Thread: First full shave

I have been SR shaving a little over a month and I had a full beard so I would shave my cheek areas above the beard and the jawline and neck underneath. After seeing a picture of myself with my full beard and studying it, the full beard made me look scraggly even though I kept it trim. (I grew the beard to portray a Biblical character for my church's Palm Sunday Passion Play - I was Caiaphus.) So tonight, off came the beard, but I left my goatee which I always had. I used my beard trimmer to take the beard down as far as possible close to skin to make shaving easier. Shaving the sideburns and jaw line was a new challenge but I took my time and focused on the pre-shave prep (I took a shower and washed my face well like I usually do), worked up good lather, and concentrated on my technique. Not too bad since it was tough cutting the remaining stubble. I got three very small nicks but I expected it because it was the first time I shaved that part of my face and I was cutting through the stubble. I'll get more proficient each succeeding shave.

What I did notice was that I tend to shave better on my non-dominant side of my face (I am left handed) especially ATG. Anyone else shave better cross-over?
Patrick

Congratulations on your first full shave Patrick, good job!
I am a little surprised to hear you found it hard to cut through the stubble. Are you sure your razor is sufficiently sharp?
It's just that straight razors are known for their ability to shave well, almost any length of hair. It could of course be a technique issue that will improve with some practice and confidence.
For ATG, which for me means upwards under my jaw line, I also do cross-over. It is just what feels natural to me. Come to think of it, I also shave inwards towards my goatee cross-handed. There are no set rules, what ever makes you feel the best you should do

Thank you str8fencer!
I did a 60 stroke strop before shaving and I try to be careful with my stropping to ensure I do it correctly. My Dovo is almost 2 weeks old; it came from SRD. But once I got the stubble cut down, the rest of the shave went quite well. I shaved again this morning and did pretty good although there were some areas that I thought I got good that felt like sandpaper.I did a WTG then XTG under the jaw and ATG in the sideburn/cheek areas. It's still a good shave though, I'm still in learning mode. No nicks today.

Not to sidetrack, under my jaw and neck are tricky because my beard grain angles to the back, not a true up and down grain, so I am working on getting my technique down and become more proficient then I'll tackle the grain flow. The XTG does knock it down, but I would need a third pass for ATG. I don't want to take on too much too soon, I want to improve my technique first.

By the way, when should I start stropping on the canvas strop? Again the razor is only 2 weeks old and all I have been using is the leather strop.

Thank you again!
Patrick