Thread: Worst shave ever.

Thought that would get your attention. Used my straight razor today for the first time, and it's a beauty. Held it in my hand and really felt like I was about to do something special. Well I did something but it was not special, I tore into my face like a man with a DE shaver. I got a really decent shave very smooth, no nicks, no cuts. BUT I used the mindset of a DE shaver and my face paid the price. Ouch the sting it hurtez us.

So I have a new respect for the razor and the skill it takes to use it properly. I am going to shave only the flatter parts of my face for a while till I'm really sure I can move on. Guess that's why my Shavette shaves where a little irritating too. Live and learn, on the plus side I really loved holding and using the straight maybe that was part of the problem I did not want to put it down.

Jaydawg

Go ahead and enjoy shaving the whole face, just be sure to watch the angle of the blade and to look at your face in the mirror and break the contours down to smaller flat planes and shave accordingly.

Originally Posted by Jaydawg

Ouch the sting it hurtez us.

Try starting with the least amount of pressure you can possibly imagine using and when you're still cutting hairs, back off even more.

X

Thanks Xman good to know, you think you're using light pressure but obviously your not. It's like learning to shave all over again. I'm looking forward to tomorrows shave, no pressure back off. Got it.

I knew there just HAD to be a "worst shave" thread, I'm surprised there's not more people having a grizzle and a gripe (maybe it's just me after all), but anyways, here goes.
Technically, my first EVER straight razor (if you can even call it that) was the ubiquitous SCAM that is "G B Buckingham & Sons" (I believe the "F" in "Buckingham" is silent), anyway, soon after it arrived I realised I'd just forked over a couple of bills on a letter opener and bought myself a Dovo 5/8 stainless which has been serving me well ever since.
Or at least it HAD until the cheap plastic scales broke.
So, having ordered a replacement set of cheap plastic scales (of course I didn't find the cool wooden ones that Dovo actually MAKE until AFTER I'd placed my order), I was, yet again, back to shaving with my efficient, but nonetheless vile, cartridge razor.
Picking out dead bits of hair, skin and soap scum from it's inaccessible back reaches with a toothbrush had yet again become part of my daily routine.
Something HAD to be done.
Recalls I not only the sad and sorry offering from G B Buckingham luking (sorry lurking, was that a Freudean typo or what?) in the back of my bathroom cabinet, but also the equally sad and sorry "Bengal Imperial" (which would be a SUPERB blade were it not for the split right up the middle of the blade) that some filching swindler tried to peddle me on fleabay (I got my money back after I pointed out that it had arrived damaged and that there had been no such mention of any such damage in the advertisement, indeed, I suspect a spot of photoshopping or other neat camera work had been done to conceal the fact that the blade was split from the heel right up to 2/3rds of the way to the tip).
Hmmm.
SO, with three ACTUAL razors and NONE of them functional, I thought I could sort something out, shaving without scales is uncomfortable to say the very least, the balance is all wrong, and there seems a strong likelihood of damaging the razor's edge without it's protective "jacket" to keep it safe when reaching for soap or a towel or whatever.
The Bengal's scales would be a perfect fit, but then I'd have to order pins anyway, so why not just treat myself to a new set of scales?
Why not indeed?
you can see them here btw.
I quite like the look of them and they're sure to do at least equally good a job as the LAST set of plastic scales.
Anyway, I thought perhaps I could just use the top third of the Bengal that WASN'T flapping about in the breeze, sadly no, years of neglect meant that it would require a full re-hone to see serviceable state once again, I'm still considering trying to fix the split with some kind of glue, as yet an unfinished project.
In desperation I turned again to the Buckingham (which, surprisingly, actually DOES have quite a nice looking albeit overly chunky, heavy and unwieldy set of scales, apparently made out of some kind of animal horn.
THEY of course, wouldn't fit my Dovo, like everything ELSE about the razor, the scales are non-standard so of course they were too durn short to do the job, but, the question remained, "COULD IT BE SHAVED WITH?".
I did see a video of a guy trying to shave with one of these things a while back, let's just say "comfortable" WASN'T an adjective that sprang from his lips at any point.
Fortunately I used the crappy old strop that came with the razor in the first place, but suffice to say, after having seen what that jack-knife chainsaw did to the STROP, there was NO WAY on God's green earth I was going to press it against any part of my body I wanted to keep.
With a job interview looming large early next week, it looks as though I might just have to bite the bullet and break out the germ-spatula that is my cartridge razor one last yicky time, after that, I'm growing a beard until my scales arrive.
So, I guess the moral of the story is, the WORST shave ever, is NO shave ever, which, for someone who, like myself not only loves his straight razor (yes I STILL think I only have one) but who also considers this trend towards "designer stubble" and it being "cool" to look like you've slept in a ditch for a week nothing short of visual pollution, NOT being able to man up with my shaving ritual, it's JUST NOT CRICKET!!!!!