Thread: Just wanted to say thanks

Hello all, I just wanted to express my thanks to this board in helping me make the switch to straight shaving six months ago. The information that I got from the wiki and forums was simply amazing and helped me pick up something which I would have otherwise never been exposed to.

Previously my shave routine was to slap some goop from a can onto my face and then take whatever 5-bladed contraption I was using and immediately go ATG because I like close shaves. The shave took about 3-5 minutes and the razor burn would last for half the day.

Being fed up with razor burn I decided that it must be that I needed to find a better kind of shaving cream to use, so I hit the internet looking to see if such a thing existed. I stumbled across an article about DE shaving
and how it was far superior, so I looked more into DE shaving and discovered all this great info and insight about what I was doing wrong with shaving: "multiple passes? face prep? badger brushes? what are these strange things they speak of?!?"

The site that I was looking at for DE razors also sold straight razors and something about the straight razor just screamed awesomeness to me. So I went off again looking up all sorts of info on straight razors (which is where my discovery of the SRP wiki comes in). For some reason none of the "extra" stuff associated with straight razors (honing, stropping, etc.) turned me off, it actually intrigued me further.

I eventually took the plunge and got a 4 sided Tony Miller strop, a cheap $35 badger brush along with a tub of TOBS cream and a professionally honed dovo razor (the budget classic black one).

My first shave with the straight was nerve wracking but after all was said and done, the razor burn I got from it even with my inexperienced hands was less than what I normally gave myself shaving with a cartridge razor
(which isn't suprising now that I think about how I was shaving before). The shave, while not BBS, was still pretty good as well and since then I've been hooked.

Shaving is now something I really enjoy since I can now give myself BBS shaves with zero irritation and zero knicks and I haven't touched a cartridge razor since I first used a straight and I don't think I ever will again. I'm now looking to pick up a second shave-ready razor to use while I learn to touch up my current razor on the chinese 12k I bought recently, this way I've still got something to shave with if I screw up the process.

Again I just wanted to thank all the members at SRP since your posts and contributions to the wiki have all helped me take something I hated doing and turned it into something I look forward to.

No need to thank. All of us go through the same thing... in no time you'll be the one welcoming new-commers and sharing knowledge and giving advice.
Congratulations! Keep at it... it can only get better.

Isn't this a great community?

Thanks for posting.

Welcome, ATG. This board is great, isn't?

This is definitely a great board, I still find it amazing that such a place exists for people to talk about shaving. The fact that it's so active and full of info just attests to how important straight shaving is to people and how it can become a wonderful hobby/obsession.

It feels great to ditch the cartridge and shave with something that feels of tradition and takes a little skill. Never thought shaving could be enjoyable.
Dannyr

Nicely put, thanks for the post. It sounds to me like you're very pleased with your newfound love of shaving, it's certainly a love that I would never have forseen having. But it's a great experience and something that you can truly take pride in, IMO.

This site is full of great information and very helpful people. Glad to hear you've made so much progress.

Great post. It only gets better with time!