Thread: Help with Anxiety

You will screw up. We all do.

You will nick and/or slice yourself. There will likely be no pain. You will learn a great deal from this.

You will mess up your first strop, and do some minor damage to the edge in the process. This will give you the opportunity to learn how to hone.

You will make soap that is too thin, too thick, too small a quantity, and undesirable in other ways. In a few weeks you will be making great stuff.

Back to honing: this will probably be one of the most frustrating as well as one of the most satisfying skills you ever try to accomplish. You will never master it. It will be endlessly engaging.

What I'm trying to say is: what exactly are you afraid of? Failing? That is a given. You will fail repeatedly. But your failures will become less and less frequent. And each one will be necessary. Embrace all of them.

I totally understand where your coming from! I bought a shavette to start (i somehow thought it was less of a danger) I only did my sideburns first (shaking like a leaf) and that went well. Then I got over confident and tried my upper lip and nicked myself right beside the nose. I instantly knew that I dug myself, there wasn't any pain just a quick tug. The bloody pen hurt more! I have ordered my first blade now with a few shaves (very few) under my belt.

Just take your time and start with the side of your face.

Then try the fancy stuff. (upper lip, chin, neck) I am still figuring it out, but these guys are right, slow and steady. Once you nick yourself, and you will, the fear will be gone and you will laugh at yourself. I friend reminded me how many times I nicked myself with a safety razor, and how little it hurt.

One last tip. Look up "Straight razor accident" on a google search or even "straight razor death" the only hit you get is a guy in this forum who cut his thumb.

Cheers

After all, it's only your face. I have only been shaving with a straight on my face for three months, but with my job as a Hairdresser I've been working with hair since I was fifteen. Just keep your disposable Mach 12 nearby and just do what you can with straight. Then do your touch up's after. Also, shave at night. This is big, your aren't groggy from waking up. You have no rush to be anywhere, and you can bleed if you need to. As far as an adult annology; I hold off on shaving for a few days so when I finnaly do I feel like I just got my bell rung by Salma Hayek. Yeah, I think I'll go grab some time with my Bengall.- all the Best-J

Hey,

Being relatively new I remember when I first started it was more excitement than anxiety. If Lynn has honed your razor you're all set, just lather up and go! lol Just keep in mind to use a light touch and don't force the razor in any particular direction especially in the direction of the blade :P I nicked myself a bunch of times during my first few shaves nothing major tho I'm still alive. I did have to change my shaving time to the night before instead of in the morning but I really enjoy my shaves now.

Just follow the advice from above and take things slowly, just remember to keep a light touch and start with just your cheek areas since they are the easiest. Use your safety razor for the areas you're not comfortable with on your first few shaves.

Relax, have a hot shower and enjoy your shave!

- Tam -

Hi,
Follow the sage advice given in this thread.
I was in a similar place to yourself some two months ago.
For the first week I looked like an extra from 'Fight Club' !
As BluePrinciple said to me, these are the 'rites of passage' !
The first time I stropped my Wapi, I rolled the edge, and it had to go back for a re-hone My strop had more cuts in it than you can shake a stick at !
BluePrinciple sent me a reject razor and I practiced stropping it on the back-side of the strop. Success !!
You will be surprised at the speed of your progress, and in a few weeks you will wonder what all the worry was about.
Best of luck
regards
Russ

Holy!!?!? What the ?#$?@!@# How the @$@!$!

Damn! I mean that guy didn't just have a little stubble to take care of, that dood had some medieval friggin' shag to get rid of.

Guess I'm really sweating my first go of one side of my cheek this weekend.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the encouragement (<sniff> ...I promised myself I wouldn't cry... Nah, really though, it's really great to see how responsive people are in these forums. It really blew me away, so thanks everyone.

I received everything yesterday, and this weekend will be the test. I couldn't believe how much better a shave is just using the prep, lather, and something better than the crappy canned stuff. I'll never go back to my Braun electric (hey, I was young, I had a couple drinks, in a strange town...) or that crappy gel.

Thanks again to all, I'll report back asap!

WP421

Have you ever seen the new batman movie with the joker in it? First you just put the razor into your mouth and slice it out your cheek. Then wait for a few weeks until it heals.
After that you will relax because you know it is no way it could get any worse than what you did :P

Originally Posted by warpigs421

Holy!!?!? What the ?#$?@!@# How the @$@!$!

Damn! I mean that guy didn't just have a little stubble to take care of, that dood had some medieval friggin' shag to get rid of.

Don't worry, nobody expects you to match that level of speed and confidence right away. Allow yourself 3 or 4 weeks.

But seriously, that guy has pro skills, it's a bit cruel to show that video to a beginner. Plenty of people here are in awe of that performance. Stick to slow, enjoyable shaves and let the speed come with experience.

Originally Posted by pcb01

You will screw up. We all do.

You will nick and/or slice yourself. There will likely be no pain. You will learn a great deal from this.

You will mess up your first strop, and do some minor damage to the edge in the process. This will give you the opportunity to learn how to hone.

You will make soap that is too thin, too thick, too small a quantity, and undesirable in other ways. In a few weeks you will be making great stuff.

Back to honing: this will probably be one of the most frustrating as well as one of the most satisfying skills you ever try to accomplish. You will never master it. It will be endlessly engaging.

What I'm trying to say is: what exactly are you afraid of? Failing? That is a given. You will fail repeatedly. But your failures will become less and less frequent. And each one will be necessary. Embrace all of them.

And you thought this was just about straight razor shaving. HAH!

Look around. Everything he said is about life.

Good shaving,

Kev

Well... it happened. I did it this weekend, first straight razor experience ever under my belt... all I can say is "wow".

First, I want to thank everyone who posted in this thread. Trying something new like this is very intimidating. Everyone who posted had encouraging, yet realistic words. And in this world, that's all anyone can and should expect.

I cannot believe how a straight razor gives feedback when moving blade on the skin. There is definitely an auditory experience as the blade cuts the hair.

Yes, I got a nick. On my chin. How did that happen? Well, the first pass on my left cheek went great. Of course the first pass down wasn't BBS, I didn't expect to be. But, I also didn't dig a WW1 trench in my face either. Cool... So I did the right cheek. No blood letting there either. Double cool... So I started moving down my left cheek, vertical passes towards my chin. Then under my lower lip I got over confident and nicked myself slightly. Then I set the straight down and stopped. I says to myself, I says, "Self," I says, "... don't push this. Take 'er slow." So I rinsed and immediately dried the straight.

Then I finished with my Mach Quadrillion. And you know what? That p.o.s. nicked me twice! WTF??!?!

You's guys should have seen me shaking with that razor in my hand. I'm sure you would have been saying, "Holy <explative>, this guy is going to murder himself."

Ah well. Sorry for the wordy post. I'm giddy, what can I say.

Now, I need to nail the strop... <queue crummy horror music>

Thanks again everyone! I'll report back after my 1st strop... (as if anyone gives a rat's hiney! hahahaha....)