First shave with a "real" straight

So sorry for flooding the forums but at least I'm sticking with the Beginner's Forum :)

So I just got done with my first straight shave using a "real" blade. Prior to this I played around with a Shavette loaded with a Feather blade. I want to share my observations and get feedback.

I took the advice of many and I stuck to only my nice, flat cheek areas. No cuts!! However, I can tell you that the Shavette seemed FAAAAR sharper. I mean this new blade was freshly honed by Whipped Dog and I'm sure it was honed very well. But I feel like I really had to push that blade along! Made me nervous actually so I didn't try too hard. The lather seemed fine (used Mama Bear's) but it did disappear fairly quick. Maybe I did a poor job in that space but this blade hardly cut as easily as the Shavette. Of course I wound up without any cuts so maybe this is ok. I dared not push it or angle it very high.

I also tried ATG on the same area but same thing. I did fine but it just didn't glide very smoothly.

So I'm wondering if this comparison is consistent with others who have used both a Shavette and a real straight.

It is different. I felt the same way with my first straight as I use a shavette as well. You just have to remember the difference in the thickness between the two blades. The shavette blade is just that much thinner and there is a different angle to it that a regular straight. Also you are just not used to the difference yet. It is one reason why I am a little hesitant to get any more straights because trying to get used to all the different ones could be an issue for me.

I figured let me just give this one a month or three and then take it from there.
but I know what you mean. I felt exactly the same way you just have to get used to it.

Ok sorry to bump this but I have tried this twice since my first post.

The blade is not at all gliding over my face. I got the lather really good now and it shaves beautifully with my DE. But using this straight... it isn't moving! It's like it touches my face and it gets stuck. I feel like I have to push the blade really hard and that's when I stop.

I am letting my beard grow 2-3 days and then I give it a shot. I push and push to move it along but it's like the blade wants to stick to my face and the hairs are saying "oh no you don't!".

The blade was JUST honed professionally by Whipped Dog so I know it's not that. It passes the HHT. But once I touch the blade to the face, the thing doesn't want to cut! I spent 30 min this morning and still didn't get my whole face and had to finish with my DE.

P.S. Again when I was using a Shavette, I didn't have this problem at all. Of course, I was cutting myself like crazy with it while with this real straight I haven't given myself a bit of razorburn.

If you're confident about the razor, I would revisit the lather.

Give your face a good wash with soap to get rid of any oil, that will allow the lather to get into your beard and soften it. Wether you face lather or bowl lather, make sure you wet your face again, then spend a good three minutes or so working the lather in with your brush.

When you shave try the shallowest (flattest) angle that will cut the hair.

Hope you get some improvement.

I have never used a shavette and so can't speak in terms of comparing the two, but I couldn't help but wonder about the angle you're holding the blade at. Is it somewhere in the ballpark of 30 degrees?

Also, how much stretching of the skin are you doing? Everyone's facial geography is different, but giving your skin a good stretch can make a world of difference to a shave.

Normally I would have suspected there may be issues with your face prep, but I'm assuming that as a DE shaver, you have a firm grasp of that part of the process already. But as you mentioned that the lather was disappearing, that could definitely have an effect. If that happens, you can always grab your brush and re-apply lather as needed. Mama Bear is an *excellent* soap - good choice.

I have also heard that of all shavette blades, the Feathers are the most insanely sharp. Again, this is not from personal experience, but word around the campfire is that feathers are pretty much the very sharpest things one can apply to one's face. And therefore may not be that valid as a benchmark for comparison with a traditional straight.

OK so a couple responses.

Cleanliness: I shave after a shower. My face is good and washed beforehand.
Angle: I actually try for an extremely flat angle. Like I mentioned, I feel like the blade surface is actually adhering to my face it's so shallow. It's like the concave blade is forming a suction! Maybe it's too flat but when I raise it, I'm scared that the pushing I need to do will dig in.
Stretching: Probably something I could improve on. I do it some but I find it awkward sometimes too.
Lather: I think I improved this since my first post. Nothing dried this AM at all. I wound up adding alot more water. Plus I was using these sample wedges which I think it's just kinda hard to get enough soap on. This AM I actually used a container of the stuff. Much better results here.
Blade: Agree about Feathers. I can't use them in my DE. I'm not man enough. But this problem seems unrelated as I can't imagine anyone being able to shave like this with a straight. When I watch videos I can see the straight just gliding down. I can't do that at all...

With the sample wedges, I have found that smooshing them down into the bottom of an old mug works great. :)

I would suggest trying to increase the angle a bit as it sounds like you have the blade laying quite a bit flatter than most would recommend, and figure out a way to stretch. You're right - it can certainly feel awkward at times, but it can make a real difference.

Try shaving a spot on the back of your hand or arm as a test. I do this when I am honing so perpetually have a bald spot between thumb and and forefinger (.. if they ask I just tell people I have Mange.. ;-) ..). You can play with the angle a bit and push much harder to just get a better feel for it. You could do a quick prep or just try it dry. If you can get good results this way then pay close attention to the angle and pressure you are using then try right away with your normal routine on your face.

It really sounds like an angle problem, and the amount of force. Raise your angle a bit and try that..I know it sounds weird but don't be to afraid of how much force to use. Your body will let you know you went to far... Like I said it is different and I started with one. With a regular straight I have to move it for a lack of a better term more than the shavette. I know allot of people say just let the blade do all the work but I have a pro honed straight and I had to do more work than with the shavette. Like I said previously it is a different animal for the blade because of the thickness.

Hey there,

I had similar issues when I started off, swapping a DE for a straight. Few points:

1. A lather that seems fine for a DE shave does not mean it is necessarily adequate for a straight shave. You should probably try this, build your lather as you would normally do for a DE/Shavette shave. When you're happy, if you're bowl lathering apply it to your face and then dip the brush in some water and work the lather, same would apply if you're face lathering only then you already have the lather on your face and then dip the brush. The aim is to get the lather 'wetter' than what you would normally do with the DE/shavette.

2. Apply the lather only to small parts of your face at a time, shave and then apply to another area, shave that area, and so on and so on.

3. If you're going WTG, applying the blade flat to your skin is no good. You should try and angle between 20 and 30 degrees. I understand the apprehension but think of it this way, a Feather blade is meant to be much sharper than the usual straight, a straight is meant to be smoother. So if you can shave safely with a shavette loaded with a Feather, then there should be no reason for a straight to be much more dangerous as long as you go perpendicular to the edge rather than parallel.

4. There should be no pressure on the blade. If you feel you need to apply more pressure, stop and readjust the angle of the blade.

5. Try small strokes rather than trying to go from your sideburns to your jawline for example. Or you can tilt the blade slightly so as to cut the hair at an angle, the scything stroke.

6. Did you strop the blade? There could be issues with your stropping

&. Lastly, skin stretching is key, you need to stretch as much as you possibly can. YouTube has various videos on skin stretching technique when you shave different parts of your face. It might be worth having a look at those.

Hope that helps. I have to admit though, straight razor shaving has a steep learning curve and it took me nearly a month to shave my whole face/neck to a level comparable to a DE; 9 months on, I'm still perfecting my technique.

Regards,

Ash

Good tip about the sample wedges. I will try that. Man, I gotta say I LOVE the Mama Bear soaps. I can smell it all day!

Excellent tip about using the back of the arm. I'm gonna try that for sure but obviously my beard whiskers are FAR thicker.

The blade was stropped and is sharp. It passes the HHT.

Small strokes are all I can possibly do. I mean honestly no way I could push more than 1 cm on the first pass. Once the hair is cut down, it works much better. But I'm watching guys shave actual beards on Youtube - I can't imagine.

Stretching - I'll try more. but again, I'm watching videos where some guys don't do alot. I mean take the chin area. These guys aren't stretching more than curling their bottom lip. I'm doing the same thing. Having a hard time pushing my blade thru it.

I will definitely keep at it and I really appreciate the tips!

If your beard is truly that coarse you may want to try doing a mini-prep before your shower by lathering your face as if you were gonna shave then jump in the shower and try to rinse that lather off at the end then start your normal routine. I usually don't shower before I shave but I always lather my face then shave my head then hot towel over the lather on my face then re-apply lather and shave.

That may help soften your beard enough to make a difference.

I have been shaving with a straight for some time now and I can tell you that a three day growth is a lot to deal with. I don't like cutting that much hair and it takes a certain amount of technique to wander through that much hair. Sounds like your blade angle is about right when you said you laid it down flat. Such an angle means that your razor must be in very good shape. Hang in there you will make it.



Take Care,
Richard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by riooso

Sounds like your blade angle is about right when you said you laid it down flat.

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What do you mean by that, Richard? Others above are saying I shouldn't be laying it that flat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EggSuckingLeech

What do you mean by that, Richard? Others above are saying I shouldn't be laying it that flat.

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Not sure what he meant but between twenty and thirty degrees is what you should be looking for.

I'm still a newbie too and am only just getting passable results WTG. Like the others I think it's probably angle and maybe skin stretching. A couple of times I've skipped a day's shaving and then I've not had god results with a straight. It just glides over my beard then gets stuck without really cutting, it's definitely much easier if I shaved the day before. The technique is taking a lot longer to learn than with a DE and in the videos of people shaving a thick beard they are obviously experienced straight shavers.

the flatter the angle on a first pass the harder it will be to shave. Make sure you are staying around a 30 degree angle. Also it sounds like you might be applying to much pressure, what I try for is to almost not feel the razor touching my face, just use the blades weight to apply pressure. It is also possibly a stropping issue, you could have rolled they blade while stropping, I did not see if you stropped before your first shave or not. Hope this helps and just take your time it takes a while to get good results.

The 'between 20 and 30 degrees' suggestion is good but it took a long time for it to sink in for me. Someone finally told me about one to two spine widths off the face and when I tried that I realized that what I thought was 30 degrees was more like 45. As soon as I adjusted the angle it was like I had a whole new razor.

I also have a heavy beard and sensitive skin, bad combination. I found that showering first and using a good face wash soap really made a difference. I then use AOS preshave oil and then their shave cream, the shave cream made a believer out of me but I did find that if it is not wet enough the shave quality suffers. I found that erring on the side of too wet is better than too dry. I also swirl it on with the brush for about 3 minutes, really work it in and soften the beard.

I'm also wondering if the razor was simply not honed properly. I know that Whipped Dog does quality work, no one has a following like him without earning it; however, anything is possible. He could have had a bad day, or maybe even sent you the wrong razor by mistake. I had the wrong razor sent to me once, it happens. I couldn't hurt to at least send it to someone for an evaluation. There are so many variables to getting a good shave you need to eliminate all that you can. Maybe your stropping technique is bad, and evaluation could tell you that.

A good blade, good prep, and good technique should give a great shave. If you are not getting that then one of the three is wrong. Good luck sorting it out. It's worth it in the end.

Stretching is critical to a good shave, I think. It stands the barbs up and keeps your skin from piling up into a little dam in front of the blade.

You should not apply more pressure or force than it takes to just scrape away the lather. If your beard prep is good and your razor is properly sharp, the whiskers follow the lather off of your face as a side effect of the lather removal. If you haven't tried this gentle of a touch, do so. Keep the blade spine elevated a spine width or two above your skin, so you're not fighting stiction, and just aim for the lather.

Best wishes and happy shaving

Egg,
I am sure your lather is correct, if not it would have been an issue with your Shavette. When a new shaver gets started in the world of straight razor shaving there are some mistakes that happen right off the bat. Did you Strop the razor? 95% that if you did you lost your edge, which is what it sounds like because you shouldn't have to push or pull on the blade no matter what angel you are working with. 30 Degree and light pressure should be fine. So I recommend if you are still having issue's even after all this advice from your fellow members, it's time to refresh that edge and try again. Send it to your Local Honemeister in your area and make sure you get some info on them before you send it off. Let them know you are a new shaver so they give you a little wiggle room so if you dull the razor again (which is likely) they might let you send it in for a free follow up hone. It takes practice but in a short amount of time you should get it down and have a great shave in no time! Have fun!!

Kind Regards,
Phil & Jane
The Classic Edge Shaving Store

I don't know about others here, but 1 cm at a time is certainly where I am at on my first pass WTG. Then I go back on a second pass of longer strokes WTG, also the angle on my cheeks is certainly at least 30 degrees on that first pass. I found with a shavette the angle was a lot lower and initially the higher angle with a straight was daunting.

Ok this morning went MUCH better and I think you were all right - it was mostly angle. I wasn't so paranoid about keeping the blade flat. I think the flat edge of the blade was literally dragging on my face. I angled it up a bit and it went much better. The other thing that seemed to help was almost to move the blade BEFORE I actually touched down. Just barely. Previously I would lay the blade down and then push. This was difficult.

So now my effort is going to go into using my left hand for my left side of the face. I noticed that by holding the blade as I would for the right side was alot more in control than using my right hand for my left side of the face.

I do think I'm doing a much better job with the lather and with a tip about my DE, I'm much better with it. So these are good.

God this is going to take such a long time to get right...

Think of it as a great learning experience with a very great result to come...it gets alot better.

Keep up the good work!