Thread: Greeting from South Africa

Hi all,

I started my journey of straight razor shaving recently, and I am overwhelmed with the amount of information available and what a large following this practice has.

I picked up a Dovo along with a paddled strop and some Col Conk tostart out with, and my first shave wasn't at all bad, all things considered.

Looking forward to learning from and sharing with all of you.

Cheers

Sebastian

Welcome to SRP. You'll find this forum to be extremely helpful in answering any questions you have. The members here are top notch and we're always willing to help a new member succeed. Read the very helpful links for beginners on the home page if you have not done so already. Your face will thank you. Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Rothman, Bravo for taking the plunge.

'Sounds like what you have should work fine, though you may find the Conk lather needs frequent refreshing - dries out fast. Dovo makes a fine blade - it should treat you well.

When starting, its easy to be distracted or overwhelmed by all there is to know. For now, if you can successfully make lather - your whole objective is to learn your facial topography and the lay of the beard in detail. Try different stretches and stroke - regardless of how you might think they appear - until you find the ones needed for each part of your beard. Other than that - stropping may or may not come easily. I was horrible at it. It won't be long 'til you are amazed at the quality of the shaves.

Thanks. As for learning the lay of my beard,, I've decided to skip shaving for the last couple of days so as to properly see the direction and grain. I've oly done one shave as yet, and I must saythe Col Conk did dry out a bit and turned sticky. Even though I achieved a good lather I will be going bit-by-bit to avoid it drying out too quickly.

I had the razor honed by a local barber before use, so it ought to be good for a while (I'm guessing), but I wil look at getting myself a hone aswell, ,as soon as I can find a place that stocks these kinds of things. Hehe! I guess online shopping will be my forte.

All in all I am very excitied to start with this and to get better and better.