Thread: Ready to give up...

One month in is nothing. There's lots to learn with using a straight. You've had some great advice here but one thing I've not noticed (sorry if I missed it) is that it can be useful to focus on only one variable at a time. There are just so many of the damn things involved that if you try to tweak them all at once you never know which is doing the trick (or not, if you see what I mean). I'd start with sending a razor out and shaving without stropping it as others have suggested. As JimmyHAD said, don't sweat about finishing your chin with a DE, many go down this route.

There is no decision to make. You already are a straight shaver. You just aren't satisfied with the results yet.

There are two fundamental skills you should work on in the next month. Following all the advice on here, use your DE to remove lots of whiskers and spend time learning how to get a close shave with a straight. You will learn, if you do it right, that you will get a much closer shave.

Then, flip the tools.

Shave with a straight to remove the excessive beard and finish with your DE to get to the missed spots.

In the third month you simply learn to combine the skills.

I agree with the previous posts...Although I have yet to shave with a straight razor--that will occur after Xmas--from everything I have read on the SRP blogs and the world wide web there is a definite learning curve to this experience.

I have been a wet shaver my entire life. I used multi-blade razors up until this fall. Yet even when I shifted to a DE razor a month or two ago I found that there was even a learning curve for me with a DE razor. My first shaves with a DE were nothing compared with what they look and feel like now. That having been said, there are days when I feel like I haven't gotten the best shave that I could with my DE. That doesn't discourage me because I know that there is always the opportunity to achieve a better, closer shave tomorrow.

The same is true of straight razor shaving, but it appears to me that there are some additional steps involved in gaining mastery of and confidence in your process, ie. honing, stropping, blade angle, etc. Don't expect to master all of these steps at once or achieve a perfect shave overnight. Be satisfied with what you have achieved to date--with the knowledge that you are gaining in an understanding of your face and shaving technique that will allow you to achieve a better shave in the future.

Remember, patience is a virtue.