Thread: New to straight razors and first shave (long)

Hello to everyone on Straight Razor Place from NE Ohio.

I've been shaving for over 35 years now, almost all of that time with some form of cartridge and the "goopy stuuf" out of a can. My son started shaving with a DE safety razor several years ago (after quite a few years with the cartridge and goop), and he's always been very enthusiastic about his shaving experiences with it.

About a month ago, I started searching on the internet for an appropriate birthday present for him that was shave related, I started reading some of these forums, and, as they say, I became hooked. You see, I've always dreaded shaving; it was just one more chore to get out of the way, and worse, something that took time during my "busy" mornings. But reading the forums and talking to my son convinced me that this could be something enjoyable.

So I took the plunge and went to Imperial Shave. I purchased the Dovo Best Quality set and upgraded to the 3" strop with and the blood orange. I also got some witch hazel astringent. I spent most of last night handling the razor, stropping it a bit, working up a lather in my hand, installing a hook into the wall for the strop, and viewing MANY MANY videos of straight razor shaving.

After raking leaves in the yard today, I took a shower and prepped for my first shave. I put the brush in some hot water in the mug while showing. After I got out, I did another 30 cycles on the nylon and 50 on the leather strop. I used the soap to lather on my face, and that went very well; nice lather and it felt nice using the brush on my face. For the shave, my intent was to do at least the sides of my face, then play it by ear (meaning if I didn't cut one of them off) as far as doing more.

For the sides of my face, the first pass went fairly well, but I did feel some dragging. Almost like the blade would be somewhat deflected as certain whiskers were cut. But there was no real discomfort or anything. I think I kept a good angle during the shave. I then went ahead and proceeded to do my neck, which seemed to shave smoother (my beard is lighter down there), but it was tricky to negotiate around the sharp transitions under my chin to my neck. Lastly, I did my chin. This was very rough with lots of that dragging feeling. But all in all, I did't feel any nicks or cuts or any discomfort. After rinsing off, I felt a lot of stubble still on my chin and neck.

So, I lathered up again and did another pass. I was tempted to go across the grain, but went with the grain as before. The sides of my face shaved much smoother than the first time, but my neck and chin were still "draggy". There was still noticeable stubble left at the end, so I did a quick pass with my cartridge razor. Afterwords, I used the witch hazel which left my face feeling very smooth; I liked that a lot.

I do want to thank this community for all the great information and support.

Welcome, just take your time and keep at it. A with the grain pass is only gonna do so much, but soon enough you will getting much smoother shaves. Just mind your technique, and really focus on your stropping as well; it makes a huge difference. Welcome to the addiction!