Thread: First attempt

Well as another novice I'm with you on thinking its trickier than expected, but having had my 2nd shave last night I found it felt a lot less wrong if you can understand that!

It's much trickier than using the cartridge razor I had and takes, oh, five times longer. However, I cannot say I've ever looked forward to shaving prior to buying a straight razor. I hope the novelty never wears off!

Sometimes in the side burn area, my hand or wrist obscures my vision. I like the advice of turning my face a little more toward the mirror! I'll definitely give that a shot next time, that might help. When I was "shaving blind" I'd just double check i had clearance around my ear and just shave blind by the feel of the razor, didn't let it stop moving and it worked out.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by your hand or the scales obscuring your vision while you shave.
When doing sideburns you should (if doing correctly ) be able to see the blade or part of it at least in the mirror as it touches your skin-(I don't remember making any attempt to cut anything without being able to see the blade or most of it when I started.otherwise how can one judge the angle?)
Examine the way you are holding the razor,practice in the mirror and compare it to the videos of shaving in the wiki-this is what i did because I can remember being confused about grip on my first attempts. This may also cure your slippery grip problem apart from making sure your fingers are free from soap or lather prior to picking up the razor.
My technique is different from yours in that I only use my dominant hand to shave but I still hold with the above.
All in all though your experience is in line with making good progress and as your journey continues ,things will soon click into place. Enjoy the learning curve!
Just my twopence worth!
Hope this helps .
Regards

Noggs

Originally Posted by noggs247

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by your hand or the scales obscuring your vision while you shave.
When doing sideburns you should (if doing correctly ) be able to see the blade or part of it at least in the mirror as it touches your skin-(I don't remember making any attempt to cut anything without being able to see the blade or most of it when I started.otherwise how can one judge the angle?)

Well that's sort of what I meant, I'm only shaving with my dominant hand (right) and when I swung it over for the left sideburns the hand would sometimes obscure my vision. I watched the videos, but it looks like both shavers are switching hands between sideburns so I'm not sure if my grip is correct for the left sideburn (with right hand). I'll keep looking.

Hi Chully71,

Originally Posted by chully71

Well that's sort of what I meant, I'm only shaving with my dominant hand (right) and when I swung it over for the left sideburns the hand would sometimes obscure my vision. I watched the videos, but it looks like both shavers are switching hands between sideburns so I'm not sure if my grip is correct for the left sideburn (with right hand). I'll keep looking.

I think I know what is going wrong-when you are shaving your right side in standard grip the scales should be right next to your right eye.When you switch to your left side,keep your grip the same but turn your hand so that the scales are right next to your left ear.your hand should be positioned justl below your left eye and be nowhere near your line of sight to the blade as it touches the sideburn.
Note:-It is too tricky to line the blade up perfectly with the sideburn -so I use the ATG pass to perfect the line.
Hope this helps
Regards

Noggs

Regards

Noggs