Thread: I can't get a proper shave with a straight

I have a brand new Wacker which was professionally honed and stropped and it's been two weeks since I started shaving with it and I still have to touch up with my DE...

The most problematic areas are the neck and chin. My beard growth is all over the place on my neck. Cheeks and moustache areas are ok. I wish I had a normal growth like most people. I'm also cursed with a very course beard and sensitive skin. I get the smoothest shaves with my safety DE razor but starting to feel like the straight is just not for me...

What to do? I feel like it's getting pointless to try getting a smooth shave with a straight. Maybe I should just sell it and stick to my DE...I don't know...maybe it's my technique?

P.S. It's not the prep...I know how to prep myself and I consider myself an expert DE shaver. I shave my head with a DE in like 15 minutes with no mirror. No cuts or anything. Feather blades always.

It took me several months to get consistently good shaves on my neck and chin. Keep working on your technique and it will come. Meanwhile, there is nothing wrong with using your DE for touchups.

Everything you say in this post is very similar to the experience that 95% of us went through. Keep working at it and it will come. I have been doing it for years and on rare occasions I will still have a bad shave.

Patience, my friend

I'll keep trying I guess. I really don't want to quit. Just wish my technique would improve with time (hopefully). Thanks!

Don't worry that you haven't achieved great shaves in a couple of weeks. I certainly took many months to get to a stage where I was shaving most of my face in a reasonable manner. I was at it for over a year before I was able to do without the DE for the chin area. Most guys pick it up faster than I did but I was 56 before I started - although, like you, I had the advantage of being a competent DE shaver to begin with.

Let us know how you go as we may have suggestions for specific difficulties - my first one is don't worry about having to finish up with a DE on the chin and neck.

Good luck.

Took me a couple months to get anything that resembled a close comfortable shave. My problem has been the se I can't seem to get a comfortable shave on my neck to save my life.

Originally Posted by Rachmaninov

I'll keep trying I guess. I really don't want to quit. Just wish my technique would improve with time (hopefully). Thanks!

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been using a SR for about a month at most and I still finish with my DE after the first pass. You technique will improve, I know mine has. Keep at it and don't get discouraged.

I would say that you need more practice, generally somewhere around the 100 shave mark and it will have come together, by my calculations you would have had around 14 tops unless you shave more than once a day.

There are a great many individual components to a good SR shave.
It might be helpful to consider each rather than just wanting
an overall better shave.
Razor prep, face prep, lathering, skin stretching, blade angle, blade pressure, pass directions, pass order, post-shave rinsing, alum/astringents, and post-shave skin products.