Thread: Can I get a razor with training wheels?

Wet shave 4 is in the books! Not trying to be overly critical of myself, but not such a good turnout. I cut myself about 5 or 6 times and reopened a cut from the other day. I look like I tried to give a bobcat a prostate exam! I know a couple of them are from too much pressure, but I think the point of the razor has some culpability as well. It's a square point that has been slightly rounded, but there's still enough of it to catch me.

I know it mabe my RAD talking, but shouldn't a noob such as myself be learning on a roundpoint? Any comments/suggestions welcome.


I look at my blade, and I see it is weeping,
While my scratched face stings and bleeds.....

Run what ya brung.

Learning were the toe is at all times is important. OTOH there is no shame in using a round. I think (just a hunch) that you are trying too hard.

As a beginner, I PROMISE it is better to use too little pressure that too much. You will likely not get very close shaves in the first few shaves anyway...just concentrate on one area and monitor your progress on that area (such as dominant cheek).

Another suggestion. If you have a cut, don't try to shave that area with your straight...just don't. You will never heal and it will erode your confidence unnecessarily.

This is a marathon not a sprint. If it were easy to master, perhaps a lot fewer people would enjoy it

I remember cutting my ear several times when I started with a Spanish point. I moved onto a rounded one and haven't gone back. If you can get a round point that would be nice, but many cuts because of technique.

You can mute the point by rubbing the absolute tip gently on the bottom of a glass. The key word here is gentle. That way you can get the sharp back when your ready for it. DOnt hurt yourself with the shave and don't feel too bad as we all go through that early stage. Take your time and in a couple months you will be doing great, next year you will be a pro. It doesn't happen in a week or a month, but a little every day til you are there.

Thanks for all the great advice! It is in my nature to try too hard. I keep forgetting that I'm trying something new, not doing what I've been doing for the last 25+ years.

I have found it easier to use the same razor consistently, it will reduce the variables, I have two very similar razors, and the shave is quite different.
I was wondering what I was doing to myself a few shaves in but now I feel a lot happier. I got some good cuts (still do if I am not careful) but they have all healed fine.

Yes! A straight razor with training wheels would be a Feather Artist Club SS with pro guard blades! Double O

We all go through that. Cuts happen. Don't get discourage. Give yourself some time to heal and go at it again. One thing that helped me was to analyze what I did wrong and see how could I corrected next time. Still does this with my honing. Come to think, I still do it with my shaving too. Double O

I once heard my buddy say once while he was in the middle of a shave one particular spike nose kept cutting him so he ran the spike on the underside of the window sill to mute the corner. It worked!!! The same thing happened to me & the technique poped in my head, in a pinch it did work. But now to be safe I always keep a barber hone in the bathroom drawer to kill that dead sharp corner with just a few light swipes.

I also see your from Philly as well, welcome brother to the forum...

I have no hesitation at all slightly rounding off spike points. My face is way more important to me than any sense of the razor's historical purity! That point might need a little more rounding. Do it. Or buy a razor with a rounded point. Life is to short, and straight-shaving is too much fun, to go around with scars and blood all over you.

No matter how good your technique, one day you'll slip and that sharp square point will get you, and get you good. I round 'em off a bit. Not worth the grief and extra anxiety. Plus, it's really, really hard to make people think straight shaving is so great when you constantly look like a reject from a European University dueling fraternity.

I do think a beginner should start with a rounded point razor. I see no real value of retaining the near-lethal spike point or sharp square point on a razor. I suspect I'm in the minority here, but that's my view. It's shaving. It's not a religion. It's your face, the razor is carbon steel.