The State of the Shave

This morning before work, I got through a nearly complete shave with my first straight razor, a Mastro Livi New Grind. Things went fine, but I chickened out of a few spots on my chin, and against the grain on my throat. I did some clean up work with my regular razor, a Fusion.

The first time I tried to shave with something other than a cartridge razor was last year, full of myself over newly acquired sharpening skills with my Carter Neck Knife. It was harrowing, but proved that I could, with more skill and patience, pull it off. Again, there were patches left untouched. The razor burn was terrible, my face a catalog of self-inflicted wounds.

So I acquire a straight razor, to do it properly. I armed myself with information from this forum, youtube, all the usual places. I ordered the Mastro Livi because it seemed to have a touch of all the great things about razors: new, custom, vintage, rare, all at once. I assumed it was "shave-ready" and it likley was. I, however, was not. About a week ago, I tried the razor the first time, aiming to follow the advice for beginnersL: to shave with the grain, under the sideburns and on the cheek, then finishing with my regular razor, sort of easing my way in so as not to get discouraged. A local shop (British Isles, Houston) carried a very reasonably priced Silver Tip badger brush, and some Truefitt & Hill shaving cream. I lathered up after a hot shower, and proceded to shave. I've seldom felt so uncoordinated. I held the razor like I'd seen in movies, with the handle perpendicular pointing up, while I cradled the blade with index finger, thumb, and pinkie. First pass on my left cheek ... too shallow; clipped a few hairs, slid over most. Tried again, at a better angle. Not bad, but it tugged pretty hard. But, it did not feel right. There's no way the blade was in shape to shave. I tried to trim under my nose, but only managed to dig the blade into a few whiskers and pull my lip along with it. Tried shaving under the other sideburn and down the cheek, and that worked reasonably well, but pulled way to hard, and made a stuttering sound as whiskers were pulled and cut, almost as if they were being broken, instead of cut. Enough of that.

Last night, preparing for today's shave, I broke out my sharpening paraphenalia. I have a nice hanging strop, and a 4X4 piece of balsa the sides loaded with 1 mic boron carbide, .5 mic chromium oxide, .25 mic diamond spray, and a plain side. I stropped the Livi on the .5 mic chromium oxide (green) about 5 times per side of the blade, then did the same on the plain leather strop. I tried a hanging hair test, and it failed. But, surely there was some improvement. So this morning's shave went well. I changed a few things, though. I held the razor more like an open folding knife, and felt more coordinated. I had better control over the angles, and shaved smoothly. The whiskers scraped off without tugging (and I did more stretching and pinning of my skin, so it stayed tighter). Some Dizzy Gillespie helped with shaving the cheeks. The chin and mustache, with the grain, went reasonably well. Same with the neck. When I re-lathered, and tried against the grain, things got a little tricky -- there was more tugging, and noticeable drop-off of my confidence. Still, all in, this was step in the right direction. I finished off with the Fusion. Post-shave, I did my usual -- pure aloe vera. No cuts.

So there it is -- a mostly complete first straight shave. I've got some work to do, and am eager to hear whatever comments or criticisms anyone is willing to offer.

Cheers,

Jack