Thread: First straight shave, OMG!

Yes! I so did! And it was awesome!

I did my first straight razor shave today, and I didn't wind up in the ER! Oh, happy day. But, nor did everything go perfectly. Here's what I did, and then a couple questions.

My set-up:
Razor: Wapi 9/16 with steel scales (huge thank-you to LilithParker!)
Soap: Mama Bear's Chocolate Mousse (again, thanks to the fantabulous Lilith)
Brush: No-name which I assume, for the price, is synthetic. A cheapie brush, basically.
Strop: A clean, smooth 2-inch wide leather belt.

The first pic below is my set-up.

What I did:

First, I stropped the razor. I think my technique here is ok - I've watched lots of videos and practiced prior to the razor arriving. Most of the time, I heard the right sort of sound, except one or two strokes where I think the spine may have lifted off the strop a bit. I did 20 to 30 strokes. Kinda lost count.

Then, I got some hot-ish water in the cup I used for lathering (which I think was too small - I'll use a bigger one next time). I dipped my brush in it, and shook out a few drops on top of the shaving soap. I placed the brush back in the water, loosly put the lid on the soap, and took a quick shower.

I gently exfoliated my calves (which is all I decided to attempt today) in addition to all my regular shower stuff.

Got out, toweled myself off, and set to work. Dumped the water out of the cup, gave the brush a good shake and started workin' up some lather on the soap, which I then transfered to the cup. Forgot to take a pic of the cup, but the second pic below is my lathered leg (Oo la la! Contain yourselves, boys). Tell me how I did.

I love love LOVE the lathering part. I am never using shaving cream or regular soap again, regardless of how my journey with straights goes. It just feels so nice and relaxing. It's great.

At first, I lathered my whole right calf, but I soon discovered it was drying too quickly. I added a few more drops of water to the cup, and lathered in smaller sections after that.

I also put some warm water in a bowel to get suds off my razor with, since I didn't have as easy of access to the sink as you would in front of the mirror, shaving your face. I also discovered dipping the blade lightly into the water made it glide better. But I think part of that was my lather being a little dry.

The moment I started the first stroke, my jaw just sort of... dropped. It was such a different feeling then using my stupid disposables. I kept the pressure really light, and went slow.

I just went ATG. Leg hair ain't that thick, and after however many years of using crappy razors on my gams, it can take it.

I wound up twirling myself into some pretty odd positions to get at the backs of my calves, and I found the scales on the Wapi a bit heavy, which meant I had to hold the razor a little tighter than I would have liked to, for manoeuvrability's sake.

But, I have no nicks! Not one! Nothing! Nowhere!

Splash with cold water, and ta-da! My skin feels divine. A little warm, from running a razor over it, but not to the point of actual razor burn. And I just love the hell out of the soap and brush.

Unfortunately... I didn't have as much shaving happening as I would have liked.

My legs still feel stubbly. It seemed to catch more of the hairs at the back, which are finer hairs, but on my shins, on both legs, I didn't get a whole lot of shaving done.

Don't know what the heck is goin' on. Don't know if maybe my stropping is way, way worse than I think it is?

But experimentally, I got up close, and ran the blade over one of the darker hairs on my legs that I could see clearly. It wouldn't cut. I mess with my angles and tried it a couple times, but just... nope.

Maybe it needs to be honed. I really hope I didn't wreck it with my stropping or some other silly thing. I'm not sure. Input?

But over-all, despite the not-quite-shaved thing, a very awesome experience! I like this. I like it a lot.

And thank you again to LilithParker who helped me get started in such a huge way!

Love,
Cassie