I actually had my first shave about a month ago, and I've been meaning to post this, but I've been too lazy. Better late than never.
I'm very excited and proud to announce I just had my first shave with not only a straight, but also traditional wet shaving.
I actually got the straight about 2-3 months ago so it's been pitiful that I haven't don it yet, but I only just got a brush and soaps/creams, etc and didn't want to use my straight until I could also wet shave.
The long story short for those with a short attention span, it was GREAT! Probably the best shave I've ever had in terms of quality and definitely the best shave I've ever had as far as fun goes. The brush wiping across my face a warm, creamy, nice smelling lather was great.
Now I'll give the detailed account of my first shave.
So the reason I haven't shaved yet, even though I've been keen and had the straight for a while, was three things.
One I've been away a little bit lately.
Two I didn't have a shaving brush and creams and soap.
And three which is probably the biggest factor, what because I was hesitant about blunting the blade when stropping. It was really lack of confidence in stropping which I knew I'd have to do that held me back. Onimaru did such a great job getting my blade Shave Ready I was reluctant to ruin his good job (BTW thanks for honing it for me, and helping me through PM's!). Finally, in a moment of determination I realized I'm going to have to do it any, and tackle it straight on. I managed to strop the razor, and have it remain Shave Ready, it still passed all the sharpness tests after stropping.
Although I am pretty sure I did blunt it a bit compared to the condition Onimaru sent it back to me in.
With my blade ready I went onto shaving.
When I got back from work I saw the packages of creams and soap had arrived (I decided to sample a few different offerings). That excitement of finally being completely ready to is what gave me the determination to finally try stropping my blade on finally shave.
I hadn't shaved in three weeks, hoping that too would motivate me, and also give me something decent to shave (also I don't have much facial hair, it's still filling out being a young looking 19 year old. I mean I need to shave, but I can't grow a beard, it's dirty looking and not very thick)
Before hopping in the shower to get clean and warm my face up, I went on the internet and gave myself a refresher coarse on all the points to keep in mind while shaving.
Whipping up the lather with my beautiful Shavemac silvertip brush (I decided to splurge), it only took about a minute to be what I judged as ready. Let me tell you, as someone who'd never used a brush or self made lather before it felt so nice. The warm, creamy and aromatic lather was refreshing and the brush was so soft and nice, and spread in on thick and smooth. That description may have be overdramatic, but it is far nicer than a pressurized can into the hand, and my excitement was making everything heightened, and focused on.
I lathered my face in sections, because I knew I was going to take a long time and I didn't want it to dry out on my face.
I was then ready to actual shave. Not knowing what to expect I was a bit nervous. I started on my sideburns/my cheeks as it's the recommended place to start and the easiest. I gently place the razor a few times and removed it, due to both nerves and replaying the advice given on this site, just making sure I kinda knew what I was doing. (In my head I was saying 'blade angle, about thirty degrees. Care but confident and definite strokes, etc').
How to describe my first stroke? The hair just came off, I slowly move the blade down, and could feel is on my cheek, but the hair just came off slow smoothly. I got the bottom of my side burn, looked at the blade and it had a deposit of my shaving cream, and hair. Then looking at my cheek the hair was gone.
The razor felt kind of sticky. Not sticky like glue, or sticky like it didn't smoothly glide across my face, but sticky like it was really sharp. I don't know how to describe that feeling when something is really sharp, a weird kind of sticky/warm is how I'd best describe it. I don't know if anyone gets what I'm describing, but oh well.
Having finished a WTG pass on both cheeks and being cut free, I decided to just keep going.
I then did my lips and chin, which was I tackled surprisingly well. I didn't find my chin too hard, and my lip was the same.
Although this was where I got my first and only nick; which wasn't due to actually shaving, but I was moving the blade around to try and get the best angle for my lip, and I careless flipped the blade and hit my lip on the way around. By the time I wiped the blood away you couldn't even see anything, unless looking really close. I almost glad it happened and wasn't serious because it really taught me that not only must of be careful when the blade is on my face but also when moving it around.
I did my neck last which was the hardest past, the direction of my hairs change on my neck in patches, so it was hard to get the blade shaving with the grain all the time. Also my neck is the most sensitive part when shaving. I did it but not very well. Still better than my regular shave though.
Having finished and being pretty much incident free I though, 'what the hell' and kept going. Re-lathered part of my face, and repeated the process, but this time across the grain. Taking care, I finished in about 15 minutes.
Being incident free going across the gain I decided to keep going and do an Against the Grain pass.
Overall I spent about an hour shaving, taking my time, having a break or two, and most of all enjoying it, relishing the experience.
Advice to others, just do it. It's not as hard as you might think. Just take care, and listen to the advice of others on the forum, it works.
One area where I had an advantage over others I think is that I'm ambidextrous. When I was younger, I'd never cross the midline on a page, I'd just switch hands. This really can in handy, I did one half of my face with one hand, and the other half with the other hand. Tricky areas I could decide with hand worked best. It really helped being equally confident with both hands.
Anyway that's my first shave story. Thanks for reading. I'm definitely a convert, and will spread the habit where I can.
p.s. Since writing this I've had 3 shaves, and my shaving technique has been getting better, but my stropping technique still isn't prefect and the blade has been getting blunter each time. Oh well practice makes perfect. I got a second blade to practice on, and learn to hone with.
p.p.s. I'd just like to say in a separate paragraph, thank-you to everyone on this forum, you have patiently answered my many questions, and the hundreds of other questions I had, you'd already kindly and patiently answered for other newbies, and I could read those helpful threads. I was quite surprised at how patient, and friendly everyone is here. Not to get too soppy, but it's refreshing considering, most of us hear are strangers, scattered around the world just joined by a common interest. It was a pleasant surprise considering when you look elsewhere on the internet it's the opposite, and shows the worst society has to offer.
Anyway I'll finish off, with another thank-you, and I hope I can help other newbies in turn.
