Hi everyone. I'm new here and new to anything other than mach3 cartridges.
This is an intro post, if you'd like to skip to the question, skip to the ***'s.
I recently picked up a boar hair shave brush, Willams mug soap, an older Gilette butterfly top DE razor, and was given a new 6/8 full hollow ground straight razor from RupRazor.com by my girlfriend .
I've been working on lather, with some interesting results, it's going okay. I managed to shave with the Williams soap, and far preferred it to any sort of canned gel I've used before. It is finnicky to get to lather right, but I love the smell and it's what my dad used.
The mach3 razor and the DE gilette (with chrome blades from Rite-Aid) shaved very nicely. I rather enjoyed the shave (still working out how to get anything other than ice cold lather).
I tried the straight razor yesterday and today, and managed to shave with only two nicks the first time. I realized that one end didn't seem as sharp as the other and found that I had been stropping VERY incorrectly.
I corrected my stropping and did ~80 laps on a "7-9oz top-grain cowhide" which is treated in a small area with a ".5 micro diamond paste". I then did another 25 laps on the smooth side. I checked the edge thoroughly under a bright light, and as far as I can tell, I have NOT damaged the edge. There is still as perfect a bevel as it came with. I can return the razor for re-honing if it needs it under a "noobie warranty".
Stropping correctly far improved my shave, and I managed to shave without nicking myself. The razor doesn't pass the hanging hair test, but the shave was plenty close. I also was poking around the forums here and it seems like the hanging hair test is kind of unreliable.
**********
So, my question is ... Is shaving with the straight blade supposed to feel like scraping my face with a piece of sharp metal? I mean, that's what I'm doing, but the DE Gilette doesn't feel at all like this. Sure, the shave is close and the razor is scary sharp, but people talk about it like it's a comfortable thing to do. Maybe it's a matter of too much pressure? Maybe the lather is lacking? Maybe I've dulled my razor? Maybe it's normal?
My face felt irritated after the first shave (the razor was not stropped correctly) but I had 0 razor burn, which is a change from the Mach3 (and mach3 turbo is worse)
Also, and this is minor, I shave before I shower because my mirror takes 20 minutes to clear and I prefer that order.Should I apply aftershave before I shower as well as after the shower?
I'm using old spice because I recall some old bottles of it working wonders on my face in the past.
Thanks, and hope it's not an overlong post.
William
This is an intro post, if you'd like to skip to the question, skip to the ***'s.
I recently picked up a boar hair shave brush, Willams mug soap, an older Gilette butterfly top DE razor, and was given a new 6/8 full hollow ground straight razor from RupRazor.com by my girlfriend .
I've been working on lather, with some interesting results, it's going okay. I managed to shave with the Williams soap, and far preferred it to any sort of canned gel I've used before. It is finnicky to get to lather right, but I love the smell and it's what my dad used.
The mach3 razor and the DE gilette (with chrome blades from Rite-Aid) shaved very nicely. I rather enjoyed the shave (still working out how to get anything other than ice cold lather).
I tried the straight razor yesterday and today, and managed to shave with only two nicks the first time. I realized that one end didn't seem as sharp as the other and found that I had been stropping VERY incorrectly.
I corrected my stropping and did ~80 laps on a "7-9oz top-grain cowhide" which is treated in a small area with a ".5 micro diamond paste". I then did another 25 laps on the smooth side. I checked the edge thoroughly under a bright light, and as far as I can tell, I have NOT damaged the edge. There is still as perfect a bevel as it came with. I can return the razor for re-honing if it needs it under a "noobie warranty".
Stropping correctly far improved my shave, and I managed to shave without nicking myself. The razor doesn't pass the hanging hair test, but the shave was plenty close. I also was poking around the forums here and it seems like the hanging hair test is kind of unreliable.
**********
So, my question is ... Is shaving with the straight blade supposed to feel like scraping my face with a piece of sharp metal? I mean, that's what I'm doing, but the DE Gilette doesn't feel at all like this. Sure, the shave is close and the razor is scary sharp, but people talk about it like it's a comfortable thing to do. Maybe it's a matter of too much pressure? Maybe the lather is lacking? Maybe I've dulled my razor? Maybe it's normal?
My face felt irritated after the first shave (the razor was not stropped correctly) but I had 0 razor burn, which is a change from the Mach3 (and mach3 turbo is worse)
Also, and this is minor, I shave before I shower because my mirror takes 20 minutes to clear and I prefer that order.Should I apply aftershave before I shower as well as after the shower?
I'm using old spice because I recall some old bottles of it working wonders on my face in the past.
Thanks, and hope it's not an overlong post.
William