About 10 shaves in....

Well just as some background, I'm new to the game of straights but did lurk around this site for at least 2 months before pulling the trigger and jumping in. Ended up getting a nice razor and strop set from Larry over at Whipped dog straights (if any newbies keep hearing this guys name its for a reason. Super nice guy and gets you set up for cheap).

First shave went well. WTG on the cheeks. No blood. cleaned up with my DE.

Second shave went good- WTG cheeks and neck. Couldn't quite figure out the chin/mustache area. Cleaned up with DE.

Watched more videos on straight shaving (this isn't even hard and these guys are making straight shaving sound harder than ice skating uphill)...

Third shave was a BLOODBATH... WTG on the whole face/neck/chin went great. Decided things were going so well I would try XTG. Got a nice cut underneath my left earlobe, upper corner of my left lip and a nice vertical gash under my right eye...

That shave was an extremely humbling experience. I learned quite a few things. 1- don't rush through your shaves. 2- Watch the tip of that square point blade (the nice 1" scar under my eye will forever remind me of that).
3- Don't push yourself or your limits. 4- If you stretch your lip over your teeth, don't relax your mouth with the blade still on it. 5- Map the hair growth on your face.

Fast forward to my tenth shave and everything is going much smoother. I get a damn fine shave with three passes. 1 WTG and 2 XTG. Except for the side parts of my neck I'm still leery about going against the grain. Don't need to use a DE to clean up anymore either. Shaves are nice and last all day.

Got quite a few laughs and the whole "did u get into a fight with a cat?" for the first couple shaves. Kinda discouraged me and my wife started to question my masochistic tendencies. That being said I wanna say thanks to all who posted how they got cut and nicked up before me so I had the courage to keep going. My shaves are getting better and better each day. Already looking for my second straight razor. I can still get a better shave with my DE's but the straight is quickly catching up.

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I am waiting on my first straight, a Diamondine #7, and am excited to give it a go.

I switched to DE/wetshaving at Christmas and have been loving it. Figured a straight was the next natural progression. Might have to print your post out and keep it on the mirror to push me to master it.

Charlie

Sounds like you are progressing like most of us since I think we all bleed for Straight Razor Shaving. I don't if there is anyone who has not nicked/cut/gashed themselves.

Keep at it, go slow, things get much better. Soon you'll finish a shave and realize "HEY I DID IT."

Enjoy the day.

Anyone who hasn't cut themselves repeatedly in their first ten shaves has missed out on part of the fun of Straight Shaving. Bathrooms tend to be all white and so boring. Throw in a little color, red for instance, and it really brightens things up.

LOL.

I'm a newbie too, but your experience sounds just like mine.

Shave #1 - no cuts. :)
Shave #2 - no cuts. I think a am getting this. This isn't so hard. :)
Shave #3 - cut myself twice. $@%#%$^%$!:banghead:

That's when I started to learn the proper respect for the blade.

It sounds like you are picking this up rather quickly though. By my tenth shave there was no way I could get by without touching up using my Mach 3. You must be doing something right.

Good luck.