Thread: I'm keeping the beard!

Welcome. I too have a goatee, and I also keep some pretty good mutton chops. When I was first learning, I sacrificed the chops-- now when I look back on it, it was probably uneccessary, because I ended up doing two full passes on my first try anyway. So, go for it. Just be prepared, because once you get the hang of straight shaving, you'll love it so much that you'll contemplate losing that beard almost every day (I know I do). But if you keep it, you'll have the most well-trimmed beard of anyone you know. And don't hesitate to ask any questions, the guys on here are the best.

I have a beard also. I started straight shaving a couple of weeks ago and found that my neck wasn't really that bad of a place to start. The grain changes right where my beard ends so it actually clears up a lot of the confusion over the parts of my face I would have to change direction. Part of the reason I have a beard is that I hate shaving. The close shave from the straight ensures that I don't have to touch up my neck near as often.

Good luck

Originally Posted by bmcwil

I have a beard also. I started straight shaving a couple of weeks ago and found that my neck wasn't really that bad of a place to start. The grain changes right where my beard ends so it actually clears up a lot of the confusion over the parts of my face I would have to change direction. Part of the reason I have a beard is that I hate shaving. The close shave from the straight ensures that I don't have to touch up my neck near as often.

Good luck

+1. The neck is a great place to start just with down strokes. Then stretch the skin as you need to. For me it's side ways. When you get comfortable you can go up the side of the neck until you feel OK with it and start increasing the area to the rest of the neck.

Have fun,

Lynn

I had a beard for years, until I got into str8s. This summer I shaved off the whole shebang on the last day of school (I'm a teacher). But because part of my image of myself is that of a guy with at least some facial hair, I am growing back a goatee. It sort of gives me the best of both worlds, and lets me fudge on shaving the two biggest problem areas, the moustache and chin.

I posted another thread about how unbelievably close and smooth my str8 shaves are now after a summer to learn. I never would have believed I could get shaves this smooth! I just finished up a wicked good shave, my best yet, after giving my son's Dovo 5/8" the CrOx and newspaper treatment.

In doing so I discovered another new favorite cream in our seemingly bottomless basket of samples: TABAC! The scent grows on me, and the performance is hard to beat!

Do ALL PhD biologists have to have the Charles Darwin beards? Seems like most do.

I had a nice full beard until I bought a straight razor and now it's hard to keep it. I miss the look of a beard but I really like to shave now. I've tried all kinds of beard styles. The aforementioned hollywoodian is probably the best between having a beard and straight razor shaving. I lost mine because I kept taking the sides to low and then I had a goatee that was real nice, thick and long (I know, "that's what she said"). Then what happened to the sides of my hollywoodian started happening to my goatee. Now it's gone and I'm starting over with just shaving the neck.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Do ALL PhD biologists have to have the Charles Darwin beards? Seems like most do.

Well if we do then I'm out of luck. My mustache and beard don't connect and I have very soft hair in all regards so my beard will never be really bristly and huge...good thing? I think so.

growing a beard is the reason I got started useing a straight razor. one winter about ten years ago I decided I really didn't like a sub-zero wind hitting my face first thing in the morning, so I started a beard to try to get a little insulation. when summer came around again I decided the beard wasn't as good an idea as it was in the winter so it had to go. after getting a quarter inch shaved with an injector that got cloged 5 times in the process I decided to ask an uncle if he still had any straights from back when he was a barber. I knew it would be pretty dang hard to clog one of those! since he only lived about a block away he brought one over for me (along with some good advice on how to use it), and I've been hooked ever since. my yearly routine from that year forward is when it stays below 40 the beard starts growing and when it gets back up to 50 the beard goes bye bye.

Originally Posted by nickedNsliced

one winter about ten years ago I decided I really didn't like a sub-zero wind hitting my face first thing in the morning, so I started a beard to try to get a little insulation. when summer came around again I decided the beard wasn't as good an idea as it was in the winter so it had to go. my yearly routine from that year forward is when it stays below 40 the beard starts growing and when it gets back up to 50 the beard goes bye bye.

You wouldn't happen to be Canadian by any chance?

Until I was a SR shaver I had a beard/facial hair of some sort ever since I could grow it. After high school I found successive jobs which involved working outside during Canadian winters, and I can tell every one here that a beard does help. Freshly shaved skin does not feel great when it's -30!

The last couple winters were, IIRC, the first that I didn't grow my winter beard. I just sucked it up, I guess.

Ah, the things we do for straight razor shaving.....