Thread: The long road: My personal journey to shaving success

I wanted to extend a thank-you to everyone who's helped me when I've been frustrated over the past eight months.

This morning I got a fabulous, BBS shave. But here's the breakthrough: Eight hours later, my face has no irritation whatsoever.

My shaving learning experience has been a lot more difficult than average. I've been working on this since last August, when I finally got fed up with the razor burn I got from my Mock III.

I started with a Zeepk-wannabe, a new razor that I got on eBay for about $15. You guys provided a lot of support as I learned to hone, especially AFDavis. But even with my razors passing the HHT like crazy, I still couldn't get the razor to cut through my chin hair without skipping and stuttering.

So I took a month and a half off and went over to Badger & Blade to learn DE shaving. That was enormously beneficial. I was able to get decent shaves within a few weeks, and I learned a lot about multiple passes, lathering, and prep. I came back to straight razors.

Throughout my learning experience, I've been plagued with really bad irritation: burning and itching that lasts all day. It baffled and frustrated me.

In desperation, I started working one-on-one with a senior member, who honed up several razors to different levels of sharpness for me, and also let me borrow his Feather AC. (I'd noticed that I couldn't get a good shave off the 8K Norton, so this member hone razors to 8K, 15K and 50K. Combined with the Feather, that gave me a wide range of sharpnesses to play with.)

Through this coaching, I've learned a lot:
- My beard is really thick--not wirey, but thick. It needs the sharpest blade possible and excellent prep.
- The grain is completely different than I thought it was three months ago.
- The skin on my face is prone to dryness, which makes it easier to irritate.
- Wetter lather (not as pretty, but slicker) works better than the really fluffy stuff. Refreshing it frequently is good.
- Creams seem to work better for me than soaps. I'm using Proraso green tube right now.
- Sticking with one razor, cream, brush, and prep routine is good if you're having trouble.
- Skipping a day of shaving once a week really gives your face a chance to heal.

Right now I'm using a Feather AC, which is the only thing I've found that can "glide" through my beard the way the rest of you guys seems to be able to do with a regular straight. I've just about mastered the Feather, and I love it.

Now that I have the technique down with a straight-esque tool and can get great, irritation-free shaves, I'm going to keep working with my "real" straights. I plan to use one razor for a while--keep it simple.

Right now, the regular straights cut well but pull a lot. I think the key will be improving my skin stretching and prep. Plus giving my face a chance to heal if I mess up.

I'm very grateful to everyone who has helped me out, and I hope this can be an encouragement to other guys who might find straight razor shaving more difficult than they first imagined. Keep at it--it'll all come together eventually.

Josh

I'm glad it worked out for you Josh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhTiJEYqqY8