Finally, I've Joined the Ranks!

Hey everyone,

I just had my first straight razor shave Sunday evening. It was an incredible experience! I'd be less than honest if I didn't admit that I violated Lynn's rule about only shaving the dominant sideburn with the dominant hand for the first few days and adding as you progress. In my defense, my facial hair pattern is sparce and just shaving "one sideburn" would mean only shaving 5-10 whiskers:) My heaviest hair growth is chin, upper lip, and "soul patch", none of which have I shaved in years. I didn't attempt to shave every inch of my face, finishing up the hard-to-get areas with a safety razor. However, the areas that I shaved with my straight razor are Baby Butt smooth! It's hard to type this post when I'm too busy feeling how smooth my face is.

Thanks Lynn for getting my Bismarck "shave ready"!

Special thanks go to Obie for patiently "talking me down of the ledge" when I saw exactly how sharp Lynn can get a straight razor. Also, Obie gave me some fantastic advice that I'd like to share. He said to hold the razor like it's a bird - not so tight that you hurt it and not so loose that it will get away.

SRP is the best! I'd hate to think how my first SR experience would have been without its resources and advice.

My first SR SOD picture:

Greg

Welcome and WOW nice set up :)

Welcome ans wicked set up! And I did the same thing :D

Happy to hear that all went well with your first shave. Looking forward to your future posts in the SOTD forum.

Take care--and continued smooth shaving.

Cheers!

nice set up!

Sweet. Much nicer than my first setup. I didn't learn about Lyn until I'd bought several vintage blades, followed the advice of some online honing videos, and gradually picked up this and that bit of equipment. Didn't have a bader brush for more than a year.

Getting Lyn's DVD took me forward a degree of magnitude. Three years later I'm barely starting to move beyond what I learned there.

Congrats!

Congratulations. Yeah, that sure is a purdy set up you have there.

Listening to the "just shave one side under the side burn" is the functional equivalent of of listening to "you may not eat of the fruit from this one tree".:D

I have never taken a poll, but I'm pretty sure most people violate that advise. Next question is "what went wrong?":shrug:

It doesn't get any better than SRP for support.

Welcome. Looks like you're all set to go.

Preston,

Thanks for the comments. Much to my wife's chagrin, I never do anything by halves, from fly fishing gear to road bike, to mountain bike, to tools for my workbench, to wine selection. I believe in doing without until I can afford the best. Observing this trait in me as a young man, my late grandfather (who was modestly wealthy) told me that I had "champagne taste on a beer budget". Although I still drink beer, at this point in my life I can afford champagne now & then:).

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Originally Posted by prestonmcconkie

Sweet. Much nicer than my first setup. I didn't learn about Lyn until I'd bought several vintage blades, followed the advice of some online honing videos, and gradually picked up this and that bit of equipment. Didn't have a bader brush for more than a year.

Getting Lyn's DVD took me forward a degree of magnitude. Three years later I'm barely starting to move beyond what I learned there.

Congrats!

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champagne taste on a beer budget....is not a bad thing especially when it comes to tools fishing equipment or whatever it is. I figure if you spend the money and buy quality 1 time you spend less because you didnt buy the cheap one then break it only to realize you should of bought the quality one in the first place

Alembic,

Thanks!

The somewhat embarrassing thing that went wrong was in the lather arena. Although this was my first straight razor shave, I have been wet shaving for several years, albeit with a piece-of-junk $12 beauty-supply store brush. I decided to "get fancy" after seeing Jockey's cool scuttle with the hot water "double boiler". We just happened to have a green marble salsa bowl that was just slightly bigger than my brand new nickel shaving bowl. I used my C&E Sienna (love the scent) shaving soap and added 2-3 drops of glycerin (for the first time). Ah, yes, I never knew the part about gently whipping for at least 1 full minute to bring the lather to a latte consistency. That analogy did wonders for me as I can make a mean cappuccino. It was the creamiest lather ever. What went wrong you ask? Between the first and second application of this warm heaven-on-earth to my face I set my brush IN the nickel bowl, causing it to tip and allow water to rush into my PERFECT lather! I had to adjust and make some more. Although it slightly interrupted the flow of the process, Obie's fine music suggestions playing in the background kept this mishap from affecting my Zen. Worse things could have happened.

I love your quote, 'Listening to the "just shave one side under the side burn" is the functional equivalent of of listening to "you may not eat of the fruit from this one tree".' I said a similar thing in a PM to Obie that I'll PM to you - don't want to get kicked off the forum for posting something inappropriate:)

Thanks for the support!

Greg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alembic

Congratulations. Yeah, that sure is a purdy set up you have there.

Listening to the "just shave one side under the side burn" is the functional equivalent of of listening to "you may not eat of the fruit from this one tree".:D

I have never taken a poll, but I'm pretty sure most people violate that advise. Next question is "what went wrong?":shrug:

It doesn't get any better than SRP for support.

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Exactly Bama. My first boss just killed me. He owned a successful business and had a relatively nice house. The first time I visited in his home, I was stunned at how cheap & flimsy his furniture was - I knew he could afford much better. Not wanting to set a damp glass on a wooden end table, I was searching for a coaster. He realized what I was looking for and said "don't worry about hurting any of the furniture as we can replace it; we believe in buying the cheapest piece of junk we can find because the kids will just tear it up." Definitely a new concept to me - as children we were taught the value of things and how to take care of them. Oh well, to each his own...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BAMARACING8

champagne taste on a beer budget....is not a bad thing especially when it comes to tools fishing equipment or whatever it is. I figure if you spend the money and buy quality 1 time you spend less because you didnt buy the cheap one then break it only to realize you should of bought the quality one in the first place

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