First Real Shave

Hey! I've been spending a lot of time reading posts on this site, waiting for the day when I had some straight razor experience, so I could contribute. Well, that day has arrived. This morning I had my first real straight razor shave.

I've been interested in straight razor shaving for quite awhile, but it wasn't until recently that I found out my dad actually has a J.A. Henckels razor, as well as a strop. He no longer has the time to put into the ritual, so he was more than willing to pass his razor and strop on to me. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I've been to shave with a straight. I figured that the razor should be professionally honed prior to me using it, since I'm new to this world, and need to learn with something that is truly "shave-ready." So I took it to Leavitt & Pierce in Cambridge, MA because they said they had a sharpening service available that could do straight razors. I gave my razor to them, they passed it on to the people who do the sharpening (Siraco Sharpening Service, if anyone is curious or has some experience with them). The razor came back sharper, but I was skeptical nonetheless since I could find no reviews for them.

So I did exactly what I should have done: I sent it to SRD to be REALLY honed, and at the same time bought SRD's 3" Red Latigo strop, since my dad's strop is starting to fall apart (the leather is in great condition, but the handles... not so much). When I received my parcel from SRD yesterday, I felt more confident, knowing that an expert honer (Lynn or Don) had blessed my blade with their abilities.

I wiped off the oil, and tried out the hanging hair test. Unfortunately, the blade refused to do anything to the hair. After looking up some more info on the HHT, I found out that it is not necessarily a very helpful test with all blades.

Before shaving, and because I was so excited about my brand new beautiful strop, I decided to put the strop to work a bit. I now know that I should have done my first shave with the razor exactly how it came back to me from SRD, but I figured my stropping technique (which I've practiced) was good enough that I wouldn't dull the blade. To any other beginners considering to buy a new strop, hear this: YOU WILL DAMAGE IT! I thought I was not too too bad at stropping (in fact, I thought I my stropping technique was good enough to not allow any mistakes), but already I have a couple of tiny nicks on it. Nothing too serious... yet; but keep the inevitable strop mutilation in mind when you pick yours.

Okay, so then I did the actual shave. I've amassed an embarrassing amount of soaps and cream since I started shaving with a brush a few months ago. But time and time again, Tabac proves to be my absolute favorite. I have AOS Sandalwood Cream, Proraso, a sample of Castle Forbes Cedar and Sandalwood, Spanish Fig and Nutmeg soap (by The Bath House - incredible scent), TOBS Avocado, and Nancy Boy (and a sample of Acqua di Parma, which I look forward to trying). But Tabac kills the competition every time.

Anyway, I showered, used a face scrub, lathered up with Tabac, let it sit (sometimes I put a hot towel over it , but not today), rinsed it off, re-lathered, and went to work with my Henckels blade. Honestly, it wasn't a great shave by any means. I probably bit off more than I could chew. Rather than doing just one cheek, I did everything except my chin and mustache. [Side note: I shaved 2 other times with the straight razor after I had it sharpened c/o Leavitt and Pierece, but still my experience is very limited]. I think I only nicked myself once, but the shave was not particularly smooth, and for the second pass I used my Merkur HD.

Followed up with an alum block, Nivea Extra Soothing (or whatever the really popular aftershave is), and then Cetaphil. There were a couple of spots on my face that felt a little irritated, but overall I felt pretty good.


I just wanted to share my experience with everyone else. Though the shave was nowhere near perfect, at least I know that my razor has a fantastic edge, and with practice I will learn the angles, the necessary pressure (or lack thereof), and the perfect formula for a perfect shave. I'd love to hear feedback, suggestions, similar experiences... anything.

Oh! And while I'm at it, I have 2 questions. Does anyone follow their shave with an alum block, witch hazel, AND an aftershave balm? Do you feel that the addition of witch hazel makes a noticeable difference? Also, today I bought a bar of Mitchell's Wool Fat soap, which is NOT the shaving soap. Tallow is the first ingredient listed (and there's lanolin and glycerin in it as well); is there a major difference between the bar soap and the shave soap? I didn't buy it to use a shaving soap, but I'm kind of curious how it might perform...


Thank you, SRP (special thanks to Lynn and Don), for teaching me the proper way to enter the world of straight razor shaving.

JP

Well done and welcome to SRP! :tu

To answer one of your questions - Yes, I find myself using half of the stuff in my cabinet if my shave isn't perfect. In fact, during my last shave I kinda spaced and so I had some irritation. Plus, the dry, cold weather hitting my dry skin didn't help. After the shave I did a hot water rinse, cold water rinse, Alum block, Lucky Tiger Aspen AS, Lubriderm FF, Dickinson's Witch Hazel, then more Lubriderm. By the end my face felt fine and it felt like I hadn't even shaved after about a half hour. Except for the BBS, of course. :D

If anyone's starting to think there's something wrong with me, I just have dry face skin, especially near my chin. I use Lubriderm FF on my arms, face and neck everyday to keep from looking ashy.

Congrats on your start to the right way to shave!! :tu

As to the HHT, and the myriad other tests, I don't put much stock in them. Once properly honed (which you had done), the only things you will need, beyond your strop, are a pasted strop and a barbers hone to maintain your edge for a very long time. The only time you would need a new edge is if you damage the edge in some way (like dinging it on the faucet). There is only one true test, the shave. Passing the HHT does not guarantee a good shave. When the razor begins to tug it's time to use the pasted strop or barbers hone to refresh your edge... :beer1:

Congrats on your first str8 shave!! The tugging and pulling can also be caused by tenative strokes, when I first started(about 3 months ago), I had the same problem. Luckily I new it wasnt the razor because I got it sharpened at SRD and did my first shave without stropping, actually I did my first two shaves without stropping cause I was so worried about destroying the edge. But even with that sharp razor it tugged and pulled until I made my shaving strokes with a purpose, you need some momentum to easily cut the whiskers. The not so close shave was probably caused by the angle, to steep and it feels as though it is ripping the whiskers instead of popping them off. It should be a somewhat subtle sound, not like the sound of velcro getting pulled apart. If the angle is too shallow the razor will pass over the whiskers without cutting. Even with the DE experience you have the str8s are different enough you will have a learning curve to go through. I am sure that you have your prep down(one thing that does carry over from DE's) and IIRC you said you had SRD hone your razor, so that should take care of the shave ready razor, provided you havent rolled the edge stropping. So that leaves stropping, pressure, angle, stretching and mapping, work on those and the close comfortable shave will follow. I think you could wait on a pasted strop, I have about 15+ shaves on the two razors I rotate and they both still seem as sharp as the day they came in the mail, you would most definitely want to wait until your strop technique is improved before using paste any way. When you strop pay attention to the spine( if anything does lose contact with the strop, make sure it is the edge and not the spine), and go slow. I never have nicked my strop but it did take about 2 months before I really got it down to where I could use a little speed, interestingly enough that was also the first day I had a BBS shave. It just takes practice and you will be wondering why you didnt start shaving with a str8 sooner,imo. Good luck and enjoy.

itsjreal,

Congratulations on your first shave. Your description is reminiscient of my own approx. two months ago.

As for your question...My post-shave includes a cold water splash, alum block, after shave balm, and either after shave or cologne.

I don't use witch hazel, but I guess it wouldn't hurt. IMHO, though, the alum block performs the same function as the witch hazel. That is, it serves as an astringent.

Thanks for all the feedback! I only need to shave every 2 or 3 days, so tomorrow I will embark on my second shave. I guess in the beginning I should stick with Tabac when I use my straight, to keep that particular variable consistent from one shave to the next. Though I have to admit, I love the AOS sandalwood cream I have, and I think I can build a pretty mean lather with it. The Nancy Boy cream that I just got is also coaxing me, though admittedly I had some trouble with it drying too quickly despite the fact that I thought I'd used enough water. Anyway, I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

Also, I used that MWF soap bar when I showered today, and all I can say is that tallow-based soaps are fantastic. It lathered up extremely well and was so rich, I was absolutely amazed; I probably could use it for shaving if I wanted to. One of these days I'll buy the actual MWF shaving soap, and I'll be curious as to how it performs.

Good work, my first shave was far worse, so waiting on my razor to come back from a proper hone. I'll be sticking with Tabac all the way when I do use it. There are a couple of soaps that come close; L'Occitane Cade, for one, but Tabac is still the best, I think.

Alum or witch hazel - using both is superfluous, as they do exactly the same thing. Overdoing the astringents can just dry the skin out IMO. I prefer WH, then I use a balm, as I like to put some moisture back.

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Originally Posted by itsjreal

Thanks for all the feedback! I only need to shave every 2 or 3 days, so tomorrow I will embark on my second shave. I guess in the beginning I should stick with Tabac when I use my straight, to keep that particular variable consistent from one shave to the next. Though I have to admit, I love the AOS sandalwood cream I have, and I think I can build a pretty mean lather with it. The Nancy Boy cream that I just got is also coaxing me, though admittedly I had some trouble with it drying too quickly despite the fact that I thought I'd used enough water. Anyway, I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

Also, I used that MWF soap bar when I showered today, and all I can say is that tallow-based soaps are fantastic. It lathered up extremely well and was so rich, I was absolutely amazed; I probably could use it for shaving if I wanted to. One of these days I'll buy the actual MWF shaving soap, and I'll be curious as to how it performs.

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Try adding a few drops (3-4) of glycerin to your Nancy Boy shave cream. That may help retard the drying process.

The wiki's are an amazing resource. Just like Lynn says, don't go for BBS until you have mastered your razor angles and just take it slow. Baby steps. If you properly read the wiki and pay attention you will rarely need to ask for help. But for me I learn better by direct interaction.
I use witch hazel and it helps a lot. Haven't used the alum block though.

This morning I had my second shave since getting my razor honed by SRD. I felt that the shave was significantly better than my last one, despite the fact that I nicked myself a couple of times. I lathered up my face with Tabac and let it sit for a few minutes while I stropped my razor. Then I rinsed, re-lathered, and went to work. I think I can credit the improvement to mainly two things: one was that I have increased the angle slightly (I think my blade angle was too shallow before, and so was not really doing an effective job of cutting), and the other was, as suggested, to make my strokes more confident and less tentative. Like I said, I did nick myself a couple of times on my neck, but that's partly because I wasn't stretching the skin... I'll know for next time. I did one (almost) complete pass with the straight razor, and followed up with a second pass courtesy of my DE. Though the alum block stung a bit more than usual, after rinsing, applying Nivea Extra Soothing ASB, and then a little Cetaphil, my face feels great! I look forward to my next shave, and I feel confident knowing what areas I need work on improving.

Does anyone have any suggestions for stretching the skin? I find that when I want to stretch the skin, it is often too slick and I'm unable to get a good grip on it.

Thanks!

JP

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Originally Posted by itsjreal

And while I'm at it, I have 2 questions. Does anyone follow their shave with an alum block, witch hazel, AND an aftershave balm?

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Yes. The Witch hazel seems to help out more that just the alum. I don't think its overkill. I'm a str8 newbie, but have been doing this daily for years with my DEs. HTH.

EDITED: I'm going to give the Cetaphil a try - good idea.

Congrats on your second shave, sounds like your making great progress. Thats why I enjoy str8 shaving so much, every shave you can easily see your improvement. As your pressure and angles improves the stinging will subside. With stretching I think you will find that as you progress you will get a routine down to where you will be able find a spot that is clean and dry to place your stretching hand. I wondered the same thing when I started, it seemed everytime I went to stretch I needed to put my fingers somewhere that still had lather, I even went so far as to only lathering sections of my face at a time so I always had a clean place for my fingers to grab hold of. However that got to be a pain in the butt and made my shave take way too long so I went back to lathering the whole beard and started trying to find an order in which I could shave so that my stretching fingers were outside my lather lines or could be placed in a spot that had been cleaned up already from shaving. Make sure your fingers are dry too, or when you put them on your face where the lather was it will slicken up right away, if they are dry it kind of feels sticky and will help. Basically it will just take a little time, just like everything else in sr8 shaving. Good luck and keep enjoying your shaves.