Thread: First Shave and I'm still alive

Cool video. Thanks.

Originally Posted by barko78

Thought I'd post some notes about my first shave and solicit some feedback.
I purchased from SRD:
1. Dovo Bismark 6/8 bone
2. SRD Saddle wood soap and a SRD shaving bowl
3. 3" strop
4. Badger brush

The razor came professionally honed and shave ready. I wiped the oil off the blade after unpacking and did about a dozen nice and slow strops, taking my time to do it properly. Took a hot shower while I soaked the brush in hot water and then made up some lather in my bowl when I got out. I'm sure I could improve in the lather dept but whipped up something decent.
I expected the razor to ride smoothly down my face and my biggest fear was slicing myself. The complete opposite was the case. The razor was scraping my face, loudly. It kinda sounded like stropping. It was uncomfortable shaving as it just scrapped my beard and was painful. It felt like I was scraping off a layer of skin.
I lathered up small areas and practiced and I continued to get scraping at different blade angles and a good stretch.
At the end of the shave i didn't notice any removal of hair. I think I have a long road ahead of me. Is the scraping sound and feel normal? The razor was very 'jumpy' as it scraped and fought its way. I just want to make sure I have a good edge and sharp razor, and I know I have my work cut out to get a good shave.
I'll keep trying but I'm a little disappointed.

My non professional (im still a newbie like yourself, only 4 shaves in). but if its scraping along your skin and juddering i would guess as others have your shave angle is tool high, place the blade against your skin then raise the spine of it about 1cm off your skin then try that.

i cant offer much more help than that as i still find myself doing this every now and then and have to stop, think and try again

good luck and welcome to the club.

kris

With only one shave under my belt, and that with a razor I'd honed with no prior experience, I don't have a lot of authority on this. However, I wanted to avoid cutting myself, so I kept the blade very close to my face with the spine nearly touching. I had the same problems you described. So I began to lift the spine away from my cheek and then the razor began to cut properly. It still wasn't perfect as my razor wasn't perfectly honed, but it did a pretty decent job for my first shave. I had read so much here on SRP about guys holding the spine too far out, AKA having too much angle that I made the opposite error.

Good luck!

Going with a lower angle, especially ATG, is always safer. If you find that you aren't cutting whiskers, you can always bring the spine up. I've had the experience of having the spine too low, then raising it a bit and hearing that "spreading butter on toast" sound. It's better to find that "comfort zone" from the low side than from the high side, trust me on that.

Remember, you may have been shaving for years, but you're now learning to do it in an entirely new way. It's almost like learning to shave all over again. It's easy to get disappointed in your efforts when you read of others' successes. I've said this before, this WILL get better. Read, practice, and ask lots of questions here. One day, you'll complete a shave and realize not only did you not cause significant damage to your face, but you got a pretty decent shave in the process. I've been at this 3 months and am just now getting consistently smooth shaves.

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm a patient person and I know this will take a while.

Tonight I actually had a really nice shave. My goal was to just do the sides of my face and that went really well. For the first time hair was actually removed from my face. I got excited so I did my neck (WTG and ATG), upper and lower lip. I needed my Mach 3 to touch up a little at the end but I really surprised myself. I have a nice and smooth shave for the first time. I did two things different in case anyone wants to know:

I figured I screwed up my shave ready razor with bad stropping so I practiced that. I discovered that by using the canvas part of my strop for about 30 passes as a coarse run, then doing about 30 passes on the leather, my blade was in really good shape. I improved on the strop and now the razor cuts my beard.

I also spent a lot of time stretching as I shaved. I'm not used to this. By always getting a good stretch I got results.

The shave was kinda messy. I only lathered section by section and did two ATG passes on my neck. But I was able to match my Mach 3. Burts Bees aftershave balm and a dash of D.R. Saddlewood and my face doesn't burn too much. I wish I grew a faster beard so I can do this again. Thanks for all the great input. Cheers.

Well, I'm not as new as others, but not an old hat either. I had similar problems when first starting. For me, the biggest improvement came when I really focused on stretching. I think for a five percent improvement in stretghing you get a 15% improvement in shave quality.

Also, you have to think of the angle of the EDGE relative to the point where the blade is making contact with the skin. There are points on my neck where the spine has to almost make contact the skin in order for the edge to be at the right angle.

The latest improvement came for me when I learned to slice the whiskers off. Some call this an advanced technique, but for some it may be the only way to a close shave with no burn. Especially for those of us whose growth is thick and course enough to need a shave every single day. It's less damaging to the edge and, after a few tries, not that hard to put into action. I'm not an expert, but I'm getting better at it. It's just scary for a little while...longer.

--David

Originally Posted by barko78

I also spent a lot of time stretching as I shaved. I'm not used to this. By always getting a good stretch I got results.

We must have been posting at the same time. I see you figured out my first tip. Keep pressing on. You WILL get this.

--David

Originally Posted by ace

Going with a lower angle, especially ATG, is always safer. If you find that you aren't cutting whiskers, you can always bring the spine up. I've had the experience of having the spine too low, then raising it a bit and hearing that "spreading butter on toast" sound. It's better to find that "comfort zone" from the low side than from the high side, trust me on that.

+1 on that.

Originally Posted by raneyday

The latest improvement came for me when I learned to slice the whiskers off. Some call this an advanced technique,

Any advice on how to learn slicing? Or does it just come with good form and experience?

Thanks for the advice.