Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

Since there are so many experienced veterans of straight razor shaving around here, I figured I'd write a small journal of my first steps into the anachronistic world of the straight razor. Hopefully some of you will find some interest in my writings, as well as some familiarity as you go through the your first shaves, or remember them from way back when.

A New Hobby
I'll preface by saying I stumbled into traditional shaving somewhat by accident, having read a discussion on an unrelated forum and noting that a friend had his DE razor up for sale. I immediately jumped into this hobby with both feet. Having seen shaving as an onerous chore to be avoided at all costs, I hoped to turn it into a pleasurable experience and something from which I could derive enjoyment. After some reading and searching, I settled on a decent Omega boar bristle brush from my local pharmacy, some Proraso shaving soap from the same, some Real Shaving oil, balm and face scrub and picked up the Merkur 38c, complete with a partial pack of the infamous Feather blades, from my aforementioned friend.

The journey into DE shaving was, indeed, all I expected it to be: frustrating, fun, pleasurable, scary and, at the end of the day, quite enjoyable. I quickly picked up a Vulfix badger brush, as well as discovering some sample shops from which to order soaps, creams and other shaving supplies, not to mention a sample pack of DE blades. But there were these sections on the forums I was reading, sections that held a new mystery: the straight razor. It seemed almost inevitable that I would have to try this, given how much I was enjoying the DE experience.


The Straight Road
Needless to say, I became fascinated by the art of the straight razor shave and, having already acquired more shaving gear in a few short weeks than I'd purchased in the previous 3 or 4 years, I promptly found myself purchasing a straight razor from a classified ad on a forum. To accompany this, I had to order a strop and some other supplies, just to make sure I had a great first experience. I was lucky to have the wealth of information of the straight razor community online, StraightRazorPlace.com, to guide me in my choices. Of course, while waiting for the respected postal services of the United States of America and Canada to do their thing, I continued to read, absorb, watch and listen to any and all information about razors, lather, strops, hones, brushes and aftershaves that I could get. I discovered a second straight razor, this one a bit more expensive and a bit fancier than my first, with ebony scales and a nicely polished blade, which I had to have.

Remember, all this is before a straight has even touched my face.

Finally, the first razor arrived, a slightly battered H&H that came to me shave-ready from a very friendly and helpful member of the online community. Of course, with no strop, I was forced to put it aside and wait, rather impatiently, for the rest of my kit to arrive.
Several days went by and, arriving home from work, I discovered my strop waiting in the mailbox. At last, it was the day!


My First Shave
Having read several guides and watched a few videos, I now considered myself an expert on straight razor shaving. After all, how hard could it be? Lather up, scrape three inches of the sharpest steel in the world over my face, rinse off and done, right? Easy stuff, right? For the occasion, I decided to try my sample of Mitchell’s Wool Fat shaving soap, whose near-mythical status amongst traditional shavers had attracted my attention.

Having followed the instructions on my stropping kit regarding conditioning and preparation, I was ready to have a go. I began to strop, slowly, carefully and successfully. After the first ten passes, I figured I was getting the hang of it and started to increase my pace. I’m sure the experienced shavers among us are shaking their heads knowingly at what happened next, as I sliced the razor into the strop, luckily not too badly, but enough to put a significant dent in my budding overconfidence. Back to slow and easy, careful and gentle, I got through my first thirty passes on the strop and set the razor aside, ready to go.

As I lathered up, I was feeling quite a bit more nervous than I had been with the first DE shave, even given all I had read about the dreaded Feathers. As I spread the passable MWF lather onto my face – I still need more practice at lathering that stuff – I was in an almost euphoric state, ready for anything. Taking the seemingly small and delicate tool up in my hands, aligning my fingers on the grip just as I’d seen in the photos online, I held the blade at what I figured to be an appropriate angle on my right sideburn. This was it! I was about to become a new man. A more manly man. A throwback to simpler times. Right?

Down went the razor, removing some of the hair on my cheek and, thankfully, none of the skin. I made it through the first pass relatively unscathed, getting the feel of this strange implement as it came into contact with my face. Not heeding all the advice I’d read, I went for a second with-the-grain pass, this one reducing my already somewhat sparse beard even further and even showing some nice progress in the difficult moustache area, as well as around the chin. Emboldened by my relative success thus far, I brashly lathered up a third time and, still with the grain, I shaved yet again. This time I felt some burn, I felt some scraping and I cut my chin. Not too badly, but enough that I needed the styptic to stop the bleeding. As I rinsed off and cleaned up, I felt the burn on my neck, my left cheek and my chin, I felt the stubble on my jawline and underneath the point of my chin, where I had tread most lightly.

A horrible shave, but what an experience!

I have to confess, I didn’t really feel more manly. I didn’t feel like a throwback, but I felt damn good, all the same. Alum, cold water, some Proraso aftershave and then some Real Shaving balm helped me feel a little better in the burn department, but no help was needed in the accomplishment department.

I had done it. Day one.

Maybe next time I’ll actually take off all the hair!

Cheers,

Jack