Thread: Newbie straight shave demolition, part 2!

Originally Posted by BAMARACING8

glad to hear it went well this time!! you dont have to go back stateside to get a scuttle! enjoy being a world traveler while you can still do it

*sigh*... I remember when I felt that way about it. It was before I left. As soon as I did, I suddenly realized the reality.

Unfortunately, when you travel like I do, which means everything that goes with it - having to fit in the small suitcase, having to live on sub-minimum wage - your luxuries in life are few and far between.

I have enjoyed being a world traveler for the past few years. But there is so much I can't have because of this lifestyle. I can't have nice things. I can't have nostalgic things. I can't have anything, really.

I can't have financial comfort. I can't have stability. I can't have close friends. I can't have a good night's sleep.

I can't fall in love.

There is so much I cannot do. And you can contradict me if you like, but the reality is, that if you do any of the things above... you are no longer traveling.

So I am going home, so that I can have a life again.

At least you can say, "Been there! Done that!". It is something I wish I had done before settling down.

Very true. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did. But there's more to life than this, and I want it.

I didn't mean to make it sound like you hadn't enjoyed or appreciated the experience, and I understand where you are coming from. I have not traveled to the extent that you have, but I have traveled by my self enough to know how lonely it can get.

i know what you mean by living out of a bag not having nice things..that gets old fast and drives me nuts. so i know what you mean by ready to go home and have your life the way you want it. but i am fortunate enough to where my job allows me to travel..but thats about the only good thing and the fact that i actually have a job right now. so i cant complain to much. there are too many people that have NO job right now

Congrats Cassie! I took my first ever straight shave yesterday and the experience was incredible. No nicks and no burn. I am hooked!

Thanks everyone!

Tonight I tried my thighs. and all's I can say is...

HOLY CRAP that is so much harder. Soooo much harder. And it takes forever.

I have 2 tiny, tiny nicks on my right thigh, the one I did first, and none on my left. So I'll count that as a success!

Still, some of those angles I had to use were just scaring the hell out of me. Ladies, how the @#$% do you get up in that junction behind the back of the knee? I've got all sorts of tendons there and I stretched and stretched until I had pulled my toes up to my knees, but there was still about 1 square inch on both legs I just couldn't get at without being afraid of severing an artery.

But at any rate, my skin is wonderfully smooth with very little razor burn, and what there is is very mild. WIN!

And then I got a little c0cky.

I decided I'd just... oh... you know... just clean up my bikini line. Just a little. Just right th - OW!

Patience, young Skywalker...

The back of the knee is tricky. The best way to get it taut is to stretch the entire leg (rest it on the side of the tub or something of similar height, unless you're a ballet dancer and can get it up on the towel bar), lock your knee, and go at it sideways (XTG instead of ATG) with the tip pointing toward your toes. This may mean switching hands (which scared me at first but ended up being no big deal), it may also mean wrapping your torso around your leg in one direction and your arm around in the other direction so you can see what you're doing.

With the bikini line, you will probably never get it BBS because of the way the hair and skin interact. The angles and directions are also a bit limited. Try coming up ATG, keeping the tip just leg-side of the deepest part of the crease, then stretch your leg back (as if you were going to step backwards) and go XTG from the... erm... northern side of the crease in short strokes. It will probably help if you let the soap soak in for a minute or two before you start, because this area has some of the coarsest hair and most sensitive skin on the female body.

Doncha love this learning experience?

Lilith - I admit, part of this is that I rarely shave my thighs in all honesty. I get WAY bad razor burn and ingrown hairs from a cartridge razor. Not worth the pain. But I don't seem to have as much razor burn, and we'll see about the ingrown hairs in the days to follow.

But some of the contortions you gotta do to get at it are just mindbending, ha ha.

Another challenge is that I have no tub. I actually lay down a towel and shave on the floor, occasionally using the toilet (lid down, of course) to prop up my leg. Fortunately I'm bendy in all sorts of ways that normal human beings just shouldn't be, so I reckon I'll figure it out.

But I'm also, shall we say, a bit on the skinny side. These tendons, man, they arch out like crazy. And I had the same problem at the top of my inner thighs. The tendons there are also pretty pronounced. I feel like I'm about to kill myself at any moment.

I think I may leave this for a while. I don't trust myself enough with a straight yet to be navigating stuff that delicate. I think I did pretty well - even the nicks I did get are more like tiny scratches - I didn't really have any blood. But when you're scared of your tool bad stuff happens.

I'm going to get a few more shaves on my calves done first and then maybe try again.

When I come back to it I shall give this a try. Because it really annoys me that I have one inch of unshaved leg.

Originally Posted by MistressNomad

Lilith -

But I'm also, shall we say, a bit on the skinny side.

That's becuse you are traveling too much, earning too little, and eating too poorly.

Now what you need is to come over and let me fix you a nice plate of home made pasta with home made sausage and meat balls, or lasagna. And because my mom only taught me how to cook for a small army, there will be pleanty of leftovers to take back to New Zealand with you.

That'll fix up your shavin!

David