First Shave this morning

I received a Thiers Issard Le Dandy (Le Dandy) yesterday and had my first attempt at shaving the right cheek this morning (according the recommendation here). I practiced various grips before the shave which felt awkward, but seem more natural when standing in front of the mirror while shaving. I finished the rest of the face with a DE (which I have been using DE's for 18 months).

The areas if face shaved by the straight are noticeably smoother than the rest of the face shaved by the DE - and no cuts. In fact absolutely no irration on areas shaved by the straight. The initial results are much better than I expected. I expect to continue with many baby-steps during the next year, and have the Easter bank holiday to practice.

Welcome and congratulations. Nice report. Your result (smooth, comfortable, and safe) is what we are all striving to achieve. This great start provides you with the perfect baseline as you continue learning. Now you can adjust one factor at a time to keep it all sorted out. By May you could be doing full face comfortable baby butt smooth shaves. I envy your success.

Congratulations and welcome to SRP! Look's like nice start! But don't hurry up, often nicks received after few weeks of shaving when you start to think that you know everything - razor never forgive carelessness

Congratulations and welcome to SRP! It just gets better and better! :D

Congratulations and DE does not compare to SR. Enjoy

Welcome to SRP and congratulations, DE does not compare to SR. IMO. You will enjoy it more and more.

Nice job and welcome to SRP. What is amazing is that you had the disciplined restraint to actually follow the advice of a single cheek shave to start. I can't tell you how important it is. There is no point in asking advice here and then not following it. You are going to do very well.

No take some time and pick what your future aquisition disorder is going to be - we all have them :)

2nd shave not so successful. Other cheek and part of chin attempted. I had not stroped between the 1st and 2nd shave due to two reasons - small area shaved in first shave and a note that came with razor stated sropping wasv only necessary after several shaves. The razor cut reasonably well on flat areas, but the razor met a lot of resistance against the whiskers especially around the chin area. At present I would he unable to shave the whole face even if I wanted to. I am learning that short strokes with momentum helps.

We all have concerns with the chin whiskers. Hardest part of the shave for many of us. Small sections with a light touch but the getting the angle just right will take practice.

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Originally Posted by uk123

2nd shave not so successful. Other cheek and part of chin attempted. I had not stroped between the 1st and 2nd shave due to two reasons - small area shaved in first shave and a note that came with razor stated sropping wasv only necessary after several shaves. The razor cut reasonably well on flat areas, but the razor met a lot of resistance against the whiskers especially around the chin area. At present I would he unable to shave the whole face even if I wanted to. I am learning that short strokes with momentum helps.

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As already mentioned, the chin can be the hardest part (it is for me) practice, angle and pressure make perfect. Also did the razor come pro honed? If not, that could make a big difference

rodb - razor was shave-ready, honed by a reputable UK supplier.

3rd shave complete after a first stropping attempt. Less resistance than 2nd shave. Realising that unless the correct angle is used for each part of the face, then no amount of effort will help cut those whiskers. Have a fair bit of razor burn, but nothing more than 1 or 2 days break. Will concentrate on angles and beard prep - which seems more important than DE shaving. The tactile nature of SE shaving means you directly feel how prepped the beard is. The sound of the blade cutting is also key in guiding the right angle, especially since I would not normally wear my glasses while shaving!


Glad I'm doing this experimenting over the holidays.

Congrats on the progress. Slow and patiently has worked well for me too.

up to five partial shaves now. Technique improving step by step, touching up with DE and finishing off the neck with the DE now gives a passable shave for the office. Result is a light shave with some stubble, WTG only. Skin feels better. Can't SE shave tomorrow as will be in a rush to get the train!

performed about a dozen shaves, now about 1 a week at the weekends.

Some observations:
* Beard prep has improved and is improving my weekday DE shaves significantly.
* Straight shaves leave a lot of stubble, not sure if this is due to poor technique or a dull blade due to bad stropping (difficult to tell when a novice). Shaving is more akin to scrapping than cutting whiskers.
* Focusing on skin stretching and blade angle.
* Considering getting a Feather Professional Artist Club RG to eliminate the stropping factor and focus on technique (despite it being a different technique than a true straight razor).

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Originally Posted by uk123

...Shaving is more akin to scrapping than cutting whiskers...

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sounds to me like either the razor isn't sharp enough or your angle is off. Maybe someone more experienced can comment on this?

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Originally Posted by uk123

...Considering getting a Feather...

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NOOOOOO!!
Stay with us! we're not gonna lose you! Don't walk towards the light at the end of the tunnel!!

all joking aside though, I've read many posts that said once they went straigt they couldnt go back to feather/shavette. Even though the feather was sharper than the SR, the edge wasnt as polished and felt harsher on the skin. I see you point about the time saving though...

Since my last post i have bought a wide paddle strop and paste to make stopping easier and ensure the edge is sharp. I now also have a Feather Teakwood RG, with pro guard, professional and super pro blades.

The first shave after using the paddle strop with 1 and 0.25 micron paste on either side did not result in an improved shave. I took a 2 week break from straight shaving.

Today I used the Feather with a pro guard blade. Much improved results (with a passabe shave that I can leave the house with) and having eliminated blade sharpness as a factor, it is now obvious that my technique is the cause for my previous poor shaves. I plan to work on technique using both the Feather and the TI Le Dandy. I'm aware they require slightly different techniques, but the basics of short, light and fairly rapid strokes that is currently improving the actual whisker cutting is probably can be applied to all SE's from my novice point and view.

If I may interject, one of the things I have to be watchful of is using a light stroke. You just want to use the blade to remove the lather from your face. Mikael posted a video on skin stretching that may also help you. Good luck and congrats on you patience. Good technique will help more than you know.

I now have a dozen shaves with the Feather done. Used a Super Professional blade for the first time yesterday - had an almost perfect WTG shave (excluding the neck where my technique needs improvement). No drag or resistance with this blade, resulting in zero irritation. Made particular attention to skin stretching. Finally got the shave you see on youtube, where the razor cleanly cuts the whiskers with no effort. Now I need to work towards this on the Le Dandy.

Update - I took a few months break from the Feather Artist RG (mainly due to lack of time during the mornings when working and getting some pretty shoddy shaves).

This week I have an opportunity to shave every other day, started off with some rough shaves and some minor cuts. Yesterday, I took my time, used Proraso shaving cream for a change, used few light, short and precise strokes and got a really decent shave.

My experience so far, is the lighter touch the better, remembering the goal is only to skim the hair off rather than go near the skin.