Thread: OMG! MY FACE IS ON FIRE!!!

Originally Posted by JokiJo

Don't let the razor pause on your face either.


Also, get an alum bar.

+1 and also a Styptic pencil like these: 444 Styptic Pencil - €2.95 : The Vintage Scent Co., Rare and Antique Products for Men

OK, so I am through with weddings and baby baptisms (things I needed to look good for) and decided to try my hand again with a straight. I swung by my barber and showed him my razor. He confirmed that it wasn't sharp enough. We talked a little about stropping technique though he said to hold the blade at a 45degree angle when stropping. I had never heard or seen this, and since it has been several years since he has performed a straight razor shave, I decided that I need to take away some things he said and leave the rest.

I read some more articles on SRP and watched videos and decided to see what I could do. I have changed my technique some and decided to follow everyone's suggestion and work on learning to shave one section of my face at a time. I am getting the sides of my face down pretty good now.

I ventured a little more this evening and was trying the problem area by the chin and area around the mouth. (The same area I burned and scraped badly last time) I don't know if my beard is thicker or tougher here but my razor tends to hang on the hair. Since I am evidently doing something wrong, I stopped before tearing up my face and finished with my Mach3. I consider this my "hybrid shaving" technique while I learn!

I believe I still need to work on stropping. I feel getting a sharper blade would help on the though hair and cut the hair instead of hanging.

I think I gave the impression I was giving up in my last posts. I don't give up easily and I don't mind a little pain for the gain. Lynn, I hope you know I was praising your skill in my last post and not saying my razor came dull from your shop. My first shave was great when my razor was straight from the shop! It is my poor sharpening ability that is making me suffer now!

Thanks for the encouragement and ideas. I am impressed with how responsive the shaving community is!

I hope you decided not to strop with the edge at 45degrees.... the razor should be flat on the strop...

-Chief

I'm just a newb but from what I understand if its not sharp enough stropping won't help lol. If its not keen enough stropping may fix it, but if its dull it needs a honing I'm sure- the difference between keen and sharp is hard to explain I guess- has to do with edge alignment (keen-ness) vs. bevel angle (sharpness). You may have rolled the edge or something when you were stropping, or accidentally bumped it wrong, or anything else like that. Those are my thoughts for what its worth. Does it feel like you have to work to cut, or does it just feel like its pulling.

The shaving passes really helped me.

You don't necessarily have to take long strokes to achieve a good shave. After the shave I realized I've been employing "buffing" and "scything" tecnique. Further there are myriad of ways to grip a razor. Find one that you're most comfortable with and go with it. I found myself simulating shave with a butter knife before I started shaving ( also helps with stropping/honing at least for me ) holding at different angles 5 degree for ATG, 15 for XTG, and 30 for WTG. Also stretching your skin aids in shaving as well and that is detailed in shaving passes section.

You're not alone in this as I nicked my strop 3x. I stopped and watched Lynn's video again. I'm pretty sure I'll be watching it again in the future because you can truly learn something by doing. There's only so much you can do with the info gathered. I know I still need more preparation and practices.

I realized that I was in midst of stropping, I rolled the edge while rolling the spine on its back and that the strop wasn't taut enough. If I hadn't stopped I would've dulled the blade/nicked the strop some more.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

BTW how was the wedding?

So, I am shaving 75% of my face now without taking my face off! I read many posts, watched videos, and decided to just try some things out before I sent my razor out for a professional eval to see if I screwed it up.

Turns out, my stropping technique needed improvement. I have worked on consistency and speed with stropping. I also strop a little longer on the canvas and the leather strop. About 50 on the canvas and 50 on the leather. This seems to get the edge much sharper. I am also testing the sharpness with cutting a little bit of my arm hair to see if i can hear it pop like it should and not pull.

I also took another community member's advice and started making my lather more aggressive. I didn't have that thick lather that I have been hearing about. My lather was too wet. I now push my brush harder into the soap and work up the lather quickly and more "violently". The thicker lather feels like it is helping with the shave.

I am now shaving on both sides of my face, under my chin and along the jaw bone. My next challenge is my stache, chin and around my mouth. The goatee area.

It feels good to make improvement. More ways than one! Thanks for the info and support!

Glad to hear about your improvements,gratz, technique is key and it seems like your getting your's down..

For those who remembered this post, I wanted to update you on my progress. I kept trying new techniques and I was convinced that I was not stropping correctly. My blade would not pass the hanging hair test and just didn't shave right. Too much pull. I came across the following video of a barber at the Waldorf Barber Shop in Ireland: YouTube - Razor Strop