a straight. Fun, too.

Edit: If you're going to be shaving every day right off the bat, you'll want a way to get your face healed up quickly. Alum block (stings like hell when you first use it) is *great* at sealing off weepers, reducing redness, preventing shaving bumps, and putting the fire out on razor burn. Witch hazel will help, too. If you're really having problems, a hydrocortisone cream (like Cortaid) is *extremely* effective, but make sure you follow the directions on the tube: don't use it for more than 7 days as it is a steroid and can cause problems.

Stick with it, man, and let us know if there's anything we can do to help.

Wow, thank you, that is a pretty good video. Something that isn't often discussed on the forum(that I've seen anyway) is the sound of shaving(most videos have a soundtrack), on my first swipe I heard what sounded like thumbing the bristles on a shoe brush and it kinda threw me off, wish I'd seen that video before hand.
Also xman started with XTG which seems a bit intense for me

My guess would be too much angle. Try holding the razor flatter against your face. When you use less angle (flatter against the skin) you use less pressure against the skin. It's automatic, you can help but use less pressure.

Hi

I have been trying now for 9 months and made all the mistakes etc that you are probably making now. This site contains everything there is to know about straight shaving and a little bit more. This straight shaving is addictive and that can be seen by the amount of technical research some of these guys do..... I thought I had it bad but they are off the scale

Stick with it, I now get nice shaves and really enjoy the experience. Remember, when you do crack this, you are putting yourself into that 0.000001% of the male population who can shave with a straight and get a good shave, loads of guys want to do it, but they never will. I regularly get my razor out in a gym and shave in the mirror, I see guys looking on wishing they could do it. Some of these are top execs on mega bucks in the City, but they cant shave with a straight and they know it............ I know its bad but that gives me a warm feeling inside !

Keep trying, you owe it to yourself to crack it, and once learnt you are up there with the rest and you have achieved what others couldnt.

Kind regards

London

First, a heart welcome to SRP! Lots of great people here who are more than willing to give you their thoughts.

Hey man, don't get discouraged. Very few of us are born with the skills to shave with a straight razor. Those skills are learned over time. Start slow and shave only one part of your face, and WTG. As you get more comfortable with the blade in your hand and against your skin you can add other areas of your face, and XG and AGT is you so desire. Don't worry about getting that coveted BBS for awhile yet. Learn how to shave with that beautiful razor, then those BBS shaves will come.

Since you said that your second shave was way worse after stropping,I'm reading a possible problem with your stropping technique.You've got most of it right,tight strop,light strokes,razor flat,but are you rolling the razor over on the SPINE at the end of each stroke?During stropping(or honing when you get there)Never,ever,lift up the spine either during or at the end of the stroke.If you did your stropping that way you probably dulled your edge.

It could be stropping problems for sure... but that canned stuff is worthless. You are better off taking a bar of soap and using your hands to make a really stiff lather like that.

I had a couple of bad straight razor shaves at first, my face felt like it was giving off heat like a radiator for hours! Skipping a day's shave lets your face recover, or shave gently using your old method.

You soon develop a lighter touch, it gets better quickly. Don't aim for a perfect shave at first, especially under the chin and at other tricky places. Limit how many times you go over any one area in total during the shave, just accept any stubble that remains.

Over time the shave gets closer and more comfortable as your skill and knowledge goes up.

Were you careful cleaning and drying the blade? You need to avoid rubbing the blade edge. You can wipe the main body of the blade normally, but the actual edge you should just use a light stropping motion on the cloth/towel (or a little stropping on canvas for the final drying.) I don't know how fragile that blade edge really is but it's best not to take any chance of damaging it.

My face was sore for the first few shaves but it just took some time to get used to the new feeling. Most faces are rather sensitive and anything new can cause irritation. Lynn suggests doing just your sideburns at first and then slowly adding more parts of your face, so if your sideburns are not razor burnt do those and finish your face with your old razor until your shave angle gets better then move on to the checks then neck and so on just give it time your face will adjust.