A Beginner Hoping for a Reality Check!
Hey guys, my name is Don and I am 52 years old. I learned to shave with a cartridge razor and canned cream in high school, but switched to an electric razor about 25 years ago. My college aged son got me back into wet shaving about a month ago, and I'm really enjoying myself.
I started with a Mach 3 and canned cream, but quickly moved on to a brush and DE razor. After a few misstarts, I now get a close, comfortable shave doing 2 DE passes WTG.
I bought a straight razor from SRD and gave it a try 2 weekends ago. I've shaved a total of 6 times so far (when I have at least 30 minutes to devote), and it's pretty rough going. I'm taking my time to strop the razor, and I think that my prep is fine (hot wash, hot towel, Geo Trumper Skin Food, followed by Taylor of Old Bond Street cream applied by badger brush). I usually do 2 passes WTG, but today I got home from work early and tried 1 pass WTG. I've yet to do a shave without multiple nicks and cuts.
So, is this normal when learning? My right (dominant) side is a little better than my left, where I sometimes cut myself just resting the blade against my skin, but I've still got cuts along my right jaw and chin. My wife was joking at dinner that I look like a boxer now with all of my cuts!
I'm happy to persevere if this is normal, but I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't just stick with the DE and acknowledge that I would have grown a beard in the 19th Century.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.