Ye Olde of Straight Razor Shaving, Jzuzphreek

It is such a pleasure to finally be able to post among this valiant group of shavers. Due to the incredible generosity of a few members here, I have finally entered the ranks of the Straight Razor Saved. Thanks to you gentlemen.

This past weekend I partook of my first two SR shaves. The first with a Gold Dollar (not sure the number) that was quite heavy. And another with a much lighter razor, though the name escapes me at the moment.

Performing my lather duties, as always is the trusty Semogue 620. The first shave saw the AoS Sandalwood cream in action, and the second, TOBS Mr. Taylor's.

I found that the heavier razor seemed to "stick" to my face as I attempted to shave downward. The only way to combat this was to hold the razor at a bit of a greater angle. Perhaps I still need to perfect my lather skills and create an even wetter lather. The lighter razor exhibited no such phenomenon.

The only areas where I had any trouble were above my lip, just under the nose, and around my chin. I'm not quite sure how to stretch the skin effectively to shave the rounded portion of my chin. Other than that, I didn't have many problems. Not a single nick or weeper to report. I didn't even need the styptic that was on hand to stem any blood flow. Even shaving my neck was more comfortable than shaving with a DE. Not a bit of irritation to report!

I'll be reporting back with more details soon!

Sounds like a good couple of shaves so far.

As for the razor feeling sticky on the skin, did you have the spine of the razor laying flat on your face as you were taking N-S strokes? And yes, you may want to aim for just a bit wetter lather which should help with slickness. Just be careful of course, too much water will lead to the ol dissapearing lather trick. And that's no fun.

The chin has always been a challenge for me. Mine is stiff as a stone and doesn't stretch much. What I do is pull my bottom lip up into my mouth and then tilt my head up just a bit. That's about the maximum I can get. When going ATG or XTG I also try to stretch the chin towards the ear which I feel helps a bit too.

Good luck in the shaves to come J. They'll just get better and easier as you go.

Congrats, sounds like a very promising beginning! Definitely try a bit more water with the lather.

Congrats on the success! I'm still reading and learning a bit more before diving into the straights. After all the $$ I've spent on DE stuff I can't quite justify the "start-up cost" of straights quite yet. Plus, I'm still on furlough thanks to the Sequester, so money is a bit snug at the moment. Can't wait to try it though! Keep up the good work

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! Tyler, yes, the spine was against my skin on the N-S strokes when I experienced that sensation. Is that incorrect?

As for the lather, I'm kind of "lather lazy," and don't usually work it enough, but it's usually fine. I guess with SR shaving "fine" isn't really good enough.

jzuzphreek said:

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! Tyler, yes, the spine was against my skin on the N-S strokes when I experienced that sensation. Is that incorrect?

As for the lather, I'm kind of "lather lazy," and don't usually work it enough, but it's usually fine. I guess with SR shaving "fine" isn't really good enough.

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I wouldn't analyze too much at this stage. Sounds like you had the same experience with your first two shaves that the rest of us (or at least me) had with something like shave #10. So, overall, you are obviously already do a lot right.




Actually, it's kind of annoying to hear about, now that I think about it

inspiringK said:

I wouldn't analyze too much at this stage. Sounds like you had the same experience with your first two shaves that the rest of us (or at least me) had with something like shave #10. So, overall, you are obviously already do a lot right.

Actually, it's kind of annoying to hear about, now that I think about it

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Awww... Don't feel too bad. Maybe I'm just shaving with a smooth dull razor.

WVUfanMG said:

Congrats on the success! I'm still reading and learning a bit more before diving into the straights. After all the $$ I've spent on DE stuff I can't quite justify the "start-up cost" of straights quite yet. Plus, I'm still on furlough thanks to the Sequester, so money is a bit snug at the moment. Can't wait to try it though! Keep up the good work

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If you think DE stuff was expensive...man alive, wait till you get into straight shaving as a hobby. Notice I said hobby, you can do it cheaply as you can DE shaving if you stick with lower priced basics. But how many of us do?

jzuzphreek said:

Awww... Don't feel too bad. Maybe I'm just shaving with a smooth dull razor.

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Ah yes, that old trick.

Yessir! A good ol' game of knifey spoony!

Attila said:

If you think DE stuff was expensive...man alive, wait till you get into straight shaving as a hobby. Notice I said hobby, you can do it cheaply as you can DE shaving if you stick with lower priced basics. But how many of us do?

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Boy, ain't that the truth! I thought we got into this to SAVE money! Haha

Attila said:

... you can do it cheaply as you can DE shaving if you stick with lower priced basics. But how many of us do?

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In a parallel universe I am the epitome of sensible utilization.

If I ever meet that guy I'm kicking him in the ..., well, you get it.

Woohoo!! Welcome to the ranks of straight razor shavers! Sounds like your first couple of shaves were quite nice, keep it up, and don't be afraid to ask lots of questions and or read every journal on here. I'm hitting the subscribe button on this to keep up with your journal.

Congrats and welcome to the club! You actually want about a spine or so worth of space between the spine itself and your skin. Sometimes even half a spine width will do, depending on the razor, edge, etc..

Sounds like you are off to a great start, still.

jzuzphreek said:

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! Tyler, yes, the spine was against my skin on the N-S strokes when I experienced that sensation. Is that incorrect?

As for the lather, I'm kind of "lather lazy," and don't usually work it enough, but it's usually fine. I guess with SR shaving "fine" isn't really good enough.

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I will agree with what InspiringK said, don't make a ton of changes right now. It'll just screw the whole thing up. That said, yes I would try just a tiny bit steeper angle. Like just with the spine barely off the skin with very very light pressure. Of that doesn't work go back to having the spine against your face for now. As for the lather, I found that my "great" DE lather was not good enough for my straight shaves. I chose to stick with a soap I knew the best (Mike's) and made sure my lather was as good as I could make it. Sometimes that meant rebuilding lather from the beginning for the second and third passes.

And... yah... Try shaving at night time.

Shave number 3 in the books!

Of course it happened after 9:00 last night, so I could be in the company of all good little vampire shavers. I lathered KMF Lavender (best I could... had to rebuild lather each pass). I took FOREVER, but I actually got BBS on my chin! I did end up with a nick on the side of my mouth, and I'm not really sure how it got there. I've found a way to stretch/flatten my chin enough to do some XTG strokes. This isn't very different from how I have to shave it with a DE. I didn't require ANY cleaning up with a DE last night. I was DFS all over, with BBS on my chin (I guess I just got tired after finishing up... the rest of my face was good enough). I did miss a little strip below my chin (bottom of mouth... not quite neck area). I guess I just forgot to go back after the 2nd WTG pass down there.

That is a pretty remarkable 3rd ever shave with a straight!

I've not used straight up KMF to lather in a long time, but I can see how it may not give the best lather for straight shaves by itself. I generally use my KMF as an add on to other soaps. Usually my puck of DRH Almond (which has no almond scent anymore anyways).

Shave_Rat said:

That is a pretty remarkable 3rd ever shave with a straight!

I've not used straight up KMF to lather in a long time, but I can see how it may not give the best lather for straight shaves by itself. I generally use my KMF as an add on to other soaps. Usually my puck of DRH Almond (which has no almond scent anymore anyways).

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I found it was a lot slicker than the TOBS or AoS... but that's probably more related to how I usually lather the others.

jzuzphreek said:

I found it was a lot slicker than the TOBS or AoS... but that's probably more related to how I usually lather the others.

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I also converted from using many creams to using mostly soaps and soft soaps a pretty long time ago. I got some tabac and cella, and it was all soaps from that point out, creams became just something to toss into the soap lather when the mood struck, or I had added too much water and had to thicken again, that sort of thing. lol

Shave_Rat said:

I also converted from using many creams to using mostly soaps and soft soaps a pretty long time ago. I got some tabac and cella, and it was all soaps from that point out, creams became just something to toss into the soap lather when the mood struck, or I had added too much water and had to thicken again, that sort of thing. lol

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I'm runnin' low on soaps atm. Gave some away. Used some to almost the point of the graveyard. Time to stock up!