I have the worst shave of my life

[bluefoxicy]

Straight razor. Bad angle, bad lather. It clipped my 4 day stubble shorter, but it looks like 3 day stubble.

My coworkers said I look like I got a decent shave.

WTF? This is a joke. I did absolutely everything wrong aside from stroping the blade a billion times before shaving (holy crap that thing got sharp), and got the worst shave of my life. How is this acceptable?

I'm taking another shot tonight. By Friday I should have my lather right, my angle right, and my technique down; and then the best shave of my life. The blade's way easier to use than the DE, so I should pick this up quick enough.

[Wil Dorenbos]

Do you find SE more easy than DE?

[bluefoxicy]

Do you find SE more easy than DE?

Yeah, I like the straight razor a lot more. It's easier for me to handle and get a hold on my angle; I can see what I'm doing wrong, and correct for it tonight. With the DE I'm mostly guessing, and making minor adjustments to see if that helps.

Pretty much the DE I'm trying to get blade angle by angling a handle that's perpendicular to the blade; whereas with the straight I'm trying to get blade angle by angling the blade. It's like when I was driving automatic, and flooring it trying to get the car to go faster, forcing it to downshift; and now I drive stick, and when I want to accelerate I slip into neutral, raise the engine RPMs, hit the clutch, and shift into a lower gear, and zoom off in a much more controlled manner. There's no fiddling with one thing to make some other mechanical operation happen; I put the thing where I want it and it does what I want.

Straight razor's not exactly for everyone, but eh. I like it way better than the DE.

[Carlin]

Do you find SE more easy than DE?

If he got a crappy shave... I don't think it matters...

[bluefoxicy]

If he got a crappy shave... I don't think it matters...

That's to be expected the first time you use a new type of razor; how was your first DE shave?

What amazes me is everyone thinks I have a decent, passable shave. It looks fine. ... it's the worst shave I've had in my life. What is wrong with these people?

[82R100]

That's to be expected the first time you use a new type of razor; how was your first DE shave?

What amazes me is everyone thinks I have a decent, passable shave. It looks fine. ... it's the worst shave I've had in my life. What is wrong with these people?

Next time you're out at a restaurant, look around at the other men in the room. Most of them will have crappy shaves or 2-3 days growth. Welcome to 2009.

- Chris

[Wil Dorenbos]

Yeah, I like the straight razor a lot more. It's easier for me to handle and get a hold on my angle; I can see what I'm doing wrong, and correct for it tonight. With the DE I'm mostly guessing, and making minor adjustments to see if that helps.

Pretty much the DE I'm trying to get blade angle by angling a handle that's perpendicular to the blade; whereas with the straight I'm trying to get blade angle by angling the blade. It's like when I was driving automatic, and flooring it trying to get the car to go faster, forcing it to downshift; and now I drive stick, and when I want to accelerate I slip into neutral, raise the engine RPMs, hit the clutch, and shift into a lower gear, and zoom off in a much more controlled manner. There's no fiddling with one thing to make some other mechanical operation happen; I put the thing where I want it and it does what I want.

Straight razor's not exactly for everyone, but eh. I like it way better than the DE.

I see. I am a newby myself, but I always assumed a DE razor takes care of the angle for you. Didn't understand why there seemed to be so many DE razors that didn't. Was lucky to find myself a Rotbart 2000, and that one does take care of the angle for you. But there are more like that out there...

[jadam318]

There is a pretty steep learning curve to straight razors, especially compared to DEs. I've found that I have to take my time and pay a lot more attention to what I'm doing with a straight. But, yeah, get that lather and blade angle right. That will help a lot. Also, if you have some specific straight razor questions, feel free to ask them over in the straight razor section here. There is more wisdom about straights over there than I thought existed.

[Swampfox]

Next time you're out at a restaurant, look around at the other men in the room. Most of them will have crappy shaves or 2-3 days growth. Welcome to 2009.

- Chris

It's 2009?! Holy crap! Where'd the last 20 years go?!!!

:sleep:

[bluefoxicy]

Okay this is just laughable.

My razor is apparently a stock Dovo pre-sharpened AT THE FACTORY.

It's dull, hasn't been properly honed, and is just ripping and pulling at the hair. Hair's coming off but this thing's really bad at it. I'll send it to Lynn to get honed right.

And they STILL said I have a decent shave.

[DunEdinRanger]

That's to be expected the first time you use a new type of razor; how was your first DE shave?

What amazes me is everyone thinks I have a decent, passable shave. It looks fine. ... it's the worst shave I've had in my life. What is wrong with these people?

They believe the advertisements about cartridge razors? :biggrin:

[jpkunst]

My coworkers said I look like I got a decent shave.

They probably weren't interested in your shave and just said that it was decent so that they could change the subject or end the conversation?

[Carlin]

That's to be expected the first time you use a new type of razor; how was your first DE shave?

What amazes me is everyone thinks I have a decent, passable shave. It looks fine. ... it's the worst shave I've had in my life. What is wrong with these people?

My first DE shave was actually awesome :P. Then again, I did spend way too much time learning/researching before I actually shaved.

[bluefoxicy]

Next time you're out at a restaurant, look around at the other men in the room. Most of them will have crappy shaves or 2-3 days growth. Welcome to 2009.

- Chris

I was at the mall today, and noticed the guy taking my order at Arby's had a bad shave.

I took a look around.

My God. They're all unshaven cavemen. Did I look like that when I was using the Mach3?

[luvmysuper]

They probably weren't interested in your shave and just said that it was decent so that they could change the subject or end the conversation?

Bingo.

That's the only other answer given besides the glassy eyed, deer in the headlights look.

[bluefoxicy]

They probably weren't interested in your shave and just said that it was decent so that they could change the subject or end the conversation?

That doesn't happen to me much, I have coworkers looking into buying a DE razor now (along with some New Balance shoes-- I just got a pair. Two actually), and one that used to straight shave. Discussions can get lengthy, and sometimes I'm bombarded with questions.

[Wil Dorenbos]

My God. They're all unshaven cavemen. Did I look like that when I was using the Mach3?

Afraid so. In order to test it I shaved - or rather tried to- with a Gillette Vector and an Old Spice High Endurance Blade (3 blades, that fits a 2 blades system :rolleyes:), with double lube strips (top and bottom). It was lousy. Razor burn and not well shaven even after 2 full passes. Mind you I used Arko shave stick and a proper prep. Most out there use canned goo, do just one pass and do not have a prep....

[Crawford Montizano]

Next time you're out at a restaurant, look around at the other men in the room. Most of them will have crappy shaves or 2-3 days growth. Welcome to 2009.

- Chris

+1 We are the outliners here and better for it. So even our "crappy" shaves are much superior by todays mediocre grooming standards.