Thread: Is it suppose to hurt the first time (and second, and third)?

Sounds like something in your preparation is wrong. Even with a sensitive face it shouldn't hurt while you are shaving. Maybe some razor burn after until you get the hang of everything but not while. If so your razor isn't sharp enough you might be stropping wrong or may need a better hone done to it. Are you getting a good lather? Do you was/massage your face in the shower as part of your prep? Are you catching and pulling whiskers?

I'm far from an expert as I've only been doing this for a few weeks but even when I was figuring things out it didn't hurt when I shaved.

Welcome to SRP. If you have some sort of magnification you might take a look at the edge under it with a light. Not being familiar with the people who did the honing I can't say whether they are qualified. Look for micro chips in the edge that can cause an uncomfortable shave. These might be too small to be seen with the naked eye.

It could also be your preparation and/or technique. Skin stretching and blade angle are all important. It comes with time and practice. There are shaving videos here.

If you haven't seen it already there are tutorials here in the SRP Wiki on all things related to straight razor shaving.

Maybe don't shave right after your hot shower: Your skin becomes a bit sensitive when showering hot. Also keep an eye on your technique (spine not too far away from the skin). And keep an eye on the prep stuff.

Straight razors are more aggressive on your skin than anything else. They remove the top layer of dying skin promoting quicker replacement. It does take about two weeks for your skin to get used to this process and for the first fortnight or so you should only do WTG and XTG passes and shave every other day for comfort. It'll all work out.

X

Im relativly new to the straight razor game but I was able to do my first,second,and third shave with out any pain. A few good videos to watch is Jockey's shave videos on you tube. They helped me quite a bit starting out and they are very informative on technique. He also goes over how to make the best lather for shaving as well. Also the only thing that should really be hurting is your face after you nic yourself four or five times like i did on my first shave. But now that im on my third and fourth shave i usually only nic myself once or twice (upper lip, and chin) which generally seems to be the problem area from what i've read in the forums