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