Thread: Newbie

So, just a couple of weeks ago, I purchased my first straight razor+shaving kit+strop. I was so excited to begin this new hobby, I basically live on SRP until my "goods" arrived. After waiting for just a few, short days, everything minus the strop arrived. Now, the razor I purchased was $21 and nothing special but it was solingen steel, just not very pretty. It was deemed shave ready and stropped. So, I jumped right into shaving, albeit with very cheap soap, and had an okay experience. It definitely cut hair like nobodies business, yet I kept "catching" it on my beard. I went in knowing that the first shave would not be as wonderful as the senior members talk about bit I was still slightly disappointed but very bond and determined to accomplish my goal, BBS, in as amount time as possible. I did what Lynn, the obvious guru, said and only shave one part of my beard so the next day I did the other half and tried the rest of my face. Wasn't a huge failure but lets face it, it wasn't great. But every day I kept at it and I kept looking at a new razor to add to the rotation and after many days of looking on the Classifieds page, I found a new razor. A Boker 5/8 rescaled at $45 dollars. I knew that Bokers are talked about on SRP with hushed voices, so I figured, What the heck! I bought and got it today, Friday, and immediately tried it out. The shave floored me. Instantly, with one pass of WTG it got as close as BBS as any razor i have EVER used. It was night and day. I couldn't believe it. Not only does it shave well but it is beautiful as well. I think I am becoming addicted, which is good and bad but who cares! Best shave of my life.

Congrats and welcome to the board.

Sounds like your issue is angles and just downright newbie status...keep at it and you'll find that they get better each and every day. Have fun in your journey.

Welcome to SRP,

You've just discovered that the 'shave-ready' label is just as good as the person who pronounces it.
What Lynn says is absolutely correct and many people have trouble even with the best edge on earth. Unfortunately if you get a not so good edge you can spend a lot of time struggling just because of that.
It may look like a catch-22, but it's not as hopeless, we are here to help and many of the senior members are happy to assist newbies with their choice.

Anyways, have fun with it.

Each of the many acquisition disorders can be just as much fun as the shaving is, too. Welcome to straight shaving.

Welcome to SRP and straight razor shaving. It gets even better with time and practice.