Thread: First Shave done

Hi All,

my first straight razor arrived today and i completed my first successful shave, all went well, well one or two nicks, and its already superior to my wilkinson sword quatro (id need to shave again by now with that)

a couple of issues i experienced were the razor sticking? to my cheek and any tips on shaving the point of my chin really struggled with that and thats also where i nicked myself

any help/advice appreciated,

Thanks

Al

Hi Alastair,

Assuming your straight is shave ready, I'd make sure I was stretching my skin, using light pressure on the blade, and paying attention to the blade angle. Also, make sure your beard is properly prepped. I like to make sure my face is very wet before I put on lather to ensure that the blade slides nice and smooth over my skin. This is something I've heard GsSixgun mention many times and I think it's a worthwhile tip.

The wiki is a great source of information on shaving technique; it pays to review it from time to time (I do once a week).

Good luck and welcome to SRP.

-Mark

Congrats on your first shave...its a cool feeling Mark gave you some good advice here...and remember that approx 30 degree angle for the blade. The chin is always the hardest so hang in there and experiment with different angles.

Hi Mark,

Thanks I think you have nailed the problem, id had a shower to soften my beard but dried my face without thinking before I lathered it up,I had not used a shaving cream before (only canned goo) I will make sure its wet next time, I was a bit unsure if the lather was a bit dry that probably explains why

I always leave my face wet from the shower and sometimes I even have to re-wet it at the sink if I have taken a while to get my lather whipped up. Basically, I always lather a wet face.

Thanks for the tips gents, I will make sure my face is wet when I try again tomorrow, Its definately an amazing feeling post shave. The other thing I was wondering about is should I be using shave oil? Its not something I had come accross until exploring the forums on here, I am currently using Taylor of Bond Street Sandlewood shaving cream on its own?

I don't use a pre-shave oil that you leave on and lather on top of, if that's what you are talking about. Sometimes I use a pre-shave balm that I let sit on my face for a while (10 or 15 minutes) then wash off while I'm in the shower. I don't really know if I notice a difference between the times when I use it and the times that I don't. I just kind of like it. You absolutely do not need to use one though. A good hot shower, with lots of steam, that softens your beard and hydrates your skin is really all you need before you lather up.

First - congrats on the first shave. I know you have a strong sense of accomplishment.

So it could be your beard prep and it could also be just getting used to the pressure and blade angle envolved in using a straight. Watch that your blade angle is not too steep.

As far as prep, what works for me is to rub a bar of Olivia soap direclty into my whiskers while in the shower. Then I kick the water to as hot as I can take and saturate a wash cloth well. I apply that directly to my beard until the water starts to cool and then re-saturate and repeat the wole process 3 or 4 times. This soften my beard well. Then, on exit I do not wipe my face dry. I go straight to the sink for lather and shaving.

Hi Alastair,

I have two pre-shave oils. One I made myself based on formulae I saw here on SRP, it being 50% olive oil and 50% castor oil. The other one has another kind of oil that honestly I can't remember right now (sorry). Edit - grapeseed oil

For me, neither one had much of an effect. Simply making sure my beard was prepped and having plenty of water on my face before I lathered worked fine. In fact, since oil and water don't normally mix very well, it may be a little counter-productive to use it, especially since you want your beard hairs to be as saturated with water as possible. Now, I'm no expert nor chemist, but at the very least oils do nothing for me. YMMV.

If you do use shave oils you'll need to take special care of your brush to make sure it's clean of them; the oil can reduce the ability of your brush to soak up water and lather. So for me, it was an easy decision; after two months of using oil and some time without, and without the additional worry of oil in my brush, I decided to kick shave oil out of my routine. This is, of course, only my experience.

I'm one of the least experienced members here, but for my prep I sometimes would use a hair conditioner that soaks up moisturizer on my beard just before I get out of the shower. My theory is this helps my beard stay wetter while I create my lather. Whether it really makes a difference or not I can't say quantitatively, but it seems to make a difference for me. Alembic's advice probably works better, and in another recent thread another member speaks of lathering his face and wiping that off and re-lathering again.

Experimentation is your friend. Congratulations on your first, and all your subsequent shaves.

-Mark

I'm one of the least experienced members here, but for my prep I sometimes would use a hair conditioner that soaks up moisturizer on my beard just before I get out of the shower. My theory is this helps my beard stay wetter while I create my lather.

I've done that, and it works for me, too. Hair conditioners contain various lubricious ingredients, and they smooth out the shave.

Charles