Thread: My first razor arrived...

So I guess I am not the first to do this...

Having just received my first (of two) straight razors in the mail this afternoon, I eagerly ripped open the box while I was home for lunch, and just sat there and admired my new piece of history.

The problem was that once I got home after work, I had this thing just sitting here mocking me because I haven't received any of the other stuff that I had ordered. Whoa is me. /rolls eyes/ But I was able to subdue the urge, and took my evening shower. Once I got out however, something seemed to be calling my name, and I couldn't get it out of my head. Long story short, I used my new razor...

I grabbed a towel, soaked it in hot water, and started soaking my face. At the same time I grabbed my Gillette gel and try to decide how best to do this. So I make sure to scrub my face, and make up some watery lather with this gel. Not to bad! So now my face is all warm, freshly scrubbed, and I feel like a million bucks. I reach down and open up my razor and slowly raise it to my face. And low and behold, when I look in the mirror it looks like I am holding a sword to my throat. My hands start to shake and I am thinking to myself "Oh god, what the hell am I getting myself into"?!

So after a couple of moments (where I swear my life flashed before my eyes) I slowly lay the blade against my cheek and just hold it there. Somehow the feel of cold steel against my skin brought me back to reality, and being the type of person I am (I don't back away from anything) I slowly drew the blade across my skin. All I can say is WOW. That first draw was amazing, here I was scared shitless, and at the same moment it was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened. That sense of nostalgia, doing something that has been done the same way ever since this great country was founded, and even before.

Needless to say, I didn't exactly follow the advice for beginners, you know, start at your sideburns and just make one pass down the cheek... Yeah, that just wasn't good enough for me. LOL I will say though, that shaving with a straight razor is definitely going to take some time to get used to. After my first pass of going WTG, I grabbed a fresh washcloth and rinsed my whole face down. Meh, it was alright, but it wasn't as good of a shave as I initially thought. And me, being who I am, take a quick glance at the clock. Holy crap, that took me less then 10 minutes. So of course I decide what the hell, I might as well try to get it a little closer and do a XTG pass just to see if I can. Presto, 5 minutes later, another perfect shave. By this time I am feeling like I can jump tall buildings in a single bound. So I grab my trusty (junk) gel, and lather up one more time. As I finished my ATG cut, it finally starts to hit home. THIS is the way a man is supposed to take care of his face. So while I still have to wait for the rest of my equipment to show up, I can honestly say that once it does, I won't ever be going back to using a store bought POS.

So my first experience with a straight razor was awesome. I will say that I usually get a closer shave with a store bought disposable, but only with one fresh out of the box. And I expect that to slowly change as I get more proficient with a straight razor.

My "1" nick came as I was going ATG on my neck. Which doesn't surprise me since that is the area that I have the most skin irritation from shaving. I fully expect that to slowly go away as I keep using my straight razor.

I want to say thank you to all the great advice that is given on this site. I know that if I didn't have this, I still would have started to use a straight razor, but I wouldn't have had the confidence that I do now.

Very big grats. My handle 'pinklather' was well chosen from my first months shaving.

I'd say this one's in the bag. You won't go back. You'll be quite surly if time forces you to use anything else.

Nice going. It gets better, and you have wonderful help here. Big Welcome!

Congrats on your first shave, and thanks for the story!

Excellent story, you should be a writer! I remember those same emotions. Once you learn the straight, skin stretching, hair mapping, and get the rest of your shaving stuff, you will truely be in Heaven on Earth.

Shave on brother, shave on...

Awesome post, and I'm right there with you, bud! Your first experience sounds a lot smoother than mine (see this post), but we both share the same feelings: initial fear, then a sense of relief and exhilaration when we know that we're actually DOING IT!

I look forward to reading more of your posts and experiences!

Dervinyard--Wow! My first shave just about put me in the hospital with a couple of major gashes. Keep up the good work. You sound like a natural.

Second razor arrived, along with my brush, soap, etc. Now I am just missing my strop (which shipped out today). So HOPEFULLY I will be all set up by early next week.

BUT...

I just had to try out the newest razor that just showed up, along with the soap and brush.

The one thing I am still looking for is a scuttle. But I was able to make a "poor mans" scuttle by using two bowls, with one slightly smaller then the other, and putting boiling water in the one on the bottom. Lets just say, my first experience with fresh hot lather on the face was amazing. For any "newbies" out there that haven't tried it, let me suggest trying it. Enough about the scuttle though.

So now for my second shaving experience...

I made my first shave WTG as suggested, and again the feeling was amazing. I had no problems whatsoever, and was even able to get the little stubble that I had problems with the first time I used a SR. I ended up doing a sort of WTG and XTG at the same time, and since I had just shaved yesterday (using a bic) I was ready to move on to ATG for my second shave. Again, I scrubbed the face, and mixed up the lather again (see the paragraph above for my views on hot lather, h e a v e n). ATG went extremely smooth, and most of the skin irritation that I have experienced all my life has almost all gone away. The one thing I am still leery on, is my first cut ATG. Once I actually get started, I am fine, but that initial cut still scares the bejebus out of me.

So, second shave with a SR, and my cheeks are BBS, the neck is almost there, and the chin line still needs a little bit of work. But things are going a lot smoother (no pun intended) then I had imagined it would.

I never thought I would love reading other people's experiences with SHAVING, but I do! I'm glad to hear that you're getting the hang of the straight razor. I have yet to do the moustache/chin area, nor have I gone against the grain yet, but I'm right there with you in the baby-step department!

Hope your strop comes soon!

And I love sharing them Jeff.

In my case though, I have a mustache and goatee, so luckily I don't have to worry about the chin and upper lip area yet.

As far as ATG goes. I have found it to be the hardest thing to do so far. But the advice from here works perfectly. 30 degrees for WTG, 15 degrees XTG, and 5 degrees ATG.

I am still mapping out my neck area to figure out the best method of shaving, but it is coming along.