Thread: Getting started

I've been wet shaving for a while now so well into the ritual and products. I'm now waiting delivery of razor and strop. And reading a lot on the internet and forum.
A new barber's shop has opened up in my local town. By a lad who has other shops and lectures at a college for trainee barbers. He charges £15 for a traditional wet shave.
I've been thinking. Might save myself a lot of time and effort by booking him for a few £15 sessions, not for a wet shave, but for consultations about technique for shaving, stropping etc.
Anyone tried this approach? Any issues to bear in mind?

Originally Posted by Fido

Anyone tried this approach? Any issues to bear in mind?

Tried it (albeit that the lesson was given by the owner of a local shop, not a barber), and it worked very well. The things I would pay the most attention to, pretty much in this order:

1. Proper stropping. You can dull a razor with wrong stropping faster than you can say Zeepk. On the other hand, the technique is not hard to learn at all. Do that first, lest you will end up frustrated by attempting to shave with a dull-ish razor.
2. Face preparation. No, supermarket foam will not do. Properly preparing your face, using quality products, and the ability to build and properly use lather that offers cushion and glide are at least as important as using a shave ready razor. This part of the shaving routine is also often under estimated.
3. Mapping the way your beard grows on a piece of paper to establish the proper attack path for the basic shaving passes.
4. Using little to no pressure while keeping the blade at an optimal angle for each type of pass.

That's really it. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

Regards,
Robin

Thanks Robin

I'd already thought that stropping and looking after the strop is a priority. And looking after the razor. Shaving technique with a straight is my main concern. I'm reasonably experienced as a DE shaver but not too proud to have a review of my preparation and choice of products.

When I first started learning 3 years ago I booked a straight razor shaving lesson at Trumpers in London, IIRC it cost approx £75. Whilst it was of some use, I actually found that just watching Lynn's DVD (several times!) was of far greater value than the lesson.

There are several good videos on the tube, made by members here. Blade Wielders is tongue in cheek, but highly skilled, Jockey's are very useful, & Xman's is great to see how it can be tackled one handed. There are plenty more, & these are just the first three that came to mind, so no offence meant if you're not mentioned!

Blade Wielder's