So I completed my first first shave with a straight razor today. Not too bad; only six cuts and a few dozen nicks. The important part is that I had fun. And since the Hart razor was laser sharp, I felt nothing unpleasant.

My prep was a face wash with warm water and Cetophil cleanser followed by some home-grown preshave oil and a hot, HOT towel. Bigelow cream worked into a wet lather with an antique--read hair falling out--Taylor badger brush.

I felt a little clumsy with the razor and had a hard time finding a good grip--probably some rookie nerves showing up. The Hart is a square tip, and two of the cuts occurred when I literally stabbed myself in the face in awkward moves. I'd like to blame my dog who was barking up a storm at the time and distracted me. I think he was trying to alert the neighbors to come help. But in reality, I suspect it's just a question of really paying attention while playing this sport.

I also suspect that I made two rookie mistakes: 1) too much blade pressure, and 2) too steep an angle. As I played around, I think I found a shallower angle worked better. I also think I became too fixated on the image in the mirror and should have focused more on the feel of the edge cleaning off the lather.

Neck area is a bit red and irritated. Chin took the worst of it--too many tough angles to negotiate. Thank God for styptic pencils.

ER Doc says she's seen worse faces from car wrecks, but not many. Still, she didn't feel sutures were needed. I told her I would try again tomorrow and she said that was fine...apparently she has Sundays off.