Thread: 3rd Time is Not a Charm

Hi Everyone, I apologize for the long post.

So I thought I might post my recent excursions with the straight. I was hoping to have great news about how I was a natural, how the engineering mindset is perfect for this task, how my ambidextural skills aided in technique, etc. But I can't.

The first shave went pretty badly. I had saved some beard for 2.5 days, thinking it might be good to have something to 'work with'.

I did hot towels and tried my starter kit from AOS with a VDH boar brush. I used the towel, then oil, then towel, then warm lather, then tried to shave. It was a good start, relaxing and nice. Well, I'd never used oil and had imagined it would make this gliding layer under the soap. Instead, it made a protective layer over each hair and made my skin tacky. The blade never did 'glide' across my face. By the time I had made a few strokes (if they could be called that) the lather had dried into a layer of white dust. Between these two issues the blade magically removed more skin then hair! The dry soap kind of burnt my skin and that sucked bad. I added water and tooled around for like an hour, cleaned everything up and had to baby my skin for the next 24 hours...

What else? Oh, the stropping. No Pressure I read and hear. That leads my blade to not actually touching the strop. I have to use 'some' pressure I find. It's like I'm afraid to touch the darn leather. I'm working on that. I have a sound when just the spine touches and a different sound when both the spine and edge touch. I try to get at least a couple dozen of the good sound in consecutive order before stopping, so it takes me quite a while.

36 hours later, Second shave... seriously excited about this, even with the sore skin. I decide to only lather and shave one area at a time. The lather still wants to dry out so I add wet finger tips at times. No oil. I don't know it well enough to use it. Just some shaving cream I'm experienced with... This is not going well. The blade doesn't 'glide'. Actually, each individual hair is a Wall that stops the blade. It drags like a fruit roll up would across sand paper. Tacky and rough. The blade sticks on contact; I cut myself and nick myself a few times. I tool around for about half an hour. Not letting soap dry out, but it tries to because I'm slow. I 'cheat' and clean up with a bic.

36 hours later, Third shave... I'm determined. Not excited now, more like nervous. I had told my co-worker about the weekend butcherings. He asked about the growth I was cutting, I told him and he said, why not try to do like an electric shave and just 'clean up' with the straight? Yeah! I have a crappy electric with attachements that I use for the burns. One is a virtually worthless shave attachment and it does a consistent five-o'clock-shadow shave. So, I bzzz'd the face. It only takes 2 minutes to get that Homer Simpson look. I stropped really slow. I did a hot towel. I tried my VDH soap in my new warm scuttle thing. I lathered and shaved right, left, then center. The blade FINALLY 'glides' across my face. Lather and hair are coming off. I wipe on the towel and proceed. I get everything except for the sole and chin and decide they're just to advanced for me for now.

I did not cut or nick myself at all and the adventure continues...

Questions, comments or concerns? Lemme know and thank you for reading.

*edit* As i typed up this post - the OP posted his third post so - yay!! Your getting your lather down!


Hey hiplaninsdrftr, congrats on your beginning. Believe it or not, it's these trials and tribulations that can see you bonding with your system once you have it mastered - keep at it.

Ok so the first thing that jumped out at me is you may be a natural (though unlikely lol ), but you'll never know until you get your lather down. And you certainly don't have that down. I have used AOS for a long time, and your issue I would think isn't with the cream, but rather your lather making.

From what you are describing you are not using enough water in your mix. The cream should never dry on your face like that. Even if you have had it on your face for longer than a shave.

Get a nice bowl and practice a bit. Get some cream or soap depending on what you have, and load it up a bit and then mix in your bowl. Dip your brush tips in some standing water and mix again, and again, and again until you have a lather that's a thing of beauty. Eventually you'll get a really good feel for how much to leave in your brush after soaking it for a bit, but until then, work up that lather!!

Generally speaking, when you dip your lather filled blade into your sink full of water after a couple of passes - if the cream leaves the blade and floats onto the water you are getting a good mix.

Lather making isn't as sexy as the shave but it's like a smoke with no lighter, a gun without a bullet, in other words - shaving is useless without a good lather. Try whipping up some lathers just for practice. It's a key element for a great shave.

Congrats on your start and good luck in your endevour! I look forward to hearing how it goes in the future!!

That's a lot going on lol! Well, the preshave oil, I wet my face apply it, lather my soap or cream up, splash my face again, then lather over it. How many pumps or drops are you using? I only do 3 drops or two pumps; you want to just run it over your face, not apply it like a lotion...very very very lite coating. As far as stropping goes, yes there will be some pressure otherwise the blade will just skip around like you found out. I pull my strop taught not as tight as a board, take your finger and lightly push down on the center, if it has some give, but not going concave then that should be good. Next try holding the strop up bring the razor almost to the strop so you can see where your blade is going to sit, then move the strop into the razor and let the strop and razor meet to help set the spine where it needs to be (let the razor conform to the strop instead of the other way around...YMMV, just how I do it). It doesn't have to be fast, but if you are moving at a snails pace then you aren't doing anything...try for this count in your head ( 1 & =down strop, 2 & = up strop) count in your head until you get a natural rhythm you like; doesn't have to be warp speed, I don't go that fast either. You will hear some noise as the spine drags across the strop, but if you are hearing something that sounds like a knife going across a steel like that "shing!" noise, you're digging the blade in to the leather or lifting the blade off during the stroke. As far as the irritation goes, you are still learning the right angles for your face. 30 degrees is just a reference point, if it drags and pulls try lessening the angle, if it won't cut well try increasing, you gotta learn "muscle memory", and that just takes practice. Instead of waiting til you have almost a full beard, try shaving every other day depending on how fast your stubble comes in, and see if that helps. Take small short "strokes" instead of longer ones, don't try to keep the same stroke "length as a DE or disposable" and keep the blade clean after each complete pass down one section, maybe that will help? Oh, and did you hone this razor or was it done professionally? Just a thought that popped in my head, and also never ever touch the edge to anything but your face unless you are testing a bevel during honing...that will kill the edge faster than anything besides banging it on the faucet

Thanks for your responses. Earcutter is correct. I have some learning to do with the lathering. I will practice some as suggested. I'll go for a nice Julia Child meringue! I'll see if it floats maybe. As an ex disposable, newb SR shaver, I have several things to practice with already. Gillette canned shave gel, American Crew shaving cream in a tube, AOS shave cream in a tube and Van Der Hagen windmill soap that came in the luxury kit. I think I'll whip up some of the VDH for kicks...

Tiddle, you have some good help for me also. I did use only two drop of the oil and that was plenty. Until I get a little better, I'm planning on skipping this step. It added a variable that I'm not able to keep track of with all the other newness I'm experiencing.

The stropping tips are helpful and I'm going to be practicing those. Unfortunately I can't feel anything here. As I fold the blade I can't tell if the spine or edge or both are touching. I just hear things and am dependant on my ears. I have found four unique sounds so far. Silence, Scruff, Whoosh (and I think this is the one so I try for it the most), and a Schwing. I think you're right about speed and try to keep up. I'll go for a rhythm count, but I don't really have a rhythme to count as of yet. I'll practice.

As far as general sharpness, it's a new razor from SRD, so Lynn or someone honed and shave tested it. It does not 'bang' anything. The edge has touched my strop, my face, running tap water, and a towel (a sort of cloth with no loops, terry, nap or whatever you call it). I'm not consistent with any techniques. So, sometimes I rinse it off and others I wipe it. Honestly, I have to watch my DVD again, but could have sworn I watched Lynn wipe his off on a towel. I will double check. Even though I wipe it, it's almost as if the edge does not touch the towel. It just gets close and the cream and stubble jumps onto the towel I think.

Holding the darn thing is harder to acheive than I anticipated. It mostly has to do with moving my handle to the side. I mean, it was underneath, like a flag pole on the disposable, but now it's a tang off to the side, so it's very akward to hold. It's like a backwards knife. I'm considering trying a straight or reverse scale...

Honestly, it's kind of sucking, painful and fun at the same time. I'm not really getting the thing to shave hair. I'm not getting it to cut my skin much either. I'm not sure why I want to keep trying so hard, but I do. So, I'll just keep going at it.

I just remembered what this all feels like. It's very much like shaving with an older disposable (one that should have been thrown out but hasn't yet) and cold water. The hairs are firm and sturdy so you have to really pull the razor through and you can feel each hair being 'plucked' from your skin. It is not pleasant. I don't know if anyone remembers that feeling.

Originally Posted by hiplainsdrftr

I just remembered what this all feels like. It's very much like shaving with an older disposable (one that should have been thrown out but hasn't yet) and cold water. The hairs are firm and sturdy so you have to really pull the razor through and you can feel each hair being 'plucked' from your skin. It is not pleasant. I don't know if anyone remembers that feeling.

Oh dude when you get it down it's not going to feel anything like that anymore lol!! It's going to be a warm embrace on your face that you will seek daily. For real lol! You ARE going to love it! It takes time though!

You are doing pretty good for three shave bro - don't beat yourself up about it. You probably will not really even note when it completely comes together, other than one day you'll look back trying to help someone on this forum and think - wow yeah, i remember that used to be an issue for me too lol.

Welcome to SRP, hiplainsdrftr! one thing I want to ask is: are you making sure that you pull your skin taught? (sp?) If you're starting on your right sideburn/cheek area, reach around your head with your left hand and pull it up and stretch it out. This should assist in making the hairs stand up, thus being easier to shave off. It was one of my first learning mistakes. Until I did it, the blade just skidded along combined with my tentativeness with the blade making it an unpleasant experience indeed.

If you've still tried this, try it again, and again and again. a GREAT practice technique which is mentioned on the Wiki (can't find the link right now) is to JUST start on the dominant side of your face, only shaving from your sideburn to your jawline. once you master this, move on to the other areas. good luck and be patient!

-Mike

Amen earcutter. Bro you're doing fine, I (and I'm sure even the vets will back me up on this), had the same feeling when I first started shaving with the straights. I took to DE's like a champ, I have only cut myself once (knock on wood) with one in about 2 1/2 years, but the straight was a different beast. My first two shaves and I was thinking, oh god if it feels like this all the time who in god's name would enjoy this! After about shave 5 I think, I just went to the mirror started and it just kinda fell into a groove, and it was like the heavens opened sun shone down, and angels sang....(well maybe no angels but the blade sang ) No worries, you're right on schedule to having a Holy Lord that was awesome moment.