Thread: Noob's first post!

Good afternoon everyone, my name is Chris and this is a completely new topic for me.

First, my reasons for trying out a straight razor are simple. I have sensitive skin, but the hair grows VERY fast. Shaving with a regular razor is just painful unless it's only done every other day. Shaving with an electric is nice because it's fast, but it doesn't do a very good job.

I thought a straight razor might be able to get me the smoothness I want, without the irritation from doing it every day.

I bought my first razor and strop on ebay last week, and I have a feeling it's not very good. Here is a link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...5679&rd=1&rd=1

I also got plain old shaving soap and a cheap brush from Wal-mart.

This morning I actually woke up early, knowing that my first shave would likely take quite a while. I ended up being greatly disappointed. I'm not sure if the blade wasn't sharp enough, or if my technique was bad, or what... but it seemed all it did was irritate my skin, and not actually cut any of the hair. I had watched Lynns video on google, which is how I found this website, and he made it look SO easy... and I just couldnt get it to work.

Shaving my upper lip ended up just not happening.... it just felt like it was ripping out hair as soon as i touched the blade to my face, and I thought for sure I was just going to cut myself.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

Welcome,

My only suggestion is to do some reading here. Your assumption is probably right about straights. If your really wondering and want an answer.

1. Lousy razor
2. Its not sharp
3. It all goes down hill from there

Welcome aboard. If I were you, I'd read all of the help files, read up on the honing and strops forums, buy a shave-ready blade from a honemeister, buy a hone, buy an antique razor to practice on. Doing proper research in these forums will help you make the right purchases. Good luck.

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I'm pretty sure that razor and strop are of pakistani manufacture. If so, then it isn't ever gonna be sharp enough to shave with. The strop is probably junk as well. Unfortunately, ebay is flooded with the Pakistani junk, you can hardly find good razors for all the zeepk and pseudo-solingen "razors".

Your initial assumptions about straights are probably correct -- several members have both sensitive skin and wirey beards and have no problems shaving daily -- but you're gonna need good equipment to do it. You'll probably need a paddle strop with one or two pasted sides for the occasional sharpening and one unpasted side for daily stropping, plus a good dovo or thiers-issard razor to start out with. You've got Lynne's video so you've got the resources section at the end listing some reputable stores. Don't be afraid to let them know you're just getting started out, it'll help them guide you in the right direction.

Welcome to the forum. Alan is right concerning
this razor. But don't be discouraged, your not
the first to make this mistake and won't be the
last.

I suggest that you stick around, ask questions
and read the help files.

A suggestion is to check the following site.
www.thewellshavedgentleman.com
This is the site of Tony Miller. Not only
does he sell good quality Shave Ready
razors but strops as well. You can buy
individually or a complete set.

Though kinda sold down check out the
following sites

www.billysblades.com and http://www.shop.writerferret.com

Billysblades id the site of Bill Ellis aka urleebird and
writerferrett is the site of Joe Chandler.

Another optioncan be [email protected]
This is the email address of Mr. Lynn Abrams, the
founder of this forum. He sometimes has razors
for sale.

I have bought from all these guys and have been
very satisfied with my purchases.

Hope that this helps a little. Don't be shy about
asking questions.



Terry

Howdy BS...

Here is the thread that has some info on the razor you bought. Yours is not sharp. It needs to be honed and stropped.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=7205

Tony Miller's site is actually http://www.thewellshavedgentleman.com/. Terry misidentified Colleen's (future?) site which doesn't appear to be working.

I think if you get that blade honed it should work for you, but you might want to upgrade to something better at a future time. Lynn, Joe, Bill and others can likely handle that razor. I'd offer, but I'm not sure I can tackle that blade and don't want to falsely reassure you.

A good quality sharp straight razor will feel better than any other option on the market. You might not want to shave every day for the first two weeks since it takes time for your face to get used to compensating for the exfoliation.

Keep us posted.

X

Xman

Thanks for catching my error......



Terry

Welcome aboard. If I can help, let me know. I will say this about the Sanguines, though (and this is just a guess, not based on experience) ...they do appear to be better ground than most of the Pakistani POSs I've seen. Plus it's described as "high carbon steel" rather than the exceptionally crappy "440 Stainless" most of them are. There's an outside chance it's not total junk. I think Bill reviewed one of the new low-cost razors a while back, and while not great, it wasn't supremely awful. Anyway, welcome aboard again, and if you have any doubts, go vintage (cuz that's what I sell. )

WOW!!!

Less then a day and all these responses already!

First, I'd like to say thank you to all of you who took the time to reply. I really appreciate a forum where people are willing to help the noobs out!

I feared as much with the razor, as far as the cheapness. I think I might have to wait a while before I can buy something better, so I may be stuck with the electric until then. I'm going to check out those websites and see what they have to offer. I'm just somewhat leery of spending a bunch of money if I'm not going to get the results I want, or if I'm not going to have the patience to take care of my razor and prepare my shave every morning.

Just wondering... what advantage does vintage have over something more recent?

Again, I'll take a look at those websites, and read through this forum some more. You guys have been extremely helpful already!