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

What a great shave today. So relaxing and enjoyable, plus I got it smoother than ever!

tl;dr version
*Great stropping session, felt very comfortable and really got in a groove
*Beard prep: Really went at it. Vigorous shampoo, lather with MWF, let conditioner sit, rinse well, 2nd lather with MWF using new techniques
*Shave: Great stropping made great shave! Did 1/2 face XTG for first time.

Reader's Digest version.
Figured it was time for another shave, had about 3 days growth. I started stropping the Dovo and really fell into a trance with it. The razor was touching the strop just right and my strokes were great and I just fell into a nice relaxing groove. As a matter of fact, I lost count on the leather and probably stropped well over 100 strokes! I do think my strop is lousy though, as the top half is still wavy, and so the razor only really makes good contact on the bottom half. I'm going to have to see about really getting this thing in better shape, or just up and get a different one.

Anyway, moving on. I expanded the normal beard prep. In another thread someone brought up really working the whiskers around vigorously, and this made a lot of sense to me. The "scales" that cover the hair would get worked open, allowing more hydration and easier access to the edge of the razor. So I shampooed my beard vigorously, rinsed that off, then grabbed my brush and worked some MWF into it for a few minutes as well. I rinsed that off really well, then grabbed the conditioner and started rubbing that in. My goal was to really bend the hairs around to work those scales open, and I think it paid off. I let the conditioner soak for a bit more while I cleaned the rest of the body, and then rinsed the conditioner off as best I could, dried off, threw some pants on, and started working up some more lather for the shave.

Now I did change something here. After the advise in this thread I made after my last shave, I made a soap dish separate from my scuttle. This way I could load up my brush, and if I needed to hydrate my lather some more, or whip up some more lather, I didn't need to take up more soap. This allowed better control over the soapater ratio and ultimately a better lather and shave.

So anywho, I lather up for another few minutes and grab my razor and start shaving. Oh My God what a shave ! The razor was so sharp, my technique has been continually improving, and I simply had the best shave of my life. Not BBS yet, since I didn't go ATG, but still closer than I've ever had it before. The razor popped off each whisker with the greatest of east and made the most glorious sound. I was so relaxed and enjoyed myself more than any other shave. And to think a month ago shaving was a hastle! Everything went so smooth and nice I was done before I knew it! So what to do? Lather up and go XTG of course! That goes well, although a little more grabby than the first pass. I finish up, rinse off with cold water and splash on the Bay Rum (Oh it burns!!!) Oh, no nicks or cuts either (always a good thing).

So thats my shave. Its been almost 3 weeks since my first shave and except for one shave, each one has been better than the last.

Till next time!

Great to hear Mark!

My last shave was a couple days ago as I've been busy with my new job promotion. It was a great shave. I even went ATG in most areas. The key to ATG, in my opinion, is to keep a MUCH lower angle, around 5 degrees. I believe there is even an illustration in the Wiki here on SRP. I cannot wait for my next shave, unfortunately I'm working nearly everyday (12hr days) at our store and another store tomorrow so hopefully I can make some time to relax tonight!

Oh side note! After my last pass I wanted to clean up some areas so I gave my face a few heavy splashes of warm water and started to shave these areas with just water. It worked amazingly well, and being able to see everything really helped with my technique! I think because my face was so hydrated from the conditioner (which I also use in the shower), and all the lathering, all it needed was warm water for my cleanup pass, with zero irritation.

I'm happy for the both of us, it feels great to get better at this.

G'luck!

anybody hear ever dealt with whipped dog? his site seems to say that the razors are not pretty but are usable. opinons?

His site also has a list of references on the left. Check those out if you have doubts. As for my dealings with the man I've found him to be very generous and helpful.

If you do a search for "LarryAndro" you can find posts and threads by him.

Oh, and nice job on the ATG karma! I may be one shave ahead of you, but you seem ahead of the game on me skill wise

tl'dr version: Pretty much same as the last one, tried a little ATG but was very tough so I stopped.

Readers Digest version
Got my 9th under my belt, and I feel my shaving technique is really starting to get proper and at ease. I did another long strop session, as the last one turned out such great results. I did my extensive beard prep in the shower of shampoo along with the hair, lather it good, let conditioner sit for the rest of the shower.

My soap bowl is made of soapstone, and it seems to impart a little color to the soap if I soak the soap with water while I shower. At first I thought pieces of the soapstone were coming off, but then I realized it was just the soap picking up the color. Who knows what else it is picking up, so in the future I won't soak my soap so much. I've gotten good results in the past without doing so, so I don't think it will be a problem.

Shave was wonderful. Used the dovo again. Short strokes and frequent readjustment of the skin stretching hand are really providing me with good shaves. After my first WTG pass, I decided to restrop before doing a second pass, which was nice. I relathered and stropped away and the 2nd XTG pass went very smoothly.

When I was done, I ran my hand over my face and felt a few rough spots, so tried some ATG over the area. It pulled very heavily though, so I just let it go.

After shave burns like a son of a b***h. I kinda like it though, makes me feel like a man.

Had save number 10 last night, but didn't get around to my journal till today.

All my prep is same as before. In shower, shampoo, lather good, let the conditioner sit, yada yada yada.

Stropping is kinda a pain with a lousy strop. Looking for a replacement as I type as a matter of fact. Maybe I'll turn this one into a pasted. I can still strop just fine, it just takes awhile because only a foot of the strop is flat enough to do the job properly.

I did a little experiment with my shave lather this time. I was running low on my MWF, and so after I loaded my brush up with it, I put a dob of kissmyface in my scuttle and mixed them together. It didn't really work any wonders, but I didn't hurt anything either. Doubt I will do it again though, as the MWF and Kissmyface have very different aromas, and when I mixed them they kind of canceled each other out. In the future I will just use one or the other. I've found both soaps to be great, but I think I like the MWF a little better.

Anyway, onto the shave. My normal pass is going very quickly now, and have a couple of XTG under my belt. I tried some ATG the last few times without much success. This time I did another really solid stropping before my ATG, and instead of going directly against the grain, I went at a 45 degree angle which worked much better. I also found I had to stretch the skin a LOT more than I had been. Its funny how I think I'm stretching as much as I can, then find that when I went ATG, I could find ways to stretch it more. My skin was sooooo smooth afterward, and SWMBO couldn't stop touching my face. I ended up getting a nice face massage simply because she loved how smooth it was .

One thing of note, while I was doing my chin I had a single amazingly smooth and perfect stroke. Usually the chin is a pain to shave, but this one stroke just cut through every like a hot knife threw butter and left a nice smooth patch. Usually I need to do a lot of little tiny strokes to get all the hairs, so this really took me by surprise. More of a stroke of luck than intentional technique, but its nice to see what is possible. I wonder how long it will be until I can shave my chin like that every time.

One other thing I found interesting. I figured that since this was my first time doing 3 passes (WTG, XTG, and XTG) that my bay rum would sting more than ever. When I splashed it on, I was pleasantly surprised to find it hardly stung at all! I think this is from 2 things. For one, I've been straight shaving for almost a month now so my skin is probably adapting and thickening. Secondly my technique is continually improving, especially when it comes to how much pressure is against my skin. Now days its almost none, so I don't think I'm irritating the skin as much. For whatever reason, it was nice to splash on the bay rum and not have an OUCH!

In other new, I got a nice puma blade that needs some scales. I scored it off ebay for 21 bucks. It has a nice edge (although I will send it off for some honing) and not much hone wear.

Well, that's all for now.
Lather well my friends!

Hi just wanted to say thanks alot for doing this thread, I am considering taking up straight razor shaving myself and it has given me alot to think about!

Its been awhile since I've updated this thread. I stopped posting each shave because each post seemed just like the last. I have not stopped shaving though, nor have I stopped learning, so here are a few things I've learned since my last post in no particular order.

Skin stretching with ATG: I noticed that when I don't stretch my skin well when I got ATG, it tends to raise up in front of the razor. I would think that this would have the same effect as stropping with too much pressure and possible giving the razor a rolled edge. Its hard because when I go ATG, the razor grabs my hairs more than in any other way, so I really really need to get my skin super tight and make confident strokes. I say confident strokes because when I'm hesitant about it, the razor grabs and stops. It seems to take a little more force than WTG or XTG passes, but not much. I still keep pressure extremely light, but it does take slightly more umph.

Beard mapping. Instead of just recognizing which direction the hair is growing, I'm also keeping track of what angle it comes out of my skin, what angle I can adjust it to with my skin stretching, and experimenting with blade angle. This is most noticible on my neck, where the hair not only grows E-W, but at an extremely low angle. I started by stretching my neck skin downward and lifting my chin up to get my neck area nice and tight, but I've found that, with my growth, stretching it sideways works a lot better. To do this I need to wipe off lather from one side so I can get a good grip, but it works better so thats just how I do it now. This lifts the hairs from a 10 degree angle off the skin to a 30 degree angle off the skin and the shave is much easier that way.

I'm also shaving my 'stache first. Since that is one of the more difficult areas for me, I decided to start there so the razor is at its sharpest, then move onto my cheeks and neck which are easier.

Hybrid XTG/ATG. Before going straight ATG, I find it helpful to do a pass half way between XTG and ATG. Upward at a 45 degree angle on my cheeks.

Lather. I'm slowly getting better lathers. I'm using Mitchel's Wool Fat shaving soap still, and found a nice way to make good lather. First I rub the brush over my puck of MWF and get a good amount on the tip of my brush. Its just soap at this stage, not lather in the least. Then I dip my brush soak in warm water, pull it out, give it one flick to get most of the water off and the water that is left in the brush is the perfect amount for my lather. Using this method, the MWF really explodes in my scuttle.

Finally, I'd like to add how much I enjoy shaving now. What once was a chore is now a pleasurable ritual. I love stropping the blade to a nice keen edge, and hearing each and every hair pop off as I glide the razor over my skin, knowing it was my maintenance of the razor that is giving me such a nice shave. MWF is such a soft, wonderful soap and I love the aroma of it. Splashing on the bay rum aftershave gives me a nice fresh feeling after my shave, and I love the smell. I get lots of compliments on it as nobody really seems to use bay rum so I smell much different than all the guys wearing old spice or axe or whatever aftershave/cologne they get at wallmart now days.

Anyway, I've gone and made another post far longer than I intended.

Till next time, lather well my friends!

Well, I'm about 4 months into my straight razor experience, so I thought I'd update my journal a bit as I've learned a thing or two.

The main thing that has helped me came from an insight I had chopping broccoli. I realized the knife cutting through the broccoli was similar to the way the razor cuts through my hairs, so I started experimenting with different ways of cutting. Pushing straight down, using different angles, varying amounts of slicing action. It all added up to a huge jump in technique. I ended up realizing I was shaving in the most course way possible, even though it was the safest. I started experimenting with different angles and slight amounts of slicing motion which has drastically improved my shaving technique, although I have cut myself a few times in the process. Nothing bad, just scratches really.

You can see my insight thread here.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...-thinking.html

I'm still working on keeping my touch light and skin tight. I can go ATG on my cheeks no prob and get BBS every time. The only problem place I still have is under my chin. Its hard to get a good approach for XTG, and even attempting ATG makes it feel like I'm going to slice my face off.

I'm also doing a lot less prep now. The whole shower, wash, lather, condition, relather, etc has been cut down considerably. I do think that it helped me in the beginning by softening my hairs all the more, but I began to feel that I was overdoing it and that I should be focusing on having my technique give me the best shave, rather than over the top beard prep.

My last shave actually had very little prep. I just washed my face, lathered up, stropped 30/60 and shaved. It wasn't the best shave, but it certainly wasn't a bad shave by any means.

One more thing I've started was to use water only on my ATG passes. I've found that I can get a much better skin stretch because my skin is so less slippery. It also allows me to give my skin a quick rub to see if its BBS or not and identify the rough spots and hit them immediately.

So anyway, 4 months in and still loving it. I can't believe there aren't more people doing this. It is simply a superior shave, it doesn't take that much more time, its not dangerous, and its all kinds of manly.

I just wanted to let you know how helpful this shave journal has been to me. You've been very detailed and I've taken several nuggets that I'm going to try as I'm really new at this...anyway...my thanks for taking the time to put such thought and details to your post.