First shave...not a breeze!

I got ready for my first straight razor shave the other day. I've done a fair amount of research, (much of it here, thanks to all), and figured I was following all the steps I should be:

No distractions: Check

No alcohol: No brainer

Shave ready razor: Said to be, and I have no reason to doubt it. Nice vintage Swedish, hollow grind, round tip, from a dealer.

Hot shower: Yup, hot towel to face as well.

Proroso pre-shave: Yipes! That stuff made my eyes water and skin burn! It's easy to believe it softens whiskers, but I'm not sure it's for me.

Proroso shave cream: No burn, but that smell is not for me.

Nice brush: Not really. Dime store cheap. I've been using it for a few years shaving with my Sensor. A new one is on my list.

OK, so here goes. I'm not too intimidated, because tested restored chisels and plane blades on my forearms for years. No, I didn't try that with my razor. I read not to. But putting straight steel to skin is not too scary for me. OK, maybe some apprehension because it's my throat.

I decided to follow Lynn's advice and just go for a couple easy passes from the burns down to jaw line. There I was, anticipating the sweet surgical whick of whiskers being shorn by a quality tool in competent hands. Stretched my skin, checked the angle of the blade and started in. Well, I think I got about a 1/4" along when the blade just came to a screeching halt. Oh yeah, that was a little scary. I was really wondering if it had halted because it was meeting resistance after entering my cheek, but fortunately I wasn't even nicked. What the heck! Tried again, and got a little farther, but still not feeling the joy!

Well, I quit while I was ahead, and decided to go back to the drawing board. In this case, more research. Truth be told the whole thing had felt pretty shakey. I never felt right about my grip on the razor. Not natural, and not really too secure. I had read about hand positions and blades angles....etc., but being on a dial-up Internet connection I hadn't looked at any videos of people shaving. I headed to the library and viewed a few videos there. Man, I really had it wrong! You guys would have been laughing! Holding the razor the right way feels tons better.

I'm ready to try again. Maybe no Proroso this time!

Great story!

When are you going to try again?

Michael

OGF, That sounds familiar.

I had a 6-wk period where I was unable to use my only new razor, 'cause I didn't know about the effects of blade angle. I was staying rigidly w/ the 30 deg. angle for wtg. Start at sideburn, get an inch and a half down the cheek. All is good. Maybe I *can* do this. Another 3/4" further and its like I hit a wall. The razor just stops. My other razor just kept mowing - it was a heavy grind. But I later noticed that the easily stopped razor (dovo inox) kept going if I dropped the angle - keeping the spine closer to the skin. Suddenly, this blade I was cussing - had overnight - turned into a dang nice shaver. I won't be surprised if your shaves improve dramatically soon.

Know what you mean about the Proraso pre shave, gave mine to a friend who does like it. It does take awhile to find and get comfortable with a grip that works for you. The other thing I was doing was angling the blade too much at the start. It is hard to estimate the angle so I followed someones advice from here and now use about 1 spine width gap between face and the razors spine. Getting the lather just right also helped in getting the razor to glide along.

You did the best thing to do by stopping when it was not going right and did not feel comfortable and take some time to assess what my have gone wrong. Darn few can do that with the temptation to push on too great. Hope your next shave goes a little better.

Bob

Still learning here but your experience is similar to mine. My only piece of advice would be to loose the fear, make sure you have the right angle WTG, stretch the skin and get the blade in motion. The more it glides across the skin, the less chances you have at cutting yourself. It is all about developing muscle memory. The right angle, the right pressure come with time and become second nature. Be patient.

That doesn't sound too bad, Oldgearfan!

The grip and angles get better with practice. Maybe watch a few more self shave videos. Watching barbers do it to a different head doesn't help me much.
I still don't feel too comfortable right at the sideburns looking in the mirror for some reason, but am fine a swipe or two over.
nice quick short strokes should get you moving right through it. and yeah pulling the skin up (and tugging down for the neck helps) Lynn has an older video out there I thought was really helpful. (search: straight razor shave lynn)

That's an impressive analysis of your first shave. Unnatural feel, concern about cutting yourself, brings back memories for most of us.

The Gillette Sensor (multiblade razor) is nothing like it, but thankfully we have a growing awareness of better ways of shaving.

My best teacher was YouTube videos. I picked one guy in particular that seemed to have it altogether, and watched it probably hundreds of times over the next two years. This is the video:
Chimensch's Shaving Video - YouTube.

I relied on videos as well for honing and stropping. To be honest with you, I had more trouble getting the stropping down than either the straight shaving or honing.

Your description reminds me of my learning process and, hey, I learned. This will all come together. I promise.

Thanks for all the good advice guys.

The next shave went a lot better. Short strokes, finer angle, better grip. I shaved most areas of my face with pretty good results. I'm enjoying the ritual and the challenge of learning a new skill. I like caring for a fine hand tool and look forward to learning more about vintage razors as time passes. I want to learn to use the razor I have but am curious about what a razor with a bit more heft would feel like in my hand.