Thread: I'm still alive!

I use the middle and heel part of the blade and do small sections at a time. The most difficult for me has been the middle section just under my lower lip. I have found that of all the tricks out there to determine sharpness, this is the section on my face that tells me when it's time to attend to my edge. That being said, in the beginning use small strokes to determine the optimal pass for your beard.

Lewis

Welcome to SRP, Martín,

And congratulations on your first successful shave. You may find the images in Shaving passes - Straight Razor Place Wiki useful. Mapping your face before you shave has helped many of us to decide on the best succession of passes and directions.

Regards,
Robin

I leave the chin for last so the whiskers will soften more and have found for me that going straight across worked best. This is the only time I stretch the skin.

bj

Since we are talking about chins, I thought that I would share a new discovery for me. My chin is also my "trouble" area, or at least it was. I have found that I have most success and no nicks, if I let my chin move and keep the razor still. This applies to the middle of the chin and a bit to the sides. By holding my razor lightly on the skin and raising the lower lip the chin actually moves and there is less chance if nicks and the shave is close. Anyone else found this to be true?

Thanks to everybody for all the helpful comments. I've gotten another successful shave under my belt - this time with less nicking and smoother on the chin. I still haven't got it perfect, but that's OK with me. Progress with every shave is what I'm looking for. So far, so good.

Originally Posted by mad434

Thanks to everybody for all the helpful comments. I've gotten another successful shave under my belt - this time with less nicking and smoother on the chin. I still haven't got it perfect, but that's OK with me. Progress with every shave is what I'm looking for. So far, so good.

So what are you doing that has made the improvement?

One thing that I think helped a lot was the quality of my lather. I worked in smaller sections unlike the first time when the lather began to dry out on my face. I also studied a couple of pass diagrams to find the best way to attack my face (peacefully, of course). However, I think what made the biggest difference was my increased confidence from the first shave. I noticed that my stokes were a lot smoother and more deliberate. I still had a bit of trouble on my chin, but not nearly as much as the first time around - I actually attempted the entire chin this time, but had a few tough spots. I think I'm going to keep experimenting with different methods until I find a good one for me, as I've heard everybody's shave is different.

I thanked you for posting an answer to my question, and asked the question in the hope that someone would read your post and realize they can do it too. Very good post.

Well, thank you for the thanks. I'm glad you asked the question otherwise I would have never thought of writing what I thought helped me. And yes, hopefully it will be helpful to others who might come across it as I have been helped by other posts. This forum is a pretty awesome place!