First shave with a straight was a success!!!!!!

I'm in love!

WOW!!!

I don't know where to begin!

Despite telling myself a million times that I'm only going to shave N-S on only my cheeks then finish with a DE, I totally did NOT do that.

The first past on the cheeks were fine, and easy. I wasn't nervous one bit, and it just seemed like the right thing to do to go on. Pretty soon (not really soon at all, SEVERAL minutes) I had shave my entire face and neck; without A SINGLE cut.

I even did THREE passes, with an additional finish phase! By that time, I had ONLY ONE spot of blood, that went away after I rinsed with cold water.

My face is BBS EVERY where except for right under my chin, the bottom of my chin, and my mustache area--but they are still very smooth.

AND to top all that good news off, I didn't even have to put on any lotion or balm. I rinsed with some Thayers Witch Hazel and then some good ol Aqua Velva! After that, my face felt plenty moist, and I haven't been able to do that in a LONG time. So am I saying that my VERY FIRST shave with a straight was better than my shaves with a DE? YEP!

NO irritation, NO redness. I'm amazed, and ecstatic.

The shave took quite some time though. It was a bit tricky learning the best way to hold the razor in order to get a clean swipe for some areas.

And no, I'm not exaggerating, and I've never even held a straight razor until this previous Saturday.

I think I'm hooked :biggrin:

Thanks to Lee of Lee's Razors for the good deal on my straight, which was a 5/8 Dovo Carbon Steel, full hollow, round tip. I also got a great strop from Lee.


BIG thanks to Raf for getting my straight shave ready, showing me how to use my strop, and giving me tons of pointers.

Congratulations, youre quite the fast learner!Welcome to the greatest shave on earth. So whats next Disneyworld?:tu

Well done, Neil.:tu
You're living proof, that if you're a bit handy, and you take the time to figure out the theory, you can have a great first straight razor shave.
I had a similar experience myself, although the closeness of the shave needed improvement in my case. I never expected that shaving myself would become a hobby.:)

Welcome to SRP!

Bart.

Well done Neil. Do not get too overconfident I did and have two good scars to show for it...:roflmao:roflmao

I remember my father always telling me:

"When ever something seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something ..." :shrug:

+1 on what RichZ said, just be careful

Welcome to SRP :tu

Congrats! :tu

I think if you are careful, but confident, then you can have a good first str8 experience.

Doing your home work certainly helps.

I have to agree about working out which way you need to hold the razor for certain areas is probably the hardest thing, first time out.

I'm waiting for the punchline like, "I'm only ten years old, this razor really took that puch fuzz clean off" or "The bearded woman isn't bearded anymore!" Do you have a very round face? I guess anything that shaves everything can't be all bad :shrug:

Seriously though, I'm jealous. It does my heart good though to know you aren't afraid when you shave, it bothers me a little inside when a man says he's scared of the razor. I don't hold it against them though because when I started, I was too. But you still must respect the razor. Any false moves and you will be scrambling to stop the damage

Thanks every one. I only hope that I can repeat it. I have just enough stubble to shave again tonight--in other words, that was a mighty close shave!

One of the things that I try to avoid is to have other people in the room when I'm shaving, I want total concentration on what I'm doing, just to avoid accidents.

The shaves just keep getting better and better.

As usual, I find better results easier to attain after I wait one day between each shave. I'm already getting a lot better on my chin and under-chin areas. I'm also able to go completely against the grain now--it takes some work, but I can do it fine with out cutting myself.

I did manage to get a good cut though, but it was on my lip, and only bled for about 10 seconds.

One thing I really like about using a Straight so far is that what ever irritation I get, it seems to reside MUCH quicker than with a DE.

Needless to say, I'm starting to believe that Straights are significantly superior to DE's!

Neil

I don't really like to shave with the straight every day. I find that after I've given myself a BBS shave, I can look very presentable through the following day too. Opting to shave yet again usually means I'm removing more skin cells with that short stubble.

It's cool that you're taking to it immediately. I've seen a lot of threads where new shavers put their strop, razor and brush up for sale very soon after their first attempts. "It's not for me," they always say. Usually they've spent too much time reading up on others' descriptions of flawless shaves and are confused why their first shot at it took them forty-five minutes to an hou and still left stubble on their face. Well, because it takes a while to lock in the muscle memory and to build confidence.

I'm thinking back to my first shaves with the straight, and it was such a slow process. Plus, at that time I hadn't yet discovered shaving creams, so I was frustrated with how my shaving soap kept disappearing from my face moments after I had applied it. I could see these two things alone frustrating a new shaver, but just keep at it and you'll be a professional in no time.

I had my first shave this morning with my new kamisori 150 blue blade. I tried it over a week ago but the razor was not shave ready so I ordered a strop. The strop came yesterday and I stropped my new razor. I could not believe the difference in sharpness! Just rubbing a razor over a leather belt. Who would have thunk it?

I am not counting my atttempt last week to shave because the razor would not take off one whisker. Today however after the first stroke, I pulled the razor from my face to examine. Clean as a whistle! I looked at my razor and said, "Wow is this puppy sharp!" I shaved my sideburns and cheeks and left it at that, finishing with my usual disposable. I can't wait until tomorrow morning. I am going to explore a bit further. This is a great site for newbies like me. I think I have a new hobby guys!