Thread: First shaves

Well, I had my fourth straight razor shave this morning. The first two shaves were difficult, but not disasters. I was pretty tentative in my strokes and the blade seemed to bounce around on me a bit. This has improved greatly as I’ve become more comfortable with the mechanics of simply “wielding” the blade. I’m getting through with some minor nicks here and there, but no bloodbaths yet.

A couple of areas where I am having some problems:

I’m having difficulties on my first pass. Most of my beard grows horizontally (E-W or W-E). So to go strictly with the grain, I have to make horizontal strokes. I’m having a much harder time doing this than my vertical second pass. I’m finding it more difficult to get the correct angle and the lack of gravity means I have to “push” the blade more. Any suggestions on this?

I’m also getting a bit of burn around my chin and mouth. I think this is from making too many little strokes while trying to track down errant whiskers. I assume this will get better with practice. Did anyone experience the same thing while learning?

I’m also having the usual problems getting under my nose (now I know how the “Hitler” style mustache came about) and making the trek under my jawbone/chin, but again I imagine this just takes more practice.

I’m really enjoying my foray into the straight razor world. Everybody here has been very helpful and informative. A big Thank you to all.

I’ll keep plugging away and come back with more questions soon. Thanks!

Jordan

I've only been shaving with the straight for a few months, but have you tried just shaving cross-grain on your first pass? My beard swirls around all over the place, and though I have to pay attention to it when using a DE, with a straight I gave up that idea and now just shave N-S for the first pass, and ear-to-nose for the second pass, and it works just fine. The only place I have to pay attention to the grain is on my neck, but that all grows in one direction (up). The straight just doesn't seem to be as sensitive to beard grain as a DE.

Oh yeah, about the bit under your nose, you know about the coup de maitre right? Hold the blade flat against the bottom of your nose, then rotate the edge forward while sliding the blade down. Just be careful, and it may take a couple of tries before you can pull it off without blood, but it does work very well. Straight razors have certainly elevated my opinion of moustaches :-)

I'll try just going across the grain and see what happens. I've gotten really good shaves with my DE by going with then across, so I figured I needed to do the same with the str8.

I've seen descriptions of the coup de maitre, but frankly I've been scared to try it. Maybe when I get more comfortable just handling the blade. Thanks for the info Mparker!

Hi Jordan,

I will second the shaving across the grain (diagonally) as
well.

Also how much time do you spend lathering before the first
pass? Normally I spend about 2 minutes working in the
lather with the brush. For the second and third pass
I simply re wet my face and relather.

Hope this is of some help. Just remember, hang in there,
shaving with a straight isn't learned ovenight. But once
you do get there, you'll be glad that you took the road
less traveled.


Terry

I find that I'm most likely to damage my face at the beginning of the stroke, so I try to take long strokes, and anytime I need to hit a tricky spot I try to start a half-inch or so off and then come over that spot smoothly. As for the jawline, pulling your skin up a half-inch or so helps get the critical beard area off of the jawline itself, which helps tremendously.

Don't worry, you are doing jeest fine. All the simptoms are normal, and will dissapear in couple of weeks or so. About the Hitler moustashes, exactly my comment when I was beggining this thing

Nenad

Like Nenad said,
Patience. The burn around the mouth is most likely just your face adjusting to a new shaving system. Most of the rest is just technique. With each shave you'll get a bit more comfortable with the razor, you'll try different approaches, more or fewer passes. It will all start to come together for you.

Just one word of warning. At some point, you will get just a bit too comfortable with the straight and just when you're sure you know what you're doing...SLICE! I promise, you will cut yourself, just when you stop paying attention and least expect it. Keep a styptic handy and a current picture of yourself so the plastic surgeons have something to work with while putting your face back together.

Welcome to the club,
Ed

Terry, I probably spend a good minute working the lather. At this point though, I'm going so slow that the lather spends plenty of time on my face. I even have to refresh a number of times because it starts drying out.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragment. I'll keep practicing. I know this takes patience. I'll also be sure to keep a picture for the plastic surgeons to work from.