Thread: My first shave

Well I did it, today was my first straight razor shave! I have been shaving with a DE for a year now, and thought I would try a straight.

I got a 9/16 spike Sheffield by Joseph Allen & sons from Gugi who kindly honed the razor and I also got a Heirloom latigo apprentice strop from the well shaved gentleman. I made 25 passes on the strop and lathered up with some HBS Old Spice SS and used my Vulfix 660 med pure.

I watch all the videos and read as much as I could and well, just went for it. Overall it went very well. One small nick, no cuts, it is nowhere near BBS, but on the verge of passable.

My biggest issue was how to hold the razor for the different parts of my face and should I switch hands or not. My left hand seems to lack dexterity, but for the left side of my face, it felt awkward to hold the razor with my right hand. It took about 30 min to shave 3 passes; 2 WTG and 1 XTG.

This site was a wealth of information – Thanks for putting such a great site together. I'll keep at it!

Welcome to straight shaving. I'm also new to it, so I won't pretend to offer expert advice. Most members say that left-hand dexterity will come with time. I don't shave with my left because I have a tremor in my left whereas my right hand is much more steady. A lot of folks offered me advice (including a diagram of another grip for cross-handed shaving) in this thread. You might want to check it out as it's really been working well for me so far.

That's excellent!

Keep at it, and keep working with both hands. You'll be amazed at how quickly you will become comfortable using both your dominant and none dominant hands.

Remember, concentration is essential. The first time you let your mind wonder will be the first time you get a real cut. I can practically guarantee it!

Above all......enjoy!!!

Congrats on your first shave. I only started with shaving my cheeks for a week or so when I began so you are way ahead of the learning curve I was on.

Welcome to the brotherhood of the blade!