beginner.

Hi All!

I found this place through shave my face.

I am a beginner, and just ordered a double edge merkur futur, feather blades, soaps and nice brush.

do you have any ideas on:

1. which balm to use after shaving.

2. how hard is it to learn straight razor?

3. who will sharpen the blade for me?

best

bob and THANKS

I highly recommend Trumpers Lime skin food. Very little goes a long way so a 200ml bottle last a long time. Great scent and quality results. Treat yourself.
The Futur is a razor I have been using for almost 2 years. It has and is serving me well. I too however am just learning the straight razor. Nothing to the landfill and its reputation for closeness is what has drawn me to the instrument and all its processes. Consider it.

welcome bob,

your favorite balm, if you don't have favorite you can experiment and find one. you can get an idea what people here like by checking the aftershaves/colognes etc section as well as the SOTD threads

as far as difficulty of straights - it's not too difficult but it takes some persistance to get really good results probably on the months scale

if you look under the classifieds tab and then member services you'll find ads from members who offer honing. many razors you can purchase already prehoned.

Learn to shave with a straight razor is not hard, it only takes a couple of months to a year to get the right toutch. I started a year ago, and had OK results after a couple of weeks. Still working on my 'difficult' areas and the scar on my chin, for that I use a safety razor.
If it comes to aftershave/ balm: you have to find out yourself. I tried a couple of aftershaves from the supermarket, but it took a long time to find one with the right results. From the 'sensitive' products without alcohol I got bumps and ingrown hairs but the alcohol-based Aftershaves work fine for me

welcome aboard, learning to shave with a straight is not that hard. read the wiki here and there are several videos on youtube. you might also get the dvd from lynn abrams available here, he also is able to get your razor shave ready. a razor MUST be shave ready for you to be able to have a comfortable and close shave. it will take time. do not be afraid to ask all the questions you have. the members here are great at helping everyone to get up and running. you will also find many soaps, creams and aftershaves out there, try them all and find your own personal favorite. some like the expensive and some like cheaper ones, it is up to you and what you like..most of all enjoy

Welcome, Manus. The best balm is hard to pin down as it's very subjective. I have some expensive balms from the finest English suppliers and while I like them I do find that the balms I reach for most often are the Nivea balms that I bought at my local supermarket. Don't feel that you have to spend a lot of money on expensive balms as you might very well prefer something you can buy at a local store at a reasonable price.

Hi Bob, welcome to SRP. If it was me I would learn to be comfortable shaving with the DE for a while before I attempted the straight. That is just me and based on my own experience.

Here is something out of the SRP Wiki for beginning straight razor shavers and here is a tutorial on the first shaves by SRP founder and chief honemiester Lynn Abrams.

I don't use balm so I can't advise you there.

thank you to ALL!!!!

I hope this shaving will be a nice hobby! perhaps I must collect razors and cremes, soaps, etc!!!


59 Caddy_ I love your car!!

I waited my whole life to buy a Caddy, and got a DTS last summer. best car I ever had, and gets 20mpg in the city, 25 highway LOADED down with 3 people and my daughter's college clutter!!! It gets Mobil One every 1-2000 miles, and detailed 4 times a year, washed regularly.

my wife's 2002 little Lexus gets 16.7 mpg city.

thanks to all!! Am waiting for my double edge razor and equipment now.

best

bob

Sounds like you will take excellent care of your straight razors!

Welcome to SRP and straight shaving!

Pabster