First straight razor shave today!!!!!!!!!!!!! And,other new discoveries and questions

Hello, my name is Matthew, and I am 23 years old. Today was the first straight razor shave I have ever had. I am not quite sure what brought the idea of starting this hobby was, but I jumped in and ordered my first razor last week and I just got back into town and my roommate had placed the package in my room. It is a Dovo Silver Steel Ebony, which I had professionally honed at Straight Razor Designs. I really liked shaving with it, but I did have some unusual problems with my shave cream today. I use, and have been using (with my old gillette) Lush prince as a pre-shave, and The art of shaving unscented shave cream for lather (with the sample brush;) but today I was having trouble with the shaving cream drying up on my face and flaking. This has never happened to me before, and I did my usual routine. This was my only problem I encountered with my first straight shave, because the drying caused the razor to resist gliding and even caused a few nicks. Any suggestions? Also, I was visiting my parents this weekend, and my dad told me my past uncle had a good shaving brush in his old bathroom at my grandmother's house. While I was looking, I found said brush (it was disappointing,) and I found an old Col. Conk shave mug, and an unused wooden tub of Yardley shaving soap. I lathered it up once and found I didn't like the smell, but aside from that, I was wondering if I should keep it or try to sell it. It has only been used the one time as far as I am aware. I am not sure what the scent is, but I generally go for unscented do to sensitive skin. Not sure if I like the mug either, but it may be better for holding soap over just being a lather mug. I ordered a big daddy strop as well so still waiting on that, but so far I am very excited about this new hobby, and truthfully, it does kinda make me feel like a bad ass http://badgerandblade.com/vb/images/...w_guys/lol.gif
I think I will make my own brush eventually, and I was wanting to try MWF, Mama bear's, or Taylor of Old Bond Street once my current cream is gone. Not sure which soap to try first though so any suggestions would be welcome.
Also I am would like to no how often the razor needs to be re-honed with proprer and regular stropping.
Thanks for your time and suggestions.

Ive had my shaving foam do this too. I find that when my shaving cream dries up and flakes on my face, its because i havnt added enough water to the mix. I find more water is better then less water. As for the creams and soaps, Taylor of old bond street is a great " bang for your buck. " I have the avocado cream and I love it. Ill let the other guys answer your other questions. Welcome to SRP! from your fellow newb!!!!:rock:

Welcome aboard Ecdycis, you have entered a world of endless options and pure delight once you find your first niche, from there you may find yourself continually looking for an even better shave. I have been Str8 razor shaving for only a year; therefore I am condidered a rookie by many and some would say I am not experienced enough to even be replying to your post. What you will soon discover on this site is that for your seemingly innocent and "simple" questions you may receive 50 different suggestions.
It's not that any of the suggestions are wrong, it's simply that everyone has different feels and tastes. To ask for recommendations on what brand of anything to use is almost asking for insult here, as you may soon see from some of more comical, yet all in friendly banter, characters who stalk the site looking for the "newbies." Don't take any of it personal, for it is all in good fun!
As far as recommendations on soap go, I recently purchased a container of Proraso "SAPONE." I will probably be laughed at for including the SAPONE because it probably translates to soap but since everything on the container is NOT in English, I can't tell you anything other than that to describe the product. It was purchased from SRD and comes in a white 5.2 oz or 150ml container. Anyway... thus far it is doing a much better job than the beginner's low budget Col Conk soaps. Other than the Conk line of soaps, I have used Van Der Hagen Unscented Luxury shave soap which I thought did a far superior job to the Conk. The VDH puck I am referring to is clear so as not to be confused with their other soaps.
I would recommend you hand on to the old mug you found at grandma's house and put a puck in it to rotate soaps. If you deplete an entire puck before trying a different brand it might be difficult to do an accurate comparrison. I for one like to use different soaps on different days depending on how I feel, no other reason than that. My [B]SWMBO[B] might eventually curtail my line up of mugs in the bathroom but until then....
I have babbled on long enough. I hope I have been of some assistance to you, if not I am sure someone will eventually offer a suggestion you will find useful. :)
Once again, WELCOME ABOARD and happy shaving.

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Ive had my shaving foam do this too. I find that when my shaving cream dries up and flakes on my face, its because i havnt added enough water to the mix. I find more water is better then less water. As for the creams and soaps, Taylor of old bond street is a great " bang for your buck. " I have the avocado cream and I love it. Ill let the other guys answer your other questions. Welcome to SRP! from your fellow newb!!!!:rock:

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So I stopped lathering on my face and moved to a mug, I think this was the fix. Still waiting on my strop to get in, ordered a big daddy which has taken far too long to be shipped in the first place. I tried stropping on some paper folded over a book before the second shave, and it seems to have worked. I am going to order some mama bear's unscented as well as some Taylor of old bond in sandal wood today through amazon prime.

Welcome and congratulations on your first shave. There are numerous people here willing to help in any way.

rolo

First and foremost, welcome to SRP and congratulations on your first straight razor shave. The lather issue you are describing is due to too little water. A couple of tips that may help. Soak your brush for at least 5 minutes prior to loading the brush. If you are loading the brush with soap, put some hot water on the soap puck while your brush is soaking, this will soften up the soap and make it easier to load on the brush. When your brush is done soaking, give it 2 quick shakes to get rid of excess water and then load the brush. Since you have moved to a bowl, it will be easier to control the moisture as you can add water drop by drop as you build the lather. Lather should look shiny when on your face, if it looks matte, then it is too dry. There are so many excellent soaps to try out there. I would recommend that in addition to trying out different brands, you should seek out soaps that use different bases (tallow based vs glycerin based). There are also many, many excellent creams out there including artisan produced creams from SRP members (if you haven't tried "The Bomb" from Al's shaving products, I would highly recomend it). Also, C.O. Bigelow (cream) can be found at your local Bath & Bodyworks and it is a rebranding of Proraso. I hope this was helpful. Enjoy the journey!
Glenn

Congrats and welcome to SRP!


Keep that Yardley soap, it's a classic, and well known for stellar performance. Load your brush a lot and don't be afraid to add plenty water as well. When in doubt, always add more product. :)

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Originally Posted by Blix

Congrats and welcome to SRP!


Keep that Yardley soap, it's a classic, and well known for stellar performance. Load your brush a lot and don't be afraid to add plenty water as well. When in doubt, always add more product. :)

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I tried the Yardley when I first found it and I am the only one to ever use it, but the smell really bothers me. I am thinking I might try and trade it for something once I get through the mama bear's 100% natural unscented, and TOBS soaps I recently acquired.