Thread: Damn...

Originally Posted by LinacMan

Hmm, oldschooltools may disagree with you:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...tml#post754372

Hahahaha, what a lucky guy. My gf mainly thinks I'm nuts and it's just another weird hobby of mine haha.

Originally Posted by HColl

Just had my fifth shave with my shavette.

It takes a while for your skin to adapt to the "scraping". Avoiding multi-pass-shaves the first couple of weeks eases your face into it while youre getting smoother with the blade. Relax. Enjoy.

Originally Posted by HColl

At first I thought it was the blade not being sharp enough, but it passed the HHT

HHT has severe limitations. Read wiki for explanation.

Originally Posted by HColl

The first pass went fine, but

I read somewhere that; "It takes a while for your skin to adapt to scraping..."

Sounds like youre doing great. Ill end with a quote:

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it"

You can add in a pre-shave oil if you like. I've used it and didn't notice much difference, but it can't hurt, especially when you're starting into straight shaving. I don't think it is necessary to dry your face first, though, just rub it in while your face is still wet.

The blades you are using are plenty sharp. You are very likely using WAY too much pressure, as I did with a Shavette at first. The results are always weepers, nicks, and plenty of razor burn. Using a Shavette will really refine your technique. You'll also become a Stypticmeister! Good luck!

I've not tried Olive oil or another pre shave oil prep but my wife picked me up some King of Shaves oil at the drug store the other day and I tried it out last night. It was nice. Helped with some irritation. I've been using my shavette with the red holder for a while and have mostly gotten my skin used to it. The shave oil made things smoother, especially when it came time for multiple passes, it really seemed to keep my skin happy. I've also noticed with the shavette that I get less irritation with creams instead of soaps unless I add some liquid glycerin.

Welcome to SRP and straight razor shaving. It's great to have you here and I hope you come to enjoy this process as much as I do.

Prep is important but I would agree with those who are suggesting you may be using too much pressure. It may seem as if you are using no pressure but if you are just 5 shaves into this my guess is that you are more heavy handed than you think.

Many members think a half ground or quarter ground straight is a good grind to learn on as their edges are more firm. I think the same thing about the Personna rigid blades. I find that I have to be extra careful and extra light for the first shave on a new blade. About the third shave things get easier.

I would suggest you read the post, http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...explained.html. I found it extremely helpful in understanding the light touch.

Enjoy

Originally Posted by Bill S

This sounds right to me. In my experience as the angle of the blade gets steeper you need to use less pressure. This is one of the main reasons that the chin and neck areas cause us so much grief.

Sub-standard prep tends to to magnify other technique problems, so you may have had a "perfect storm" kind of situation.

Thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by hakan

It takes a while for your skin to adapt to the "scraping". Avoiding multi-pass-shaves the first couple of weeks eases your face into it while youre getting smoother with the blade. Relax. Enjoy.



HHT has severe limitations. Read wiki for explanation.



I read somewhere that; "It takes a while for your skin to adapt to scraping..."

Sounds like youre doing great. Ill end with a quote:

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it"

Thanks. I did give the HHT wiki a read, enlightening. I've been doing two passes WTG. I guess I shouldn't have continued when I felt the irritation. Oh well, no I know for next time.

Originally Posted by ace

You can add in a pre-shave oil if you like. I've used it and didn't notice much difference, but it can't hurt, especially when you're starting into straight shaving. I don't think it is necessary to dry your face first, though, just rub it in while your face is still wet.

The blades you are using are plenty sharp. You are very likely using WAY too much pressure, as I did with a Shavette at first. The results are always weepers, nicks, and plenty of razor burn. Using a Shavette will really refine your technique. You'll also become a Stypticmeister! Good luck!

Thanks. I am becoming pretty adept with the pencil xD. I ordered an Alum block actually. I've used them in the past for other uses, so I thought I'd get one to apply before the AS. I'll definitely make sure to maintain a no pressure stroke next time. But I think the problem was the angle, I'm pretty sure I was using more of a 45 degree angle at times and that caused the scrapping. Gotta watch that.

@Qatsats: Thanks a lot for the link. I knew the blade felt harsher than the Feathers. That along with too steep an angle probably caused the irritation. And you may just be right about the pressure. I thought I was using no pressure, but perhaps I was. Thanks for the help!


Thanks everyone for the input.