Thread: Questions, Comments, Concerns...overall Woes and Thoughts after 2 weeks

Well grasshopper you've unearthed the ultimate truth in straight shaving and thats why Mr gillette was able to turn millions to the dark side. Convenience and consistancy.

Straight shaving is a skill that takes quite some time to master. In your case as the others have told you your blade needs refreshing. Usually blades should last longer but that's assuming they were honed to the max if they weren't they will fail early and also it depends on your beard type and shaving technique. For me about 10-15 shaves and its back to the hone for a few trips.

On top of everybodies advice, I wanted to add that 'WTG' can be deceiving.
Right under my nose, WTG means means straight down, but near the corners of my mouth, WTG means almost sideways.

The best way to get to know your face is to let the hair grow for 2 or 3 days, and then examine the whole of your face with your fingers to find out which way the hair is growing.

And I usually don't go ATG under my nose because after WTG and XTG, there is nothing left to shave most of the time.
The razor has to be REALLY sharp too because otherwise it can skip and you'll end up cutting into your nose from below.
ATG under the nose is not something you should attempt unless your technique is good, and you are very familiar with your face and your razor.

The value of a sharp edge can't be overstated. How you get there can be a varied path. There are a lot of approaches and equipment floating around SRP, find what works for you...but get it sharp and keep it sharp. IMO your sharpening skills are as critical as your shaving skills.

My stropping/honing/shaving techniques have been converging lately to finally get me to the point I am as confident I can get as good a shave from my str8 as from my DE. (Though I don't get it "perfect" every day, I at least know I can) For a while, I was with you, in a land between two blades...loving how great my face felt after a good DE ...but still longing to figure this darn str8 business out enough to get the results I wanted! And I was way past 2 weeks. Hang in there. Give it time. On any give day don't be afraid to switch back to whatever (I recommend a DE like someone else said as your alternate) when the str8's just not working for you and come back the next day...or whenever you have the time to put into making sure it's sharp.

I'm just getting there and it's worth the patient effort!

- Dale