Thread: First attempt at SR shave

I literally just got finished with my first straight shave and I have to admit there were a lot of variables that I wasn't anticipating. Just certain things like having to move the scales at certain locations and how to focus on using the toe or heel in areas. I did give myself a decent little cut underneath my septum that took a few minutes and several styptic pencil applications to stop bleeding but that was the only bleeder so I'm happy with that.

I did feel like my face was a lot dryer than I believe occurs with my cart shaves. I was using The Art of Shaving pre-shave, shave cream and finished with after shave. I sometimes add some awful lather resistant shave soap I got at target to my cream and I didn't this time. Maybe for a pure moisturising aspect I will do that next time.

I did two passes, a WTG and a half-hearted attempt at XTG. I do still have a fair amount of stubble in certain locations. Underneath my jawbone I don't think has been smooth since I was 15 but I will probably figure that out eventually. I also have a goatee that was pretty tricky to navigate around when shaving my neck.

Also it felt like there was some catching or maybe pulling. It may have been my angle or technique though I tried to be mindfull of my angle at all times. I would imagine it not being the razor since it was sent from Larry at Whipped Dog and my upper lip can attest to how well it was honed.

How long should one wait before attempting a second shave? Besides the one cut I haven't noticed any irratation so I am tempted to try and at least do some clean up tomorrow. But maybe I should wait an extra day or two.

Another newbie here.....so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I wouldn't even bother with XTG or ATG until you feel REALLY comfortable with WTG. With proper skin stretching and blade angle, I can get a shave that exceeds Mach 16 and green goo shaving.

As far as waiting? Whatever you think your face can handle. Irritation will tell you when you are doing to many passes.

I usually try to shave at least once a day in the evening but it depends on how fast your beard grows

Obviously you haven't bothered to read, much less subscribe, to the advice others that have gone before us have given; and that is, to try only a portion of the face at first, then add to it as you get better. MOST OF US DIDN'T EITHER!! My advice would be to watch a couple more videos of straight shaving, take a good look at your beard to get a better idea of which direction the hair is growing, wait until you feel your face is up to it(sometimes mine hurt, but by the next day it was fine) either today, or tomorrow, then go for it!

-author cannot be held responsible for any injury the reader may sustain while attempting aforementioned advice-

Originally Posted by Cavere

I literally just got finished with my first straight shave and I have to admit there were a lot of variables that I wasn't anticipating. Just certain things like having to move the scales at certain locations and how to focus on using the toe or heel in areas. I did give myself a decent little cut underneath my septum that took a few minutes and several styptic pencil applications to stop bleeding but that was the only bleeder so I'm happy with that.

I did feel like my face was a lot dryer than I believe occurs with my cart shaves. I was using The Art of Shaving pre-shave, shave cream and finished with after shave. I sometimes add some awful lather resistant shave soap I got at target to my cream and I didn't this time. Maybe for a pure moisturising aspect I will do that next time.

I did two passes, a WTG and a half-hearted attempt at XTG. I do still have a fair amount of stubble in certain locations. Underneath my jawbone I don't think has been smooth since I was 15 but I will probably figure that out eventually. I also have a goatee that was pretty tricky to navigate around when shaving my neck.

Also it felt like there was some catching or maybe pulling. It may have been my angle or technique though I tried to be mindfull of my angle at all times. I would imagine it not being the razor since it was sent from Larry at Whipped Dog and my upper lip can attest to how well it was honed.

How long should one wait before attempting a second shave? Besides the one cut I haven't noticed any irratation so I am tempted to try and at least do some clean up tomorrow. But maybe I should wait an extra day or two.

Most likely the culprit is your technique and if you did, stropping. As advised, go slow, take your time and you'll get it.
As far as the razor being honed properly: The razor can cut meat (your face) much easier than whiskers. The fact that you cut yourself does not lend to the razor being honed. The fact that is came from Larry does!!

Originally Posted by Costabro

Obviously you haven't bothered to read, much less subscribe, to the advice others that have gone before us have given; and that is, to try only a portion of the face at first, then add to it as you get better. MOST OF US DIDN'T EITHER!! My advice would be to watch a couple more videos of straight shaving, take a good look at your beard to get a better idea of which direction the hair is growing, wait until you feel your face is up to it(sometimes mine hurt, but by the next day it was fine) either today, or tomorrow, then go for it!

-author cannot be held responsible for any injury the reader may sustain while attempting aforementioned advice-

I think we all tried to go to fast. Great post, gave me a good laugh.

When I started I used to give myself some ferocious razor burn by doing multiple passes trying to get a BBS shave before I had developed sufficient technique. Slow down. As has already been mentioned study up a bit. Start here: First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Early on focus on using very light pressure and getting a comfortable shave. Don't worry about how close it is and just finish with you old shave method if necessary. Close shaves will come as your technique gets better. Trying to get too close too soon will give you bad results and lead to frustration.

Relax and have fun.

I read all the guides I could and watched several videos. Some guides like the one on here says to start with a portion and others say whole face. Larry's instructions state not to strop before first shave but I did afterwards. I think that I may have had inadequate moisture on my face. I certainly felt comfortable with my cheek areas but just need practice with the others. I will watch some more videos and attempt a wtg shave tomorrow.

I decided for shave #2 today. It went fairly well I'd have to say. Once again I took my time did a lot of prep, shower with washing my face well. I put on some udderly smooth in leiu of the AoS preshave I have been using at the suggestion of a forum member on here. It seemed pretty sound as I had a jar already and it does moisturize quite well. I lathered up my bowl (which I need to get a new one that is narrower. The one I have is too wide and all of the lather builds mostly on the edges). I used a mixture of a Shave butter that I picked up at target that seems resistant to lather but more heavily used the AoS shave cream. Lathered my face well and then stropped my blade. I find stropping to be easier than I anticipated. Reminds me of the old days as a boy scout honing pocket knives.

After around 30 laps it was time to shave! I am still getting used to angles and it takes some time. My cheeks are amazingly smooth yet once again I still have lots of stubble on my neck below the jawline. I started WTG and did a second pass XTG on my face and WTG on my neck. There are two small spots of irratation but no blood this time!

I was decently happy with this shave and look forward to the next. I finished up with another lather on my face while I cleaned up and did 20 more laps on the strop. Rinsed that off with cold water and finally AoS lavender aftershave.

Well done on your shaves. As has been said, in hindsight, we all say take it slow, just do a bit, wait a couple of days before the next shave, etc, but in all probability many of us did the opposite when we started, simply because it's such an exciting thing to be doing!

I WOULD just do WTG for a couple of months (assuming shaving each day) before you tried ATG. I think you can more easily cut yourself doing ATG; as the razor may try to dig in under the hair. However, most cuts I have had are simply due to inattention.

Check what you mean by WTG, XTG and ATG. Many of us assume that to be N to S, W to E and S to N even when we know about face mapping. Your hair on the neck problems are likely to be caused by not REALLY doing a ATG on the neck hairs; often they grow at all sorts of odd angles. It's quite difficult to get a SR to go perfectly ATG on some neck hairs, in my experience, and the hollows can cause issues too. The cheeks are the easiest to shave; you've got lots of room, normally the hair grows only one way, you can see what you're doing...

You'll only get better from here...

Sounds good, glad you're enjoying yourself. As others have said, it gets a lot better!

Quick note, I'd boost up the amount of laps on your strop. 30 is kind of pushing the low end. Most do 40-60 laps. Of course, this is assuming good stropping strokes. Remember, you don't need to go fast at first! Steady and consistent is key.