Thread: My first straight razor shave was an adventure...

Hi ya'll,

Thank you for all the wonderful tips and information you've provided. I just finished my first straight razor shave, and I have to tell you, it was quite a shave.

So my first straight razor just came in the mail. Needless to say, I dropped everything, tore open the box, and slid out the contents. The strop slid out with the satisfying leather *snick*, smelling like saddles and briefcases. Then came the entry-level dovo, its plastic scales gleaming enticingly. After fondling the razor for a few minutes, I tested the balance (not that I would know whether the balance is good) and tested the shave-ready blade (not that I would know whether the blade is sharp enough). Having scoured the shaving wiki for instructions and read everything I could find in the long days waiting for the razor's arrival, I rushed off to the bathroom and immediately commenced stropping. Although I thought I was following the handy instructional video to the letter, I was unable to pass the "hanging hair" test. I stropped again and again, until I lost count of the strokes and put numerous nicks in my new strop. My enthusiasm somewhat abated, I eventually concluded that a perfectly stropped razor is an acquired skill, and the razor seemed pretty sharp, even if it didn't pass the test (actually, I had to hold a hair in both hands and saw it back and forth to cut it) it was good enough; the stropping is a skill I must work on.

So I decided to start shaving. My first problem revealed itself promptly; the razor wouldn't cut. No, really; when I used smooth WTG strokes, the razor simply glided over the surface of my whiskers. Frustrated, I tried again and again, succeeding in cutting skin bumps, my thumb, large swaths of cheek, and a bit of earlobe, and the whiskers alone survived the onslaught. By now the lather was long gone, but unperturbed I pressed on. I added a little lather to my burning, stinging face, and attacked it again. I adjusted the angle in all directions, sampled some ATG strokes, but still the whiskers persisted. By now I was seriously dismayed and sat back to recoups and take stock of the casualties. Every single whisker on my right sideburn remained standing. Suddenly, my stubborn/stupid streak kicked in, and I decided that, despite the raw state of my face, and despite all of ya'll's kind warnings to the contrary, I was going to conquer those whiskers tonight and I would not surrender until my face was bbs. All I needed was practise.

So I proceeded to slash and saw, cut and slice, to scrape and scratch my way around my face. I tried every angle and approach, every stroke, trying to make the razor shave. When one area was too raw and shredded to touch, I moved to another area for more practise. After some effort, I sat back, rebuffed. The only part of my face that was unscathed were my whiskers. My brute efforts failed, I tried the scientific approach. I removed the lather so I could see what was going on, leaned in close to the mirror, and scraped my raw skin to observe the action of the blade on the whiskers. Sure enough, they slid right under the razor, and nothing I did seemed to make a difference. So I returned to the strop. After slicing large bits of leather off the strop and wearing out my arms, I decided it was now sharp enough (though it still failed the hanging-hair test) and got back to business. Since my face was now shredded enough to prevent any further scraping, I starting practising on my arm and leg hair. After having cut and sliced and razor-burned large portions of my body, I finally succeeded in mowing a large swath of leg hair... Turns out that whole 30-degree-angle thing is pretty important, as is the amount of pressure applied.

Overjoyed, I proceeded to practise my new-found shaving technique. Unfortunately, my face is so battle-torn it I didn't dare return to it, so I practised on my leg and arm hair (you understand, this is not my normal grooming habit; it was for practise purposes only ). My neck hair was the next to go as I perfected my technique, until finally only the facial whiskers remained. Feeling bald and battered, I have retired for the night. The whisker survived, but my technique has improved, and I have high hopes for my next shave, once my wounds have healed.

All in all, I wouldn't call it a pleasurable shave, but the battle is far from over! I may look like I just tangled with the county's meanest possum, but before the week is out I'll have that classic bbs look

-a newbie.