1 Week Report - a Success! Lessons Learned

My first week with a straight razor has passed and I consider it a success. Bleeding is minimal, almost rare actually, and the overall shave is good. I'm still having a hard time getting a consistent shave on the underside of my chin, but the spot varies from day to day, so I know it's operator error!

Lessons learned:

The angle of the blade was the key to success. Razor burn went down and the shave improved. I haven't experimented with different soaps, hot towels, or steam baths but I do not have a tough beard, at all, so that was never a concern.

Set aside time to do this correctly. I rushed one time and ended up with a sub-par shave and a couple of bleeders. Even my wife looked at me, shook her head and walked away.

Use cold water on the 2nd pass and touch ups. The water isn't as shocking now that I've been out of the shower for a bit and the results are considerably better.

Determine the real direction of the grain. It wasn't until I had a really good shave that I noticed that I had not been going AG but XG in several different spots.

Last thing is to continue learning. I still watch videos and learn about different techniques. My next challenge will be learning to hone.

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this site wether it be videos or advice to someone else.


Robert

Congrats on your first week. Keep at it, you'll get your chin in line soon enough!!

Yep, congrats on your first week. You will continue to learn for quite some time. The tricky part is when you think you have it down. That's when the real bleeders start showing up. You'll back off for a while and then you will really have it down. I remember think to my self "When will I be able to shave w/o all this concentration?". The answer is, you won't be it will become second nature. Keep us informed of your progress. We love reading success stories and the not so successful ones too. ;)

Sounds like a great first week (as far as first weeks go that is). Mapping the beard growth was a big eye opener for me too. Realized I was going XTG on about 1/4 of my 1st pass, which also happened to be the most irritated areas too. Adjusting to actually go wtg helped a lot.

Welcome aboard!
I also find the chin to still be the most challenging area to work on, as well as the Adam's apple. I see you use cold water for your second pass. Do you just use cold water, or lather as well?

Welcome to your new obsession

Thanks everyone! I'll keep you posted after a month.

@ LAsoxfan - Cold water and lather. Then if there are any areas that need touch up, just water but that's for only a small area and I had better get it right or the skin gets irritated pretty quickly!