3rd times an idiot with a weapon.

Well, I feel like a bit of a tit, okay rephrase, I feel a complete & utter muppet. Had a shave on Saturday morning, & I proper went for it. Hacking away like a lunatic. With the grain, across the grain, against the grain.....through the grain! I looked like I'd had a 3 way fight with the cat & Edward Scissorhands... I lost. I didn't cut anything deep, just a nicks here, there & everywhere, & one long scratch on my left cheek that is so shallow it didn't even draw blood, it's just a nice thin red line. It's only started to fade to a point where I wasn't completely embarrassed within the last day or so, & I've got a nice bit of stubble starting to cover it up. I am getting to the point now that the stubble is starting to itch like crazy & I'm going to have to get rid of it soon before it drives me round the bend. Wonder how messed up I'll look after I have a shave.

Needless to say, I have a fair bit more respect for the razor & my lack of skill with it. I was considering using my old cartridge razor for the next few days, but I might go ahead with the straight, but reign myself in considerably & just do with the grain again & resort to my old gillette if I feel even slightly hesitant. Haven't decided yet.

On the plus side, the right hand side of my face is completely scratch free, & I'm left handed...go figure.

Give it another go with the straight. Very light pressure and watch your angle. Assuming your razor is shave ready also.

Can't get proficient at something without practice. :) if it comes out bloody you can always tell folks you saved a baby from a mountain lion.

Start with just with the grain and don't feel bad about going back to the cartridge. I saw some good advise when I first started that you should go until you start to feel uncomfortable and then finish with your old way of shaving. This worked wonders for me and eventually I was confident to do my whole face with a straight.

I'd say the razor is shave ready, at least as far as honing is concerned. It was bought very recently from The Invisible Edge, & Steve seems to have a lot of respect in here, so I'd say it's definitely me, rather than the tools. I just got carried away, & should have put my brain in gear rather than carrying on.

I'm not even sure where I'd find a mountain Lion in Yorkshire. I could say I fought a Badger for it's hair to make my own shaving brush, but that wouldn't convince anyone on here. I'm not even sure what a British Badger brush would be like. I imagine it would look something like roadkill.

knew you were a fellow yorkshireman after the first sentence haha! quality

Start on the sides of your face from the sideburns down wtg then finish up with your old way of shaving. Once u get completely comforatable tackle another section, get comfortable and move on. Also play with the angle of your razor. Angle can make a huge difference. Pre shave oil can help too. Keep at it and watch a bunch of videos!

Slow and steady is the key to success. Try to imagine or visualise the stroke before you do it, then do it. Don't faff around mid-stroke with second thoughts or what-ifs - be definite.

Start with easy bits as mentioned above. Gain confidence that way, and spread your field of endeavour gradually. You'll get there.

In terms of your left handedness, it is not uncommon for your off-hand side to be the "better" side. I am not sure why, but I think it has to do with being more aware and paying more attention to the "bad" hand...?

Good luck.

James.

I made the same mistake early on. I tried too hard too soon to get a close shave. At this point in your learning curve, don't even worry about a close shave. Concentrate on safety and technique and the close shave will follow in its own time. For now let your face heal.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I definitely need a shave today. Over 5 days now, & the "man of the woods" look isn't working for me, + I've never been able to get past the itching stage to actually grow a bread. Only 3 hours left of work, & then I'm getting rid of this, & I'm using the straight. Don't tell the wife though, she thinks I'm going to use my gillette so that I don't cut myself to ribbons again. I'm sure the gillette is going to be involved at some point, but I won't get any better if I don't keep practicing.

I started with the sideburn to jawline approach but found I could do both cheeks as well. Now I can do WTG and XTG except for chin and upper lip, still use the Gilette for those (after a failed attempt with the straight).

I've done the upper lip WTG successfully on my 2nd run, & I can do the sideburns & cheeks okay so far. It's the chin that I find awkard & anything ATG/XTG that messed me up last time. Needless to say, there will be only WTG this time.

Kaden, When I get a razor honed and stropped I have a test that I do that, for me, will imediately indicate whether I have a saw toothed face grinder or a nice smooth sharp cutting edge.
I tuck my upper lip down and over my upper teeth creating a nice taut upper lip. I start just below the nose using the tip of the blade and attempt a straight down stroke. The nose being in the way requires a very steep angle. If the razor will cut with relative smoothness at this angle I expect that the rest of the shave should be good.
The point here is that the angle of the blade really makes a difference. Also the tautnes of the skin. Most of the cuts I have got while shaving have been when I get cocky and go too fast. If skin balls up ahead of the razor the angle of attack changes too much. The rapidly changing angle of the chin area is always an extra challenge.
I hope this helps you to pay special attention to "angle of attack" of your blade's edge and results in a much nicer shave for you.
P.S.
Oh, one other thing. If you do nick yourself and you come again at the same direction as before the edge will fall into the cut you just previously made. Instead, come from a different direction and the edge will pass without hanging up in the cut.

Well, that was a much better result. Opened up a couple of small nicks, one above my top lip & one right at the corner of my mouth. Both of these were ones I'd previously done on Saturday morning, so not a single new cut. As soon as I'd done that, I got the gillette to do around by mouth, & then continued with the straight. Finished off the whole shave with the gillette to make sure it was as even as possible & left it at that. The shave itself also felt a bit smoother & less tuggy (if that's even a word), so maybe my stropping, pre-shave ritual & skin stretching are slowly helping. The Alum block certainly helped with grip, so thanks to all the recommendations I've seen for that. It definitely felt a bit more natural, although my left hand is still a bit shakey compared to my right. Saturdays hack n' slash job is also fading nicely now, so I can finally walk around without people thinking I've been attacked by that Mountain Lion ZeroCool found for me.

Cheers for the support guys.