My first straight shaves & Thanks to Larry Andro/joel/chimensch

I'm into my first week of straight razor shaving, courtesy of Larry Andro & his great starter kit. I should have ideally started some months ago, but unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I just could not. But I'm glad I finally did it.

Larry has been extremely helpful with all my questions & he's undoubtedly been one of the most helpful people that I have 'ever' dealt with. The time that he's spent to explain some things have left me a bit embarrassed. His replies have never been dismissive - though some of my questions have been outright stupid. He even offered to compensate a kit loss that I had a few months ago, though there was absolutely no fault of his. Super thumbs to him It's been an absolute pleasure dealing with him.

My first shaves have not been that good. Not helping was me trying to just use a bunch of youtube videos to help me out, though Larry advised against it. There are many variables that only the "youtube user" gets right. Also not helping was my donkey thick whiskers which made my first few shaves an absolute nightmare. Also not helping was me not heeding Larry's advice - to try out only the cheek.

However, stupidity and foolhardiness comes naturally to me & I went ahead with shaving my whole face.

The razor burn that I experienced was unlike anything else. Made me want to jump in to a vat of moisturizer and oil. Anyways, today's shave was a bit better. Still looks like my shave was done 12 hours ago, but the amount of razor burn is comparatively lesser. I have two long scars which I hope will heal fine....I absolutely unequivocally love this experience.

I have even tried out a bit of scything on my face, but am still clueless about how to tackle my donkey thick whiskers. Hope to have that inspirational moment soon.

I have successfully managed to screw up my strop with a few cuts on it. Now I have half the length to work it. I'm hoping that I don't mess up the remaining half.

Thanks to Larry Andro of course!. Plus more thumbs up to Joel & Chimensch for their superb videos and a host of other people who have been extremely helpful during my brief stay on this board.

Congratulations!

Take it easy learning...you'll figure it out. It takes time and persistence, a little discipline.

Good work!

You remind me of myself. Don't worry, it gets so much better and it looks like you're making good progress.

Keep at it man. Sounds like you are progressing quite normally. Continue to soak up as much info from this site as you can. I assure you, your shaves will improve. When things seem their darkest, and it seems you may never fully grasp this straight shaving, don't be afraid to lean on the uncommonly helpful members of the B&B. We'll put your head on 'straight' and get you back on the path. It's all worth it, as very soon, everything will click together and the shaves will be not just fun, but absolutely amazing!

The cuts will heal and is just part of the learning process, i had a couple of cuts too when i first started which completely healed and dissapeared. My worst cuts have been caused with a DE actually. Just take your time and watch the angle and presure. Enjoy the process!

PrettyUglyFoxyMoron, I would be glad to send you a replacement strop for the cost of postage, and I should have said that on our private chats and emails.

By they way, PrettyUglyFoxyMoron is the pluckiest, bravest newbie I have run into. Fearless! I want him in my foxhole.

prettyuglyfoxymoron said:

... Not helping was me trying to just use a bunch of youtube videos to help me out, though Larry advised against it. There are many variables that only the "youtube user" gets right. ...

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To everyone, I am very down on straight razor shaving videos! At the same time, I am very supportive of those who have uploaded videos to Youtube and the internet. Let me explain.

I have shaved for awhile, and I get blade angle, slicing, scything, skin stretching, blade elevation, blade pressure and other variables. I have the muscle memory and can just shave without thinking. And, fairly rapidly.

If I made a video, it would look pretty effortless. And, for most of my face, the blade would look like it was cutting thru butter. But, this was not my initial experience, and it is not the experience of any newbie unless their beard is very light and they are very lucky.

On a video, newbies see somebody pick up a straight and shave. Easy Button like! Then, we spend a lot of time, on forum message after message, explaining to new shavers why their blade is fine even though it doesn't shave like a laser.

So, yes, I am very down on shaving videos!

But, but if newbies have a realistic expectation of the shaving experience, then videos can be very instructive. That is why I am also glad videos are around.

Being a little silly, there should be a law that everyone uploading a shaving video has to shave the hardest part of their face, and before they shave they have to spend 5 minutes explaining the difficulty of the task.

Well done. The first of many.

Welcome to the fun, it really does get better and better.

Enjoy!

professorchaos said:

Congratulations!

Take it easy learning...you'll figure it out. It takes time and persistence, a little discipline.

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What he said

Seriously congrats!!!

Nice to have ya aboard, keep up the good work. Larry, imo, is invaluable to the str8 shave newb, a great asset.

Welcome aboard. I'm just making the transition from my Feather AC which I (KNOCK WOOD, THROW SALT OVER SHOULDER) can use pretty effortlessly, regular straights not so much just yet. Larry's a great guy and so are most of the others around here. Take your time and it will all come together.

Well done; it takes a little time but it is a journey worth making.

Great read & great story!

Hang in there, it only gets better & even more fun

Thanks everyone! for your comments -&- Larry, thanks again for your kind offer, but I think I'll just order another strop in a few months time. I should be the master of the half strop by then - that's assuming I don't hack it up further!

More W2W shaving with scythe tomorrow. I'm sure lots of you use skype, but do you people scythe?

W2W = Whisker to Whisker. Slap me if my attempt at shaving humor made you unconscious

I applied some after shave today after my straight shave. Don't remember what happened next, but my relatives told me that my head was stuck in the ceiling of the bathroom.

congrats! it does get better with some time hang in there

Welcome to the straight razor forum. Enjoy the ride, believe it or not you already have the worst behind you and from now on it only gets better.

It takes time to figure things out, patience and persistance is the key. Just to put things in perspective. I started shaving my head about a month ago and it wasn't until yesterday that it started to click. In the meantime, I've had to put up with a month of ridicule while I let the initial cuts heal and figured out what I had to unlearn. When I've been shaving my head for a year, I'll make a video that makes it look easy.

So - I'm into my third week of straight razor shaving. Nearly done with about... 14 shaves. I have been strictly advised by my doctor to stay 'wound free' for sometime - for health reasons. I vigorously nodded my head in front of my relative - a doctor & went about with my straight shave. I have absolutely loved every moment of it....and nearly loved the nasty burns after my ATG passes.

Any fear that I had during most of the first two shaves is totally gone. Shaving with my non-dominant hand is not a problem at all. It's not like I'm a closet ambidextrosexual, but it seems easier than I thought it would be. But it's going to be sometime before I try shaving with my foot (for guys who have still not seen the whacky Turkish barber who shaves his patrons with his both his mouth & foot -&- with a straight razor ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYLVVZxYS8Q&p=D4058ABBC95F8D1C&playnext=1&index=19

I Still don't understand how joel gets a stubble free shave with just one pass. I'm assuming he preps his beard with butter for 1 hour before each shave.

I had a few more looks at Chimensch's video. It's annoyingly perfect. It's both Ch-imensch-ely helpful/therapeutic & complex inducing at the same time.

I did not understand the reason why he used his left hand on the right cheek and vice versa - that's until I realized that he was applying a combination of the forward scythe & guillotine stroke shown here

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Shaving_passes#The_scything_motion

which he would be unable to use, had he used the left hand on the left cheek & right on right cheek. Promptly I tried it out on my face & ended up with a lovely cut when I tried shaving my left cheek with my non-dominant hand (right). I will be not using this technique for sometime.

Another thumbs up for user Seraphim - whose youtube videos - especially the strop cam, helped me improve ..or rather change my stroping technique and made me stop using my flip & slam-tortilla-technique which I had been using on my strop.

Newbies like me who still slam their blade on to the strop should check out his non-pervert-voyeuristic channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/5eraph1m?feature=chclk#g/u

Had it not been for his close up cams - I would have ended up messing my strop further. So thanks again!!

Out of my 15 or so shaves - I've managed to include some nasty ATG passes in about 5 of them. I know that my whiskers are as thick as an elephant's bum hair - which probably requires me to be as "mowed down" as possible before I attempt an ATG pass. BUT, ATG is an absolute nightmare - despite using multiple passes to reduce the hair on the neck. It feels like gentle murder, a feeling that I rarely got with the DE razor. I really don't know what can be done. I refresh my edge with a barber's hone every 3 shaves. I try out the hanging hair tests..which seems fine - but ATG time - the edge forgets that it is supposed to cut the hair. It seems to be in a tussle with my face. Completing the pass seems to be an over indulgence in S&M

Any of you nasty fat whiskered people who have problems with ATG? & do not use it anymore?

& I've even tried the fool's pass. It really does not seem all that foolish, as long as I keep the blade stationary and move my face slowly downwards. Sneezing during a fool's pass is not advisable. You could end up with a detachable nose.

2WTG+2XTG+ Alt-Innsbruck = fantastic with not the cleanest looking shave

2WTG+2XTG+ATG+ Alt-Innsbruck = the most nasty cuss words involuntarily emitted out of my mouth+some burn4some time.

Related but un-related. I nearly licked a tub of Mama Bear's Turkish Mocha. Not sure when I will shave with it considering that I have tons of nearly every soap mentioned here ( leaving martin candre)..still untested - but it smells divine

another thumbsup to jpdyson for starting his "boar video lathering challenge" thread.

Thanks for reading my drivel!

I certainly want those three gentlemen to know that they contributed mightily to my success as a straight razor shaver.

Merci Beaucoup, Larry/Joel/Chimensch !