Thread: Confessions of a newb

I wanted to share my story so far and my setup. Thanks to all of the help and guidance I've received in these forums. I spent a LOT of time on the wiki, and youtube trying to perfect my shave and stropping.

I've always had trouble with ingrown hairs - I'm of german decent, fair haired, and only shaved 3 times a week. I always blamed the shave cream for my problems so I kept trying new ones. I found that the CC Bigelow tubes from BBW worked great for me! After 6 months of using the Proraso tube (CC Bigelow) and applying it by hand my friend got me to buy his old EJ Best Badger. It turned out that my friend had a hidden addiction - he liked to collect and experiment with different shave creams, blades, brushes, oils, etc..then I find you guys and now I'm an addict too!!

So now I have a decent badger brush and he talks me into ordering a tube of 1805 - now I'm HOOKED! My problems with razor burn are all but gone and my ingrown hairs were much less frequent. I then got a Merkur DE and found that my ingrowns were gone.

Next I get lucky and am given an old Craftaman ERN blade that's in pretty darned good shape considering it's age. I send it to Max for a restore - and WOW. He spiffied it up and replaced the scales. Like everyone else I did NOT heed the "just do the one cheek" advice. I tried the whole face. I've never had razor burn so bad!! The next few times I just stick to one cheek..then on to two...then onto multipasses on each cheek. I've been doing it for over a month now and I can do my cheeks no problem - BBS. Everything else is still a mess. I can shave with the grain on my neck, but any other pass leads to pretty bad razor burn and it's not a very close shave. I have to finish with my DE. It seems that short strokes help reduce the burn, but there are some parts of my neck I can't reach.

Stropping - I think I'm finally getting it. I got the SRD Premium II, and I also got the learning strop from KRUP. I've only made a small nick or two in each and I'm slowly getting my speed up. I actually like the draw/feel of the cheaper strop - someone once describe proper draw as feeling a vacuum between the blade and strop, and that's what I feel. I think I'm stropping ok - my cheeks don't get razor burn. I lead with the spine but find myself putting press on the tang that forces the edge down closer to the leather - is this dangerous?

1) How can I get better with my neck? Would a preshave oil help? I'm stretching my neck out as far as it can go, but to slide the blade against the grain means dragging it from my ear/jaw down towards my adams apple - and that's freakin difficult to maneuver! The blade tends to drag when I'm near my adams apple - this means I'm going at a bad angle, right?

2) I've always worried that I'm not getting the soap/creamater ratio right. The lathers are all great and frothy, and they spread well - but they seem to dry out on my face quickly. During the second pass I usually have to rub water onto my face, or put more water into the scuttle and whip it up again. I'm soaking my brush for atleast 10mins before lathering.

3) When I used the fusion cartridge my aftershave was (for the last 15 years) Seabreeze. The first time I used a DE I splashed on some SeaBreeze and then screamed just about every profanity I know - it H-U-R-T. The next time I tried good ol' Limes & Peppercorns from Ogallala and it still hurt pretty bad. Now I'm restricted to Dickinsons or Thayers witch hazel - they don't hurt. Am I doing something so wrong that normal ASs won't work?

My setup:
Merkur DE - I can't use the derby's. I found that the feathers work the best for me.
Craftsman SR - awesomely restored by Max - new scales and all.
Strop - SRD Premium II and RupRazor's The Filly.
DirtyBird 1.5 Scuttle - lather is still hot on the last pass.
Creams - Cella, TOBS Avocado, T&H 1805, Trumpers Coconut, Proraso tube and sensitive tub. I could sit and smell the creams all day long - hell, I could eat some of the Trumper's Coconut!!
AS - Ogallala all kinds, Thayers Witch Hazel, Dickinsons, SeaBreeze
AS Cream/Balm - l'Occitane, Earth Science balm, Lucky Tiger, Organic Grooming Dusk, Burt's Bee's. The Earth Science is really affordable and is as cooling/calming as l'Occitane and Lucky Tiger. the last two are merely ok.


I'm sure I'll have a million more questions in the future. Thanks for everyone's help so far!!

John

DUDE! as kind of a garage hermit/gearhead that razor came out bitchin!!! the trumpers coconut sounds really good i may have to try that....

i had lots problems with my neck when i first started
because the upper portion of my neck the hair growns down and then it seems as if there is a line where it all grows up so i have to flip the blade around and go up to get a wtg pass your just gonna have to learn to turn your head and tilt it till you get it tight i would also spend some time looking in the mirror before you shave get a good look see how everything is growing as for as oils i dont use any. i also have to sometimes add a little water to the cream between passes beause it likes to dry up but i would rather have a thick lather that may dry out some i can always add more water but if you get to much water you have to start over hope this helps you some

Welcome to SRP and congrats on some nice gear. IMO there are two major causes for razor burn, too much pressure and/or the wrong angle. The pressure part you will have to work out on your own. Ya really just need enough to keep the blade on your face to shave if the blade is honed and stropped properly. As for the angle, it's hard to get the right angle when you use peripheral vision in areas like your neck. I had my lady friend watch me shave and tell me when my angle got too far out. After a while I developed a 'feel' for the proper angle and use the scales to help gauge it. Find someone to assist you and you'll improve quicker. I also shave in the evening when I am not rushed and can enjoy the shave.

Good luck and be sure to have fun as you learn.

Originally Posted by geonjay

I wanted to share my story so far and my setup.
......

Welcome.. and a hint.

Since your DE gives you a good shave take advantage of it
while you learn to use your str8.

Given your experience you might limit yourself to a single str8 razor
pass with-the-grain and then tidy up with your DE+feather. A DE
feather is a tough act to follow so work up to it.

What I suspect is that you are gripping your str8 too tightly
and at an angle that is problematic for you. So lighten up the
grip and focus on the bigger flat parts of your face until your
grip relaxes and you get the angle correct then expand to the
rest of your face bit by bit. Focus on a single pass shave
and tidy up with the DE. You will have graduated when
you reach for the str8 to tidy up after a DE shave.

In some ways a straight razor is like a high powered hand gun.
A relaxed grip not too light and for sure not too tight is what you need.
JimmyHAD's signature is spot on with regard to razors.

BTW: Nice brush, very nice.

Welcome to SRP. That Ern looks great. Max makes them better than new. When I used a DE Feather blades worked best for me as well. I've never had an ingrown hair and I haven't run into the irritation problems you experience since I learned to use multiple passes rather than trying to get bbs in one pass.

IOW I let the blade take as much of the whisker as it takes on the first pass and then re-lather and do a second pass. For my particular beard that is enough to get the bbs. Sometimes lately I actually get it with one pass and a few touch ups but I think that is a combination of improved technique and my whiskers not being so coarse.

You'll find that with practice and a sharp straight razor your shaves will get better and better. As niftyshaving said use light pressure and read my sig line below. What the old barber told me works when I practice it.

This is all great advice! I feel that the blade is sharp enough - considering that I'm totally green to this. My first pass WTG never seems to shave very close at all, it's still kind of rough. I noticed this the very first time I shaved. I'll try to relax my grip a bit.

The brush is from Bryce C on eBay - that brush is freakin amazing!! Great loft, can hold a TON of water, shakes dry pretty quickly. Did I mention how beautiful it is? It was a steal compared to some of the name brands of equal quality.

I've shown my wife the wiki pictures regarding passes/angles. I'll ask her to help guide me.

John,

Welcome to SRP...

++1 on the advice given in the previous posts--and congratulations on your transition to DE and str8 razor shaving.

Although you are of German and I am of African American decent, we both took the same shaving route for similar reasons and have experienced the same results--a closer shave and fewer skin problems.

As for your questions...I have a similar problem with the hairs on my neck. I found that the best way to get a close shave there was to hold the skin taut and shave WTG, then at at a 40-45 degree angle. Not quite XTG on my neck, but it gets the job done. Recently, I have also begun to shave my neck ATG. I know...It sounds scary, but it results in the smoothest BBS shaves on my neck that I have experienced to date. BTW...Lynn Abrams's dvd on shaving was a great help for me in this area.

As for your second question...I too have experienced lather drying out on my face during shaving. I don't worry too much about it, though. I attribute it to the extreme care that I dedicate to str8 razor shaving as well as the low humidity in my house which has central heating. My solution to dry lather is much like yours--rub some water on my fce and relather. That works for me so far and I assume that it works for you too.

Finally, concerning razor burn...Do you splash your face with cold water before appllying your aftershave balm, then your aftershave? If not, then do so. The burning you are experiencing may be due to the fact that your skin's pores are still open after shaving. The cold water will close your pores and the ASB will initiate the proces of soothing your skin before you apply the alcohol based aftershave.

Just my 2 cents.

Again, congratulations and welcome to SRP.

I know this redundant at this point, but again, Your angle and pressue normally cause razor burn. It will take some time for you to get it down. Just be aware when you shave your neck not to apply to much pressue, and less is more when it comes to angle. You will develop a feel for it.