Thread: Shaving Cuts

Originally Posted by norton

I've been using a straight razor for about a month and haven't cut myself since the first couple times, until yesterday.

The razor had been getting dull even with stropping. My honing kit arrived from classic shaving.com and so I had a newly sharpened razor and got a little inattentive and sliced my chin nicely.

Also, for the last week I've been doing something that I don't see mentioned here. When I shave the way Lynn does in the video I don't get a very close shave, in fact its pretty bad. Scraping the razor over my face just leaves too much stubble, even after two passes from different directions. Since knives cut best by slicing, not scraping, I''ve added a slight diagonal motion to my strokes. Now with fewer longer strokes I get a much smoother shave and the second against the grain pass goes very easily. The razor seems to stay sharper and the shave is much smoother. Of course I have to be more careful not to cut myself.

Yup, I started really working on my diagonal strokes and its working very well. Then yesterday, I was coming up the front of my throat and I did it...I let the razor slide horizontally. My Friodur 7/8 bit me. I stopped in time, but it scared the hell out of me at first. I thought I'd have a nice flap, but it turned out to be a very mild slice. Gotta be more careful!

Jordan

As so many, when I started I too experience a few cuts and razor burn, etc. etc.
I was reading this forum every day and trying different suggestions, I'd say all of them in some way helped me.
About two weeks after I started I just decided not to try to get a close shave and my progress after that skyrocketed. It is also important to find a right shaving cream/soap for your type of skin. I had different kinds and they are all great, but the one that given me almost no razor burn was Kiehl's brush cream. It smells like sheetrock wall compound , but it is really great for my skin and today somehow I tried a propaso preshave cream before it and ended up with feeling no burn and skin feels better then before the shave, go figure.

It takes lot's of learning and experimenting, but after 2 month of shaving with real str8(I used shavette for about 3 month before that) I cannot figure out how is it I lived for so long without it. Why did I hate shaving?
I have started shaving almost every morning with it, it is sad to see my nice DE sit there unused. Somewhere after I put my toothbrush down and pick a str8 I become fully awake, if not I know I'll cut myself. My idea that your mind has to be as sharp as a razor you are holding still stands.