First shave and no cuts!

I got my razor and strop in today just when I got off of work. Good timing. If you didn't catch my intro in the introduce yourself section it's a 5/8 Northfield that I got from therestoredrazor.com. Being the child I am I opened up the box and ogled for a bit. I tested it on my arm and the hair flew off. Great stuff and beautiful quality too. I ran to take a shower and prep. I am using an old coffee mug, tweezerman badger brush and Taylor of Old Bond Street's Sandalwood cream.

I'm not sure how the lather was but I think that I may have made it a little dry. It dried out really fast on my face and I had to keep reapplying. I made the first pass with the grain and everything seemed fine. So I thought I would try going across, tough but ok. Well, no real problems yet so I thought why not try against the grain. That's where I had the most resistance but nothing major. My beard grows in big patches but none of them really connect and it's slow growing and light. I probably won't need to shave again for a couple of days and that will be mostly stubble. I would have posted pics but I wanted to focus more on shaving than the camera.

The hardest thing seems to be getting the angle just right and figuring out the grip and getting used to it. Now I just have to hope that I don't screw it up when I strop it.

If you guys have any special tips or tricks I will gladly accept them. I've gone through the wiki and tons of topics on the forum but there seems to be a lot to take in. It may be that I'm a beginner at this but things seem more simple when standing in front of the mirror as long as there is confidence and a steady hand.

Sounds like you have it well under control...congrats on your first shave! Just remember to watch your blade angle and proper stretching of the skin and it'll only get better :)

Thanks, yeah I meant to mention skin stretching. That may be one of the more difficult things for me. I'm going to need to spend some time on that. I'm blind in my left eye and getting everything where I can see can be a little bit of an issue right now.

Congratulations on that first shave - no everyone can say it was cut free.

I found when I started I was so careful cuts were not an issue mostly razor burn was my problem. It was only after I had 10 or so shaves under my belt I became overconfident and that's when the cuts came.

Just keep practicing and you will improve shave by shave. You seem to have an awareness of the skills you need.

Congrats! It sounds like a very successful first shave. You've obviously done your homework, so just keep on keeping on and I'm sure you'll do fine.

Wow! That's definitely an accomplishment to go for your first. Shave with no cuts and no razor burn. I was amazed when I had heard that for your first time you tried the 3 pass! I can say that you started off better than I did, so keep it up and congratulations!

Thanks to all. Hopefully the second will go as well. I've never really had an issue with razor burn. I had a couple of red spots here and there but my skin turns red if I rub it. Now that I've had a little time I can feel some parts that aren't quite as smooth as the rest but it's ok, it'll come.

Congrats on the first good shave. As one with such great experience, having shaved 5 whole times with a SR, I would like to give you some free advice. I'm sure it will be worth every penny you paid for it.
1) My first shave was cut and burn free. Shave 2 had more razor burn than I have ever had in my life. You may wish to wait a day before shave #2.
2) Keep reviewing the Wiki, especially the page on grips. Every shave comes with noticing something else.
3) Before stropping, practice with a butter knife. You can't mess that up.
4) Don't strop too fast. It will go badly.
5) Don't strop too slow. The more I think about it, the worse it is. If I keep the blade moving, it is more consistent (listen as well as watch).
Keep at it and have fun.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by milehiscott

Congrats on the first good shave. As one with such great experience, having shaved 5 whole times with a SR, I would like to give you some free advice. I'm sure it will be worth every penny you paid for it.
1) My first shave was cut and burn free. Shave 2 had more razor burn than I have ever had in my life. You may wish to wait a day before shave #2.
2) Keep reviewing the Wiki, especially the page on grips. Every shave comes with noticing something else.
3) Before stropping, practice with a butter knife. You can't mess that up.
4) Don't strop too fast. It will go badly.
5) Don't strop too slow. The more I think about it, the worse it is. If I keep the blade moving, it is more consistent (listen as well as watch).
Keep at it and have fun.

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+10 to the advice above, although he may be new too, he just gave you some of the best advice out there... nothing really else to say that he didnt mention already.

congrats!
it only gets easier

Quote:

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Originally Posted by milehiscott

Congrats on the first good shave. As one with such great experience, having shaved 5 whole times with a SR, I would like to give you some free advice. I'm sure it will be worth every penny you paid for it.
1) My first shave was cut and burn free. Shave 2 had more razor burn than I have ever had in my life. You may wish to wait a day before shave #2.
2) Keep reviewing the Wiki, especially the page on grips. Every shave comes with noticing something else.
3) Before stropping, practice with a butter knife. You can't mess that up.
4) Don't strop too fast. It will go badly.
5) Don't strop too slow. The more I think about it, the worse it is. If I keep the blade moving, it is more consistent (listen as well as watch).
Keep at it and have fun.

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I appreciate the advice. I'm going to spend some time with a butter knife tomorrow because I really don't want to mess up the blade. I think I'll also sit down with the razor and the wiki and go through some grips with mock strokes just to get a better feel for it.

I do have a question though. Maybe it's just me but a little while after shaving I started noticing pimples popping up specifically next to my ears and my neck. Is this just my skin getting used to the blade? Maybe a reaction to the cream?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gilmored

I do have a question though. Maybe it's just me but a little while after shaving I started noticing pimples popping up specifically next to my ears and my neck. Is this just my skin getting used to the blade? Maybe a reaction to the cream?

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More than likely, the pimples you're noticing is really just a type of razor burn...completely natural. Just one of the "banes of the beginner". Nothing to worry about, just a factor of your face getting used to the shave. It'll go away in a couple weeks. Keep at it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gilmored

I appreciate the advice. I'm going to spend some time with a butter knife tomorrow because I really don't want to mess up the blade.

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Two things here. First, worry about the blade but don't forget about the strop. Rehoning a straight is about $20 plus shipping. A new strop can be around $60 - $100. So mind the strop as well.

Second, and this is advice given to me when I first started, take a piece of printer paper and fold it width wise unit you have a strip 1" wide and 8 1/2" long. Use this to practice stropping. When you can strop without bending the paper strip, that is about the right amount of pressure to use while stropping.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alembic

Second, and this is advice given to me when I first started, take a piece of printer paper and fold it width wise unit you have a strip 1" wide and 8 1/2" long. Use this to practice stropping. When you can strop without bending the paper strip, that is about the right amount of pressure to use while stropping.

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The printer paper idea is awesome, How well does it work? Its definetly something i want to try when i get off work tonight. I've always had difficulty in telling if i'm using enough pressure. Awesome tip!

Great idea with the paper. So, I think I'll start with the paper to get a feel for the pressure then move to the butter knife to get my direction down. Thanks again for all of the advice. I'll probably give it another shot tomorrow and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.