Thread: First Straight Shave - OUCH!

First shave with my new straight today. To say that straight razors involve a learning curve would be an extreme understatement.

Razor: Dixie Master Barber (purchased from Larry @ Whipped Dog)
Brush: Thater 4125/1
Soap: MdC
AS: Pitralon Classic

The Shave:

Took a hot shower, then face-lathered up some MdC. In retrospect, I think my lather may have been a little too thick...it was pretty much what I use for my daily DE shaving. I know that a lot of straight users make their lather a little more watery/slicker.

Based on what I had read about newbies mucking up their razor edge by improper stropping, I decided not to strop the razor before using it. I simply used a paper towel to wipe the oil off, rinsed the blade, then wiped it again. On my face, I had a 2 day growth. My beard is not as heavy as some but the hairs are very thick and tough, and tend to be heaviest around my mouth and neck.

Picked up the razor and played around with grips for a minute, then started to shave WTG from my right sideburn down using my right hand. I used the other hand to stretch the skin. The pass on this side of my face felt fine, although it was a little hard to see where the razor's edge met the end of my sideburn. The razor seemed to slice off the whiskers fairly easily and I just wiped the cream on a small towel I had folded by the sink. Rinsed the right of my face and applied more lather to touch up missed spots. So far, still okay.

Now for the left side. By this time, I could tell my lather was drying out so I got my fingers wet and rubbed them over face to revive the lather. First off, the razor felt extremely awkward in my left hand and it was difficult to set the angle properly. After the one WTG pass, hardly any hair came off with the cream. It seemed like I was just scraping off the cream and not cutting any hair. Tried lathering up again and going for another WTG pass on my left side and got pretty much the same result. Out of frustration, I moved the razor back to my right hand and completed the left side of my face.

At this point, all the residual lather that's drying out on my face is starting to irritate my skin. My skin is pretty sensitive and I never leave any soap or cream on my face for this long. Usually it only takes me about 10-15 minutes to complete an entire DE shave with 2 passes, touch up, AS, cleanup, etc.

Still have to shave around my mouth and neck. Rinse and re-lather, then try to tackle these parts with my right hand.

At several points I could feel cutting resistance which makes me think I have either screwed up my edge or doing something very wrong. Tried to keep the shallow 30 degree angle but I was probably off on some bits. Went XTG on the sides of the neck and that seemed to work out OK, but still felt like the blade was not as sharp as when I first started the shave.

Now for the chin and the mustache area. These tend to be very sensitive areas for me and the hair tends to be very coarse and thick. Tried to set the angle and move the blade along to cut but met resistance each time so stopped, and then experimented with re-setting the angle, rinsing and reapply lather each time. When I finally found an angle that would cut, my face was noticeably irritated, but I decided to "finish" the shave anyway. Bad idea. Although I did manage to get most of the hair around my mouth and chin, I could already feel the razorburn.

Did a final cold water rinse to cool down my face for a couple minutes, then did a touch up pass with the DE to get a presentable look. When I lathered up this time, the soap stung my skin. The contrast between the straight and how easily the DE cut was astounding. To be fair, the straight did most of the heavy beard reduction but still. I use a DE with 2-3 days of growth all the time and never get razorburn like this. Matter of fact, the burn I have now feels like my very first DE shaves with dull blades and improper razor angle.

Applying AS was like a Home Alone moment, though the menthol after the alcohol burn felt good. Rubbed in some moisturizer and it didn't feel too bad. Tried rubbing some aloe vera cream on the most irritated areas around my mouth and it stung quite badly.

Would appreciate any advice.

I'm probably not gonna try the straight again until next weeked at the earliest. I have to shave every day for work and my face can't take 5-6 days of razorburn in a row. I know some guys will work the straight into their routine gradually by using a DE for most of the shave so maybe I can do that.

Also, if it sounds like I messed up the edge, can I realistically revive it on a pasted strop? I have a balsa strop loaded with CrOx and a felt one with diamond spray.

Doesn't sound like you damaged the razor, probably more your technique.

Try this, next shave only do one side of your face (from the sideburn to the jaw) with the straight and do the rest with the DE, then when you are comfortable with that, add in the other side of the jaw.

Gradually add in other parts of your face until you are comfortable...then try adding XTG or ATG etc....

Hope this helps

After a year and a half I still shave with just my right hand. Just feels more natural to me.

I don't think it's time to use the pasted strop. If you think the edge is dull, first try lots of stropping on leather -- 100 laps, minimum.

Your initial experience is about on a par with lots of us. The learning curve can be really steep, in the beginning. Think about using a DE razor as a backup/ cleanup /"off-day" solution.

. Charles