First two shaves in the books...
First, thanks to all the vets on the forum. There is so much useful information here, it's overwhelming. I spent weeks combing through the SRP site and forum, watching copious videos, and preparing for my first straight razor shave before ordering my Dovo Best 5/8, which arrived in the mail this week. I'm a noob to SR shaving but have used a DE for several years.
I waited for two shaves before posting so that a few impressions might be a little more helpful (I hope). Here goes...
1) Shave 1 vs. Shave 2 were night and day. The first was choppy and "skippy," but the second was relatively smooth. I was disappointed in the first effort (so much stubble still on my face!) but energized by the second. In other words, new guys, it may help to look at the first shave as little more than "grip and angle practice." Hang in there.
2) Blade angle, as all the vets say, really IS so important. Surprise! After my first effort, I went back to the forum and videos and refreshed myself on blade angle. Even though I thought I was at 30 degrees, I wasn't. Thirty degrees is flatter than you think when looking in the mirror. It helped me to turn my head, get the angle right and then turn back to make a few strokes. That way I could then see what the proper angle actually looked like from the front. Made all the difference and eliminated the grabbing.
3) Read and re-read Lynn's article on the first shave. And even if you're a veteran shaver ATG with a DE, like I am, I would suggest following the advice to go WTG only the first several shaves. Because I didn't. My second shave was so good WTG (yeah!), I thought I'd give ATG a shot already. Bad idea. Several weepers and nicks ATG when I had been unscathed WTG. Nearly ruined the experience and will be going WTG only for the next week or so before trying again. And will add XTG first before ATG.
4) Finally, an idiot alert. But it may help a fellow "idiot." For all the videos I watched, I still started my first shave WTG with the scales pointing toward the floor. Yep, that's right. And I wondered why I couldn't see what I was doing so well. Huh! It may make sense to point the scales in the stroke direction ATG at times, but otherwise, point the scales toward the ceiling. Really helps. Duh.
Bottom line, after two shaves I now feel I'm on the right track, and there's no going back. Thanks again to everyone on SRP for the community support. And thanks to Daniel Craig in Skyfall for inspiring me to look into straight razor shaving. Can't wait for shave #3!
