1st shave, a bitter-sweet experience

Happy Easter and Passover to All!

I'm off to the office for a few hours, in a rather sullen mood. Had my 1st straight razor shave early this a.m. and I must say it was mediocre. Why?!

I had about a 3 days' beard growth, used a pure badger brush, Body Shop shave cream (thank goodness almost near the bottom of that!), a honed antique razor I bought on Ebay (Sheffield steel), and the DE Merkur I've used for a long time (that saved the day).

I went through the process as is suggested by the guys here, and in effect the same process I use with my DE only now I stropped the razor and during the shave, I stretched my skin, like Play-Doh, this way and that. Angle was at about 30 maybe even less at times (didn't want to carve me face). The razor didn't cut as close as my DE, and in fact it snagged on the long stubble.

I am open to all positive input.

Thanks.

G.

Who honed it and how did you strop it? Positive input? You'll be able to try again tomorrow!

Sounds like it needs to be a little sharper.

Lynn

If it was shaving sharp to begin with, it's possible you dulled it on the strop. I dulled my first razor this way :-/

I know I should be going to the office but....

The ebay fellow from whom I purchased the razor honed it for me as well. I have no reason to doubt him; he's NOT on the Sellers to Avoid list and he seems knowledgeable.

Are there any Cand'n "hone-meisters" that you know about?

I stropped with Mr. Miller's #2 strop; 1st linen then the leather. That was FANTASTIC!! I saw it in the movies when I was a kid and I always wanted to do it. It was like a Zen thing.

About the positive, I'm already waiting for later tonight when I'll have some stubble and I'll be able to hack away at my face again!

Thanks.

G.

Hmmm, I am guessing not sharp enough. Unless the seller actually shaves with a straight regularly, I doubt that he would know whether it was truly shave sharp or not.
I may be wrong though.

Stropping still could be the culprit. Movies don't do a very good job of displaying how a razor should be stropped. You always see the barber swiping the razor like there's no tomorrow, and always with too much pressure. The way those poor strops bow under the razor... If you were doing it like this, then you probably dulled it. But if you did it with a very light touch, just a bit of pressure, and methodical x pattern, then you should be fine.

Matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gzb10

The ebay fellow from whom I purchased the razor honed it for me as well. I have no reason to doubt him; he's NOT on the Sellers to Avoid list and he seems knowledgeable.

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The reason to doubt is that few men alive today know what a shave ready straight is. I'm not trying to discredit him (still don't know who he is) just trying to refine your perspective. Even the best of us can slip up too.

X

Well lets see everyone here is blaming the razor. Its your first ever straight shave and you didn't get the result you thought you would get. Well thats strange, everyone else here on the forum got BBS shaves the first time we used a straight.(pardon the sarcasim) Plan to go over your face with a DE or something for your first several shaves. This thing takes time and patience. If you can get through a shave without cuts and nicks just doing the cheek and sides of your face the first few times thats an accomplishment.

Don't even think about quality shaves for a while.

I have to say big spender is probably right as well. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the razor needed a little honing, your first shave won't be that great.

I just got done running a friend through his first straight shave this evening. He had some pulling as well. Now I honed and shaved tested this razor, it is very sharp. But he still had pulling for several reason. A) he hadn't shaved for literally over a year. He lets his beard grow and he trim it with an electric. He doesn't even get the electric close to the skin. So he had a lot of growth and he has a very thick beard. B) His beard grows out and flat against the skin, which make it a little harder for the razor to catch all the growth. C) He is still new, and so his shaving angles were all wrong. He was coming in at close to a 45 degrees, which is pretty aggressive. Once I got him hold the razor at the right angle, there wasn't any pulling and things went much smoother.

So, while the razor could maybe use some sharpening, it is also likely that you're still just learning your technique. I suggest you try playing around with the angle to see if you can get it cutting smoothly. If nothing works, then send it off to be honed. Or you could just send it off too be honed right away to eliminate a variable.

Matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well lets see everyone here is blaming the razor. Its your first ever straight shave and you didn't get the result you thought you would get. Well thats strange, everyone else here on the forum got BBS shaves the first time we used a straight.(pardon the sarcasim) Plan to go over your face with a DE or something for your first several shaves. This thing takes time and patience. If you can get through a shave without cuts and nicks just doing the cheek and sides of your face the first few times thats an accomplishment.

Don't even think about quality shaves for a while.

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Agreed. It takes some time to get the feel for a proper stroke - even if the razor is sharp. Was your first DE shave perfect? Be patient and practice. You'll get there.

Jordan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jnich67

Agreed. It takes some time to get the feel for a proper stroke - even if the razor is sharp. Was your first DE shave perfect? Be patient and practice. You'll get there.

Jordan

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I echo those advising patience and add the encouragement that it can be done! I've only been at it a few months and there were times I wondered what some of these guys were smokin' when they claimed how smooth and comfortable their shaves were. Now, I'm confident every day I can have a good shave and a great time getting it. Still learning and improving, finding my way, but it's a great time along the way.

LOTS to learn from this place (sometimes too much!), but only time will teach your hands and face what you are reading here.

It is worth the persistence!

- Dale

Most of these things have been mentioned, but there are a few culprits that are possible: The razor edge, your strop technique, the prep, the skin geting use to a straight razor (versus your DE). If the razor was indeed honed right, you should have tried it out of the box, then strop it. That would have given you a point of referance....but that's water under the bridge now. Try not to strop as shown in movies...most times it's shown with poor, flamboiant technique. Go slow, light, and roll the blade up on the spine at the end of the stroke before stopping (this way there is less of a chance of nicking the strop). Also, it sounded like your shave soap is 'subpar' from your hopes of using that up soon. Try shaving right out of a hot shower (strop before hand, so the razor is ready). Your shave technique will improve too. Most people tend to press down if the edge is not quite there and give themselves razor burn, or they use too sharp or oblique of an angle, resulting in the same burn. Finally, if I recall correctly, each shaving impliment leaves a different scaring to the face in that when you switch between tools (straight razor versus DE) your skin will need some time to adjust. A DE razor blade tends to cut perpendicular to the hair (or the blade is perpendicular to the direction of the shave), while a straight razor has more of a slice across the hair, since the blade is at a slight angle (tip or heel forward) as you shave in a direction....

Another thing to consider is that this is an 'eBay' razor with unknown use to it. There is no 'new' starting point, and since you did not hone it, you don't know where the edge was starting from ......OR, the blade was not sharp :D

All in all, there IS a learning curve on this. Be patient.
You'll get it with practice.

C utz

As many have said Equipment may be a big factor.

It is nearly impossible to get a BBS the first time you shave with a straight if you have done so then you are probably better than 99.9% of all straight users on their first shave.

As you technique gets better and you learn the correct angle with a properly sharpened blade you will get a good BBS shave better than any DE can ever give.

Stick with it :tu . I just finished my 8th str8 razor shave , it's starting to get easy . My first shave was a disaster , too . My razor was not quite sharp enough , and I was worried I might slice a piece of my face off if I wasn't careful :roflmao . I shaved my cheeks and finished up with my disposeable razor . By the time I got to my third shave , I realised I wasn't going to slice my face up , as long as I paid attention to the angle I held my razor at . By the 6th shave I had finally got my razor acceptably sharp and had enough experience to get a decent shave . I still have to use the disposeable for my upper and lower lip , but I shave the rest of my face with the srt8 . I'm 52 years old , and for the first time in my life I actually enjoy shaving . I find it to be relaxing and fun .

I need to agree with these fellows, needs sharpening and it takes time.