First Straight Shave... sorta

I say "sorta" because I've been using these Japanese disposable straight razors my sister sends me from Japan for almost a year. They are, however, quite a bit different in size and weight than the Gold Dollar I received in the mail yesterday from RupRazor. They have suitably let me get used to something other than a plastic for a bit, so I feel as though I've already conquered a few of the common newbie problems with technique thanks to those.

Anyhow...

Great shave! It could've been a bit closer, especially in my usual trouble spots, but still a good shave and fairly comfortable considering it was my first time using a proper straight, and best of all just 1 small nick in my mustache area, which was done bleeding of its own accord before I could even reach for a styptic pencil! Barely noticeable now after a rinse and some AS.

Many thanks to the whole SRP community for advice and RupRazor for the fine product!

Here's to many more great shaves and the pursuit of that perfect BBS shave!

Cheers! :beer2:

Welcome mate and congrats on your successful "first" shaves. Further practice will make it better yet, just try to suck up all the info and continue improving your technique and prep.

On a sidenote, I take it that those disposables aren't the Feather artist club, but rather a blade on a stick... It would be interesting to see these disposable straights. Any chance of a pic?

You're correct! They are not the Feather style disposables, and it is more like a razor on a stick. I'll put together a few pics as soon as I get the chance (eating lunch at the moment, just didn't want to leave you hanging:)). Hopefully I can find something to take the picture next to around here so the size of the shaver is put into context...

Okay, finally got some pictures together... took them with my phone, which oddly doesn't have a flash camera and the light's dim in here but it should work okay to show you the disposables:

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6749/...6184752.th.jpg
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/345...6184727.th.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/323...6184706.th.jpg

As you can see, the blade is tiny compared to a typical straight razor size. The shaver itself is all metal, and is quite light in comparison to the Gold Dollar I started shaving with today. Holding the entire box of 5 shavers in one hand, and the GD in the other seems to be approximately even weight. A big difference in feel and shave, but I'm confident the GD will give a better shave when I adjust my technique to the larger, heavier blade.

That's one cool shave-onna-stick. Tiny but futuristic. Thanks for showing it.

At least some of the japanese disposable have a reputation being super-sharp (feather comes to mind) so you have a pretty good base in your technique. You probably have to tweak the technique a bit for your GD though by tuning the angle and pressure.

Do note that we have just an amazing wiki here, and it's very friendly to beginners.