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This is probably an unanswerable question but I am curious how long it took you to feel you had mastered straight razor shaving. I have been using a straight exclusively for seven months. I have definitely improved a great deal but still have a couple of problem areas that I can't seem to shave as close as I would like. Generally speaking, I feel I have crossed over to the other side and get good shaves. Just curious what other's experience has been.
:rofl2: At 31 years into it I still learn new things and find new tricks... I will let you know if I ever "Master" it :)
My experience has been pretty much the same as yours, dcaven. Straight shaving since January, still some problem areas, but steady improvement. I think that if I'd been expecting to 'master' it by now, it would have been frustrating, but instead I'm happy that it is getting better week by week - developing new techniques and getting better at the basics steadily. Definitely having fun! :)
DC, 'makes me really happy to hear the honorable 'gunner talk about what's yet to be learned, rather than how he has the topic by the tender bits. I can only echo that, still provoked and indignant that I still nick & cut (more than I think I ever should). An odd section w/ a cow-lick in a concave depression under the jaw-bone continues to defy bbs, etc. BTW, I'm one that thinks bbs is not possible for some, but that shave skills are the only possibility - and I'm not there on a couple sections.
If I step back and compare to any other method, the str8 still stands head & shoulders superior. 'Lasts longer, my skin is in better shape, the lovely bride is very happy w/ the results. There's just too many positives to let the remaining challenges sour me on the str8. Some of the issue is imagining that we could do better w/ another method. If you CAN do better w/ something else, it would tell me there's just a missing pc in the skillset (like mine) that still needs work. Either way, I enjoy shaving now and don't with anything else.
At about 100 shaves it kicked in for me. There were still a lot of learning experiences to come but the confidence was building. Mastering also includes learning about the side benefits such as , soap, scuttles, different razors, plst shave rituals etc.
Besides, it is a blast! Also is kind of like voodoo, friends just don't understand sometimes.
For me it's the journey, not the destination. In fact, I'm not at all sure what the destination is to be quite frank. Mastery (whatever that means) could be the destination I suppose - I'll leave that one up to those who care about such things. Me, I'll just dawdle along and enjoy the view. :)
James.
I started using a straight in January of this year. I read a lot and tried to learn as much as I could. A number of sources recommended just shaving the "cheeks" initially and then adding in more "areas." Another common rec was to shave on the weekends "when you have time." Then I ready it takes up to 50 to 100 "shaves" to be "profecient." Well, I didnt' want to wait a year to feel comfortably with a straight, so I "dove in head first" and starting shaving my entire face everyday. After 11 months, I feel very comfortable with a straight, although I know I still have a long way to go. I get a very clean, close shave and truly enjoy my morning routine rather than dreading the "task" of shaving.
I won’t boast that I’ve mastered it. But if you’re asking how long it took before I was getting the best damn shaves of my life? Well, not as long as you’d think. It took about two months to get to where I was with a DE. And I was going slowly, just doing part of my face and mostly saving it for the weekend. My two problem areas persist, the base of my neck on either side of my adams apple. But I will tell you that every form of shaving has been challenged by this area. The only solution that has proven to be of any help has been to apply greater pressure than is advisable with a SR. It has been and continues to be a lot of fun. Much like food/cooking, the nice thing about an interest like this is that you get to entertain it constantly. You need a shave every day or every other day. So you don’t have to wait too long to employ a new trick, test the new edge on your razor, or try a new product.Quote:
Originally Posted by dcaven
Makes me wonder how men and boys faired 120 yrs ago when using a straight was the only game in town.If they wanted to be clean shavin,they HAD to learn how to shave (I dougbt that back than they looked at it as an art)
To the OP,Master shaveing with the straight?? 6 mos at least,But if you go nuts,the shaving part of your brain will go nutz also.
Most newbs ( after a couple Mos.) will have 8 razors,7 Brushes,15 soaps and creams,all manner of potions,Than they get a brain freeze and they start going backwards,called info overload,They are in a quest for the silver bullit,Than all progress stops.Keep it simple and you will succeed,after all you did get potty trained,learned how to tie your shoes and brush your teeth.Enjoy the journey,keep it simple.
I thought I had "mastered" shaving only about a year into it, maybe less. But, I feel it took many years before I mastered honing and stopping. After about 5 years I developed a real sense of what to do with a strop in order to improve an edge. I also slowly concluded that after the first year I really did have a good idea of what I was doing, but I only admitted it to myself after searching for improvement for several years, without success.
I always assumed there was a better shave out there, only to eventually conclude that hot towels and 10 minutes of prep in the old days wasn't so much about pampering as necessity.
Well, I've been doing this long enough to have a pretty good idea what it's all about but all I need to do is try a different stroke with the other hand and I'm a rookie all over again.
How long have you got? ;)
The more I learn the more I know I need to learn, GrassHopper........:hmmm:
If I swapped the word 'master' to 'feel comfortable using' I'd say a year.
These days I can say I know what I'm doing, but I'm not a master at all....
It has been going really well for me, a 6 weeks in I can get a nice shave in one pass with only the occasional nick, maybe a little patch or two to touch up. I suspect I am at an advantage as I used to tattoo professionally. I've already got the manual dexterity for it and strong hands.
Seems like the word Master might be a little too loaded, I think I understand the intent.
Here's one back at you: how long to enjoy shaving with a straight? Day one, and keep going.
Well stated my friend. Just try to be comfortable. The journey is a lot of fun.
The best thing I did to help my shaving technique is to stop shaving on weekends only and to start shaving every day with a straight razor. You learn not only technique but razor care much more quickly.
I'll sum it up like this: As long as it takes, everyone learns with different speed.
The basics are easier to get down, the fine details such as getting total BBS everywhere on the face, take longer.
Don't be surprised if it takes you a couple of years to become "highly proficient". There are so many levels and the each of us needs to accomplish are all very different. For instance, is your beard very thin and comprised of very fine hairs? Someone who has one a very dense, thick haired beard is going to have different needs from honing to shaving prep. Honing is a major issue for some people because a properly honed razor tends to make the shave easier and at the same time cuts down on nicks.
Just enjoy the ride.
Later,
R
One thing is for sure is that without the help and the vast information from members, old posts, videos, comments, and the willingness to help and solve a problem whatever it might be, there is no way that i would be where i am today. That said still a lot to learn and still enjoying every part of it.
1+++ I agree 100%. The only way to learn is to practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike12345
I quit cartridges cold turkey last December. First shave with a straight was really scary and awkward. By the 4th shave, I thought I had mastered it. Now I know I was not even close. After about three months of daily shaving with a straight, I thought I mastered it. Nope, because three months after that, I was getting the best shaves ever, and I thought I had it mastered. And all my razors were honed by me. Well, here I am a year later, with 8 razors, and my technique and resulting shaves are steps ahead of where they were 6 months ago, and on rushed mornings I can complete a shave in minutes, but I now know or believe I will contnue to get better as time goes, I have no doubt.
This line from a T.S. Eliot poem comes to mind. Just when you think you have it mastered,
"In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions, which a minute will reverse."
For me the goal is to learn a little each day and each shave. It's an adventure and I'm enjoying the heck out of it. It has been written that to master any activity requires 10,000 repetitions. That would be 30 years of a daily straight shave. At 65, I won't live that long but I'll still enjoy the heck out of each one.
Took me about a year to feel comfortable and to get a shave I felt really great. I wanted to use the straight in my daily life, and I'm doing so, very rarely use the DE. I can also hone enough for my needs, which is what I was looking for, a sense of self-sufficiency in this.
I have been SR shaving for over a year and a half and I affirm this is a life long learning experience. It has been only recently that I found a niche in my shaving where I have seen some dramatic improvement in blade maintenance and shaving technique. Will I master it? Nope, but I'll keep learning more about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcaven
when you do this, you are always learning.