Thread: 1st/ 2nd shave......

1st/ 2nd shave... with a DE. I know you all where hoping for a post about someones first straight shave, but alas funds are limited and a DE was a more cost effective/ "safer" place to start and get used to the feel of cold steel against my skin.
To start I'm shaving with a Merkur 33C with Merkur super blades, and Wilkinson Sword soap. All in all I think I'm doing ok both times I've gone with two WTG passes and although the shave seemed close the night of by morning I seemed to have more growth than I was used to shaving with a cartridge razor. Also both shaves I got three nicks and both times in more or less the same spots. Specifically just below my jaw line where it transitions into neck, is there any particular trick to shaving this area or is more of playing around until I get the angle right? I don't know if it helps I have been doing the neck/ transition area S to N and now that I'm sitting here rubbing my chin I'm realizing to shave truly WTG I would have to be going more South by South West to North by North East
Any help would be much appreciated and I do promise to make a real 1st shave post probably along with a video when I finally get a straight.

Cheers
-Omid

As I recall from my DE days it is very similar to shaving that area with a straight in that you need to develop skill in maintaining the correct angle as you go over that rounded jaw line area. Sounds like maybe you are rounding the jawline and then the pressure increases as you transition to the neck at the same time the angle changes and the blade digs in a bit. Focus on very light to no pressure (just the weight of the razor) and maintaining the angle. Hope this helps. I'm sure some folks with more recent DE experience will be along shortly with other thoughts.

I've recently had success on the chin and jawline with both straights and DEs by not allowing them to be distinct areas and shaving them as I go from cheek to neck and ATG from neck to cheek. That is, I don't stop at the end of the cheek or at the jawline on the way up ATG. The secret is to use no pressure at all, just the weight of the razor itself (which in the case of the Merkur is plenty), and re-angle the razor as you round the chin and jawline. I used to stop at the bottom of the cheek and at the top of the neck, then I realized that I was actually 'creating' trouble areas that otherwise wouldn't exist. Lately, I've gotten in the habit of using much longer strokes and going from the sideburn area all the way through the neck, and, on ATG strokes, from the bottom of the neck to the top of the cheek. It takes some practice and some improvement in technique, but if done patiently and carefully tames the troublesome jawline and chin areas. I would caution that this is not something that can be done well without lots of practice, but it works well and can also make shaves go more quickly. Good luck!

thanks for all your input I'm sure it will prove tremendously valuable in the future and I will be sure to post a update in the next couple of weeks to tell you how my shaves have been going

cheers
-Omid

Practice skin stretching . You would be surprised how far above the jawline you can pull the skin underneath (at least an inch for me). Proper skin stretching is the art of shaving, be it cartridge, DE or straight. My shaves improved dramatically once I mapped the hair growth and began stretching correctly.

Looking back through this thread, my main thought was that nicking is usually a result of too much presssure. When one really limits the pressure applied to the skin with the razor, it is difficult to get razor burn or nicks.