First Straight arrived today. First shave tomorrow.

I began this morning with a truly enjoyable shave with my DE.

Still on a holiday vibe here, but popped into my office to tidy up a few bits and pieces for next week, and waiting for me was a package from theinvisibledge comprising of a Dovo straight razor and strop. I decided before Christmas that I would learn how to shave with a straight.

The razor is very beautiful, comes shave ready, and I look forward to trying it out tomorrow morning.

I see myself using the straight initially at the weekends or other occasions when I really have proper time to invest in my shave - although I see some true masters can do it in the same time as I take to wetshave with a safety razor - in other words I am not abandoning ship on my DE by any means.

I will get some pictures of my new acquisition and set up and report back as regards how my first attempt goes tomorrow

Awesome! As you note, pics are needed. We have to get our pic-fix, you know
You should also start a journal as manyof us have done. Not only does it provide hours of entertainment for evryone (hee hee), it it also really a great assist in tracking your own progress (well, duh!)

Happy shaving!!

Coler said:

I see myself using the straight initially at the weekends or other occasions when I really have proper time to invest in my shave - although I see some true masters can do it in the same time as I take to wetshave with a safety razor - in other words I am not abandoning ship on my DE by any means.

I will get some pictures of my new acquisition and set up and report back as regards how my first attempt goes tomorrow

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i wonder if only using it on the weekends will allow you to remember technique issues well enough... good luck!

and let's some pics of the dovo!

Q & D shot of the blade of doom :-



Also gratuitous shot of my new scuttle - looking forward to trying it out - and what I use for a razor bank :-

So I had a go at myself this morning. Results - mixed, as one might expect.

On the right side, I did my cheeks and jawline, the latter up to the chin/goatee area. Then I tried to swap over to the left - not so good ! I first tried to shave my left cheek using the right hand and this was pretty much ok, however I realised that, indeed, you can't really see what you're doing. I then decided to trust my left hand with a pass, but to be honest the razor felt so clumsy in that hand that I didn't trust myself with it.

This was surprising to me as I play guitar and piano so while right hand dominant my left hand should have plenty of motor skills !

Anyway, I moved back over to the right hand side and complete my chin and soul patch - one nick just at the soul patch which I didn't notice until re-lathering.

I had another attempt on the left side cheek/jawline but to no avail - I was not willing to trust my unsighted right hand attempt, nor was I comfortable with using my left hand.

I moved to the left side goatee area and surrounds, using my right hand - here, I nicked myself twice, due to lack of focus on the angle while I tried to see what I was doing.

I finished by shaving my throat using my right hand - no problems here.

At this stage my confidence had taken a little bit of a knock as I could see blood in three places and I figured that that was enough for the first shave. I relathered and shaved to BBS with my DE.

Evaluation of results with the Straight :-

a) Definitely a SAS on the right hand side areas (I didn't do my moustache area with the straight) and no nicks here (1 at the soul patch but that was actually really a weeper). I was very pleased with this, for a 1 pass WTG shave.

b) Poor results on the left hand side area - couldn't get a comfortable shaving angle, and nicked myself twice.

c) No irritation whatsoever in the areas which I did shave.

Plan for tomorrow :-

a) Shave the right hand side areas and soulpatch as this morning and try for no nicks/weepers.

b) Build up confidence with left hand. I will look at more videos this evening, and tomorrow I will shave left side cheek at least, using left hand.

c) I will stop using right hand for left side now and just slowly build up the areas of the left side that I can shave left handed.

d) I will leave the moustache for now until I have good competent shaves going everywhere else.

Overall I feel positive about the experience - although this is the first time in, literally, 15 years that I have cut myself shaving (hey, I didn't buy a styptic pencil so as not to use it though).

(Short review of the shave scuttle pictured above - this + boiling water = AWESOME)

Sounds to me as though you're on the right track!
I am severly right hand dominant, and I was truly surprised at how well I came along shaving with my left hand. One tip... Start brushing your teeth, and other mundane tasks with your left hand... It might just speed things up a bit..

Good luck!

BTW, that's a nice DOVO you've got. You'll get many great shaves off it! Congrats!!

Congratulations on your first shave, sounds about normal. I'm also a pianist and yet I also found using my non-dominant hand more difficult at first. Relax though, confidence comes quickly and I actually get better shaves with less irritation with my non-dominant hand - I think perhaps because I use a lighter touch.

One other comment. Boiling water in the scuttle might break down lanolin in your soap/cream. I read this somewhere (here I think) but have never personally experienced it since I use tap water as hot as it'll go in my scuttle.

That's a prodigious first shave, and an impressively-plotted plan for improvement!

A word of advice:

Make sure you use short strokes. This helps you set and maintain the angle for the entire stroke.

Best of luck.

Hang in there Coler. Sounds pretty decent for the first time. As gash said, use short stroke to start, and stick with just one side of your face until you are comfortable.
I'm a newb too, only about 2 months with a straight, and not everyday. I am still working on my technique...
I am right handed, and I also wear glasses, so I have found it difficult to decide which hand to shave with, if I remove my glasses I can't see worth a damn. Having said that, I have found it easier to shave the left side of my face with the right hand, and the right side of my face with the left. Go figure? I still have to do some contortions in order to see what I am doing, but time will tell.
Regards,
Bil

Thanks for your support gents it is appreciated.

Today, my second shave, again was mixed but encouraging.

I shaved everywhere on my right hand side, including moustache, using my right hand, with no problems at all.

I then turned to my left side, and this time attempted to use my left hand to shave. I managed this on the cheek, but was confounded somewhat around the jawline and throat. I did however find a comfortable position to use my right hand to do these areas. I'm undecided on whether I will shave right handed here or continue to attempt to use my left hand. I favour the latter !

I gave myself a long nick on the left chin - very silly and avoidable mistake, where I moved my chin to stretch out the skin and effectively pushed my face into the razor.

So, results. This was a shave WTG mostly, some places XTG.

On the right hand side - SAS all over, no nicks/cuts/weepers.

On the left hand side - incomplete shave falling short of any reasonable standard. I finished with my DE again.

I believe this is progress, and that I must now focus on improving technique especially with left hand and 'blade awareness'.

Not to sound so joyless, I have had that moment where you look in the mirror and think to yourself 'Hey...I'm shaving with a straight...Badass mofu that I am'. I am enjoying myself.

Congrats so far! I only use my left hand for the cheek/sideburn area on the left side of the face, and go right handed for pretty much the rest of it. It works for me. If that is what works for you and you are satisfied with the results, go with it. Its still shaving with a straight, which a lot of people can't claim, right or left handed. lol

Enjoy the badass mofu moments, but keep in mind, they can cause a lapse in concentration, and result in badass mofu scars... Not that I have a few at this point, or anything? lol

Shave_Rat said:

Enjoy the badass mofu moments, but keep in mind, they can cause a lapse in concentration, and result in badass mofu scars... Not that I have a few at this point, or anything? lol

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Been there, I was so excited when trying my Weck for the first time that I forgot to stretch my skin. Ouch!

Welcome to straight shavers' heaven! It takes a while to learn but once you get it down it feels as natural as using a DE.

I would suggest you use a straight every day and touch up after with a DE. If you only use it once or twice a week you may never reach the proficiency you need. YMMV on that tho' .

Kentos said:

I would suggest you use a straight every day and touch up after with a DE.

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This is exactly what I do now. I did my first 2 pass shave yesterday and went back ATG with my DE and over my chin. I'm not confidant yet with the straight over my chin area. But you figure the more you use it the better you'll get. Eventually I'll be happy with the results and wont need the DE to touch up as will you.

Shave 3 - huge leaps forward.

I didn't shave yesterday, as I frequently don't on a Saturday - also I had to referee a rugby match and I generally don't shave before exercise. When I got back from the game I was happy enough to just skip the day, as I often do.

So today I went for Shave 3. As I type this I am a very good SAS on the left side, DFS in places, and DFS all over the right side. I shaved two passes, both WTG. On the right side I think the only way to go closer will be to shave XTG and ATG and I have to learn those techniques next. Actually my shave today was probably XTG in a good few places in any event so its ATG I need to move on to. On the left hand side, I need to improve my technique to get this side as close on WTG as the right side.

I also managed to shave everywhere, moustache/chin etc, which I am delighted by, swapping from right to left hand according to what side is being shaved. And i didn't need the DE to finish up - OK, granted, if I had gone ATG with the DE I'd be BBS as normal, but I didn't need to.

So, today was a significant day in the shaving history of Coler. After 20 years wet-shaving i have finally shaved all over to a SAS with a real straight razor

For the next few days I believe i will rest on my laurels, looking to replicate this success shaving WTG both sides. During the week I will try and read up/watch on ATG shaving and at the end of the week, if I am happy with my left side WTG, I'll attempt passes ATG.

Congrats!
ATG with a straight is still beyond me so far (on shave 5)
I think it will be quite some time....

You're doing well and with only 3 straight shaves! Awesome!

Thanks guys I am very happy with myself.

This morning I did not have so much time to concentrate on my shave, so I used my DE. Interestingly it was clear to me that my straight shave yesterday had really kept the stubble down. If I shaved WTG only on a couple of passes with a DE I would have had quite a bit more pronounced stubble the next morning than after my 2 pass WTG shave with the straight yesterday.

I have turned into something of a shave geek - I'm actually looking forward to trying again tomorrow and because I have no client meetings I will skip the morning shave and give myself a nice relaxing appointment with the straight razor tomorrow evening.

Coler said:

I have turned into something of a shave geek

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Welcome to the club!!

ps - Nice Master!! I want one of those!!