Thread: Too tentative?

Thanks Danny

With DE shaving, it takes a while to get the right razor/blade combination. For me, it is an Edwin Jagger razor with Red personna or Gillette Super Thins.

I wholly understand that many will love the satisfaction of choosing a straight razor they are comfortable with and the craft of honing and stropping. But that is not the attraction for me. I really don't want to be bothered with it. I'll strop, but don't get any satisfaction from it rather than being pleased I don't mess it up. I want to feel comfortable with a razor in hand and to get sensual delight from gliding the razor easily over my face. If I am to feel that I must concentrate 100% to get angles and pressure just right to avoid nicks and cuts, that is going to be a chore not a pleasure. If the feeling of the blade across my skin doesn't match the smoothness of the glide of a DE razor, what's the point for me?
The only point will be the end result. If somehow this magical softness, closeness and comfort of my DE shave is to be surpassed by some unimaginable shaving nirvana, I'm in business. I just have my doubts.

But I am not going to give up. I intend to find out what is possible. Then at least I have the basis for a comparison.

When I first started I did the same thing.

Weirdly, its the tentative cautious approach that results in more nicks I find..! When you're trying to work out how to put the blade on your face and touch it to your cheek, or when you lay the razor down but keep it still... I did them both and both resulted in cuts!

Once you get more confident you can move the blade around much more easily and get all the angles and passes you want.

Keep at it and I 100% guarantee you will get there and really grow to love it!

Fido,

You are quite right. BBS is BBS smooth, and you can't improve on that

For myself, shaving with a straight is just more satisfying than with a DE.

For the time of the shave, I can forget all about all the problems & hassles of the day; because of this I feel so much more relaxed after the shave.

It is a little bit of an escape

Best regards

Russ

I seem to have enough hassles and problems with my straight shaving at the moment than to think about any other cares and woes! So I agree.

Nice one Russ

Originally Posted by Fido

I wholly understand that many will love the satisfaction of choosing a straight razor they are comfortable with and the craft of honing and stropping. But that is not the attraction for me. I really don't want to be bothered with it. I'll strop, but don't get any satisfaction from it rather than being pleased I don't mess it up.

This is how I felt when I first picked up a straight. I thought people who restored razors were old fudidudies who had nothing better to do with their days while waiting to meet god face to face. That changed when I bought a cheap Bengall and decided it needed a bit of a polish. Now I'm happy when I'm ready to reassemble a razor which I have hand polished all the parts. Now I'm one of the old fudidudies.

I used to think that people who collected razors were incurable horders who would be just as likely to have a collection of old news papers, just because they might come in handy one day. Now I have a healthy collection and a wide rotation of razors, strops, brushes and hones.

I used to be just the person you described. Just here for the shave. Be careful, it creeps up on you. Before you now it you will have a collection of strops, a box full of hones, five or six brushes, a draw full of restoration projects that you will get to eventually and about twenty different razors to choose from for your daily shave.

When I started straight razor shaving it was with some fear and trepidation. I used the straight in conjunction with my Merkur slant and Feather blade to get through my first two or three weeks with the straight gradually accomplishing more and more of the shave until it became 100%. Once I put the DE away I became a complete convert.

To my surprise shaving with a straight became preferable to me. I am not pedantic about it. If I liked a DE better or even equally I would either return to it full time or at least part of the time. I have a nice collection of vintage slants and Gillettes and I appreciate them but I so prefer straight razor shaving that I'd rather use a straight for every shave so far. Nothing is carved in stone so I may vary it someday but for me at present it is straights all the way.

Fido once you get the hang of it you can say goodbye to weepers and razor burn. Stropping will become second nature and skin stretching, blade angle, direction to attack from will all become automatic. A bit of a learning curve one shave at a time but well worth the time and trouble.

Thanks Jimmy

I found driving difficult at first and I'm pleased I stuck at it.
And golf was a bit tricky too.
So persist I will.
It's good to have encouragement.

One thing that's important in my view: No fear. Awareness: Yes, Fear: No. Fear brings all kinds of inhibitions when trying to do something. It's good to be aware of things that can go wrong, but if you're scared, you're more likely to make mistakes. I think at least.

My first 6 shaves took me 45 minutes each and they were not that good. There is a long learning curve with straights but you will get the hang of it after about 6 weeks.

Take Care,
Richard

I couldn't agree more, I'm almost already there and haven't gotten all the way through a good shave with the straight yet. Have a box of nortons, strops, paste, and two dovo's so far, BUT, know what I did? Bought a new DE, and thought maybe I should get the hang of that first as all I've ever used is those little power lawn mowers and the dreaded multi-bladed wonders of the 20th century. All I have acomplished by this little exercise so far is a lot of razor bumps, cuts, burns, etc. All in trying to keep that BBS shave I have, on occation, achieved! I will never give up! Thank's to you all!