Straight Shaving Journal

Someone in one of my other posts had mentioned starting a journal for my first attempts. Great idea!

29JUL13

-I strop my Dovo and it passes the hanging hair test. I'm thinking it's good to go.
-I take a hot shower then make my way to the sink and get everything ready
-I splash hot water on my face 5-6 times then soak a hand towel in hot water, ring it out, and wrap up my face for about a minute while my brush soaks
-Splash my face again
-Face lather (I don't have a bowl and I wanted both of my hands dry) with T&H Grafton
-I apply a fairly thick eve coat
-I start on the right cheek. I pull the skin taught with my left hand above my side burn and strt with a 10 degree angle since I was a little nervous.
-So far, so good. It looks like about the same results as my DE so it must be working fairly well. I have some difficulty getting all of my cheek with pulling so I puff out my cheeks which helps.
-I move to the left side and consider using my right hand but change my mind one I realize I can't really see what I'm doing. I go to the left hand (which felt very unnatural) and do the same process. I'm having a very hard time maintaining a blade angle ad getting solid passes. The razor feels like it's bouncing aroud on my skin. The results are pretty poor. Oh well, moving on.
-I move to the neck. After finding out a way to hold the razor that feels a little more natural I start going S to N since that's WTG. I have a hard time gettig certain parts of my neck (specifically to the outsides of my Adam's Apple). I use a little more pressure and pull my skin more which helps a little.
-I more to the upper lip. I'm feeling pretty good since I haven't nicked myself yet. I move the blade i without paying attention. BOOM! First cut under my right nostril (and a pretty good one at that. About 2cm). I put on some Proraso nick sealat and continue on. I have a very hard time maneuvering a good blade angle so I decide to move onto the chin.
-My cream is very dry now. I can see it flaking away as I shave. I decide not to reapply. I pay for it. I get three nicks in rapid succession below my bottom lip. I'm gettig zero results and it's a constant pulling and tugging instead of slicing.
-I rinse off and reapply my cream in a lighter wetter layer.
-I start with the chin this time getting better results but still nowhere as good as my DE.
-I do the cheeks and neck again. It goes faster this time but the results aren't that great. I'm feeling a lot of skinn irritation.
-I do my upper lip like a fat man tip toeig around sleeping alligators. It didn't go well.
-I rinse off, relather and do a XTG with my DE since the shave I had is nowhere near presentable.
-I rinse off with warm water (can't get cold water out of the tap out here) and apply my alum block. I would have cringed and groaned but other grown men are around me and I refuse to look weak. Hell, I'm shaving with a straight razor so I must be tough right? Alum block proved otherwise.
-I rinse off the alum and put on my AS balm.
Total Time: About 50 minutes

LESSONS LEARNED

-Going to try a preshave oil since the skinfood tightens the skin and leaves a nince glycerin base.
-Keep my cream wetter annd reapply it to ay dry areas to prevet a "dry shave" feeling
-Pull my skin tighter. I reverted back to my DE techniques and they didn't work well for the straight.
-Use a little bit of pressure. I was using almost no pressure which made the blade "bounce" around my skin
-Use more of the blade. I had a lot of passes which cause a lot of irritation because I was only usinng a small portion of the blade
-Work on the blade angle. I'd catch myself going in at almost 70 degrees sometimes.
-Take your time. I started to hurry at the end and paid for it!

Bcobu1102 said:

-Use a little bit of pressure. I was using almost no pressure which made the blade "bounce" around my skin

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I would suggest NOT doing this. The skipping was likely caused by your angle and/or the lather not being slick enough and/or the blade not being truly shave ready (HHT is a good indicator of sharpness, but not a guarantee of shave readiness). Did you get the blade honed by a reputable honemeister? Dovos do not come with a shave ready edge from the factory. Adding pressure is just likely to cause more irritation, or worse.

-Use more of the blade. I had a lot of passes which cause a lot of irritation because I was only usinng a small portion of the blade

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Whether you use all of the blade or just a small portion, you shouldn't go over the same spot twice without relathering. I would focus on that, rather than using more of the blade. I rarely use more than a third of the length of the edge at any give time, and using a smaller edge gives you more precision/maneuverability.

-Work on the blade angle. I'd catch myself going in at almost 70 degrees sometimes.
-Take your time. I started to hurry at the end and paid for it!

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^----this. Respect the blade and don't expect too much from the first few (dozen) shaves. Go slow, take short confident strokes (confident = no hesitation--think about starting the stroke before be blade touches your skin. Pausing before during or after the stroke while the edge is still in contact with your skin is a good way to cut yourself), and try to keep the angle at 1 spine-width away from your skin. Make sure you have a good, wet, slick lather. You may need to reapply several times until your shaves start moving a little faster and you've dialed in the right consistency for straight shaving (you need a wetter lather than for DE). What soap are you using?
Your experience is fairly typical, and you can look forward to big improvements over the next few shaves, but the results are going to be sub-par for a while (you've got to learn to crawl before you can walk...)

temjeito said:

Did you get the blade honed by a reputable honemeister? Dovos do not come with a shave ready edge from the factory


What soap are you using?

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Thanks for the response temjeito. I'm in afghanistan at the moment, so I'm going to have to wait until I get back before I take it to a honemeister. I've heard that some people have great success from a factory Dovo, and then others, not so much.

I use T&H Grafton cream at the moment. I'm thinking about getting some TOBS Jermyn St. or proraso in the near future. Still mulling it over sice I have plenty of cream left.

Thanks again for your response!

+2 to factory Dovo edges not being shave ready. Assume it isn't. Your shaves will get better with practice and of course a properly sharp and shave ready edge, don't worry. As Temejito said above, don't use more pressure! That is a recipe for disaster. I know. Don't ask...

02AUG13

Sent my Dovo to another B&B member for a honing. What a great community! To be continued once it's back.

Smart move. Looking forward to your continued experiences once it returns.

27AUG13

-Got my straight razor back from a fellow B&B member yesterday and had some time this morning so I figured I'd give my second attempt a shot (I was really looking forward to it again).
-I remembered that having dry lather was painful. I took a shower, then got my face nice and wet.
-Face lathered T&H Grafton cream after soaking the brush in water (first time I ever did this; I had to cut a water bottle in half and use the bottom...classy).
-Started on the cheeks WTG which went smoothly. A lot more hair came off this time after the honing.
-Very awkward when it came to my chin and neck. Need some more practice.
-The lather dried out a little, but before I did the pass I relathered instead of pushing through it.
-Relathered and did another WTG pass. This one was a little faster but I couldn't get close on my chin.
-Relathered and did a "kind of across the grain" pass
-One small nich on my chin.
-Rinsed, put on witch hazel, and did a T&H Grafton Balm/TOBS Eton College AS mixture.

LESSONS LEARNED
-Need to have a wetter lather. Consider preshave oil
-Blade angle varied. I was more aware of it this time but I still had a lot of burning and irritation afterwards (i didn't have to follow up with my DE this time). Measure the blade angle and prepare for the pass before I put my blade to my face
-I think I needed to strop on the leather side a few more times. Going to try 25 instead of 10 next time

I'm hoping I can try again in a few days, but if nothing else, I'll be giving attempt #3 a go on Sunday.

At least 25 on the leather I would say. I like doing 50.

For two shaves in, you're doing great! The chin and neck will come with time, but expect the progress to be slow. I would not add preshave oil, at least not yet. You're better off working on getting your lather right first. More water, but also know that your shaves will take less time as you get more comfortable, which will reduce the drying you're experiencing. For now, just get comfortable with the idea of relathering multiple times during a pass.

Fwiw, I do 40 laps on leather before and after each shave.

Thanks for the tips!

01SEP13
-Stropped on the leather side 50 times
-Took a shower and lathered up some C.O. Bigelow
-Did a WTG pass which went fairly well. I kept my blade angle about a spine's width away and listened for the "ping" of the hairs.
-Relathered and did a second WTG pass. Instead of going to same way on the neck I just went down (which is a combination on XTG and ATG for me). I didn't get very close but it was easier than my traditional WTG grain pass.
-Still not very close, so I relathered and did a XTG pass. Had a hard time maneuvering the blade for the pass and getting close on my chin.
-Rinsed with cold water
-Splashed on Witchhazel then used some TOBS Eton College
-Not very close but closer than last time

LESSONS LEARNED
Need to stretch the skin more around the chin
C.O. Bigelow worked better than T&H for straights (for me)

Bcobu1102 said:

01SEP13
-Not very close but closer than last time

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^^^this, for a while. Then just "closer than last time" for a lot longer. I'm about 85 shaves in, and still getting just a little closer on the trouble spots on my neck nearly every time I shave.