Beginner Tips From a Beginner
There is a tremendous amount of information on this site from people with a lot of experience with straight razors. While the tips I'd like to offer come from one with very little experience, I did have a great shave today, and I think sometimes when one is closer to the learning experience, that perspective can be valuable in itself. So, here are a few tips from a noob:
1. Do not underestimate the importance of a good lather and soap. Years ago I received a Burts Bees brush and mug as a gift, and picked up the cheapest hard shave soap I could find at the drug store. The first two times I tried to shave with a straight I used them, and could tell that I had a sharp blade but was using a lot more pressure on the blade that I felt should be necessary. So, I went to the drugstore and bought Caswell Massey soap (hoping it would be better than what I had), and ordered a badger brush, Tabac, and Mitchell's Wool Fat. My shave with the boar brush and the Caswell Massey was not much of an improvement. I was trying to produce lather directly on my face after a shower. Once I tried prepping with some castile soap, as I read on here (I think Colonel Conk soap review) that it helped a difficult to lather soap. I tried to adjust levels of water, and nothing was seeming to work; the soap would quickly dry on my face. Today, I used bottled water and a bowl, thinking that my problem might be with the water or my face lathering. I changed two variables so I'm not sure which one helped, maybe both, but I was able to produce some decent lather. My face thanked me. If you are not getting good lather, experiment, and if you have to apply in stages because it's drying, make sure to wet your face again before applying to the next spot.
2. Holding the blade. One thing that I do that I hadn't seen mentioned anywhere here is to use my free hand to steady the hand with the blade. Generally you are using your free hand to stretch your skin, but I find that I can stretch the skin below my nose and my chin pretty well without using my free hand. It also happens that those are where some tricky angles are. So, sometimes I rest my thumb on a part of my face that I'm not working on and rest the wrist of the hand that's holding the blade on my free hand's other fingers like a pivot. I'm sure that once I become more accustomed to shaving this way that this won't be needed, but it's helped me stay steady as I'm learning to negotiate the angles.
3. Speaking of angles: I found that I was often trying to use too acute of an angle to be effective. Don't be afraid of being closer to 30 degrees than to 5 (which is probably where I mostly was).
4. This one may be common sense, but I had to get used to wiping the blade when I changed which side of it was against my face. If I didn't, the loose whiskers would come between my face and the blade and muck things up.
5. I'm not sure if this one is correct form or not, but it's working for me. At the end of my stroke I am lifting the blade away from my face. I feel like the pass is a lot smoother when I do this.
From one beginner to another, have patience and good luck!
-Mike
