Tips for beginners, from a beginner
I've been shaving with a DE for a while now and achieving great results, and just recently started with a straight razor. As I'm sure is the case with all beginners, I was fairly nervous about putting blade to face, and thought it would be helpful to share a few of the most helpful techniques that I've found in the many articles here and other places across the web.
I am by no means an expert, quite the opposite actually, but wanted to pass on some advice to other newbies that I found most helpful during my first few shaves. I started off with a couple unpleasant shaves, but I'm now at a stage where I can get a fairly close and comfortable shave, without having to use the DE for clean up at the end. Here are the tips that helped me the most:
-Prep your face properly. There are many good articles that go into the detail, but the basics seem to be the same (get your face hot and wet for a few minutes, let your brush soak, etc.). This is the 'easiest' part of the shave, but I find that it has the most to do with whether my shave is comfortable (DE or straight).
-Respect the blade, but don't be afraid of it. When I shave with confidence (carefully of course), I don't seem to nick myself at all. When the blade hovers timidly (on the skin, off the skin), it seems like the easiest time to cut yourself. Once you start actually shaving, the risk seems to go way down.
-Use pre-shave oil. I didn't use pre-shave the first few times with my straight razor, but when I finally did, it made the shave MUCH more comfortable. I use an oil from Trumpers, but I'm sure many others work well also.
-Stretch your skin. Everyone says to do this because it is true. I realized after a few shaves that I wasn't really doing this effectively, and when I changed it made a huge difference.
-Start with simple strokes. Even on the first attempt, it wasn't terribly difficult to get a decent result going WTG on my right cheek. I got a bit cocky and tried a XTG on my chin, and promptly gave myself a little slice. I'm not sure I agree that you need to start as slowly as some people say, but I would definitely agree that you should go WTG only at first, and stop before you get too far outside your comfort zone. If you do slice yourself, you won't be able to practice shaving on that tricky spot for a day or two until the nick has healed, so it's better to take it relatively slow.
-Use both hands. I was most hesitant about this part of using the straight razor, but it's not as bad as I expected. I'm sure many people will debate this and say that you can absolutely use only one hand, but I found that reaching across my face was actually more difficult than just using my left hand as seems to be the standard practice. I don't think of myself as being very coordinated with my left hand, but I'm even less coordinated reach across with my right and shaving blindly. This also ties into the point about shaving with confidence. My left is not as steady as my right, but it seems like the the right way to do it.
Not sure if the more experienced people agree with these tips, but they certainly were the ones that helped me through the first week. I would also encourage anyone thinking about picking this hobby up to do so. It certainly isn't easy, but you can actually pick it up more quickly than you may think, and it is quite rewarding. There are some great videos out there, and these were also really helpful.
Hope this helps some fellow newbies.
