Thread: First SR shave

Don't get overconfident. The straight is an unforgiving humiliator.

You restored that blade? 37.00? Looks good to me. Nice Job!!

Michael

Originally Posted by slicey

so after a few false starts (bought a dud GB Buckingham & Sons online) I lashed out on a brand spanking Dovo innox 5/8, it wasn't shave ready so I had to hone it myself, strop it up and it's taken a while to get anywhere near ready.
Today I had the first shave I'd say I was remotely happy with, couple on nicks, one on my chin and one on that pesky bit right under my nose.
It was just a BRILLIANT experience, I loved everything about it, the ritual, the smell of the lather I made from beautiful handmade soap and sandalwood shave cream, my hand-made ceramic shave bowl and soap dish, the badger hair brush, the witchazel astringent, the whole everything, I just loved it all.
I'm confident that I'll get my razor sharper as my stropping technique improves and my shaves wil get better as my shaving technique improves but I'm just HOOKED, I LOVE IT, I got a MUCH better shave with a single pass of a straight than I ever did even with a brand new top of the line disposable cartridge.
I'm just SUPER excited that my razor and my shaves are going to get better with time, I'm just SOOOOO sorry I didn't take up straght razor shaving 20 years ago.
Better late than never eh?

Congrats on your good start. Seems like there are quite a few members in Australia. Maybe one of them can hone for you and maybe give you some tips.

Michael

@mjsorkin, I'm sure there are some people who could do a much better job of honing than I could (apparently there's some legal issue in the state I live with people honing straight razors professionally, some health nonsense or something), but I kind of wanted to get better at it myself in order to be able to do it myself.
I've managed to get my razor to a point where it snaps a hair at a touch at every point along the blade so, for a beginner I think that's OK.
I found it's not so terribly difficult, just time consuming and repetetive, much like stropping, I've spent a few hours getting that right and I think I'm getting better at it.
My shaving technique is still developing, but I'm finding I am getting fewer and fewer cuts, and with my trusty styptic pencil, they are pretty well gone instantly.
The good thing about nicking yourself with a very sharp implement is you tend not to feel it so much, I think it's mainly a matter of developing confidence and developing my technique with an understanding of which direction the beard grows, little stuff like that you'd think I'd know all about after shaving for a couple of decades, but stuff you can really not bother so much about with the almost idiot-proof cartridge type razor.
I used to have the quickest under the shower shave you've ever seen with a cartridge, now I lather up with hand made soaps and creams in a heated scuttle, use an oil, hand made after shave, the whole bit.
I've actually never been one to bother with any kind of indulgence like that, but I think it's kind of nice to do something like that for yourself.
GF seems to like the end result and since I've never been a great one for colognes, it's nice to get positive feedback about smelling nice too.
Most recent aquisitions are a bottle of Madame Scodioli's "laudnum" aftershave and I can't speak highly enough about the stuff, it smells fantastic, soothes wonderfully and my skin just DRINKS it down and today I picked up a nice little puck of tade laurel shave soap, that stuff is REALLY nice, unlike a few other soaps and creams I've tried before it doesn't seem to dry out into this cakey residue on my skin, lathers up easy and I really like the smell of it too which is a bonus.
The fun thing about soaps is even really top of the line ones aren't THAT expensive so I can have a couple of them on the go at once even on a pretty tight budget. They seem to last forever too even though I like to make a tonne of suds (what can I tell you? I'm slow and careful cos I'm still learning, don't want to rush through it and discover I've amputated something).

looks awesome