Thread: Frustration

Nadie,

We need to get you a freshly honed razor that you have never stropped to try.

I will hone one of mine this weekend and send it to you to try. There will be oil on it. Wipe the oil off and try shaving with it. Do not strop it first.

PM me with your address and I will send it to you. You can send it back to me when we figure out exactly what the issue is or at least eliminate a freshly honed razor as the problem.

What size blade and what kind of razor have you been using. If I have something close, that will be what I send.

David

Alembic.
You the man!

Nadie,
The advice given so far is first rate, if it's any consolation I had a terrible time when I started out. The good times will come.
There are a lot of variables and a long learning curve. The main thing from me is that the razor must be sharp as a pre requisite. You could use shavette as a training aid, it's not exactly like a straight to feel on the face but a pretty good approximation. It will also remove the sharpness variable.
When I'm test shaving my razors and they about there I can almost remove my whiskers dry (almost). This leads me to believe this is your main consideration.

Originally Posted by Alembic

Nadie,

We need to get you a freshly honed razor that you have never stropped to try.

I will hone one of mine this weekend and send it to you to try. There will be oil on it. Wipe the oil off and try shaving with it. Do not strop it first.

PM me with your address and I will send it to you. You can send it back to me when we figure out exactly what the issue is or at least eliminate a freshly honed razor as the problem.

What size blade and what kind of razor have you been using. If I have something close, that will be what I send.

David

clap clap clap clap.....there is a gentleman among us.

Originally Posted by Nadie

Alembic - I had actually noticed this a few years ago. The lower part of my neck grows upwards, while the upper part grows downwards. My jaw line grows away from my chin. I had read this is important and have tried to adjust for it. I can tell right off that I can't shave the area like I did with the disposables. So yea, I have noticed.

commiecat - I had read the beginner's post and had tried to start with just the sideburn area (from my hair line to my neck next to the ear). 4 or 5 passes later (with multiple variations on the angle, approach, pulling my face and so on) I had learned a bit, felt the razor burn and figured it would come with time.

I will shave more lightly. Thank you.

While I am not seeking a perfect shave on a single pass, I guess I'd like to see a good shave after the final pass.

You are coming to the best place for advice. I'm a long time shaver -- 20+ years -- and a long time lurker here. Despite my time shaving I'm stunned at how much I continue learn at this forum.

Couple of thoughts. All the advice you are hearing about a light touch are dead on. This is harder than it sounds though because after years of shaving with a cartridge you have probably never even known what constitutes a light touch and those ingenious (and expensive) little devices are designed with give in the blades to counteract a heavy hand. Light is a blade fully in contact with your skin and nothing more. Next, burn can result from two things: too heavy a hand and repeated strokes on the same patch of skin. Try to avoid doing this -- this is hard because you want to. Once you clear the lather with a stroke try not to run the blade over the skin on the same spot again -- remember, in a three pass shave you will get two more well lathered shots at that skin again. Your X grain and against grain passes are the ones that really smooth your face so don't think you are not getting it if the WTG pass doesn't seem all that smooth.

It was mentioned in a post to start with easy places on your face -- the side burn area using your dominant hand is a very good one. One long stroke from the hairline next to your ear down to the jawline is one of the easiest on the face. When you are really feeling bold take that same stroke past your jawline and down your neck. Master that stroke and you have it made. The rest of your face is more of the same with one caveat -- every part of your face is its own challenge and you will learn how to do each stroke almost as if it is new. I still laugh at a few strokes that I don't like to do -- those final upward strokes under my nose in my third pass I don't enjoy -- after 20 years...go figure.

Also, in order to get a good feel for how light an effective touch can be, consider using a double edge razor every once in a while with little pressure. A three pass shave with a DE can give a great shave and you can test how light light can be without the awkwardness of the straight. After you see how good that is then consider that when you master the straight it will be even better!

Now, I have not mentioned grain direction on the face. Everything I have said probably needs to be adjusted consistent the grain of your face but quite frankly I really don't know the grain directions of my face and my WTG, XTG, ATG are really just down toward the floor, parallel to the floor, and up to the ceiling. I think what I just said in sacrilege on this forum but hey, it works for me.

Finally, sharp, sharp, sharp. A truly shave ready razor is something special and is required for the lightest of touches. Keeping one shave ready is easy with proper stropping technique. Getting it shave ready is another story. Have one of the pros on this forum do it for you -- it doesn't cost much and is worth the investment. If you have a three razor rotation you'll need them done once or twice a year. When you get a razor sharpened don't even strop it for the first shave.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Nadie

Hi all,

I am new to the world of straight shaving. After months of thinking about it, I purchased one from whipped dog. The razor and the strop came. I read the pdf, the docs that came with the razor as well as browsed this site.

I've been shaving for about a month now. And I am so frustrated. I know it will take time. I know it takes patience. I admit I see and feel moments of progress.

Right now it takes me 3 or 4 passes and an hour of shaving to get ... somewhere. Razor burns. Minor cuts. A towel full of shaving cream and hair. A terrible shave. My face burns when I put on an after shave cream. Not a momentary burn- but one that lasts. And my face looks sort of shaven- but definitely not clean shaven. Nothing looks or feels smooth.

I am shaving at about a 30 degree angle. I am shaving in patches. I am shaving with the grain. I am not good at pulling my face. I have gotten steadily better with using both hands and actually feel as strong on my weak side as on my strong side. I am seeing more hair being removed, but my face remains ... terrible. My upper lip and chin look almost as furry as when I started - and I felt the shave and see hair on the blade and towel when done. I don't know what I am doing (I do shower or soak my face in a hot towel before starting each time).

I am glad that so many who are new to this get it right off the bat. I wish I were one of these.

I welcome any advice and words of wisdom. Please tell me I am not the only one who has struggled to learn this- and that it gets better.

You might be pressing to hard against your face with the blade. Lightening up the blade combined with refining your skin stretching techniques just might give you some better results.

If I could suggest something, try and find yourself a cheap disposable straight razor and a pack of disposable straight razor blades (like Fromm's or Personna type blades) from a local barber or hairdresser shop in your area.

I do agree that you need to get your straight razor honed shave ready by someone with experience, but this is not always the answer, as you might get it back, and ruin the edge again while learning how to strop properly. At best, you will get 1 perfect shave out of it, and then stand the chance of ruining the edge again while stropping, if you are new at it.

I have been shaving with disposable straight razors for about 10 years now, and only recently made the move to "real" straight razors, and honing them myself. This was a very easy transition.

Because I have always shaved with straight disposables, my technique was sound, and using a "real" straight was absolutely no problem. When you use a disposable straight, you are always guaranteed of a perfectly sharp edge, and you can get about 5 shaves out of a blade before replacing with a new one.

I would suggest using up 1 whole pack of 5 blades for about 4 weeks or so, or until you really get the hang of it, and you get used to what a really sharp blade should feel like, and then to try out your "real" straight razor again.

You'll be surprised at how much more confidence you will have when you then go back to the "real" straight razor, and your technique will be much better by then.

Doing it this way, will give you a guaranteed way of building up some experience and getting used to a sharp edge before you try out your real straight again.

Let me know how this works for you.

Originally Posted by Shoki

I am in the exact same boat. But I am trying to be more patient. I started with my dominate side, dominate hand and did the side burn area. So far so good. I am expanding small areas of my face and neck and each shave gets better but once I hit the wall... I go back to my old shaving method. In this cas a nice DE. If it wasn't for the DE I would either be cut to shreds or very patchy looking with a long beard on the left and a clean shaved face on the right. keep at it and enjoy the journey.

So today I was having a heck of a time saved right side, a little left, blade stops in right neck, stops in left neck, upper-lip no way, chin... aint happening.

Frustrated I gave up and went back to my DE and did a WTG pass. I tried to notice the feeling of the blade and the sound of the whiskers cutting. Is my straight really so dull? If my straight keeps getting "stuck" I am never going to develop my technique. As I calmed down I decided to do another pass with the grain using my straight.

Now that the beard had been reduced the blade glided smoothly over my face. Using a light touch I could feel and hear whiskers getting cut shorter. I had the feeling that this is what shaving with a straight is supposed to feel like! It was getting closer than the DE and felt really good.

So keeping with the light touch and the good vibe I found that I was able to calmly, slowly shave my whole face. Sure it had been pre-shaved but this pass i was able to run the straight over my whole face and begin to get an idea of how to shave my entire face. Not just my sideburns, but my entire face.

Quite a good result. I feel like I will try this again especially if I miss a few days.

What you did with your DE, some old barber manuals say to do by laying the straight razor blade flat on your face in the first wtg pass.

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

What you did with your DE, some old barber manuals say to do by laying the straight razor blade flat on your face in the first wtg pass.

Larry,

I have to say that I have seen you give that advice before and it was my inspiration for the DE pass. I have tried to lay the straight razor flat on my face but it always seems to snag or pull. I am have been too unsure of my technique to mussel through the whiskers on some of less familiar areas of my face. I have a full hollow razor and I think a stiffer blade will benefit me. That little bit of flex had me terrified.

Now that I have accomplished this I'll try the flat blade trick again.

I think being able to give the whole face a go will really help my technique. It's like when your a kid and your dad gives you a razor with no blade so you can "shave" along.

Thanks and sorry to but I think the original poster and I are in a similar spot.
--Shoki