1st shave! Need help

Hi everyone, I just had my first shave and just like everyone else mentioned it wasnt great. It felt choppy and not smooth.I ended up with like 4 cuts.
Need help on:

Making lather : I have a mug and I have a dish with a cover that the soap came in. How does this process work extacly. I read some things and saw some things but I dont really get it. Do I remove the soap and put the whole thing in the mug? or... was that just the dumbest question ever..

Shaving: no idea what went wrong. It felt like it was not a smooth shave at all.

my equip is the dovo 6/8 set from SRD.

Welcome to SRP!

First off, you did a good job getting a shave ready razor. :tu did you strop it by any chance? If not, I'd say it's definitely not the razor that's the problem.

For the soap, soak your brush, wet the soap and rub the brush until it's covered in soap. Then in a different mug/bowl/scuttle/directly on your face, rub the brush until you get big foamy suds. It should look like wet whipped cream and feel slick. Add water a little at a time until it's right.

If you haven't done it yet, check out the wiki and read through the beginner's section. The general suggestion is to pace yourself, but I didn't. :shrug: Make sure the angle on your razor is ~30 degrees or less - meaning, keep the spine about two spine widths or less off your skin. Don't push into your skin, but keep a even, confident pressure as you slide the razor along your face. Make sure you use your other hand to pull the skin from behind the growth of the hair to keep the skin tight and the whiskers standing up.

You do have to realize this isn't an overnight skill, but it's definitely something that gets easier as you go along. Read up as much as you can and keep asking questions. You'll get there soon enough. Enjoy the ride and good luck! :gl:

+1 on the SRD Razor, it's not your equipment, There's a huge learning curve in str8 razor shaving. Some get it quicker than others, so don't be discouraged. Hang in there.
As previously mentioned, pay close attention to your angle. This is normally the culprit.
Be sure your doing a proper pre shave routine...As far as lather building goes, You work your brush into the soap, and transfer the brush to a scuttle or a mug or a dish. Whip it up in there with very small amounts of water. Check Youtube, There's a guy named mantic59 I believe. His vids are excellent. You can actually go straight from the soap container to your face as well...Lot's of options here, but most guys build lather in a seperate scuttle.

Cuts are caused by the razor moving sideways, in most cases. The whiskers have to be properly hydrated and there must be adequate cream on your face. Otherwise your lack of skill will feed the problems with the other two. The razor can catch on dry spots and suddenly move sideways because your not securing the razor with enough pressure or becuase the razor has no "give". Find one of the 10,000 posts by JimmyHad and read his signature. It has a clue in there about finger pressure that is very important to prevent nicking.

maybe some more info will help... first off, what areas did you first try to shave, and what areas did you cut? (I know that the first time I tried my chin and upper lip, it didn't feel smooth and almost felt like it was skipping). What else can you tell us about your experience in terms of how you went about your shave from start to finish, and where specifically you had your greatest difficulty. Were there any parts of the shave that went well? The details may help us give better advice.

Hello, aznaod7:

BingoBango has offered excellent suggestions for you. I throw in the links below for additional help.

• Preparing your face
• Making lather
• Shaving
• Post shave treatment

Preparing the face for the shave is imperative. Take a look at the above links. Also, check out U-Tube for lather-making videos by Mantics59. He has some good stuff there.

This is what I do for my daily lather:

On the way to the shower, my brush goes into a pewter shave mug filled with hot water (no boiling; just hot). This mug is used for making lather. I also put a little hot water in another mug that hold a puck of soap.

Out of the shower and after applying a pre-shave treatment on my face, I shake the brush off gently four or five times to remove almost all the water. After emptying the little water from the soap mug, I swirl the brush in there about 15, 20 times to load it with soap.

Then I make my lather in the pewter mug by swirling the brush about two minutes or so, gauging the lather as I go along for texture and body. When it's ready, I apply the lather, strop my razor, and then begin to shave.

Wet shaving with a straight razor has a learning curve. You'll get there with practice and patience. Stay with it.

Regards,
Obie

aznaod7,

++++1 on the advice offered in the previous posts. Make sure that you prepare your face as well as your shaving equipment for the shave. That includes your brush and soap. Above all, be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is the perfect str8 razor shave. Don't expect to get a BBS shave the first time or in the first month. Apply light pressure as you move the razor WTG of your beard. Later, as you gain in confidence, you can try XTG or even ATG with selected parts of your face.

Hang in there chief, it will only get better.

Take care--and smooth shaving.

Learning to straight shave is hard - anyone who says otherwise is either not being upfront, or has peach fuzz for a beard.

I'm only doing it a couple of times a week and many, many weeks later, I'm only getting near to completing a full 1st pass. I've the SRD Dovo 6/8 too, and its got a good rep.

No matter what you shave with, its not going to go well if you don't make good lather. The best and easiest way is to fully soak the brush, squeeze it and then load it up with soap - not foam or suds, but a pasty, creamy thick soap. How long to load depends on your brush and soap, but to begin with, more is better.

Then take the brush to a cereal bowl (you need something with some room to work in) or your face, and add drop of water as you build it. You want moist, yoghurty stuff. Not cake frosting or thin water stuff. As you get better you'll get to know what is the right consistency that works for you.

The linked tute above is good - but I'd recommend loading up the brush way more than shown, as you can see in his pics, he had to go back to the puck for more. It's going to take more than a few swirls to load a brush.

Your shave will go smoother, but be prepared for a way to go. The shaves will suck to start with.

I've been there ! I've been using a str8 for several months now (the first couple were with a feather though) It will get better with practice, To me it felt like i had never shaved before. my first real razor was a spike point and it drew lines on my face a few times. The round point really helped, but i still got a few nicks from moving the razor the wrong direction, it don't take much either. Practice helps, ie as time goes by you will get better and better. I don't bleed near as much now!

I had terrible shaves with mug soap too. The gels from a can are hard to beat. My favorite is Eucerin shaving gel for men, sensitive skin. The lube from the gel really helps, at least for me.,

I got some of SRD mug soaps with essential oils, and now can get a good shave with soap from the mug. The first mug soap i had came with the mug i bought. It was no better than ivory. The new soaps i got from SRD is glycerine based (I think). its a clear soap that smells good and offers lubrication that i have found i really need. without the lube I don't enjoy shaving. (I still use the gels if i'm in a hurry or traveling). I found that after i got a really good razor and found these good soaps, shaving is a "treat". Hell, I'm 50yrs old and find shaving as cool as it was when i first shaved back in the 70's!

stick with it and you will be amazed at how good (and fun) shaving with a straight razor can be,

Kirk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aznaod7

Hi everyone, I just had my first shave and just like everyone else mentioned it wasnt great. It felt choppy and not smooth.I ended up with like 4 cuts.

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aznaod7,
Did you try to shave your entire face the first attempt? My suggestion is that you take it in stages. Just shave the sideburn area on your dominant side with the grain (WTG) only down to the jawline. Use short strokes of 1/2 - 1" with the razor held at a 30 degree angle to your skin. (You'll find illustrations of that in the references Obie provided you.) Use just a light touch with the razor. Don't forget to stretch your skin. Watch some shaving videos to get an idea as to what you need to do.

You're only trying to remove *some* of the hair--you're not trying to get a baby butt smooth shave yet. After you do that sideburn area, finish shaving with whatever razor you were using before you bought your straight from SRD.

Do just the above for the next few shaves. When you feel confident enough, do the sideburn area on the non dominant side, again, WTG only. I encourage you to learn to use your non dominant hand on your non dominant side. Don't forget to stretch your skin and finish shaving with your regular razor.

Once you feel confident shaving WTG on both sideburn areas, add the cheeks--WTG only. As your confidence builds, add your neck and jaw. Lastly, add your chin and upper lip. (You will still be finishing your shave with your original razor.)

Only after you feel confident shaving your entire face WTG, add a second pass shaving across the grain (XTG). And when your're confident with two passes, it will be time to work in a third pass, against the grain (ATG).

XTG and ATG passes are not done with a 30 degree angle. ATG passes are done at a 5 degree angle. That's with the blade nearly flat against the skin. Again, you'll find a clear illustration in the references that Obie provided you.

Even when you start working three passes--WTG, XTG & ATG--you'll still be finishing your shave with the razor you used before you purchased your straight. All this time you spend shaving--each time with small successes building on each other--you'll be learning more and more about your face, your razor and how you work the two of them together.

Again, there is no rush. We all learn at our own pace. Some guys were born with really soft facial hair that all grows in just one direction, so they have an easy learning curve. Me? My stubble is like a stiff wire brush and it grows in all sorts of weird directions, making three passes on my face quite a challenge. But I'm taking my time and getting there while having more fun than I ever imagined. You will too!

And yeah--welcome to the Straight Razor Place!
Namaste,
Morty -_-

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. :gl:

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