Thread: Just no luck with straights

If it were -possible to find a barber who is old enough to be experienced with straight razor shaving, and it is legal for him to use a sure enough straight razor in your state, find one. If necessary bring your own razor and let him shave you with it.

Other than that, an individual mentor with a lot of experience, or an SRP meetup that go on from time to time. That might be the best bet at this point IMHO.

Hey good news guys. Today I had a great shave and I think I've found a way to do it consistently. Bad news is it took over an hour. I had to do a much better beard prep. I showered and rubbed Argan oil hair conditioner into my beard. Than took my wife's clarisonic and worked it in with that thing. And then went on with business as usual. I think my beard was so soft I could've cut it with a butter knife but the outcome was nice! It felt like I was cutting hairs on my face instead of thousands of little tiny tree trunks. It's a shame I'll never be able to do this before work because I'd have to wake up at 3 in the morning but I at least know it's possible to do. I'm sure the battle is just beginning but i want to thank everyone for suggestions.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

If it were -possible to find a barber who is old enough to be experienced with straight razor shaving, and it is legal for him to use a sure enough straight razor in your state, find one. If necessary bring your own razor and let him shave you with it.

Other than that, an individual mentor with a lot of experience, or an SRP meetup that go on from time to time. That might be the best bet at this point IMHO.

Great idea...I did this when I first started out...brought one of my straights to my old Italian barber, asked him if he could shave me with it and show me the ropes. At first he said it wasn't allowed, against the rules, then I mentioned that you're the only one shaving me with it, it won't be used on others? He had a look at it, I made sure to bring a strop...and he went for it...was a great learning experience. I brought him different straights for awhile, other customers got really interested and asked if they could get a shave with my straight, and in that case, Sam, my barber said, no, that wasn't permitted.

He showed me what a straight could do in the right hands, like having a professionally honed razor, it set the bar for me....I'd say give it a try, all he can say is no, right?

Great!!
Now that you know it's possibly, there's probably a way cut the time or make the prep more efficient.

Originally Posted by Gcramer1234

Hey good news guys. Today I had a great shave and I think I've found a way to do it consistently. Bad news is it took over an hour. I had to do a much better beard prep. I showered and rubbed Argan oil hair conditioner into my beard. Than took my wife's clarisonic and worked it in with that thing. And then went on with business as usual. I think my beard was so soft I could've cut it with a butter knife but the outcome was nice! It felt like I was cutting hairs on my face instead of thousands of little tiny tree trunks. It's a shame I'll never be able to do this before work because I'd have to wake up at 3 in the morning but I at least know it's possible to do. I'm sure the battle is just beginning but i want to thank everyone for suggestions.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

........
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ng-basics.html

I love reading those instructions! Great advice in all three of them!

Glad to hear that real progress has been made. I only hope I can have luck when I am finally able to go from DE to SR. Continued luck making this a regular experience!

Originally Posted by Gcramer1234

Hey good news guys. Today I had a great shave and I think I've found a way to do it consistently. Bad news is it took over an hour. I had to do a much better beard prep. I showered and rubbed Argan oil hair conditioner into my beard. Than took my wife's clarisonic and worked it in with that thing. And then went on with business as usual. I think my beard was so soft I could've cut it with a butter knife but the outcome was nice! It felt like I was cutting hairs on my face instead of thousands of little tiny tree trunks. It's a shame I'll never be able to do this before work because I'd have to wake up at 3 in the morning but I at least know it's possible to do. I'm sure the battle is just beginning but i want to thank everyone for suggestions.

Well it seems that you have unlocked the secret to being able to shave that Beard Of Steel Wool/Brillo.

You will be surprised at what might help you. Things like washing your face with your shaving soap, let it soak while checking email, then rinsing and applying that conditioner, then checking email again and then going back, rinse the conditioner off, lathering up and getting a CCC Shave (Clean, Close, Comfortable).

For the last 20 years or so, I've had some hand shake that for some reason lessens as the day grows longer so when I started using a straight I switched to shaving at night. It gives me more time to enjoy the shave and the shaking is almost nil for some reason.

A two pass shave will pass my companies dress code for over 24 hours. With that said, your beard is much heavier than mine but you might want to give night shaving a go on a day off or such.

Keep at it! It's a long strange trip, but it's well worth the journey.

Great you're making progress. Some of the beard prep you may be able to do in the shower if you shower in the morning. You may be able to apply hair conditioner and leave it on as you wash your self. Also, i'd still recommend Proraso pre/post cream, it really is quite good. It doesn't take long to apply and you just leave it on while you make the lather.

Congrats on your breakthrough.......