Hi, this is my first post and I don't actually own a straight razor. Yet. The purpose of this post is to see if anyone out there who gets a good, comfortable shave with a straight razor has had a bad shave from a barber, as I did a little while ago.

I started using a DE about 6 months ago and have been very pleased with the results. I've spent years getting unsatisfactory results, and only being able to shave every second day, using cartridge and electric razors. I enjoy learning new skills so I thought I would take the next step and get into shaving with a straight. But before spending $200 on the equipment (I live in Australia and pretty much everything is more expensive here than the UK or US) I thought it might be worthwhile getting an SR shave from a barber, figuring that if they couldn't give me a good shave with a straight then it probably wasn't for me.

Anyway, this guy who has been a barber for a number of years cut me to shreds. It was the worst razor burn of my life, I had cuts everywhere and it wasn't even a close shave. I could have got better results with my DE in the dark after a bottle of tequila.

So, a few months have passed and the scars (both mental and physical) have healed and I am once again thinking of trying a straight. I was curious to see if other people have had a similar experience from a barber, but are able to successfully shave themselves with a straight razor. Is it my face/beard that is the problem, or did I just get a shave from a clown?

Appreciate stories, anecdotes and advice.

Cheers.