Thread: How was you first shave with a straight?

I cut myself, left patches of barely shaven spots on my neck, and was it was still a very enjoyable memorable shave. I used hot towels for prep ( a first), a brush for lather (a first) and did manage the closest shave I had ever had on my cheeks.

I also knew after one shave that I was not turning back. I was going to learn how do shave and shave well. Within a week I was still cutting myself often but my wife and children noticed how much smoother my shaves were. No stubble in the afternoons.

I can understand "best" shave. They just don't know how much better it is going to get. (And how much more it will cost if struck by the ADs)

Originally Posted by JTmke

I cut myself, left patches of barely shaven spots on my neck, and was it was still a very enjoyable memorable shave. I used hot towels for prep ( a first), a brush for lather (a first) and did manage the closest shave I had ever had on my cheeks.

I also knew after one shave that I was not turning back. I was going to learn how do shave and shave well. Within a week I was still cutting myself often but my wife and children noticed how much smoother my shaves were. No stubble in the afternoons.

I can understand "best" shave. They just don't know how much better it is going to get. (And how much more it will cost if struck by the ADs)

Nice, good luck

There are a lot of posts here, and I didn't even attempt to read the majority of them, but....my experience?
My first shave was with my Father in Law's Boker, which I found all black with tarnish and had to clean up and put an edge on. The only stones I had were ones used to sharpen hunting knives, etc. Not meant for razor sharpening. But I chose an older stone that I had had for a long time, that I thought was the finest grit in my possession, and put an edge on the razor.
The edge was pretty decent for what I had to work with, and the shave went well, considering. I was going to just do my cheeks, but the sensation of holding that straight to my face was so incredible that I did not want to put it down, so I soldiered on, and shaved my whole face. Had a bit of tugging and skipping over the chin, but I managed to finish without any blood letting.
Was the shave close? Not really, but it was passable in public, and I was addicted. It took me a couple of months to get my angle down consistently, as well as learn that the razor wasn't properly sharp and to get that fixed, before I got consistently good shaves. I am 6 or 7 months in now, and getting good shaves. But I am still learning, and improving, with each shave.
When someone says they shaved with a straight for the first time and got BBS, or the "closest shave of their life", I admit to having a high degree of scepticism. But I don't have their face, and I was not standing in front of their mirror. As long as they keep shaving with that straight I'm good with it. I really wish that many more men would experience shaving with a straight. Putting aside for the moment the closeness of the shave, the straight is the most pleasant, smoothest and most comfortable shaving experience I have ever had. And even though it wasn't really a close shave, that first straight shave really was the best shave I had ever had before.

Your first Straight shave is like your first sexual encounter.

You are highly impressed with yourself. Want to brag about it, you feel it was the best thing ever.

In hind sight you realize that you were awkward, your Technique sucked, the results while enjoyable were far from perfect. And then finally you realize that only person who really truely cares about skill is you and maybe the other person touching you.

Nervous but very good... I actually went 3 passes on the easy areas and finished the hard areas with a DE. I was ever so careful so there was no cut. I got a bit careless in the following ones and still cut myself every once in a while.

The best thing I can say about my first SR shave is that at least I didn't cut myself.......it was a Dovo with a factory edge

Long time ago...

I only planned on doing the sides but ended up going all the way. I had acquired a couple DD's and was working on the edges, something carried over from getting crazy with kitchen knives, and my first edges where reasonable shave-able. Until I got my first razor off Bill Ellis and felt that edge did I see how much farther I had to go.

So my first shave was pretty good verses dealing with cartridges and canned goo.

Now we will not talk about my first attempts at a lather.... that was much sorrier...

My first shave with a straight was alright. Not cuts and no burn. I did a full WTG pass and touched up with my DE.

My second shave was, on the other hand, horrible. Just a couple of weepers, but afterwards, when I rubbed my face with the alum block, the burn went all "the horror! the horror!" á la Apocalypse Now on my face, and I also looked like I had been in a knife fight for a week afterwards (as my thread in the beginner's section can testify for).

I got hooked though, and have been shaving with a straight successfully for two months.

Originally Posted by AZBronco

I keep seeing people make posts on one of the Facebook groups about how they got a brand new straight razor and just got the best shave of their life. Can anybody here really claim that? I've just started using a straight and can get a nice, clean shave on the easy areas. But after a couple of passes on the neck and chin, I do a little clean up with me DE to avoid the risk of weepers or burn.

Maybe I'm wrong, but if people really get the best shave of their life the first time they use a straight, I have to wonder how bad their prior shaves have been.

My position on this is that people who first start out and think they got a good shave just have not really experienced anything else yet. My first was good because there was no blood but after over 268 shaves now I can tell you that the first was not that good. Stick with it and you will eventually not need the DE. I used one at first also but don't need it any longer. It is a steep learning curve but an enjoyable one

My take ,and remember I,m only talking about myself, is until I had quite a few shaves under my belt, I learned that I didn't even know how to shave , so the shaves weren't that great , passable but still not great , but the areas on my cheek were smooth so I knew it would be better with practice . Then I learned that my edge wasn't as good as I thought it was. This is the biggest thing I think all newcomers come up against, they don't a even know how to shave , let alone know if it's shave ready razor. So if any one out there gets a BBS 3 pass shave first time out with their razor they bought and honed first time,, then go ahead and tell that story , it's your fable. Tc