Thread: My 2nd Shave with THE Razor.

Just had my second shave with the straight a couple of days ago. This time I went for it and shaved my whole face, with mixed results. First of all, my lather was too soapy and I'm still working on positioning myself in front of the mirror so that I can see the blade without my arms or the handle getting in the way.

I tried shaving using only my dominant (left) hand, but that may not be the best idea; I gave myself pretty decent road rash on my neck by doing too many passes on that part of my skin. I also got a nice, clean cut on my chin, a la Harrison Ford, that was the result of being too abrubt with the blade.

I need to remind myself of what I'm holding in my hand as I shave; that a very delicate touch is necessary when handling the straight. This isn't my Mach 3 which I can wave around like a conductor's baton. Obviously it's a skill that will take time to master.

I only did one pass, mostly WTG with some segments going whichever way possible just to get to the hair. With the straight, just like with my Mach 3, I'm kind of shaving all over the place, in no real order. There's no routine to it yet, but I know that this is something I will have to endeavor. Developing a solid, working routine just might be the most important thing for me to succeed at this art.

But I did shave the whole face, and despite the chin cut and neck burn, I was happy with the results. Once the burn heals on my neck, as well as my chin scar, I'll go for it again.

I only shave about once, maybe twice a week, so I imagine it's gonna take me well over a year to build up my confidence with the straight, but on a positive note, the girlfriend is estatic that I'll be clean shaven as I go through the learning curve of straight razor shaving.

Thanks for the update on your progress.

There is a philosophy that if your lather is too thin, it is better to throw it out and start over than try and brute force your way through it.

Have you spent some time mapping out the direction of your beard growth? That will help you choose your blade angle properly and reduce your razor burn quite a bit. The skin seems to be thinner and more sensitive on the neck area, and the beard seems to grow sideways more. That means that as you are doing what would be a WTG pass, you go into a XTG when you hit the neck so you have to drop your blade angle. Also, don't forget about stretching that skin. I just caught some neck skin yesteday and gave myself a little razor burn. It's been a long time since I did that.

I have a feeling that once you start getting better shaves you will shave more often. It's just too fun!