Thread: First real SR shave

Alright, I just finished my first shave with a real straight(not with my
Filarmonica shavette), this is a small account of the shave.

Razor
The weapon of choice was a WM Elliot 5/8" hollow ground with celluloid snakeskin scales, which I received yesterday from Stubear



As this was the very first time I was going to shave with a real straight I took the time to strop it on a Dovo strop(linen and cowshide), for as far I could feel I didn't dull the blade(not really made it sharper either, but then Stubear had already stropped it).

Lather
After a hot shower I made a lather from "De Vergulde Hand" shaving soap and applied to the face, put a hot towel over it and waited a few minutes. Then I made a lather from The Body Shop Maca root shaving cream with a Body Shop synthetic brush(which lathers quite nicely imho), best lather I made ever, smooth and soft.

1st pass WTG
The first pass was a delight. The wider edge of the razor, compared to the shavette, gave much better shave. The sharper edge really surprised me, the shavette with "Super-max Super stainless" blades shaved nicely, but this blade just slid over the skin(cutting whiskers ).

And the sound, it cannot be described. A soft grating sound, even better than the sounds I heard on the straight razor video's

2nd pass ATG and 3rd pass XTG
No problems here

After shave
While cleaning my face up, I noticed that the towel was caught on stubble, but using my fingers to find them I felt nothing!
After applying "De Vergulde Hand" after shave cream I cleaned up all the stuff and felt my face. Apart from 1 or 2 spots I missed on ATG it was in my opinion BBS, but in a few hours my girlfriend will be here so she'll be the judge of that.

Total shaving time with prep: 45 minutes.

Nicks?
No nicks as far as I could tell, at one time there was a small red dash of blood in the shaving cream, but I didn't see or feel anything after the shave.

Observations
1. Stropping is hard, but the only nick in the strop is 1 milimeter(0.04 inch) wide nick 1 inch from the top of the strop. So that not a problem.
2. Even less sensitive skin on my neck than the shavette.
3. I'm scared I'm catch have RAD soon.
4. I didn't *cough* touch up my goatee the wrong way(nicely shaved around it)

Sounds to me like a very successful first straight razor shave! Congrats!

Dont worry about the time it takes you to complete the shave, you'll find that reduces the more you practice. Just take your time, develop at your own pace and the speed will naturally reduce on its own!

Stropping is another thing that will improve with practice. If you want to get the feel for it, try stropping with a butter knife or something. That way you'll get used to flipping the razor over without risking nicking your strop. But again, dont worry if you do nick it! Its another one of those things that we all do when starting out. I slashed my first one a whole bunch of times...!

And yes, watch out for the RAD..!

Congrats again and keep us posted!

Congrats! I like the Maca Root cream from TBS, it does lather quite well. Your 2nd pass was Against and 3rd pass Across?? Watch out for RAD it will sneak up on you and get a good hold if you are not careful.

Muscles,

I think it's something I still do from my multi blade razor days. I didn't do XTG with them, but with SR's my skin isn't dry so XTG is very comfortable.

Congrats !!

Hello, BrickBag:

Well done, sir. Congratulations. Yes, do keep us posted with your progress.

Regards,
Obie

Originally Posted by BrickBag

3. I'm scared I'm catch have RAD soon.

Lose your fear, give in to the dark side

Just kidding! Sounds like a great shave, and mad props to stubear for such a nice gift. This community is so awesome

small update: the girlfriend likes it. But she noticed the missed spots as well.

But hey, it's a journey. If I was already there it'd be boring.

cheers!

Ok, Didn't had time to post yesterday, so here it goes.

The second shave was bad, I have quite some nicks on my neck and had the feeling the blade wasn't sharp enough. I have made an effort to strop it (30 on linen, 50 on leather) but the sharpness didn't improve.

From the start:
Stropped the razor, took a hot shower, lathered up(better lather then the last time ) and started WTG. No discomfort on the face, but a feeling that it wasn't cutting as well as it should. When I came to my neck(south-north on the bottom and north-south on the top of my neck) it got ugly, the whiskers weren't cut and I got some nasty nicks on my neck(around the hairs).

I tried a ATG pass on my cheeks, but it didn't work. It pulled very badly. So I finished it with my shavette.

I have to pay attention to:
Stropping. I also nicked my strop a little bit halfway .... So that sucks. And, even though I am trying to use a very small amount of pressure I sometimes push a little bit. The blade doesn't feel folded from the stropping, but I do have to check the edge sometimes soon with a loupe.

I am also thinking of buying a poor man's strop, For cutting that one is better then my cutting my dovo strop.

So any one have some tips on stropping or improving the stropping?

Hello, BrickBag:

Thanks for sharing your experience. Take your time and it will come.

If I may suggest, follow this routine instead: shower, lather and strop. The lather can sit on your face while you strop, giving your whiskers a longer time to soften up. Then when you're ready to shave the first pass, apply one more coat of lather.

For now, I suggest laying off shaving against the grain. With proper technique, which you will have in time, you might totally avoid shaving against the grain. Many gentlemen do that here.

The strop is important. Many of us have nicked that first strop. Just be careful and focus. Go slowly. Make sure the razor is flat on the strop, with no pressure whatsoever.

On your shave, for now settle for with the grain and across the grain. Keep the pressure light. Let the razor's pressure be enough. Also, focus on your razor angle.

Most of all, keep your focus.

Regards,
Obie