Thread: Tips for Newbies, by a Newbie

Well I started this back in August. I thought I'd share some recommendations and problems I ran into. Perhaps this will help, but obviously take it with a grain of salt since I'm still learning myself.

1. It's called "wet shaving" for a reason. I used to come out of the shower, not dry my face, and apply lather. I find it more useful to actually dry off, and splash my face with warm/hot water right before I apply lather. For EACH pass (I used to forget this, maybe just me). This is vital.

2. Don't skimp on 'consumables'. When I started off, I got a $120 razor, a $50 strop, and $5 soap with $5 aftershave. Bad move. My thinking was 'these will last me forever, and it's just soap'. A $20 puck of decent soap will last you many months and make your life a lot more agreeable. Also, the strop brings me to my next point.

3. Don't spend a lot on your first strop. Buy a $20 philly, or do what I did (out of sheer stupid luck) buy one from Vintage Blades/StraightRazorDesigns where you can replace the leather part for about $20. Unless you were raised by ninjas, you will nick your strop.

4. Don't get too obsessive about the WTG/XTG/ATG thing. When I first started, I was doing 4 or more full passes and trying to 'ape' what I saw in videos. Everyone's face is different. What is ATG for one member is not ATG for another. For some people, you really can't do an 'ATG' pass under the neck since the hair spirals. Figure out what works for you. I do WTG/XTG on my face, and WTG/ATG on my neck, it works for me, looks good and leaves little irritation.

5. Don't go OCD about getting a BBS shave. I found myself rubbing my face a lot, thinking 'well if I feel ATG across this small area of my neck I can still feel stubble oh no!' and as a result was doing 5 or 6 pass shaving which just left a lot of irritation. It will come with time. Rubbing your face a lot will also cause you to break out if you're anything like me. I know it's smooth, but stop touching your face!

6. Don't google 'BBW Shaving' at work. Trust me, just dont. (BBW is a Belgian Blue Whetstone).

7. Missed a spot? You can strop the blade back across your skin, re-applying the shaving cream you just took off, then shave it off (I think this is called buffing). Avoid dry shaving if at all popssible!

8. Care and feeding: Budget for a barber's hone. About $50, when you first think of what to get. You wont need it right away, but you will need it or something similar. Also, mineral oil or camellia oil you should get right away. A metal polish (example: Semi-Chrome) and something for your scales (example: Renaissance Wax) are going to be real handy too.

9. A member has in his signature advice from a barber about holding the blade lightly and allowing the fingers to flex. This is right on. Clenching the blade tight, even if lightly applied to the skin, has a few problems: it will limit the amount of tacticle feed back, it will be hard to stop the 'momentum' if something goes wrong, and relaxed muscles can react far more quickly than tense muscles. That's why in Jiujitsu etc they tell you to stay relaxed and don't tense up!

10. Pay attention. Shaving every day, your mind is going to tend to wander. At first, you'll be very careful and take it slow. In a few months you'll be thinking about what to have for breakfast and what you're going to be doing at work later. Try to maintain zanshin (Zanshin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Or you will regret it, trust me!

Thats it for now.

Hope someone finds it useful and experienced members please feel free to correct me if I'm telling anyone anything mistaken.

Thanks,

-Mike

Originally Posted by MrMike

Hope someone finds it useful and experienced members please feel free to correct me if I'm telling anyone anything mistaken.

Perfect post, for which many thanks!

Two things I would like to stress:

1. Mike is spot on about the consumables. Especially for a beginner, a 30 USD razor, a 5 USD brush, and a USD 20 strop will do. But if you skimp on creams or aftershaves, you simply will not get a good shave. My first ever cream was Castle Forbes (with the pre and after shaves), and I am still grateful to the guys who sold it to me, insisting that I had better get a less expensive razor and strop.
2. The "light touch" from Jimmy's signature. If a beginner thinks he is not applying pressure, he is. What I found helpful, too, was focus on the spine of the razor instead of the edge.

Really great post, Mike. Thanks!

Regards,
Robin

I really liked the part about the barber hone. I find they are often quite less expensive than mentioned and also very, very practical.

I think the slowness of a barber hone was one of the main reasons I ever learned to hone at all.

I think we have a "Mentor" in training here . . .

yea the last part is very true!!...the min you space out and start thinking about breakfast or that chick from last night the blade will remind you to wake up and pay attention

lmao @ don't google bbw shaving.

So is the renaissance wax needed if the scales are plastic? Thanks for the tips, I planned on getting some expensive cream, glad to know that is the best thing to do.

Originally Posted by rahimlee54

So is the renaissance wax needed if the scales are plastic? Thanks for the tips, I planned on getting some expensive cream, glad to know that is the best thing to do.

You mean like bakelite and celluloid or a modern plastic? I'm no expert on this subject by a long-shot (I only have two razors, one ebony, one ivory (I hope)) but I believe people do use waxes on old plastics to preserve them. I'm guessing modern plastic not so necessary.

I was thinking new plastic since I am probably going to buy a couple of new razors next month.

Very nice post MrMike. I'm two months in and still find I have to go back and remind myself of many of these things from time to time.

Excellent post!

Just to Second one of Mr Mike's points - If you want to save money, you can just buy the "refill" of the higher end soaps. I bought a puck Truefitt and Hill soap for $10. Also, there are a few sites that sell samples of the nice soaps and creams which might be a good option if you can't shill out the big bucks on soap.