Thread: New to the straight razor world

Greetings everybody!

My wife and my brother-in-law teamed up to get me all the stuff needed to start shaving with a straight razor for my birthday almost two weeks ago. My brother-in-law has been doing it for a couple of months now and he loves it. So, my wife pitched in some money, and my bro-in-law got me some Proraso Shave soap, a Thater brush, a strop, some Nivea after shave, and a Ralf Aust razor. The box everything came in indicated that he got the stuff from straight razor designs - which is how I found this forum.

I watched a ton of videos and read a bunch and then dove in. The first shave was exciting and not very good. I cut myself on the left side of my face slightly (I am right-handed) and it wasn't that close of a shave (only did one pass). But, I was excited to try again. Unfortunately, my hair doesn't grow too fast, so I only shave every 2-3 days.

I had my 4th shave this morning and it was the closest shave I think that I have had in a very long time. My left hand actually felt ok on the WTG pass. I am still having a good bit of trouble keeping a good angle right underneath my jaw line. But, it went well this morning. I never thought that I would look forward to shaving, but I really am now.

Thanks for the ton of information on this site - it has already helped me immensely. I look forward to learning more.

Devin

Welcome aboard.

Welcome to SRP.

Russell

Welcome, Devin! Somewhere in here I read a post about mapping how your beard grows. I never did, but I went a couple days without shaving and then spent some time looking at the mirror using my finger like a straight razor. I found that the beard does not grow in a single direction, and so I adjust my passes to approach those angles.

The jaw line is tricky, anyway, but my beard actually grows away from the point of my chin, so I come at it differently with my XTG and ATG passes.

Keep at it- it gets better!

Thanks for the tip. I will take a look at that once it starts growing in again. 8:30 and it still feels smooth....nice.

Good for you. Over time you'll have several moments of discovery where you change one thing or another that yields an improvement, even when you think you've mastered it. There is a lot of fun and satisfaction ahead.