Thread: First shave: Not terrible, but not good either.

So I tried a couple of passes tonight for the first time. It felt like I was pulling at the hair, I was expecting the razor to glide more effortlessly, if that makes sense. I guess this is from the descriptions some people have posted about their first shaves.

Any thoughts, perhaps it was the angle at which I held the blade? The blade sure seemed bloody sharp (there was no blood, I didn't cut myself).

Thanks,

Patrick

Ha ha... I was just about to PM you to see how it went.

Pressure, angle, and stretching are some of the usual suspects when figuring this out. Congrats on getting through with no bloodletting. That in itself is an achievement.

EDIT: somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30 degrees is a good starting point for the angle.

It takes a while to get the feel for angle and pressure but great job of getting through first shave without blood. Keep it up

Well, I'll try the other side in a day or two, and report back. Regardless, I felt like a badass :P

Making sure you beard and face are clean can help with that. You may even want to
Try cold water and see if that is better for you.

Keep at it. It only gets better!

Sounds better than my first shave.

Keep the spine of the razor about twice the spine thickness off your face and you'll have a close approximation to a good angle to start from.


Mick

I use an angle that is almost flat on my face, maybe a spine's width off the skin and you really need to STRETCH out the skin. If you are shaving your check for example you should be reaching over your head with your other hand and pulling way up on your face, no whimpy stretchin!

You're also supposed to slice with the mowing motion, but be careful as you can cut yourself. The mowing straight ahead into the hair, like an Ax causing more pulling with less cutting effect.

The razor should move in a diagonal line going downward and across (slightly!) at the same time.

Be Careful.

Are you using a truly "shave ready" razor? In other words, was your razor professionally honed, so you are not depending on the factory edge?

Originally Posted by 400E

Are you using a truly "shave ready" razor? In other words, was your razor professionally honed, so you are not depending on the factory edge?

It was given to me by a member here, honed by him. This is no factory edge, it's quite sharp. I think I was just coming at it from too wide an angle. My boy-beard doesn't grow in quickly, so it will be a couple of days before I can test the advice given here.