Thread: Still can't get it. Please help

I have been trying to straight shave for a few months now. I have tried about 15 times I would say. I only have to shave about every 5 days before it gets to "scruffy" looking.
Here is my set-up:
-Dovo best quality 6/8 from SRD shave ready
-Heinrich L. Thater 26mm silver tip
- Straight Razor Designs Premium IV (Long) English Bridle strop
-Caslte forbes lime cream, trufitt and hill 1805 cream, and Mama bears dragon blood soap
-L'occitane pre-shave oil

My routine:
1. Strop on webbed 50 times then leather 50 times
2. Make lather
3. Place hot towel over face for about a minute
4. Lather my face
5. Place hot towel over face again for another minute
6. Re-lather
7. Start shaving
8. Start crying (almost but not really)

The problem:
I can shave my burns and cheeks down to the jawline with minimal pain. Once I get to the the jawline and below the chin and neckline, I am in so much pain. The pulling, which I would believe is what I'm feeling, is unbearable. Now I have had this problem every time. Now I know someone is going to say the razor is probably dull. It passes the arm test...
Maybe someone will say it's my angle. I re-lather over and over trying every angle possible. It still hurts...
Maybe not stretching the skin taught enough? Anymore taught-er and my nipples would be in my face...
Short strokes and long strokes, still hurts...
Obviously I am doing something wrong but can't possibly think what. One thing I do notice is that after making one little pass on my face, my skin where I just shaved is very sticky and dry. So i tried using the oil and still no such luck. I have tried shaving with cold water and it's just worse.
I have tried a hot shower before and still no luck.
I let my hair grow between 1/8th in and the hair is very thick. But this shouldn't matter because my first wet shave at a barber my hair was longer and no discomfort what-so-ever.
I don't think it's my lathering ability because I have to finish with my mach 3 and the lather is good

So please help me out here. Sorry if i sounded rather snotty but I am fed and annoyed and very frustrated.

Thank you,
-Anthony

Is stropping part of your routine?

It does take time and practice to shave yourself. A shave ready razor can tug and pull while the user is still learning how to use it

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Is stropping part of your routine?

It does take time and practice to shave yourself. A shave ready razor can tug and pull while the user is still learning how to use it

How the hell can I forget to add stropping to my routine! I new I missed something.

Yes, I strop about 50 times on the webbed fabric then 50 times on the leather

+1 to what hoglahoo said. Do you strop? If so, what's your technique like? Not stropping at all would probably lead to an uncomfortable shave, and doing it improperly could dull your razor very quickly. I had that problem when I started out too. Tell us about more about that area of your shave.

Originally Posted by Tino8787

+1 to what hoglahoo said. Do you strop? If so, what's your technique like? Not stropping at all would probably lead to an uncomfortable shave, and doing it improperly could dull your razor very quickly. I had that problem when I started out too. Tell us about more about that area of your shave.

Disregard. I wrote that before the last couple messages went up. Good luck with future shaves.

Just because it passes the hair on the arm test doesnt mean it pass the Shave test. You say it is Shave ready but if its tugging on the hair and not popping it, its not really shave ready. I had a razor that would take hair off the arm but it was ripping it off my face. Got my razor honed at my local old school barber and havent had a problem since.
You should do the same.Makes a world of difference.

Stick with it. It will get better.

Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

Just because it passes the hair on the arm test doesnt mean it pass the Shave test. You say it is Shave ready but if its tugging on the hair and not popping it, its not really shave ready. I had a razor that would take hair off the arm but it was ripping it off my face. Got my razor honed at my local old school barber and havent had a problem since.
You should do the same.Makes a world of difference.

Stick with it. It will get better.

Been having this problem bout of the box after having Lynn hone it. I would say it's shave ready.

I had a lot of trouble with this as well. I haven't been at this long but here are a few problems that I had that might help.

My neck hair grows in an unusual pattern. It took me way to long to figure out what direction to take the razor to achieve a passable shave. On top of that I was making way too many passes and just irritating my skin.

The next problem was my stropping. I was going way to fast and not getting it right. I am not sure what changed but after taking some time and focusing it just clicked. I am still really slow but my razor is staying sharper than it was before. From reading this and other forums stropping is the cause of a lot of issues for new shavers.

Hope it works out for you and that this helped

The first 2 or 3 weeks (shaving daily) I used a DE to finish my chin and the difficult parts of my neck. Say that to say that since you are shaving every few days and tried the straight 15 times, if I understood correctly, what you're going through is not unheard of. As crazy as it may sound try no prep and lather with cold water.

Rub the lather in with your finger tips. Do not rinse but do relather. Try the shave and see if it doesn't improve. That is my daily routine. Also you might go to 30 and 30 linen and leather on the stropping. Sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. Also remember that gradual stubble removal is preferable than trying to get it all with one pass. Some do 3 and 4. I do 2 as a rule.

Originally Posted by saf

I had a lot of trouble with this as well. I haven't been at this long but here are a few problems that I had that might help.

My neck hair grows in an unusual pattern. It took me way to long to figure out what direction to take the razor to achieve a passable shave. On top of that I was making way too many passes and just irritating my skin.

The next problem was my stropping. I was going way to fast and not getting it right. I am not sure what changed but after taking some time and focusing it just clicked. I am still really slow but my razor is staying sharper than it was before. From reading this and other forums stropping is the cause of a lot of issues for new shavers.

Hope it works out for you and that this helped

Thank you for your input. I do take notice of the direction my hair grows on my face and shave WTG.