1st and 2nd shave in the books!

1st shave was alright with A LOT of razor burn. After conferring with my brother (who got me started SRS) I think that my pressure was too hard and angle was too steep. My 3yo boy tugging on my shorts wanting to know what I was doing every 20 seconds didn't help I'm sure. But he did recognize that I had the same razor as a guy in a movie we were watching today, so I thought that was pretty cool. Anyways, the first shave was ok and I was hoping for the second to be better, which it was. I was able to do a 2 pass shave WTG and ATG. I have a little bit less razor burn, and a MUCH closer shave! I'm glad that this one was much better. I was able to take my time with it and really give it the attention that it needed. I do now see that I am going to have to wake up much earlier than before to be able to shave before I leave for a shift at the FD, just so I will be able to shave the way I need to without rushing it. I do need to work on my LH shaving, it was a little tough to keep the angle right and not press too hard.

I'm glad that I started SRS.

Make sure you have time enough to not rush through the shave.
Also you could try to stick with WTG and XTG for a few weeks until you get the hang of shaving with a straight. ATG is much more likely to give you razor burn.

I agree with Peter.
ATG is something I don't do. A few XTG is all I need for a DFS.

As you gain your expertise you will find what works for you.

Congrats

One thing most new shavers forget about when it comes to irritation is the water temp they are using. Many shavers find that hot, or very warm water, is the cause of a lot of their irritation. Those that have shifted to cold, or lukewarm, water have found great relief from irritation. Hot water, hot lather shaving is a modern day invention. Straight razor shaving is age old and I'm pretty sure there wasn't indoor plumbing with hot water tanks back in the huts of the dim past.

Don't rush either the shave or technique development. It was hard for me to understand at first, that I would not have this all down in a week. Everything that I read said that it would take about a hundred shaves to start to know what you are doing. It really does.

Try to really get the WTG and XTG down pretty good before starting to try ATG. Once I started ATG, I only did one area, such as the neck, until I was very comfortable with that and then would add another area and so forth until I was able to do ATG on my whole face. You don't really need ATG to get a DFS but I do it 7 days a week just because I like a BBS shave.

Enjoy all the little triumphs along the way and relatively soon you will be rewarded with the best no irritation shaves of your life. You'll also go from having shaving being a dreaded chore to a great new enjoyable hobby.

Remember shaving is a me sport, we do it for ourselves. Whatever is best for you, is the right way.

Thanks for all the encouragement fellas! One reason I do ATG shaving is because of my career. We get credit card tested from time to time if it doesn't look like we shave well that morning. I will definitely work on XTG shaves. One question, I know that I am new to it and it's just gonna take time and practice to get it down, but I find that when I go WTG and XTG it still feels like sand paper on my face. Is it blade angle that is keeping these from getting a closer pass?

I certainly am no expert, but I do understand where you are at right now. I used the cartridge for about two weeks or so to do a once over after my straight. I think for just a short time it is helpful to touch up with the cartridge as you are developing your techniques. Takes some of the pressure off as you are learning and you still get a shave that you can live with. After you start getting shaves that you or the boss can live with, throw it away.

I remember certain areas, my chin in particular, that I felt I could have shaved as well by using a butter knife. Was it my stropping, my technique (angle, pressure, hand dexterity), proper stretching of the skin, my lather. Most probably all of those. Also had more razor burn, redness but not discomfort, than I had every had.

The good news is that soon it will all pass and you will be getting close comfortable shaves. Experiment with angles, pressure, the making of lather, which hand to use for which pass, how to stretch certain areas, etc.

Don't give up or get discouraged. I found that all of a sudden for some unknown reason, what was not working all of a sudden did and with no real reason as to why.

Give yourself at least 3 months to get everything together and probably six or more before you are able to pretty consistently achieve BBS. Be happy and enjoy all of the little triumphs that you will have and forget the occasional bad day that will come also.

Most of all just enjoy the process and soon a dreaded task will be one of the highlights of your day. I still go kinda slow and have 30-45 minutes of me time, that I thoroughly enjoy every day and always look forward to tomorrow's shave.

All good advice here, the one thing I did until it became habit was to shave on the weekends only with a str8. That way i could take my time and learn everything I needed to but above all could relax and enjoy the experience. During the week for about a month I would shave with the cart to get the job done and look forward to the weekend shaves. After a few shaves I found that my muscle memory got better and the shave time got shorter and could build it into my morning routine.

It just takes more experience ,, I can shave two pass now and get my shaves to where I can pass any test ,, had to be ready to wear an SCBA for my job too , nothing worse than finding you didn't shave close enough when H2S is around, but I still didn't do much ATG if the blade is right, and your technique is, then you will get a close shave. And technique is all about time on the job. Tc