Thread: Newbie f/t Dark Side

Hi Toddo, and welcome to the world of straight razors... I have great admiration for you, for choosing this method of shaving.

Actually, A few days before I read your post, I was thinking about that exact same situation, and what would it be to shave when you cannot see what you are doing. I closed my eyes, and I did couple of strokes, suprisingly easy. I guess it's in the feel and trained dexterity of my hands. So, I can tell you it will be much easier for you, when your hands learn the paths around your face.

You will have to learn to maintain your razor by honing it, again action which requiers great deal of feel to it, so again I am confident you will be able to learn it quickly.

For the skin sensitivity... It is normal to get somewhat raw skin in the first couple of weeks to couple of months. If you can, give it a rest between shaves, and shave every second or third day. Also, the feeling of straight razor cutting the whiskers is a bit different than other methods, so that will take a bit of time using to it.

Pay atention to your preparation, wash your face with soap or take a shower before the shave, and in no time you will have the best shaves of your life, and a very enjoyable part of the day that you will be looking forward to...

have fun,
Nenad,

Let me start by saying thanks to all for your kind words and excellent advise. I am not always sure of forum etiquette, such as whether to respond to every individual reply or not. I want you to know that I do appreciate each and every post. Here is what I am about this time, shave number four. I decided to see what it would be like shaving after only two days instead of three, as all previous shaves thus far. The first pass was typical. not much different accept that I think I initially made longer strokes and had less sensitivity after the first pass. However, before I was finished, I was suffering from the usual fiery flesh. This is a definite pattern, which after some deliberation, I think I am settling on a primary cause. I am shaving much to aggressively. I am not nicking and cutting myself much, only one shave out of four have I inflicted myself with any sanguineous wounds. However, this flaying of my face needs resolution. At this point, I feel that I need to take more of the long strokes and decrease the excessive short strokes I’ve been taking. These short strokes are essentially giving me many passes over the recommended two to three. Additionally, I need to do less analyzing/evaluating until I am finished. I feel stubble and I want to eradicate it! What I forget about and am not used to, is that the pores are open, thus exposing more of the stubble. I have found after every shave, that I have gotten much closer and more of the stubble than I thought I was getting during the shave. I have to remember that the stubble will retract and the pores will close, leaving me with the desire close shave. These short, multiple passes to get at the stubble I feel are Old habits cultivated over years of commercial razor use. I am going to try very hard my next shave, to shave a little less aggressively with my newfound friend, the straight razor.

Toddo,
One other thing to recognize, when you take the first swipe (during a single pass) you are reducing the stubble, but you have removed the lather. Some residual will remain, but this will quickly be removed/dry out with another swipe over the same area. Multiple strokes after this is essentially dry shaving.

Bottom line, once the lather is gone, stop shaving that portion of your face until you relather. This should greatly reduce your skin irritation.

Just a thought,
Ed

Also try decreasing the angle of the blade. You may be going higher than 30 degrees (which is the optimal angle) and you need to reduce it even more in some areas. Very light pressure is required when shaving straight. After you complete the first pass (with the grain) there will be some hair that you will be able to feel. Just let it be, re-lather and go across the grain for the second pass. Most of it will disappear. If you want to go really aggressive, then you do the 3rd (against the grain) pass. Good luck and keep us posted.

P.S. This is an informal friendly place so you don't need to reply to every reply unless you have some questions or comments. As for the questions, we're more than happy to answer them as more knowledgeable people in our past were there to answer them for us.

I just want to repeat what Ilija just said about pressure. I find that using the pressure I was used to with a Track II was not only more agravating to my face, but gave me less close a shave. The rippling action of the skin under pressure seems to tuck the whiskers in a little as the blade passes over them. This makes one want to do extra passes which are no more effective than the first, but certainly add to the discomfort. An ultra sharp blade needs no pressure and shaves great. The rest is in good beard prep and the blade angle.

X

If I remember well you mentioned you do not have a heavy beard. I would suggest you do a single pass against the grain. Due to my sensitive skin I have experimented a lot and found that a single pass against the grain gives me a very smooth shave. I guess my beard is medium heavy if you like, the heaviest in the areas with the most sensitive skin (i.e. the neck). It might not be as perfect as more passes in different directions but sometimes you have to compromise. When my skin is wet I often feel stubble that I can't feel when the skin is dry. If I test the closeness of my shaves by rubbing my thumb on my dried skin I usually hardly feel any stubble, only in my neck I have a few areas that I can never get stubble free no matter how many passes I do.
I would be very interested to know how other members of the forum test the closeness of their shaves and what results they get.

Ok, so I originally posted this on the 11th., but have been wondering why it fell short of a single reply. When I reread it, I realized that perhaps my utterance of an expletive may have some how flagged it. I let it ride because of what I read in the FAQ about blanking words, and I figured I would let the program take care of any necessary censorship. I decided to see if the message even posted by investigating the thread without logging in with my user name. Well, I discovered that in fact it had not posted. That's fine, but it might be nice to be notified that one's post is in limbo! Maybe there is some nifty icon or coloration but guess what? Anyway, here is the old post, self censored for those who give a hoot. I decided to strop the razor on the pasted sides of the strop. I did twenty laps on the one and point five sides, before forty laps o the plain side. I wiped the razor off before changing sides, as to minimize cross contamination. I am not feeling very confident with regard to stropping yet.
I began with the usual hot shower. That is where all similarity to previous shaves ceases. Today, I had a new supply of shaving product to try. I began with the Proraso pre-shave. Wow, nice and tingly. I think I have a pretty good idea now of why my S.O.’s father swears by a Noxzema shave. I imagine the Proraso pre-shave must be very similar to this. After letting the pre-shave sit about two minutes, I proceeded to ignore the directions on the Proraso shave cream. Instead of wetting the face and applying the cream directly, I soaked my brush in hot water, let the excess drain out, and then lathered up some cream in the palm of my hand. I have to say I like the pre-shave and cream combo better than the Williams mug soap. I was determined to take longer strokes and not to evaluate until I had completed my first pass. By Jove, I think I’ve got it! After finishing my entire face and neck and rinsing, I felt nice and smooth rubbing my fingers in the direction of the growth. Additionally, I could tell my face was not flayed like in my previous shaves. So I was definitely doing this during the second pass against the growth. Granted, I can still feel light sandpaper like quality when I rub against the growth, but it’s a case of touch being more sensitive than sight. My S.O. assured me that this very light stubble could not be seen. Ok, so I can learn to be a little less anal about how things feel against the growth, get a nice smooth shave without the flaying, and cut my shave time in half to boot. All is right with the world. Well almost. You see, after I was all finished, I was feeling my face with one hand and in the process of setting the razor down on a towel to my right. I moved my thumb forward to place it on the spine and guide it into position. Well the blade was facing west instead of east and it bit me on the tip of my thumb. The f*cker bled for a good 20 to 25 minutes but didn’t require any sutures. I know, I know, Axiom #4 from “Axioms of Shaving.” Cut me some slack, you can understand how I maybe more than some, might lose “sight” of which way the blade is facing. Not that I do not take full responsibility for my carelessness. There are always skillful verses unskillful ways to do things. I will do my best not to repeat my mistake. Mostly, I was disappointed in my mistake, but very pleased with shave #5.

Just reporting in to say both shaves #6 and #7 came off beautifully. I even ventured some against the growth cuts again without any deleterious effects. I am happy happy with my progress and results thus far. I think I am in it now for the long haul, a satisfied convert. With that, I think I will end this thread and post further questions , and comments in the respective sections. I am a little concerned about mastering proper upkeep on the razors with there being definite visual aspects to it. Hopefully between my sighted partner and I, armed with all the fantastic information I find here, we can at the very least keep the rust at bay. Thanks again for all your comments, suggestions, advice, wisdom, knowledge, shared experience... <curtains and lights>

*leaps to his feet shouting, "Bravo"!*

Great to hear you're progressing well. I've been waiting with bated breath for each new post in this thread. You've had no major issues at all either which I suspect is due to the extra care you must take to 'see' where you're going on the strop and with the shave. I suppose that's another example of patience being a special virtue with this practice as with so much else.

See you in the Forums.

X

I concur that it's time for you to move on. Given all of your successes, your only excuse for visiting the Newbie's Corner from here on out it to answer questions for those less knowledgeable than yourself.

Congratulations and welcome to the fraternity!

Ed