Thread: Finally, First Shave! A Close Call

Hi guys, I shaved with my Dovo Stainless Steel straight for the first time! It went alright, not sure if the stropping helped because it still didn't pass the hair test? When I did te first few passes it shaved pretty smoothly and no cuts. Then I went to the other side and it started to stop halfway down the pass and "jump". Almost like catching. I think maybe because my lather dried up? Then I guess since it was going pretty well, I tried the coup de maitre and had only one cut. But I found doing the left side difficult as I never switched hands. I ended up cutting myself and accidently nicked my upper lip as i lifted the blade up and wasn't paying attention. It really freaked me out and luckily wasn't deep. I guess I shouldn't have tried that until i become more experienced and hopefully i learn a lesson, to be more careful right!

Other than that I found the shave went alright, although it didn't cut close and smooth? I need to be more careful in the future otherwise I'm not sure if i will keep this up due to almost cutting my lip off!

Anyways thought I'd let you guys know and could offer me some help or encouragement! In the meantime I'll keep my finger's crossed!

Congrats on the first shave Keep at it. Strop carefully and let your technique develop. Be patient and you'll get there.

Jordan

Congratulations on your first shave!

If the lather dries up it surely could cause the razor to jump..and stop gliding acros your face.

Take it easy and stay focussed and you will be just fine.. the shaves will get better! Its not really rocketscience but you need to build up "muscle memory" shaving your face.

Good luck and dont forget to have a lot of fun shaving.

Maarten

Congrats on the first shave. It didn't pass the HHT but it cut the lip with no problem. You might want to read this advice from Lynn Abrams, SRP founder, on beginning straight razor shaving. Worked well for me.

Cool, Thanks for the advice! But I definitely need to keep at it and be careful and have fun. Is there anything you do to help concentrate from hitting unwanted parts, i'm very sloppy when it comes to shaving and tend to rush and not do it properly or "space out"! It's hard as the blade is long and you can easily hit places you don't want to shave!

In mountain biking the adage is look where you want to go...... don't look where you don't want to go. In baseball you keep your eye on the ball. In straight razor shaving I think keeping your eye on the blade, especially the point, and looking where you want to go are important. At least to me they are. IMO this is not something that can be successfully pursued without patience. YMMV.

Stainer,

I've had the blade jump on me and I've come to realize its really down to the muscle memory. The hands are not used to holding and moving the blade in the correct positions and angles. So if you are holding the blade at the wrong angle, your subconscious is not going to allow you to force that blade right in your skin so the brain tells the hand to not push the blade in to the skin and thus you get the skipping.

According to my opinion, of course.

Good Advice! Thanks

Sounds like a decent first shave overall. I'd say you should plan your next straight shaves when you aren't rushed. Pick a time when you are relaxed and have no where to go anytime soon and enjoy. If you need a quick shave and are in a hurry I'd suggest using another method.