Thread: Beginners Straight Shaving Journal

Originally Posted by AxelH

Leadduck: my name is Axel.

Brantd: glad to see you didn't pull a "Todd" on yourself!

My first time was quite an event, too. I had a member-honed and bought 13/16 Dovo "Best Quality" round tip as my str8-razor hymen-breaking experience. Stropping was easy but I was too careful and hesitant in my technique (stropped too lightly and took too long). Still managed a very good shave, considering my relative newness. Months of reading on this forum was invaluable, truly, helping to avoid all the classic pitfalls. My first shave took about 45 minutes, but all that was lacking was the neck. Everything else was pretty much shaven. Now I can pull out a well shaved countenance in about 25 minutes, and my skin is looking better than ever.

Exiting the apartment on an eight minute walk to work my face underwent a quiet assault from Minnesota's ice crystals. A little microderm abrasion to top it all off. Not snowflakes, no, melted and refrozen clumps of ice crystals whipping hard into the face. That was mother nature's warm reception to straight razor shaving. For two hours my face threatened to be razor burned, but then it magically went away. The closer you flirt with shaving perfection, most likely, the better your skin will take it. It's a combination of the quality of the shaving edge and your skin's condition. I'm doing things to my face I know I couldn't possibly have gotten away with before, all because of a gradual adaptation, totally credited to my skin's enhanced resiliency and toughness.

Enjoy your shaves.

Another Minnesoata Miracle.

Originally Posted by Brantd

things i changed this shave compared to the last one:
-added in an ATG pass
- increased the blade angle (realized that i had the blade on too low of an angle (10-20 degrees maybe) that extra 10-15 degrees definitely makes a HUGE difference

Are you saying that you used 10-20 degrees on an ATG pass?

I would be rinsing flesh down the sink with that steep of an angle on the ATG. ATG's really need to be almost flat against the face to allow you to use no pressure to pull it off. The steeper the angle, the more the beard hooks onto the edge of the razor, the more pressure to cut it, the more razor burn, weepers and all the other red stuff.

Originally Posted by Alembic

Are you saying that you used 10-20 degrees on an ATG pass?

I would be rinsing flesh down the sink with that steep of an angle on the ATG. ATG's really need to be almost flat against the face to allow you to use no pressure to pull it off. The steeper the angle, the more the beard hooks onto the edge of the razor, the more pressure to cut it, the more razor burn, weepers and all the other red stuff.

No, i was talking with an normal WTG pass, at first i was so scared of the blade that it was pretty much glued to my face.