Greetings!

Yesterday I joined the "straight razor shaving club" and gave myself my first shave... which was actually more akin to bloodletting! And despite my initial terror of holding a long, sharp blade against my throat, I'm determined to master this!

I know that the HHT is controversial, but when I tried it on my new Dovo razor the (moistened) hair just bent upward no matter where I tried it on the blade. In desperation to see the blades sharpness, I laid it on a flat surface, placed the blade on top of the hair and pulled it against the blade... the hair still wasn't cut... it broke! (can anyone explain how that could happen with a sharp blade??)

Anyway, the place I bought it from told me the HHT is not really reliable, and suggested shaving with it... which I did. The blade seems plenty sharp... my cheeks were baby soft and the rest of my face was mostly smoother than my electric. Overall, it was a decent (albeit bloody) shave. I think I worked my neck a bit too much, re-shaving certain areas, so I have razor burn.

What I didn't take into account, call me stupid, is that I have a goatee that I wasn't going to shave off. Every site I've been to, shows completely shaven faces, so in addition to my difficulty of just using the razor, I had to maneuver around my goatee, which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I wanted to buy a "spike point", because I thought it would be easier to get into tight corners, but lucky for me, I ordered a round... I definitely would've ended up in the ER if I got the spike point!!

So, does anyone have any advice for this newbie "slasher"... special techniques for shaving around a goatee (other than shaving it off!), reconditioning ? Thanx!

Regards,
Joe