Thread: Louisville, KY

Hey all - just joined here and interested in perhaps starting down the straight razor path. I've just started looking into it, and definitely welcome any advice in getting started!

I've already learned quite a bit on "shave ready" and probably will look at a Dovo from SRD, but that's probably still a few weeks off and would welcome any additional advice.

Welcome to SRP!
The best advice I can give you is to read the Library and follow the instructions in the beginner's articles.

Everything else I can advise is echoed in the beginner stuff - start with a pro honed quality razor, go slow, read the forums, ask questions when you are confused, and no matter how stupid of a mistake you think you may have made, remember we have all been there and cut ourselves, cut our strops, ding the blade, made bad lather, ....

In the meantime, you can practice stropping with a butter knife on your pants leg.

Enjoy the journey.

Welcome to the Forum! You have definitely taken the right first step by joining and posting here! Browse, Search and watch as many Videos as you can... Knowledge is the power that helps smooth out the bumps of practice.

Are you currently using some type of Brush and Soap/Cream in your shaving routine? If not, that would be a step to take now... Face/Skin Prep and Lathermaking are critical skills for Wet Shaving that you can start with right away when using any razor.

Best of luck and have fun!

Shawn
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Originally Posted by criswilson10

Welcome to SRP!
The best advice I can give you is to read the Library and follow the instructions in the beginner's articles.

Everything else I can advise is echoed in the beginner stuff - start with a pro honed quality razor, go slow, read the forums, ask questions when you are confused, and no matter how stupid of a mistake you think you may have made, remember we have all been there and cut ourselves, cut our strops, ding the blade, made bad lather, ....

In the meantime, you can practice stropping with a butter knife on your pants leg.

Enjoy the journey.

Thanks for the welcome, and yes . . . speed kills . . .

Looking forward to giving everything a try!

And yes, I am wet shaving today. Badger brush and some foam, although might switch to something that gets a richer lather. Good news is that I have a pretty slow growing beard, and so I don't mind taking time to do it right. One of the big pushes is that I really enjoy a clean shave with a new razor. Just put on a new Mach 3 today, and nice, clean, smooth shave. The problem was the last time I shaved with a razor that was just a few shaves old . . . the shave was just annoying. Looking forward to having a blade that feels clean and smooth almost all the time (with a bit of work of course).

Actually, I do have one other question. I thought I had found a buying guide/opinion on good "starter" sets. I'm on my work computer right now and can't seem to find anything like that again. Anyone have some ideas of where that might be, or opinions on good/not good options for a first timer?

There is nothing wrong with starting your shave with a straight and then finishing up with your mach 3. As you get better with the straight, you will find yourself using the other razor less and less until one day (probably about 3 months later) you will realize the other razor has dust on it.

That is entirely my plan. I figure I'll do sides of the face first, and once I feel more comfortable with that, after a few shaves, then add in the neck line, then worry about chin/lip area/etc. once I feel I have better control.

Hi and welcome. For a set you can't go wrong with SRD. For cheaper sets whipped dog will be worth a look. If unsure post before purchasing as there are a few suppliers out there selling sets that have letter openers not razors.

Thanks again everyone! Just celebrated my birthday, and my wife decided to buy me a DE Safety Razor. She did a bit of looking around and thought it might be a cheaper investment and good transition from the Mach 3 to the Straight Razor world. She did well picking out a Merkur R89, and actually shaved with it for the first time this morning. Took a bit, especially on the curves, but was a nice, clean, painless shave. I figure I can save up a bit and decide on the Straight Razor in a bit once I get used to the DE way of doing things.

In other news, I was checking out SRD and noticed a ton of their Dovo razors are out of stock . . . anyone know if that's normal for them? Or they just keep old ones up on their site?