Thread: Journal of discovery, learning to use a straight razor

Ok, so I decided to give it a go, even though I'd have to wait for my strop for my 2nd shave.

My plan has been to follow the beginner's instructions stickied at the top of this forum and ease my way into straight shaving.

I took a hot shower, and really washed my face good. I also conditioned my growth and let that sit for a few minutes. The last thing I did was rinse my face off, then got out and started the lather letting my face stay wet. I used a KissMyFace shaving soap that I've had around, as I saw that recommended somewhere. Not using too much water at all, I thought it made a nice thick lather. Of course, this is my first time really lathering up properly, so it could have been horrible lather as far as I know. I spent about twice as long lathering up as I thought was appropriate, just to make sure I did a good job. After reading about how lathering with a brush differs from the normal finger lather (gentle exfoliation close to the hair) I tried to really work the tips of the hairs around instead of the sides of the hairs to get that close cleaning/exfoliation action going good.

I got my dovo out, got a good grip, and did a few mock passes an inch above my face just to get a feel for it. Then it was finally time to touch razor to skin.

I did my dominant side sideburn and cheek, paying close attention to angle, the feel of the cut, and trying to stretch my lathered skin. I found myself constantly flattening out the razor against my skin and having to readjust the angle. I cleared that side of my face using 1 inch strokes. I initially thought that the whole of the blade swept the side of the face when shaving, but I found with my facial contours I only used 1/4 to 1/3 of the blade most of the time. I'm not concerned with a close shave at this stage in the game, just completing a single pass WTG, getting my face adjusted to the straight, and building proper technique.

Well, it didn't take too long for me to finish that side of the cheek, so thought, "What the hell, lets keep going." My left hand was horribly uncoordinated with the razor, so I reached around to the other side with my right. This side went a bit faster since I had a better feel of what I was doing (although I was definitely taking my time). I did get one nick near the bottom of my ear though. I had finished a stroke, and at the very end I slid the blade sideways as I lifted it up. Got a nice clean cut about 1/4 of an inch long. Amazingly, the cut was so clean it closed right up in about a minute, even though my face was still pretty wet. (I've always healed cuts fast).

Ok, so both cheeks done, and I wanted to go on. So down to the neck I went. This area proved much more difficult, since my neck hair grows horizontally, away from my Adam's Apple. I've always shaved XTG N-S here, never WTG, so it was very awkward. Eventually I just cut XTG and it seemed to work well. No cuts.

Next I went under the chin. This went very well as I was able to pull it nice and tight and I was really focusing on my angles. No cuts This is where I really noticed the difference that good angle + tight skin makes.

At this point I was left with a goatee, and decided to attack the upper lip. Short strokes here, very tight skin and really really focusing on angle and not cutting my lip off. It was slow going, as the hairs really seemed to want to grab the razor, but I got it done with no cuts.

Finally the chin was all that was left. I've always hated shaving the chin, very curvy. I found pulling the skin to flatter parts helped a lot, but there were still areas that were on the rounded part of my chin no matter what. I just had to let them be. I simply don't have the skill to take on the chin yet, no matter how cautious.

I rinsed with cold water and splashed on the bay rum, OUCH!!! I dried my razor off, paying close attention not to hurt the cutting edge. To dry the edge, I did a gentle stropping motion on my towel which dried it nicely.

I should say that I was constantly re-lathering so that I wasn't shaving over skin that was simply wet. The KissMyFace stuff is supposed to be a moisturizing soap as well, and I think my face feels softer than after my normal skin wash, but I could just be imagining it. The lather was getting a little cold near the end though, so I just made a fresh batch with warm water (I was running out of hot at this point).

So anyway, that's my first shave. A little over excited, but I think everyone is that way their first time. I was really focusing on getting the skin tight, holding the razor at the proper angle, and the feeling that tight skin and proper angle gives me. I don't have a close shave, but I don't expect that with a simple WTG pass.

Oh, and my face smells WONDERFUL!