Thread: My First Straight Shave With Video Evidence

Matt - Good video! I was a little nervous for you, bro! But you did GREAT for your first try.

One suggestion I have as a newbie myself. When you begin shaving the sides, you are CORRECTLY pulling UP on the sideburn. However, I noticed that you kept your hand on the sideburn even when your blade was already down shaving by the jawline and chin area, which resulted in the skin being tugged a little bit. What you may want to try is to LOWER your opposite hand down to your CHEEK and pull UP on the cheek at that point when the razor is lower on your face. This will make the skin more tight down on the jawline and chin area when you're razor is at that point.

Watch the video again and you will see what I mean.

Awww hell, I'll just come over to your house and show you since it will be easier to show you versus typing! LOL

Good job though on the first video!

Several comments, with the first one "negative"... You looked seriously better your first shave than I did! A little humiliating for you to do as well your first shave as I did after about one month.

I noticed a few times you were indecisive with the blade angle, before settling on the hold and angle of attack. These times were infrequent, and I think you selected the right angle each time.

Seriously, nice work!

You wondered aloud midway thru whether your growth might have been a little too much for the straight razor. The answer is no. There is no such thing as too long for a straight razor.

If your whiskers are long, but not too tough, you can simply shave them off at skin level as you would expect to. However, if longer, there are several strategies you can use. The initial goal is not so much to shave as to reduce the length of your whiskers close to skin level, after which you will shave in a more conventional way. To reduce your whiskers, you might try laying the blade flat. Your whiskers will be pushed over by the blade before the blade bites into the whiskers to cut. So, you will be cutting off whiskers at a diagonal angle, which means you have to cut thru more whiskers. There will be some resistance to the blade, (as there is with any commercial blade when shaving similarly long whiskers), as you cut off the tops. Because your blade is flat, you aren't likely to experience razor burn. In fact, if done right, the edge might not, and probably won't even be in contact with your skin, being slightly above skin level.

After a WTG pass or two - and I don't relather after the first WTG pass... up to you - I relather and shave WTG in about the way you shaved on your video.

Your first WTG pass doesn't have to use the flat on face approach. But, if the whiskers are tough and long, it might be a useful approach.

Your use of the DE was obvious in your techniques like stretching. You were ahead of the game, obviously.

I enjoyed your video, (and my wife enjoyed your jerky flavors. More later on that.)

Thanks for the video. These first time shave videos are like mini-thrillers for those of us who have been down this road. We've all made all the mistakes, the cuts, nicks, weepers, and all of that. So we watch these on the edge of our seats, hoping against hope that those things won't happen to the first timer. Well done!

Originally Posted by ace

Thanks for the video. These first time shave videos are like mini-thrillers for those of us who have been down this road. We've all made all the mistakes, the cuts, nicks, weepers, and all of that. So we watch these on the edge of our seats, hoping against hope that those things won't happen to the first timer. Well done!

Awesome reply!

The suspense was ruined with the opening scene.
The Youtube freeze frame shows the blood and the switch to DE ruining the surprise!

I will definitely make a video for first attempts of the upper lip and the chin.
Ill adjust the white balance too.
Rookie mistakes. It was my first ever video presentation. I have some work to do.

Shaving with a straight is realling effing cool!

Nice video! Definitely a yeoman's effort on your first try. The only thing I saw that might help was that your lather didn't seem quite hydrated enough. That could be just the video quality, but it seems the lather was a little dry. Having properly hydrated lather means the difference between getting nice glide with the razor and having it "skip" or stutter at times, which will give you problems. It also helps keep your beard softer throughout the shave. Best of luck. Can't wait for the follow ups!

Yep you are right. It was not the camera. My lather was a tad on the dry side for the first pass.
First time with the Truefitt & Hill cream. Second pass was much smoother as the water from my face hydrated the lather more.
I had a lot of fun recording the video so there will be others.

way to go my friend!

jerky cheers to the good job!

It looks like you must have done your homework first. You appear natural natural with the shaving strokes, razor grip, and skin stretching. A quick first shave too - it seems like my first was a 45 minute stop and go affair. Thanks for posting your virgin straight shave, these are rare to find on the internet

Watch out with the tip of your razor, that's why you have cut.
Also a good first attempt, I look forward to the next video.