Thread: Saying hi and asking some advice

Hey everyone, my name is Jon and I am a 24 year old United States Marine currently stationed in North Carolina. I am a new member and this is my first post. I just thought I would introduce myself and share some of my experiences.

I have been interested in SR shaving for a little over a year now, but I've never had the extra cash to go out and buy all of the equipment. Then about a week ago my incredibly amazing girlfriend, having remembered some remarks I had made a few months ago, ordered me this set http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/item/4065811/3874996.htm from classic shaving. It came to the door and she didn't realize what it was so she told me to open it, and I was surprised with what I consider the best gift I have gotten in recent memory.

I had already read a lot of information on SR shaving from this site and others, and watched Lynn's DVD. Almost everyone suggests taking it slow and working on the easier parts of your face first, but not being one to shy away from a challenge I threw caution to the wind and started shaving my whole beard the first time out. Undoubtedly there is a steep learning curve, the chin and upper lip in particular take some getting used to, but I have been able to pick it up pretty quickly. There is still a lot of practice to be had for sure, but I am already getting the best shaves I have ever gotten in my life. A lot of that has to do with the great advice and information contributed by the members of this site, and for that I want to thank all of you.

Needless to say I am hooked. I absolutely love using the SR. There is just something about the nostalgia combined with the methodical routine of it. It is so relaxing it is almost like a form of meditation. It gives me a chance to relax and leaves me feeling refreshed. I find myself enjoying my morning shave and actually looking forward to it as opposed to viewing it as a chore I have to do every day.

Well my ramblings aside, I am looking for some advice. My face tends to dry out and get a little bit of irritation from time to time after I shave, so I am looking for suggestions concerning aftershaves and balms. I like sandalwood in particular and was wondering what some of the people here recommend/use. I am not really sure what exactly I want yet and there is so much out there so any advice concerning preshaves, aftershaves, balms, or soaps, ect. would be much appreciated.

Again I would like to say thank you to all of you, this seems like an amazing community and I look forward to being part of it for a long time to come.

Great start. To be honest, we all recommend you start slow, but many of us got over excited & just went for it too!

As for balms & aftershaves, Edwin Jagger do a great one. It's very moisturising & is available in Sandalwood. If you can get it over there, it's most definitely worth trying. Robin reviewed the Aloe version here, if you wanted to read it.

Welcome to SRP, Jon,

And many thanks for the introduction. May I suggest you take a look at our review section here: Reviews - Straight Razor Place Forums Most of the reviews are expert reviews, ie the products are placed in a wide enough context to enable you to make an informed buying decision.

With human skin being most personal, a round robin recommendation would be nigh impossible. However, a number of products have been recommended by a sufficiently large number of senior members to call them reasonably safe buys. Apart from some rather astonishingly good supermarket products (Nivea AS balm for example), there are the well known big English brands (like TOBS, or Castle Forbes).

My personal favourite at the moment (keeping in mind that I have a skin condition similar to yours) is

• Castle Forbes "The Pre-Shave"
• Edwin Jagger "Aloe Vera" cream and after-shave

The Jagger products are rather affordable, and the after shave balm is pure bliss.

Happy shopping,
Robin

PS: Would you mind telling your girlfriend to get in touch with my wife on the double and talk some sense into the woman? I really want my credit card back.

Robin, your wife seems like an angel compared to mine!

"Is this new?" sends a chill through me. & the seemingly interested innocence of
"So how much was it?" is often the penultimate time she'll speak to me for three days.

Unfortunately, I am subjected to the last time she speaks shortly after this, which is a bit of a tirade!

Hey Jon, Welcome!

Sounds like you've made a great start. What a nice gift to receive too!

+1 on what you said about the whole ritual of the SR shave. I also like the relaxing meditative aspect of it. It isn't just a shave.

Irritated skin - for me, this happens when I
...use too much pressure or
...fuss too much on a particular place (like the chin)

So - try really light strokes (like gently combing your face)

Enjoy the journey!

All the best,
Michael.

Welcome aboard, Marine!!!

Sight alignment, sight picture, breathe, trigger squeeze. Just like rifle range, concentrate on the basics and it will all come around pretty quickly.

Glad to have you with us.

Semper Fi,

Kevin

Welcome Jon,

Geo F Trumper makes 'skin food' that's quite good and as of recent they made sandalwood. They used to offer a sample of their products including the skin foods for the cost of shipping, so check their website.
Otherwise if you like/don't mind the nivea scent their stuff is rather good, inexpensive and readily available at almost any supermarket/drugstore.

Thank you all for you input, I really appreciate it. I think I am going to try the Edwin Jagger Sandalwood, I found a few sites that I can order it through here in the U.S. Until then I went and picked up some Nivea AS balm and the results have been very good, the dry skin is no more and the irritation is all but gone. And thank you for the advice on technique Michael. I have been working on using a lighter touch and when I do I can tell that the quality of my shave is better. Like anything els it takes time to build experience though and I still have much to learn. Again I appreciate all of your help guys. As a beginner the resources and community here at SRP are invaluable.

Hey Jon,

Glad things are working out.

Yep - always learning! I've been at it for 5 or 6 months and I'm still working on improvement (probably true of most people here?)

Sometimes just changing one thing in my shave, like a direction (eg. east to west instead of west to east) can make a big difference. Reading the posts and re-watching videos has been good too.

Mindfullness and not over-doing the shave (knowing when to stop!!)are two things that also help me.

Anyway - that's enough from me.

Enjoy your straight razor adventures!!
Michael.

Hey John,

Welcome aboard! Sounds like a great gift...

It also looks like you are on your way,

A BIG THANK YOU for giving back to your country!

I appreciate all of you, that dedicate yourself to our armed forces!

Keep us posted on your advances with Straight Shaving. Feel free to ask away any questions that come up. I also would reccomend keeping your eyes open for a meet in your neck of the woods. That was one of the best thing I did, I learned so much in such a short period of time.

Stay safe!