Thread: First Shave. Why didnt I think of this sooner!

Hey, everyone! I intended to only get comfortable with my razor on my cheeks with this first shave, but kept going and had terrific results!

I'll first point out the fact that my girlfriend enjoys the beard i have and wishes i keep it. This is giving me a leg up on the other beginners as i only needed to focus on my cheeks and from my jawline down my entire neck.

I bought a restored Japanese Towa #77 razor described as shave-ready before I learned of all the amazing users on this site and the possibility of buying a truly shave ready razor from one of them. I think the razor was probably more shave-ready than others you will find as the results were very good. Only reason i think it may not have been totally shave ready was that it pulled a couple times, but then again this is more than likely my technique / blade angle (also I hadn't shaved in a few days and my stubble was quite long - was that a bad idea?).

I won't bore the details about prep, etc unless someone asks but after my shower i built a lather and got to work. I went super slow and in tiny patches. The lather dried up in parts with how slow i was going and i assume this is normal, i just had to reapply it. I only did one pass with the grain, but this was sufficient for a first time and didn't want to push my luck! No nicks or cuts or anything with this amazing first shave, but I'm sure in the future i'll need that styptic and alum block i bought!

The best part was how my face looked afterward. I am totally susceptible of razor burn and my face looks awful sometimes depending how i've shaved; cartridges, electrics and my safety razor. I was imagining this wouldn't be different especially since ive read it may take a few shaves for your skin to adjust to a straight. This was not the case and i was only left with a tiny bit of redness, much less than usual. I can't believe it, and i feel like i'm speaking on an infomercial right now!

Only problem is the benchmark I've created for my future shaves! I'm hooked.

Welcome and congratulations! Too bad for your girlfriend, but my tip is that your beard is gone within a week.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=60.345064,5.273565

Dude, that's a home run!

Welcome man.I also used to get razor burn with safety razors etc but switched to straight years ago and never got it bad again.If I do find some burn after a shave It usually means I need to strop longer before shaving.

Way to go, man!

A lot of us find that a two-day stubble shaves easier than a one-day growth. I know that's true for me. Four days and it takes a couple of short passes to get the blade in low where it needs to be, and maybe the whisker bases are starting to widen a little--but I don't know if they actually do that. Maybe I'm thinking of tree trunks. You may get the pulling if the blade is hitting the longer barbs up away from the skin, instead of down close where the hair can't bend away as much.

Good luck with it--sounds like you're off to a great start.

As first shaves go, that's great.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Dude, that's a home run!

Seems to me he knocked it outta the park!