Thread: The Noob Chronicle - My Straight Razor Experience

The Straight Road - Part Three: The Next Day
My past two writeups have come the day after my shaving experience, but this time I decided to write it up immediately after the fact, just for a little change of perspective. With the arrival of my sample pack from T&H, there was no way I was not shaving this evening when I got home. Was this a good idea? Hmmm...let's find out.

Anticipation
The arrival of the bubble envelope to my office this afternoon made it almost obligatory that I shave today, just one day after my previous, and just my second, straight razor shave. Of course, when my package arrived, I pulled out the cologne samples and checked them out, settling on Trafalgar as my preferred scent for the time being. Slipping off to the bathroom, I applied a few experimental dabs to test it out. Definitely a nice scent, with pleasant spiciness and some woody tones. I arrived home filled with the anticipation of shaving for the second day in a row - you'll note that I tend to do my straight shaving in the evening due to time constraints in the morning - only to find my wife waiting, ready for me to accompany her to pick up the other third of my better two thirds from daycare. Being the dutiful husband and father that I am, I accompanied her on the two block walk to pick the little one up. Good things, after all, come to those who wait. That's why I waited forty-eight hours for my next shave...oh yeah, except I didn't. That might not have been such a smart move.

Prep
I decided I would prep a little bit differently than I had in my previous shaves, opting for a shower and some eShave Orange Sandalwood preshave oil. Shower prep usually gets my whiskers nice and soft and hydrated, so I figured this would be a good day for it. I soaked my brush and warmed my bowl in a sink full of hot water as I cleaned the baby oil off my H&H 6/8. I had rubbed my strop down with my bare hand, having read this was good for the strop, and conditioned it with a couple of drops of the oil that came in my Poor Man's Strop kit. Concentrating hard, making sure each stroke was even and the spine and edge of my blade were making contact with the mostly smooth leather surface of the strop, I started my passes. I decided to go for about forty passes this time, hoping to obtain a smoother edge for my experience today, especially given the fact my face was only twenty-four hours removed from the previous assault.

The Lather Wars
I've come to a conclusion after trying MWF and T&H cream in the past couple of days after a few weeks of Proraso: I suck at lathering. Either that, or Proraso is a very noob-friendly product. I suspect it's somewhere in the middle and I also expect that, with more time, I'll get better at it. I also, after some obsessive perusal of a few YouTube videos, think I am shorting myself on the water in my lather-making endeavours. Anyway, I'm sure that, once I get this lather thing down, I'll probably have much more enjoyable shaves. All in good time. Speaking of which...

The Shave
The shave...the shave...the shave....
This wasn't a good one for me. My lather was thin and not too slippery, though it didn't dry out like my MWF lather. I think the shave oil probably saved me from a much worse experience, but as I sit here writing this, there is still quite a bit of stinging burn on my neck, cheeks and chin. I started with my usual with the grain pass, right side first, cheek and sideburns, moving into jawline. So far, so good. I did my best to pay close attention to the blade angle tonight, trying for light pressure and gliding the blade over my skin. I definitely felt some pulling and scraping, but I was thinking that's what a straight did. I attribute that to my lather and to my beginner's technique. The first pass, despite the lather and technique challenges, was relatively smooth and easy. I am still pretty awkward and clumsy with the razor, but at least my left hand felt like it belonged to me, rather than someone else's hand that I was trying to control via mental telepathy.

Before the second pass, I tried to add a bit of cream from my sample pack while whipping the lather up a bit more. It was still under-hydrated, but at least it was more plentiful. I made sure to apply some fresh lather to my chin, cheeks and neck while doing a second, mostly with the grain, pass. This one did bring out some burn, but nothing too intense, so I made a decision that, in hindsight, was probably a bit rash.

Lathering up with determination, I decided I would do a pass across the grain. This would be my first time going XTG with the straight and I figured that the third shave was probably enough time for that. Silly me! On a positive note, the shave I got was pretty smooth and I do have less rough patches than yesterday. Even the tricky spot just under the point of my chin is smooth!

Post
After the third, XTG pass, I was feeling a bit tender. I went with a post-shave rinse of lukewarm water, followed by my drugstore Witch Hazel splash, then the alum block, which stung like a you-know-what! While I let the alum act, I dried, stropped and re-oiled my razor, preparing it for at least forty-eight hours of rest as I am out of town this weekend. Setting the razor aside, I proceeded with a bracing cold water rinse and applied the lovely-smelling Truefitt & Hill Trafalgar aftershave balm. This stuff is really luxurious.

The Verdict
Ouch. Not one of my smarter moves, but sometimes the excitement overcomes the brains. I don't really regret it, as I did learn from the experience. The bumps and rash will fade, the burn will subside, but the lessons will remain. I had never had razor burn on my cheeks until today. Nonetheless, I have figured out that I need to work on my lathering techniques, that I should probably stick to shaving every other day and that T&H makes great-smelling stuff!

Not a bad bit of learning for my third ever straight razor shave!

Even if there are bumps and potholes (and razor rash) along the way, I'm on the Straight Road!

Cheers,

Jack