Another Another First Timer

[Dan491]

Hello All! Hopefully you can endure another post from a newb sharing his experience.

I'm that guy who always appreciated the fact that my barber used a straight to touch up my sideburns and neck after a haircut. For some reason, I never thought about using a straight to shave with though. That is until a few months ago I was surfing a trade message board and one of my co-workers asked who shaved with a straight. One of the guys on that thread posted this article, from that point on I was pretty much hooked. Shaving brushes, soaps and most of all straight razors were things I had never even considered. Of course my poor, one pass, in the shower, using canned goop shaves reflected that.

So after a few months and quite a bit or reading, I ordered a Boker King Cutter wet shaving kit from Straight Razor Designs. As a side note, they provided outstanding service! I ordered Sunday evening and by Monday morning I received an email stating that it was shipped. Thursday afternoon the box was on my doorstep. I opened the box with just a little anticipation to find everything in perfect condition. I was very impressed that the order came in a long box so that the strop didn't have to be bent.

So here is where some of my discouragement comes in. For my first shave, I took the advice I had read somewhere and did a partial shave in order to get used to the blade next to my face. After some beard prep, I shaved from my sideburns down my cheeks and some of my neck. It felt pretty good. I finished up with my mach3. This morning, after a good hot shower, I lathered my face up, stropped my blade and did the right side of my face. It was uncomfortable and felt like it was tugging a bit, but I could bear it. When I got to the more course area around my chin, it just hurt too much to continue. The only thing I could think of is that I ruined the edge of my blade with poor stropping technique. Suddenly the advice I had read somewhere to have two blades so you had something to compare to made more sense.

The only thing I can think of doing at this point is maybe sending my razor back to have it re-honed so that I know that I have a good edge to use and possibly eliminate something else I may be doing wrong.

Anyway, thank you all for this discussion board, I will continue to read and learn. I am determined to become competent enough to make a straight razor my normal way of shaving.