Feeling Stoked! First shave exclusively with SR!

Well I have been mostly lurking around here for over a month now and have been gleaning lots of great info from the fantastic members on SRP. I purchased a straight from hi_bud_gl that I have been learning with. I shave every two to three days and have always had to follow up with my old triple blade.

I have been dreaming of the day I could toss that thing away and tonight, for the first time, I didn't feel the need to follow up with it! I felt pretty satisfied with the shave I got from my straight and left it at that.

I am ashamed to admit that I still use a Walmart brush and shave soap:o but with a little work I can get a pretty good lather. One day when I get a little extra cash I will try the fancy stuff. I keep it hot with a self watering planter/bowl (another walmart purchase but a good one this time). I heard about in another forum on SRP and it works great.

I am still struggling with my chin and mustache and trying to get my whole face BBS but each time I get a little better. And, being determined to finish the job, I always end up with lots of bumps and razor burn! Another problem area is the hollow parts on either side of my neck and under my jaw bone. Seems like no matter how I stretch the skin or turn the razor my razor drags on a higher part of my neck.

I would appreciate any advice especially on the mustache. Seems like not matter what I do I can't get it smooth. The blade always grabs when I try to go ATG but going WTG doesn't get all the hairs no matter how many passes I make.

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Originally Posted by pstrjp

I am ashamed to admit that I still use a Walmart brush and shave soap:o

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Nothing to be ashamed about...even the Wally-World stuff is light years ahead of that canned gunk. :)

Congrats on that first full shave...feels good don't it.

Bravo friend. I love the feeling of sliding the blade through my beard.

As far as the brush and soap go, no worries on that. I used a $5 brush and handsoap for quite a while when I started. I realize now that it was actually a good thing, because when I finally got a good brush and some decent glycerine soap, getting a good lather was a cinch. I guess that since I'd learned how to do it with such crappy equipment originally, it forced me to really develop my technique.

it seems like something wrong on your shaving.i am sure if you never able to get blade shave you wtg there is most likely angle problem. But that is not 100%. Do you have strop? What is name of it etc.do you have chro2? Let me know.i am on cell phone when i get home will answer your questions and may find out what is the real problem.

Neck hairs are one of the challenges as they grow in various direction as you mentioned,IMO light touch, skin streaching but I would say be carefull of how much, angle and a razor that is shave ready is the key, also razor that is the right size for you or the job. I have just started to go ATG and still have a hard time wth my upper lip so I finish with a DE after a first pass . What size razor are you using and how was it honed? Im still new and can appreciate your pain, sounds like your doing fine

Hi, and Welcome to the forum. Be patient. There's a learning curve involved with str8 razor shaving. Especially on the areas your describing. Your prep is important as is stropping. Stick with it, and you'll find that your shaves will get better and better.
You can drop me a pm if you need more specific info.

Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate the encouragement red96ta and aragornelesser86, I am hoping the same thing...if I can get somewhat proficient with the cheap stuff the more expensive will feel awesome (and I will appreciate it more).

My razor is a 5/8 but I don't know the make but it was purchased from hi_bud_gl in the classifieds and is a good razor. I sometimes wonder if I lost some of the edge as I did my first couple of shave attempts. I purchased an Illinois #127 strop that arrived in the mail about a week after the razor did. So I did a couple of shaves without stropping.

After that, of course, I needed to learn and work on my stropping technique. That poor strop has certainly developed its own unique character with many nicks. I had to take a pumice stone to smooth it out but I think I am getting the hang of it. I think I was too scared of putting too much pressure on the blade and wasn't getting enough contact with the strop. I later tried to put a little more pressure on and got a better edge. I also stop before my third pass and strop again which has helped for that final part of the shave.

For shave prep I use hair conditioner and let it sit on my face as I get the lather ready. I use almost boiling water in the double boiler-type shave mug I have and get nice hot lather for shaving. I work in sections so my lather stays wet and I don't feel like I have to hurry. I also leave the conditioner on putting the lather on top of it. I put more conditioner on before each pass and it seems to help and keep my face from burning too bad.

I have tried a number of other preps and tips I heard but so far the above paragraph seems to work the best. I tried Shave Secret shave oil (again cheap stuff) and that didn't work for me, I also saw where someone used baby oil for pre-shave and that helped a bit. I found a baby oil gel at walmart which really sat in a thick layer on my face but still didn't seem to do much for the shave (plus getting oil all over the sink and stuff). It just wasn't worth the trouble and mess. For AS I tried witch hazel and Cool Water after shave that I was given as a gift.

Well, I hope I answered everybody's questions. Every shave gets better and that's the best encouragement along with the awesome ppl at SRP!

If you got a razor from HI BUD GL than you set razor wise, just practice WTG mabey? have you tried a pre-shave oil? there are many posts on this and Ive used it, burts bees baby oil after a shower very little, drop or two in your hand, put on your face let it sink in should'nt be greasey just smooth feeling Im new so I would suggest researching this but it seems to help the razor glide.

I guess I would need to find out if its similar to Shave Secret shave oil. This one says that you can shave with it all by itself but it sure didn't work for me. Baby oil seemed to get everywhere but I used a lot of that to make a slick area under the lather and it didn't make much difference. I'll have to look into burt's. As far as going WTG I am getting better at that on the first pass, at least the easy parts (cheeks, middle of the neck, and sideburn area) but the hard parts don't give up much hair until I go across the grain and then against. Like I said, still getting better each time. I'm working on various angles, ways to hold the razor, and getting over some of my fear of the blade (though I found out the hard way that there is such a thing as a healthy fear!:tameshigiri:).

The areas you're having trouble with are the same areas that I had to struggle with when I was learning straight razor shaving. My first two or three weeks I finished with my DE before I finally put it away for good. Here is one article from the SRP Wiki that might give you something to go with.

LOOK OUT !! IT'S A TRAP !!!

Just kidding (hee hee hee hee hee, ya right)

Welcome to the forum.

:)

There is no escape, resistance is futile.

Congradulations! Its the little improvements you make, as your learning curve improves, that make this art all worth while. Try to think about the little improvments, as more a milestone/s. Any improvement is huge. The walmart stuff, is better than the can crap. If you don't mind me saying, try some walmart glycerine oil, a few drops on the wet shaving soap, can make all the difference. You can also use it as an inexpensive pre-shave oil as well. I like pre-shave oils, the glycerine doesn't have the vitimin E, olive, or castor oils, as in that the premium shave oils do, but it works. A 6oz. bottle is about $4.00 as opposed to $10, $15, or even $20 bottles of 2oz. pre-shave oils. Keep up the good work! Also have you tried hot toweling, even after a shower? You can hot towel again after you have already lather up. This can help your pre-shave prep. When you acquire some shave cream, if you wish you, can make a ultra uber-lather. You can contact me, or find it {uber-lather} in shave creames and soap forum as well as the wiki. Welcome to the brotherhood. Take care. STRAIGHT RAZOR 13.

Thanks Jimmy, for the wiki article. I think I understand the concept a little better now but I unfortunately have the stubble even after going against the grain sometimes. I agree that it was all the little changes I make that give me a better shave each time. After my first month its hard to know if my straight is as sharp as it should be. Hi_bud_gl has offered to let me send my razor back to him to see if I have maybe damaged (or just dulled the blade) with my stropping and re-set the edge. I’m definitely going to take him up on it! Those “milestones” have been great especially getting to the point of not having to use my old razor. And I will definitely check out uber-lather…sounds pretty nice, thanks straightrazor13!

hi_bud_gl (the member I purchased my razor from) read my post and realized that I must be having some problems with my razor. He offered to take it back, look at it and hone the blade for me. After receiving it, he said that there were small chips in the blade. He suggested that maybe I was using a hard strop, stropping wrong or using too much pressure on the blade. Well, since I had been learning to strop I can confidently answer yes to all those mistakes. He also explained how delicate the blade is and that the slightest touch could damage the blade.

It made me look back on the last couple of months of learning to shave and strop and realize that the blade was getting damaged at every mis-step. I just assumed that the blade was dulling from use when it was actually damaged.

Sham sent my blade back and instructed me to not go ATG but ony WTG while barely holding the razor against the skin while trying to use the scything stroke. Man, I took that razor and it felt like rubbing butter on my face slicing off hairs with no effort at all! It was the best shave I had yet!!! Even my chin and mustache were much easier to deal with. I wonder how many frustrated newbies don't realize that their razor has simply lost the edge from practicing.

Although now I also have some more questions. I wanted to follow Sham's advice to the letter and so only shaved WTG. It went well but still not BBS leaving some rough patches. I have never been an easy shave even with my old triple blade razor. So my questions are: Should I just continue to work and practice going WTG? Should I move on toward also going XTG? Should I never try to go AGT even after I get my face down to a few stubble patches? How do I know when my strop is soft enough to use for stropping? (the strop is a lot softer than it was when I started so I assume that the damage was done when the strop was still new. since then I buffed out nicks with a pumice stone.)

Don't worry about going against the grain on your mustache area. That is a dense area of hair on most of us and there is little space to work with. I make an initial pass with the grain and do a 2nd with the grain with a little higher blade angle to get the best WTG shave that I can. On my next pass, XTG, I go XTG from both sides of the mustache, and then when I do my last pass ATG on the rest of my face, I leave the mustache for last and but go ATG in this area only. Between the curves and the dense hair that is the only way I can go.

As for the chin and neck problem areas, don't sweat it right now. Once you get comfortable with your technique you will figure out the right angles to come at those spots from and how to hold your blade.

Give it some time, probably take a month or two before you get into a routine.

Enjoy,
Marc

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Originally Posted by pstrjp

I am ashamed to admit that I still use a Walmart brush and shave soap:o but with a little work I can get a pretty good lather...

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Hey, whatever works for you is a good thing. I still use Williams quite often. Usually when I use my DE as the lather is just not as rich as some other soaps/creams, but I love the smell of Williams and it's a permanent member in my rotation...

Nothing wrong wih $2 soap...