Thread: 1st shave! Need help

Good advice here, so far. From one new guy to another I'll tell you that I've been at it a week now and today was MUCH better than my first shave, which was similar to yours.

Stick with the easy parts of your face and go at YOUR pace. Give yourself a month before you quit.

--David

Hi aznaod7, as everyone has said there is a learning curve and not just to manipulating the blade but to prep, lathering, to all of it and the whole is the sum of it's parts. So it takes time for it to all come together. Just don't give up and as AFDavis said, read my sig below to avoid nicks and cuts.

Aznaod7,

I'm right there with you except my first shave is probably going to be this weekend (I still need to find a place to hang my strop).

Anyway, I've been fiddling with my SRD soap, brush, pre-shave oil, and mug the last couple of cartridge shaves so I can hopefully make decent lather when it comes time for my first str8 shave.

So far I'm having trouble keeping the lather warm and it's not quite frothy enough. I've been soaking my brush in hot water, shaking it off a bit, putting a dab of hot water in the soap dish, and whipping it up right there in the soap dish. From the posts I'm reading here, it sounds like I should find a second mug or bowl to create the lather in. My shaves have been remarkably smoother with my cartridge than they used to be, so something with the pre-shave oil and soap lather is working.

I've noticed "raneyday" is new to this game too and is doing okay with a good attitude and patience, so I hope to follow in his footsteps just a few weeks behind him.

Best of luck to you.

-Stub

I don't envy you my man. You will be basically trying to learn three skills at one time: stropping, shaving, and making a lather. It will make it a little harder to figure out what needs improvement because you will have so many variables.

Here is the best description i have seen on how to make a good lather using a soap because it has such nice pictures. How to make great lather from a soap - ShaveWiki

Like everyone else says, just stick with it. The first three shaves are the worst. It will get better pretty quickly.

thanks for all the feed back everyone, i did take it really slow and im going in this knowing its going to take time to get used to.

special thanks to "the corner show" that page had some great picks for step to step action to getting that lather.

I am giong to try it again tonight I will update you guys on it tomrrow.

3rd shave:
I CUT MY STROP =[ i was very devastated when this happened. haha oh wells. the stroping does seem to make it feel better.

well the actual shave seems to be getting better actually. my lather skills seem better than my other two times too

still not too comfy and remainder hairs. is the stypic stuff supposed to sting so dang much?

and is it just me or is the plastic scales have a really cheap feel for the dovo best quality's.

Hello, Aznaody:

Slicing the strop in the beginning is part of the colorful ritual of learning to shave with a straight razor. I think many of us have done it. Don't let that throw you. You'll get better with each stropping.

I have the same Dovo Best Quality razor and don't find the plastic scales a problem. It's a personal case. In the meantime, don't fret about the plastic scales. There is plenty of time to acquire fancy razors. For now, what's important is to hone your skill with the straight razor. Please focus on that.

You're doing just fine. Stay with it.

Regards,

Obie