Thread: First Shave of a Man's Face by Viola

Well, I decided it was time to cut my teeth on a man's face...but with a straight razor. My friend so graciously donated his face, which I have to say had a good three to four days growth on it... and he has very coase, thick hair. I made sure all of my implements were freshly stropped, and I had all three of them set out in case I really didn't like how it was going with one. He was given the royal treatment of a few hot towels before I turned to my lather-filled mug with a Williams puck of soap in the bottom. Down to the nitty gritty: The three razors were a 5/8 Wapi french tip, a Wade & Butcher BOW razor spike point, and a Curtin & Clark round point. I lathered him up and went with the grain first. Geez, it felt like it took me FOREVER. And I felt like I had to keep going over it - lather him up, go over it, and repeat. I ended up doing With, Across, and then Against the grain. I felt much more comfortable with the french and round points on his neck. I was just scared I was going to nick him with the spike. But I loved the spike for shaping up his moustache. I found myself actually holding the razor like a Japanese straight at times... but I didn't have a problem with it. I stropped halfway through the process. He said it was hurting when I was shaving his neck. I wasn't applying any pressure to the blade, but he said it felt like it was pulling. I'm thinking I didn't have the skin stretched enough because he didn't seem to complain when I was in areas where I could really stretch the skin. It's going to take awhile before I get the skin stretching down on the neck.

Well, I didn't cut him. His face is pretty darn smooth, but I finally stopped on his neck. You can't see the hairs, but you can feel them in places. His poor neck was finally tired of being tilted back. Oops!

The leg shaving is going well. I bought my friend a Merkur DE. I made the misake of allowing her to be my guinea pig when learning to shave with a straight and I created a monster!

Thanks for everyone's support! Please feel free to give me pointers!

Way to go!! I was waiting for you to take the plunge and do it. Sound like you did fantastic to me.

Yea, it's way different shaving someone else. You must really apply the rules of "reducing hair" for each pass, and not get too heavy handed the 1st pass. - 'cause you can get way too close before you know it. In other words, go really lightly the first pass, and so on and so forth.

So, how did he like the shave?

Steve

It is a problem area for most guys due to the fact that the hair is often growing in a different direction on the neck and people forget to pay attention to that. Mine grows from the throat to the sides of my neck making the stroke exactly 90 degrees different. Sounds like you did well considering it was your first face.

Thanks for the support! He liked the shave... and it was his first straight razor shave too. Yes, he has those neck hairs that grow sideways, so that was interesting to try to tackle. All of a sudden I look at all the men in my life and notice they all have super thick, coarse facial hair!

It was the first face, but it won't be the last!

Way to go!! If I had lived any where near you I would have volunteered once you mastered your legs. I know a girl that wants to try shaving a face, but I have told her that she'll have to prove she can do her own legs first. Without having any experience with legs yet, I believe that they would be easy to learn on compared to a face, which has many contours in less space. We'll see what happens.Congratulations.

Years ago I had my only straight razor shave from a barber. A friend had told me that while I was in the Phillippines I should get a barber shave so I wandered into a barber shop in the older part of Manila. The barber went over my face several times. He pinched each little piece of skin and shaved the pinched up piece against the grain on the top of the ridge. It took forever and when he was done it felt like my face was on fire. I had to go back to my hotel room and lie down with a moist cool towel on my face.

But I didn't need to shave again for three days and I usually have a prominent shadow by 5:00!

Try that on the next volunteer and see how it works.

Given the fact as previously stated that most men's neck whisker growth patterns can be very random, I would not recommend shaving ATG on the neck. Especially on a man's first straight razor shave. The neck typically is more sensitive than the cheeks and definitely more prone to ingrown hairs. You should check back with him in a week or so and ask if he's having ingrown hair trouble on his neck as a result of that shave. If he's not, that's a good sign and maybe he CAN tolerate ATG. I don't do ATG on my neck. It's not a good thing for me.

Chris L

Originally Posted by norton

Years ago I had my only straight razor shave from a barber. A friend had told me that while I was in the Phillippines I should get a barber shave so I wandered into a barber shop in the older part of Manila. The barber went over my face several times. He pinched each little piece of skin and shaved the pinched up piece against the grain on the top of the ridge. It took forever and when he was done it felt like my face was on fire. I had to go back to my hotel room and lie down with a moist cool towel on my face.

But I didn't need to shave again for three days and I usually have a prominent shadow by 5:00!

Try that on the next volunteer and see how it works.

Next volunteer could be that last with that technique!
Great story, though.

Well done first of all. I've been doing this for just about three years now and I'm only now feeling like I might be able to shave somebody else. Kudos.

Originally Posted by Viola

I stropped halfway through the process. He said it was hurting when I was shaving his neck. I wasn't applying any pressure to the blade, but he said it felt like it was pulling. I'm thinking I didn't have the skin stretched enough because he didn't seem to complain when I was in areas where I could really stretch the skin. It's going to take awhile before I get the skin stretching down on the neck.

It might be your shaving angle too. you can also cut easier with a cutting angle, leading with the tip of the razor in the cutting stroke. These techniques will seem more important on coarser hair then leg hair I'm sure.

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