Second Shave.

I recived my straight razor back from Lynn Thomas himself, all nice with the blade set properly. Did my initial stropping, and then.....preceded to act like a jack ass. I have my badger hair brush and nice shaving cream, but I thought that I knew better so after the shower, I used hair conditioner (like I have for years) instead of the shaving cream; and had a vary nice lesson taught to me.

I.....mistakenly....thought the point was to lubricate the face, I didn't realize the real point was to keep the hairs plump and soft with water.......

The first side of my face was o my god great. The first thing out of my mouth was "I wish I would have done this years ago." Then I got to the other side of my face....a side that while still lubricated....had time to dry out a bit.

it was like every hair was being ripped off my face. it was horrible. I had to stop, and finish up with my other shaver.

Tonight I have to shave again, and will be doing things right this time.


Any thoughts or suggestions before I take my shave in a few hours?

Sounds like you learned a lesson. You obviously know how it should be, really. There is a lot of fun to be had in experimenting and finding what works for you, but perhaps leave those to later, after the basic technique is down. I'd say stick with the tried and tested for the moment. Best of luck.

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Originally Posted by grant9908

I recived my straight razor back from Lynn Thomas himself, all nice with the blade set properly. Did my initial stropping, and then.....preceded to act like a jack ass. I have my badger hair brush and nice shaving cream, but I thought that I knew better so after the shower, I used hair conditioner (like I have for years) instead of the shaving cream; and had a vary nice lesson taught to me.

I.....mistakenly....thought the point was to lubricate the face, I didn't realize the real point was to keep the hairs plump and soft with water.......

The first side of my face was o my god great. The first thing out of my mouth was "I wish I would have done this years ago." Then I got to the other side of my face....a side that while still lubricated....had time to dry out a bit.

it was like every hair was being ripped off my face. it was horrible. I had to stop, and finish up with my other shaver.

Tonight I have to shave again, and will be doing things right this time.


Any thoughts or suggestions before I take my shave in a few hours?

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I use a hot hand towel followed by a good rich lather worked in real good.short strokes and zero pressure with the blade at angle about twice the thicknes of the spine despite my signature i get good results.

Good luck enjoy and welcome to forum

Plenty of lather, worked in with a brush for at least 3 minutes.

I lather half my face at one time. Shave it, then wet and lather the other side. I find if I do my whole face at one time, the left side dries too much, just as you describe. Also, I found that I don't have to have a whole ton of lather, but a thin coat of REALLY wet lather works better.

Just my 2 cents!!

Good luck, keep at it!!

M

I've found that a thin layer of hair conditioner applied in the shower, _with lather over it_ when shaving, gives a really smooth shave. The beard hairs are soft, and the skin is lubricated with the conditioner.

These things are very personal -- try stuff out until you find what works for you.

charles

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Originally Posted by mjhammer

...I lather half my face at one time. Shave it, then wet and lather the other side. ...M

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I was thinking of doing this; I had the same problem. I've been applying some more lather over top, but I think maybe the bottom is still too dry...
I normally have a hot shower first while my brush and bowl sit in hot water, after the shower I apply some Proraso Pre-Shave cream, then make up my lather, lather my face, then strop, then shave. As I say though, the idea about lathering 1/2 the face might be a good one.