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

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.

Just starting out as well. Only a month. Neck and chin are challenging for me too. I just watched a shaving video from the shaving library, and found some very helpful info about shaving the chin and neck area.

Just don't push yourself into the uncomfortable zone. Shave with your straight, but switch to the DE well before things get ugly. You'll find yourself shaving more and more with the straight.

I've been at it 45 years and once in a while I still get a bad shave. If it's any consolation my worst shave in the past year came from a barber. He switched from a Thiers Issard three pass shave to a shavette one pass. When he was done I tested my face and it felt like petting a wire brush. No tip for him that day.

Just keep at it and things will fall into place.

Hang in there, it takes time. Been SR shaving for less then a year and it took me quite a while to get a clean chin ( still don't occasionally ) and just started successfully doing ATG.
For irritation, work on good preshave prep and watch your touch on the razor! VERY light pressure is all that's needed. Find a good post shave balm, I recently got L'Occitane and it is awesome and soothing.

Best of luck on your learning process, it's worth it!

I've just started also, I have discovered I have to change the angle of the blade when doing the chin area, I almost go to about 45 degrees when doing the front part of my chin and under it. The neck area is about a 30 degree angle.

I had shaved for a lot of years, well 40 years, before I tried to learn how to shave with a straight razor. I considered myself pretty proficient with a DE already but it did not help me too much with a SR. Learning to get a decent shave with a SR as in not using a DE to finish can take months to get to that point. People just do not believe that the learning curve is long and steep compared to shaving with a DE. As others have said, just be patient and don't push things. You will get there in your own good time.

Once you get the hang of shaving with a SR I think you will find that your shaves with a DE will improve too, at least mine did. By that I mean before learning to shave with a SR using an aggressive DE like the Muhle R41 or Fatip was not pleasant but now it is.

Bob