Thread: Day Two - not too bad!

My first day, I had a couple of bad gashes. Yesterday, some people on the freenode #srp channel pinged me, offering advice and encouragement, and I did much better today.

Today I followed the "first shave" advice mostly by the book:

First Shave
First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Instead of doing just one side of my face, I did both, because I'm mostly ambidextrous. One very small nick. Didn't try my chin or neck or getting right up to the mouth.

I shaved WTG, and managed to get much closer than I can WTG with a DE or other razors, but not BBS. And I can get pretty much BBS with a DE going ATG, so I'll be happier when I can go ATG or possibly XTG too. But for now, shaving close enough without cutting myself is the important thing, and I'm feeling good about today.

Thanks, y'all!

Congrats!

Its great when it all starts falling in to place and making sense! It sounds like you are off to a very good start!

For those small nicks, you might find a styptic pencil useful if you dont already have one. All you do is wet it and dab it on the cut and it'll seal it right up.

Dont worry too much about the other passes (XTG and ATG) until you are comfortable with the WTG pass. Remember to watch your angles when you do move on to these other passes, as its quite common to have to flatten the angle a bit for the ATG pass.

Another little tip is to strop the razor after each shave as well. This cleans the micro gunk off the edge and makes sure the edge is dry. Just do 10 material and 15 leather after, and then dry the blade off. It'll really help keep your edges in good condition!

Congrats again and good luck!

congrats on getting a better shave. best thing you can do is keep trying, it gets better trust me.

Thanks - this and the advice on stropping I got in the other thread have me convinced to start stropping, too.

I know about styptic pencils, and I did use one on my nick this morning.

It's a little odd not shaving ATG, I've shaved only ATG with my DE since the 1970s. I'll be happier when I get to that point on the str8! But yeah, for now, it's best to go slow.

Sounds like you are on the right path, Take it slow, and gradually work your way to other areas of your face. and then the XTG and ATG passes.

Originally Posted by Bootstrap

My first day, I had a couple of bad gashes. Yesterday, some people on the freenode #srp channel pinged me, offering advice and encouragement, and I did much better today.

Glad to hear you're improving!

Sounds great so far. My tip to every newbie is to watch out for the "pause." If you leave the razor on your face while you are thinking about what to do next you are bound to cut yourself by just moving the razor a fraction of an inch. When you are not making a definitive pass get the razor off your face. Should save you a lot of unecessary cuts.