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.