Thread: Newbie from Colorado

Welcome to SRP

Originally Posted by mjhammer

Corey, just remember to take it slow, watch the angles and pressure and only do parts that are 'easy' at first. Man, I can't stress angles enough. Watch your ears, it easy to cut the fronts at the sideburns until you find the spot that is just right. I know, LOL!! I built a few scars starting out, right at the front of the ears, mostly on the left side, cuz I'm right handed.

Good luck, and make it fun and enjoyable, don't get discouraged if all does not go well right off.

That's about all the advice that comes to mind, except, let us know how it goes!!

M

Thanks!

I finally got to use it this weekend. I took an hour saturday to walk through the steps now that I had everything. Got the eye hook installed earlier in the day for the strop and took a nice hot shower and used a good facewash. Sadly my wife took a hot shower before me and with her shaving... used up pretty much all the hot water, so I was limited on my availability for my first attempt.

So hopped out of the shower, pulled my gear out and got it all set up.... and then started to make my rookie mistakes. It seems no matter how many times you go through a mental checklist, you always forget something. I got the bowl in the sink and started the warm water into it (as hot as I could sadly get it). I cleaned off the mineral oil from the blade and set it carefully on the counter. Took my towel and soaked it and took it to the microwave downstairs. Got it hot, took it back up, laid it on my face as I laid on the bed. It cooled down fairly quickly, I think mainly because I was breathing through it with my nose (which drew cold air through the towel). Once it cooled down I folded it onto the side of the sink so I can wipe the blade off on it. I emptied the bowl and... dammit... realized I had forgotten to soak the brush!
So... grabbed the brush and ran it under the warm water for about 20 seconds or so, making sure it was soaked. Flicked it into the sink to get the excess water out and dabbed an almond sized amount of the proraso and began to lather. Lathered up ok.. not great so I figured that since its hard water I will need to pick up some glycerin to help it. Then I remembered my pre-shave oil.. damn, thats fail #2 so far. So I grabbed the oil and made mistake #3.... forgot to wet my face first.

Talk about one of those rookie days....

So I wet my face, get the oil on again and lube it up. I then take my brush and apply lather to my face. I did my whole face even though I was only going to shave a couple inches WTG of my right sideburn area to see how it went. I had a couple days worth of stubble, and the blade seemed to not necessarily glide... but rather scraped at the hairs. I played with the angle a little and it helped slightly... but I couldnt figure out why it wasnt gliding. I actually got about 3 inches done with no nicks... and realized my problem...

I forgot to strop...

DAMMIT!

Big rookie mistake!

Ok... so I cleaned off the blade, pulled the stop tight and did exactly what I had watched repeatedly in videos. 25 on the fabric and another 50 on the leather. I actually seemed to get the hang of it, or what I could tell. I kept my wrist essentially straight the whole motion and just twisted my fingers to flip the blade. Very light pressure so that the blade glided over with a little song.

Now.. back to the face...

Since I had done ok so far, and my confidence was growing... I decided to just go a little more. I kept slow as I had been with small strokes and shave my entire right side. Any time I started getting unsure, I stopped what I was doing... for example the small area next to my goatee. I then re-lathered and went XTG... again with no problems.

At this point I was sufficiently happy with my task and finished the rest of my face with the old disposable.

I cleaned up and the product felt better than any other time ive shaved (without ATG). Oddly enough, the only nick I got was from the disposable... so I was thrilled. Put some mineral oil on the blade and finished getting ready for my in-laws 50th bday party.
_______________________________

Sunday....

So sunday was date day with my wife, since we had been so busy throughout the week getting ready for the party that we missed date night friday. I gave myself another hour and made sure to learn and tweak from my mistakes...

I rubbed my palm against the strop a bit to get those oils on the leather... jumped in a nice hot shower, scrubbed my face and cleaned up. Got out.. put the bowl in the sink, ran hot water in it till the water was completely steaming in the bowl and plopped in the brush to soak. I took the towel and soaked it under the hot water, rang it out and took it to the bed as I laid down with it on my face... but not covering my nose. It stayed warmer a lil longer which was nice and relaxing. Got up, folded it on the side of the sink, splashed my face with some hot water and applied the Easy Glider oil and applied it. I then cleaned my blade again, stropped it 25 fabric, 50 leather just as I did the day before. Set it down, emptied the bowl and flicked out the brush. Got my lather built up and applied it to my face again.

This time, the shave was much easier and my hand was much more confident. I easily did WTG on my right cheek, however towards the end I could tell the lather was actually so dry that it was flying off in little particles in the air. Definitely needs more water, so I added more water to the mix and lathered up my left side again. Decided to give it a go with my left hand holding the blade in the basic grip. After a little learning... I got my hand working correctly. I definitely seem to block my view more on the left side than my right side.... but I digress. So I was able to do WTG on both sides.. AWESOME! I then re-lathered up my right cheek and did XTG and followed up by repeating the steps on my left side. I decided I was brave again... and went for WTG on my neck... so I lathered up and got it done. The neck was definitely harder to figure out... and I will have to scrutinize the videos for the proper methods.
I still havent gone ATG, but I may try it this coming weekend. Once again... cleaned up and oiled the blade per the usual.

So... result is no nicks from either day and sunday being a day that the majority of my face was shaved with only my Dovo. The only parts I didnt do with it were my upper lip and parts of my chin where my goatee and flavor saver are. My wife loved the feel of it and enjoyed watching me a little in the process.

So... things I plan to change or add....

I plan on picking up some glycerin for the lather.
I plan to apply lather prior to the hot towel, and putting the hot towel over it, washing it off and then applying the pre-shave.
I plan to practice my grips and watch more videos...
Biggest... is I plan to use the correct arms for the correct sides of my face since I did it backwards both times lol! Had to review Chimensch's(sp) video to spot it.

All in all... amazing success! I dont think I could have even imagined it turning out this well had I not lurked on the forums and read as much from everyone here as I could. So thanks everyone for your help!

Great job!@!!!!@!@!

With practice comes confidence, but don't get overly confident so that you end up careless!!

What a great start! Keep it up man!

M

Nice 2nd shave comeback.

Might want to stick to the cheeks until you feel comfy handling the razor. Sad thing about razors is there is only so much face to shave and it extends out the comfort time. Or mock shave, just getting them fingers comfy with sharp steel between them. Same reason I cut with swords every day, even if its just cutting air in a room. As the winter months ticked by, I got a lot better at cutting stuff w/o cutting anything. Well there is a good bakers dozen of accidental lines in the ceiling lol.

Well... tuesday I got to do another shave and learned the grip and figured out the ATG. I got a better lather, better pre-shave system and was able to get BBS. Still no nicks but just a little razor burn on a section of my chin that has hairs going all sorts of directions. Figure it was more or less the technique... so itll come with practice.

Ive never been the guy who looked forward to shaving... only did it once per week. Luckily my facial hair doesnt grow fast so it wasnt bad by the time it was ready to shave again. Now that I have ventured into straight razor shaving... I look forward to doing it and actually schedule nights where I have an hour to spend on myself. Its such a great feeling and satisfaction!

So this will be my goodbye to this post and a thank you to all who have stopped in and contributed! Your words have helped me immensely and now I shall venture into the regular forums more and contribute where I can. I also look forward to the next local meeting whenever I happen to see one scheduled!