SoCal Newbie

Greetings, all, I'm a Newbie living in Southern California.
You guys saved my face!

I've been thinking of Straight Razor shaving for a while, and for several years have been using shaving soap and a brush with a cartridge shaver. Soap and brush alone made a big difference. I've been researching and reading about SR for a while, but never took the plunge.

A few weeks ago while my wife was trying on clothes or shoes at the mall, I walked into an Art of Shaving store. Seen it before, never walked in. This time I did, and I bought a straight razor and strop, which came with TI white paste for free, and some samples of TAOS cream and preshave oil and aftershave. The razor says it was built in Solingen, and TAOS says it is a Dovo brand, but it is etched with "The Art of Shaving" and no Dovo appears anywhere on the razor, although the receipt says Dovo.

Some of what they told me, I now know, was not quite accurate. Like the razor is "shave ready." I know some of you are laughing. Oh well. SRP helped with that, and other things. TAOS guy also said a straight razor shave will always take about 30-45 minutes, or longer, it does for him. He doesn't do straight very often. Although I'm a newbie, the first couple of shaves took that long, but not any more. Longer than a cartridge, and more than one pass, but not nearly an hour. How long does it take experienced guys here to shave?

My first shave was pretty good, actually. A little skin irritation in places on my neck and under my ears, but otherwise pretty good. The second and third shaves, not so good, the irritation and redness got worse, with a lot of tugging on hairs. That's when I discovered SRP and did a LOT of reading. TAOS suggested I could use the "shave ready" razor for up to 6 months, with the caveat that SOME guys like it a little sharper, and I could get it honed. Well, the local place no longer does any honing. I did more reading, and bought a Norton combo kit, and after lapping stuck with only 4k/8k. That helped, but needed to learn more about stropping. The TAOS guy said to put the TI white paste on the leather strop directly, which I learned is not always recommended. If someone does that, most on SRP recommend having another "naked" strop with no paste whatsoever. So, I got a nice 3" strop from SRD. It is bigger, better, nicer than the one that I now consider crappy that TAOS sold me. Things were better, but the sharp tests were failures. I ordered Lynn's DVD and watched the whole thing and read a LOT about honing. I went back to the hone, and a good strop. I discovered I needed a lot more passes on the stones than I thought I would, as I considered the "shave ready" out of the box to already be good to go, so was barely doing anything. Did a pyramid starting at 25 on 4k. Now, dropping a hair on the blade cuts the hair, so it is sharper than it EVER was before. I also improved my technique, mostly the blade angle as I was much too steep. And now...I've had several very good, luxurious shaves! Some days, I finish up in some spots with the cartridge. But for straights, I love it! I'm not perfect, lots more to learn. But I have to say, SRP saved my face! Nothing against the salesman at TAOS, but he had an agenda to sell me stuff. He had no interest in really teaching anything about shaving. The misinformation was a little disappointing. But, SRP has more than made up for that with so much information and enthusiasm!

I still have a couple of spots under my ears, below where my jawbone connects with my skull, that always seems a bit red and irritated after a shave. The whiskers grow at a funny angle, and I haven't quite figured it out. There must be that "sweet spot" angle that I have not yet discovered. I do know that a SHARP razor makes a BIG difference (less irritation), but my technique needs some more practice. But only in a couple of hard to reach places. Cheeks, even the chin and most of the neck, all work out great with the closest, most comfortable shave I've ever had, with no irritation! Those trouble spots...need more experimentation.

I'm sure my honing and stropping need a bit more practice as well. But going slow goes a long ways. And I read a bit more on SRP on a regular basis. Learning curve, but it is satisfying to be "figuring things out."

I have really enjoyed Beginners' Tips: March 2016 by Razorfeld along with many other posts here, and have found some excellent advice. Although a newbie, I feel like I'm moving towards intermediate...but also know that there will be many subtleties to learn about that I won't realize until I've really mastered the basics, and I know I'm not there yet. But I must say, SRP is a wonderful resource that definitely speeds up the process.

So, thanks guys! You saved my face! Can't wait to learn more here.

MarkC

Hi and welcome. You sound like a lot of us when starting. The intention is there but lacking the knowledge its a rough start. Finding SRP has been a savior for many helping us get the shaves we were craving and opening our eyes to all the products etc to make it great. Keep learning it only gets better and any questions feel free to ask.

Hi Mark & welcome to SRP. I speak for everyone here when I say thank you for speaking so well of SRP.
It sounds like you are slowly learning everything & you also know that when some say "shave ready", they aren't unless they come from SRD in which Lynn hones each one that leaves there. I would want to think your razor says Dovo on it on the tang of the razor. The TAOS guy was just trying to make a sale. He may even get a commission on everything he sells.
The tugging you are talking about was due to the razor not being sharp enough. Since you already got a hone, the more you use it, the better you will get. I'm glad you also got one of SRD's premium strops.
Shaving with a straight is so much better than any other way to shave. It will be much smoother, closer & less irritable. To me, the next best would be with a double or single edge only if I didn't have enough time to use a straight. Like you, I & others here have spots we can't seem to get shaved just right & on me it is on my neck right around the glands. Everyones hair grows differently so we have to find the best way to get that perfect shave.
Lynn's dvd is very good for beginners IMHO, very educational.
I don't want to make this too long so if you need anything or can't understand something, just ask. You might even hookup with someone in your area if you want some hands on experience. Just click on the "advanced" search on the top right, put in your information & search for other members in your area.
Great to have you here.
Good luck my friend.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the group! It's unfortunate that you got your start that way, but the bright side is that you learned a lot. This is a really helpful group of people.

As far as hard to reach spots, we all have those. It's just practice, practice, practice. You'll either get it or just learn to live with it. ;) If you can't get that spot where it is, maybe you can stretch the skin to an area where you can. Or at least find some way to flatten it out.

Since you got it from those guys, send it out or hook up with one of the guys in your area and get it honed so you can really enjoy your shave, shave ready isn't something you will just get right out the gate and surely not from AOS. Good luck, there are some good guys in your area to help out. Tc

Yes, indeed, I got PM for an offer to show me more about my hones and strop. I was out of town for about a week, and will get in touch with him again soon.

I must say, I really do enjoy the straight experience. I was out of town traveling, so took a cartridge with me. I missed my straight! And will shave later tonight with the straight again.

MarkC

It's a little late but...
Welcome. Lot's of great people and info on the board.

Cheers and stay away from any fires that kick up this season (already looking like it's going to be an interesting Fall for all of us in SoCal!)

Jer