Thread: 1st Straight Shave - Kind of

As a preface to this thread, I would like to say thank you to you many kind and helpful gents. Some of you I pestered with questions, while many more of you unknowingly shared your knowledge through past posts. While the list of helpful gents is too great to cover in detail, I would like to say a special thanks to:

• Lynn for selling me an excellent razor with which to begin my foray into straight razor shaving.
• Tony for making an excellent product and for providing some very thought filled responses to my questions.
• RT for answering questions, being an encouragement, and being a friend.

Well, for the past couple of weeks, I have been slowly accumulating the appropriate paraphernalia to begin shaving with a straight razor. I poured through the Straight Razor Forum at B&B and also spent many long hours here doing the necessary research. As with DE shaving, the task of identifying the appropriate and necessary tools can be a little daunting. I am so very glad that this time around I did not have to also worry about acquiring a good brush and soap/cream.

Anyhow, after much deliberation and great advice from many helpful friends, I decided to go with a shave-ready razor. Additionally, a good friend was kind enough to gift me with a Tony Miller 4-sided paddle strop. With these new items in hand (and a few others ), this A.M. was the first morning that I knew I would have the time to try out the straight.

With some Big Band Jazz playing softly in the background, I began my shave prep this morning. I filled the sink (which contained my shave bowl and brush) with piping hot water while holding a steamy towel to my face and neck. After roughly 3-4 minutes of this, I knocked the excess water out of my Simpson's PJ3 Super and began building my lather of Taylor's Rose shave cream. Upon completion of the lather, with the scent of rose tickling my nose, I laid a nice thick lather up on my face. I then proceeded to strop my straight razor (roughly 30 laps). I then freshened up the lather a bit and picked up the straight, knowing that in the next few minutes I would be assuming the role of either Hero or A-Hole.

Slowly, I started on the right side of my face with the razor in my right hand and shaved N-S from sideburn to jawline and continued toward the midline of my face, stopping at the corner of my mouth. So far so good. There were no arterial squirts of blood and no screaming women and/or children, so I carefully passed the razor to my left hand and completed an identical (or mirrored) swath on the left side of my face. Again, everything went wonderfully. Through the use of skin stretching techniques, I managed to turn the corner around my jawline (on both sides of the face) and shaved down the neck, completing my first ever pass with a straight razor.

I had originally planned on only completing a N-S pass with the straight, but everything went so well that I rinsed my face and relathered, preparing for pass #2. With the razor back in my right hand, I began the ear-to-chin pass. Again, I went nice and slow. I took my time with the razor so that I maintained the appropriate razor angle and kept my skin taught. Finishing the right side, I moved to the left, shaved down to the neckline and then finished up in the goatee area. At this point in the shave I had managed only one minute weeper and decided that I had tempted fate enough for one day. I rinsed the straight off, grabbed my slant bar and finished off a spectacular shave.

Some interesting things that I noted from this initial experience:

1. Maintaining the appropriate razor angle is not difficult if you are patient (not scared, but respectfully patient).
2. The straight pulled a lot more than I expected it would. I KNOW the razor is sharp enough, so I expect this must be the norm. It was not at all unpleasant, simply different that what I had imagined.
3. The shaving edge of the razor is very delicate. Like an idiot, while giving my razor it's post shave wash, I lightly tapped the edge and put a minute nick in the edge. I will now get to practice honing.

Overall, this was a very exciting and rewarding experience. I certainly plan on continuing down the straight razor path but do not plan on giving up my DE's (at least not yet).

No need for a plastic surgeon? That means success! Congratulations. You have one of the most important parts figured out...respecting the tool of the trade. Just follow the path you took with the DE, slow, deliberate, and focused.

RT

Congradulations on your first shave. As time goes on they will get easier and easier. The only comment I would have is your saying the razor pulled. Unless you had a very heavy growth of beard this should not happen. A properly sharp razor should glide over your face such that if you were blindfolded and some else shaved you, you wouldn't even know it. Thats what a truly sharp razor feels like.

Congrats! I've been doing this for about a month now so I'm just a tiny bit less of a rookie than you are. Consequently, I don't have any really good advice other than go slow, stay focused and learn to stretch that skin.

Oh, and cold water stops bleeding pretty well, not as good as a styptic pencil but it hurts a lot less

-- Gary F.

you need to stretch your skin...also many newbies dont get their face wet enough under the lather on the first lathering which results in dry skin under the lather and pulling of razor...razor should glide over face...

Hey Kyle,

Congrats on your first passes!

I started out with a straight and was surprised at the lack of "feedback" that I got when I tried out a Gem Micromatic. Oh yeah, I nicked myself up good too with that one.

Well done indeed. Your experience with the DE has clearly served you well. About the pulling: Are you using a cutting angle or a straight push. I often find the straight push will deliver a little pulling, but just a slight tip leading stroke, even 15º or so makes a huge difference.

X

Originally Posted by xman

Well done indeed. Your experience with the DE has clearly served you well. About the pulling: Are you using a cutting angle or a straight push. I often find the straight push will deliver a little pulling, but just a slight tip leading stroke, even 15º or so makes a huge difference.

X

Sorry that it's taken me a while to respond. I've been out of town.

To be completely honest with you, I have no idea (cutting vs. straight push). Since nicking the blade after the first shave, today was my first day back at it and I'm afraid that I've not yet returned the edge to where it needs to be. I made 3 passes with it today and did not remove a lot of whiskers. It looks like I've got some work ahead of me.