Thread: First Straight Shave

Well I gave it my first try today. It was alright! I have a couple of dubious places, especially under my jawline, and there are some areas with a strange fuzziness, but other than that an ok shave.
One other thing - my face was red upon completion.
I also did my first stropping before hand. The edge looked worn down on one side, and there were small flecks of strop on the blade when I finished.
I am indebted to this site for all of the great posts, advice, and techniques out there. I would not have had the confidence to try without others testimonials for sure. No doubt it will get easier, and I will get better, with more practice.

I dont know why you ended up with a red face prehaps you over worked or useds a little to much pressure or didnt lather well , and your right it gets better & better as your teqhnique improves weldone

Congrats on your first shave! They get a lot less scary, and a lot more comfortable from here on out. Just remember to keep a light touch, and pay attention to your angles. You will be getting BBS shaves in no time.

Congratulations on the shave. They get better in time, just remember that patience is a virtue and before you know, it all comes together.

Originally Posted by kyler82

Well I gave it my first try today. It was alright! I have a couple of dubious places, especially under my jawline, and there are some areas with a strange fuzziness, but other than that an ok shave.
One other thing - my face was red upon completion.
I also did my first stropping before hand. The edge looked worn down on one side, and there were small flecks of strop on the blade when I finished.
I am indebted to this site for all of the great posts, advice, and techniques out there. I would not have had the confidence to try without others testimonials for sure. No doubt it will get easier, and I will get better, with more practice.

May be a dumb question but did you get a shave ready razor. If the edge is damaged you may want to get it honed by someone from this site that offers it. As for the redness others said it may have gone over the area to many times or to much pressure. You only need to let the blade touch the face it will do the work for you.

Stick with it this only gets better.

Well since others helped you, why don't you do what I am doing, passing on te favor by healping others get started with advice. Forum member helped me alot get started and now I amreturnning the favor.

I did go over everything a couple of times-and I think I pressed too hard.

Originally Posted by kyler82

I did go over everything a couple of times-and I think I pressed too hard.

You really shouldn't be pressing at all, so if you think you pressed to hard, you really were. The razor should be barely touching the skin.

For under the jaw line, I've found that I can actually pull my skin that's under the jaw line, just above it and get a good shave that way.

This way you can see what you're shaving, and more importantly actually tell what direction the hair grows in.

Also, in order to do this, you have to stretch the skin a good bit, so it makes the shaving that much easier.

stretching the skin is a great way to get the jawline. I have a difficult time with that area too. I also agree with the comment about the "shave ready" blade. If the blade is shave ready, a good stropping, with canvas and then a leather can sometimes really make the difference. That last bit of finishing can allow you to shave with the blade lightly on the skin, going with the grain. That should help you out. I still have issues with getting an even and close shave with a straight and depending on which size or grind I use, I have to follow up with a safety razor for the ATG run.