Thread: Will I ever get as close?

Im about 12 shaves in and I'm loving it. I went right from mac3 to SR and there's no going back unless I'm in a hurry. I've gotten awesome going WTG and XTG and have recently started working on my ATG. I'm BBS on my cheeks but not on my neck and chin yet. It's an amazing experience and I find it's a great way to experience some "me" time. One thing I did notice is I have 2 bathrooms and when I first started out I was shaving in the room with sub pr lighting. Now that I have in the better lit bathroom I find my shaves have gotten better twice fold!!

I'm probably about 15 shaves in. Started mid December. I'm still finishing off with the mach 3, but finally tried XTG/ATG again on my last shave on Sunday. The first time I tried that I wreaked havoc on my face, & still have a couple of fading scars to prove it, this time I actually managed not to cut myself at all (okay I lied, I cut myself lightly with the mach 3 finishing off, go figure). Even though I'm still having to finish off areas like my chin & lip with the mach 3, I am finding that it's a closer overall shave than I ever got with the cartridge alone. My skin also feels in better condition, & it takes a fair bit longer for the beard to grow back. It's now about 48 hours since my last shave & I've got a 5 o'clock shadow.

5 shaves ago I thought I was in over my head & was considering the money I'd spent on something to self harm myself with, now I'm slowly starting to see the benefits & am looking forward to improving more.

Originally Posted by EggSuckingLeech

Folks, I'm admittedly new to straight shaving having only about 10 shaves so far. I can shave my entire face but I always wind up with nicks. I do a WTG pass and ATG (on my cheeks only). Honestly, I feel like there is no way I will be able to get as close with a straight as I can with a DE. Do you guys who use both a straight and a DE feel like you can REALLY get as close with a straight as your DE?

(I know it takes alot of time, practice and patience. I can very VERY smooth with my DE and I just can't see a path to get there.)

While not a DE user, I've used a MAC3 and the latest 4 blade job for a few years with really smooth shaves (WTG, XTG and ATG), before picking up a Dovo shavette and a Dovo straight on Dec 1, last year.

The first 20 or so shaves, I constantly used the shavette and then the cartridge to clean up after after the straight, especially the chin and neck to get anywhere near the earlier cartridge only performances.

About 30 shaves in, now doing WTG and XTG, I could shave every part of my face with the straight, but still a bit shy of the cartridge performance, but now only cleaning up with the shavette, no longer the cartridge.

Now around 50 shaves in, I do 3 passes and if I use the Shavette for the final ATG, get the same performance as I used to with the old cartridges (except for a few hairs in a dimple on my chin - damn!).

Just a note on ATG, and how more senior shavers have said we tend to progress - only a couple of weeks ago, I could not imagine EVER getting to the point (with the Straight), where I could do anything other than tentative, excruciatingly slow stabs at shaving upwards, ATG on my neck, cheeks and chin, I'd been practicing every day and it was still far too scary for me. I kept practicing and one day it just all came together and has gotten easier each day since. I can now take smooth, confident strokes ATG on neck and cheeks (bit slower on chin), which now gives me that cartridge performance and feels SOOO good, doing it with a Straight!

As others have said, some of this is no doubt due to better pre-shave prep, lathering, stropping as well as improved technique as our skills increase across all the variables. I'm very happy to have not used the cartridge for some time now, as the Straight shave is a so much better experience. I'm sure your journey will be similar and with more practice and time, you'll equal and surpass your old DE performance - just hang in there :-)

Thanks for the motivation! I'm on shave #3 this morning. I only nicked myself 2x and they were tiny (yay I get to keep my blood!!). In just a couple of days I've seen my speed and accuracy improve. I've even gotten better at stropping. I actually gave my razor a touch up hone on my 8000 norton and 12000 Naniwa followed by a more careful (and successful) stropping. I think I dulled the initial edge with a bad stropping the other day. The good news is that I seem to have sharpened the razor back up and it's shaving nicely! Look out Lynn you're only 49, 999 hones ahead of me!

Originally Posted by EggSuckingLeech

I wanted to resurrect this thread for a minute. It might help some people.

I had my first straight shave on 9/29/12. As you can see, I was full of problems. Then later I started this thread here wondering if I would ever get as close as my DE. I shave every 2/3 days on average.

Since 9/29 I have used my DE only a few times when I am in a bit of a rush. Well, this morning I was in a rush and pulled out the DE with a feather blade. I wanted to share some observations from a guy who started new to 4 months later:

- I am closer with my straight than I have ever been with my DE. Hard to believe but it happened. The exception to this is under my lower lip. Must be the safety bar that flattens that spot so well.
- I took it slow but I make three passes without hardly any problems.
- I used to nick myself several times with each shave. I actually cut myself (like an inch long slice) maybe 3-4 times total. Now, I usually can make it with only one or two nicks. Sometimes none (still a bit rare).
- When I started it took me almost an hour for two passes. It takes me 30 min now for 3 passes.
- I'm MUCH better at making a lather now across multiple different soaps. They are all a little different but you get far better at it as you learn.
- I LOATHE using a cartridge now. I don't really know why but I get the worst shaves with them. I still need them for when I travel by plane (I never check on baggage) but they just plain suck.
- I don't hone (yet). I wanted to reduce the variables and I'm not ready to hone just yet but I intend to.
- I started with a vintage razor from my grandfather and a "Poor Man's Strop".
- In December I bought a new Dovo Bismarck and got a very nice 3" strop. I use this pretty much exclusively now.
- I have a hard time shaving with my vintage blade I started out with. I don't know why. Maybe I ruined the edge learning. I have tried a balsa strop with CrOx but it didn't seem to help. Might have to send it out again.
- Finally, this forum is so unbelievably helpful for beginners - USE IT! I used to post alot and these guys all go me riding my bike for the first time. After a couple months, I posted less but kept reading. These guys know what they speak of and the volumes of info in here is so valuable!

I'm typing this to encourage anyone else just starting. I'm hardly an expert and I'm still learning alot but there is hope if you stick with it!

I love reading reports like this.
Kudos for sticking with it, and for reporting back!!