Thread: My very first straight razor shave

Well, my second shave went much, much better. I spent more time with the preshave process and this time I only lathered my face by section. I didn't worry about speed and took my time. It took me about 35 minutes in total, but I'm taking my time! I still got a few nicks, but I think I'm still getting used to the proper angle. My face is slim and when I pull my skin tight, it creates hills and valleys so one part of the razor touches while the middle doesn't touch and the other edge seems to catch another area on the wrong angle, which makes it difficult to shave certain areas. I'm sure it's just my technique as many other people possibly have this problem too. I got a much closer shave this time around and didn't use my old Schick razor to finish up. I did get to a second pass in some areas where I felt confident enough to do so.

One thing that annoys me is that my beard seems a bit thick and the hairs feel almost like they're being pulled while shaving. I've always had this problem with non-straight razor shaving too. It could be my poor preshave routine.

A second thing that annoys me is that my skin is very sensitive. Using the brush too much begins to irritate my skin. Also, leaving the shaving cream on too long also seems to irritate me as well. Any ideas on this? This is particularly the case on my neck, but affects my whole shaving area.

My preshave preperation was to apply a hot towel, scrub the lather into the skin, apply a hot towel, clean the lather off, apply presave oil, apply lather again, let sit for about 30 seconds, begin shaving. Any ideas of what I could do more/less for the preshave prep?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the first time I couldn't hold the razor in my off-hand for the LIFE of me... but this time it was much, much easier to do so! Looking forward to getting that down more as well as becoming more comfortable with the various ways to hold the razor depending on the different parts of the shave.