Thread: Hello from Alabama!

Been surfing the forums for a while now, finally got a couple of good straights and all the other necessities, and I've now done a few partial shaves. Learned a lot so far including the obvious fact this will be quite a long process; had a few nicks and small cuts (btw, I never knew that a relatively small cut on an ear lobe could bleed so much!). One thing that I have noticed is that I have a little more anxiety/apprehension than I expected, and, more importantly, I think I've figured out that it is the anxiety (resulting in some very tentative strokes) causing most of the nicks and cuts. Today, I finally moved on to the neck, where, after some bleeding earlier in the shave, I said "f" it and just did some nice even strokes- like magic it was comfortable, though not nearly BBS yet, without any bleeding. Time to stop thinking so much and just do it, I guess.

I do have a couple of questions, though:

1)I've read lots of people advising to take short/small strokes, but I think that most cuts will occur at the point when the blade first touches the face (i.e. the very beginning of a stroke). That being said, I'm starting to think that I'm trying to take too small/too many strokes on the larger surface areas of the face (cheeks, neck) and that I should actually make mine a little longer (and more confident). Does this make sense?

2) I am still at the point where I need to go back and clean up with my old multi-blade monstrosity. This is working fine, but I'm wondering if I should also buy a DE (I've never used one); is this advisable or do you think that adding this variable will only hinder my straight razor learning curve?

So this was long; probably should have just said "hi" and then posted the rest in another thread...sorry about that.

Welcome to the most friendly, helpful and knowledgeable site on the web!!!

First and foremost you will find that 99% of shaving with and maintaining a straight is a ‘personal preference’!!

My first question is; was your razor ‘Professionally Honed’ or did they arrive from the seller as ‘Shave Ready’?? Shave Ready from the factory leaves a lot to be desired!!!

If not, get it properly honed and stropped by a Pro so you know what a truly shave ready razor feels like to shave with!

A razor that isn’t truly shave ready will give you more nicks and cuts because you find yourself using pressure to compensate for the lack of sharpness!!

Next, don’t worry about the neck or other areas of your face until you master the sideburns area!!

PERIOD!!

As far as the anxiety goes your fine!! In my opinion anyone who says that the very first time they placed a straight razor to their throat and wasn't at least afraid or terrified is a lier!!!

After you stop trying the neck and have mastered the sideburns area, the need for the multi blade monstrosity will diminish! You can rest assured that there are many here who still ‘clean up’ with either the multi or a DE.

I used to! It takes time and patience to get it right! You must remember that you are trying to learn an art that at one time was passed from father or uncle to son or nephew! Their beards were just coming in so it was easier to learn!!

Any questions that aren’t answered her just PM me and I’ll try to steer you where you need to go!!

Smooth Shaving My Brother In Blades!!

'Bama, Welcome. Bravo for taking the plunge. Yup, there's some learning curve, but you'll get it. Keep reading, asking questions. Pretty much, the skill comes - with or without trying. You'll notice yourself paying attention to blade angle and pressure (amost none) - and you'll find yourself doing it right w/out thinking about it.

On the nicks - maybe best to cover some bases: were your 'good' straights professionally honed? (or at least pro-quality) 'Makes a huge difference in the feel and the ease of a stroke. On the nicks specifically - don't keep shaving over them or they'll never heal. I used to lather up and then take a finger and remove the lather from the nick so I had a visual on where to avoid.

Also, when you're new, you're careful. That usually means you take a long time. For me, an hour was common. The finest soap or cream in the world won't stay moist that long. If when you rinse your blade, running water does not clear off all the lather - it has gotten too dry. Its a set-up for nicks. (there's a reason I'm called pinklather) I wish I had saved the link, but one member this last month, mentioned an over the counter skin treatment a doc prescribed for him after a surgery. It sounded like good stuff. Lynn once recommended neosporin for the nics, and I've found it to shorten the healing time by a day or day & a half.

It won't be very long an you'll be really looking forward to each shave. 3 yrs later, and I still do. Enjoy the learning. You'll soon be really enjoying the shaves.

'Looks like Cudarunner hit 'save' a moment before I did. He tells ya right. (BTW, Cudarunner does a nice edge)

As always, Great Counsel my friend!!

I always seem to forget to tell about shaving around the ‘damage’! And the Neosporin trick!!

You are spot on about the length of time that it takes to do even simple things like shaving and having the lather last while one tries to get the shave ‘right’ and without an ‘oops’ when you are learning how to walk down this wonderful and rewarding road we travel learning to use an ancient designed tool! Yes no matter if you are using the lowly regarded Williams or the ones that I could never afford the lather only lasts so long!

I’m so glad that your lather is no longer ‘Pink’!!!

I thank you for the compliment on my edges as you know I do try!

Thanks for the reply and, of course, the encouragement! I should have said before that my razors are indeed shave ready. I bought one from the SRP classifieds which I used for the first two or three partial shaves (sideburn/cheek area), and today I received the razor I bought from Larry at Whipped Dog, which came totally shave ready, thereby taking possible (probable) poor stropping technique out of the equation. The results from the two are pretty much the same, which makes me feel pretty good about my stropping so far and also confirms my beginner technique as the culprit. No worries, though- I'll keep fighting the good fight, and I'm sure that I'll be getting relatively smooth shaves before I know it. Staying patient, not rushing myself, and, most of all, having a great time learning the art. I look forward to posting in other threads soon!

Cheers!