Hi all.

First off, the introduction: My username is my real given name, I'm a sysadmin/IT support guy plying my trade in the Netherlands.

Like most Unixy guys, I attempted to grow a beard. Unfortunately, once it's past the first few centimeters, my beard starts to be scraggly. I also got into a bit of a lazy spell, so it really looked nasty. It had to go off.

I had been shaving using Wilkinson two-bladed cartridge razors, but another change in the holder rendering all my shaving stuff worthless convinced me to go straight if I ever started shaving again. Which was 1.5 months ago.

Thanks to the local straight shaving guru, who also runs a barbershop and a webshop with shaving paraphernalia, I picked up a basic Dovo and some Truefitt & Hill aftershave balm. I already had the soap and brush from my cartridge shaving days, a tub of Vergulde Hand (Gilded Hand), the local brand of basic unscented soap, very good stuff, and a boar's bristle brush.

I picked up my stuff in person at the barber's, not through his webshop, and got a few questions on my experience, and a few tips that mirror Lynn's tips very closely: start with the cheeks, go slow, and if needs be take a few days pause. First shave however went so well on the cheeks, that I decided to continue on to the rest of my face, including my rather stubborn stubble on the chin. Going only WTG, it went surprisingly well, and I was sold on straight shaving, starting to slowly shave ATG a week in.

Experiences so far are great. I occasionally nick myself, but less than with a cartridge razor, and the nicks close up on application of cold water. The only mistake I keep making is putting a little too much pressure on the blade, so I tend to end up with a mild razor burn occasionally.

What I found helped were a couple of things:

  1. Go slow. I take 15 minutes for a full shave.
  2. Don't hesitate to re-lather. Trying to shave a full pass on one application of lather doesn't work on my face. Doing short strokes with the occasional re-lather works great on the ATG pass though.


So far, I'm enjoying this. I will now go back to lurking, and I hope I will in time be able to help other newbies with tips of my own.

Regards,

Mart