First Straight Shave - Tomorrow

I received my Feather Artist Club SS non-folding razor today (I have a traditional folding straight picked out).

I knew there would be quite a learning curve and a lot of challenges. But (this is hilarious) there's one challenge that never occurred to me. I loaded a blade and thought I'd try a simple little trim on my sideburns. I stepped up to the mirror, picked up the razor, and raised it to my face ..... but I couldn't see where the blade met my face -- My hand was in the way. So, before I even get the chance to cut myself, I have to figure out how to see what I'm doing.

That's too funny! I look forward to reading further about your adventure.

Check out youtube for some straight shave tutorials. I found one that really helped me get past that "where does my hand go now" stage. You'll find one that turns the light on.

Ahh, that initial leap of faith! Good luck!!

You'll get there. Sometimes you need to tip your head in new ways to see what's going on in the mirror. Other times, you won't be able to see and have to go with a "I hope this is right," but over time, you'll develop a feel for it.

I agree with watching videos....they have been a critical part of my learning.

you could grab a butter knife and get in front of the mirror....a nice safe way to figure out some angles!

SciTX said:

I agree with watching videos....they have been a critical part of my learning.

you could grab a butter knife and get in front of the mirror....a nice safe way to figure out some angles!

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That's a great idea.

I should set up a video camera in the bathroom - I'm sure it would be pretty funny to see me squirming all over the place trying to see around my hand.

SciTX said:

you could grab a butter knife and get in front of the mirror....a nice safe way to figure out some angles!

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Since it's a shavette, you can merely unload the blade and work on angles and grips with the actual razor safely in this instance.

You'll get the hang of it, we all manage to after facing the same issues when we started.

Well, I did it. I had to tilt my head all kinds of ways. I bent my head down and rolled my eyes up to look into the mirror. I did my first pass with the Feather from sideburns to cheeks and jaws. Then I finished with my Rockwell DE. Second pass ATG with the Feather -- again from sideburns to cheeks and jaws -- finished with the DE. It actually went very well. Pretty much BBS. No cuts! No blood! I was tempted to do more, but a little voice in my head said be patient and listen to the advice of others to just work on the sides for a while before moving on to more difficult areas. I can't wait for tomorrow morning.

Well done

martym said:

Well done

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good job! now it's time to start your journal! keeping track of my shaves has been VERY helpful in tracking what works and what doesn't.

Journal Forum

Congrats! Seconding the advice on a full journal to track progress and get feedback and tips.

Good stuff! Being able to use the Feather system out of the gate without nicks and cuts is sort of like buying a Ferrari as your first car and going up Pike's Peak. Congrats

I watched a YouTube by Geofatboy on shaving difficult areas. He does a thing with alum on his finger to pull his skin tight. I've been trying to figure out how to pull my skin tight after getting all that preshave oil soap and shaving soap on to make my skin slick... fingers just slid right off. I'm going to try the alum tomorrow. Anyway, it's still going well. I still get a bit confused when I look at a part of my face and wonder what kind of contortions would I need to shave that. I still think a video camera in the bathroom would capture some pretty funny scenes.

The alum trick works great!

I too had the same problem. I thought I was doing something wrong because it looks so simple in all of the videos. Instead of trying to find some sort of angle that I could see, I decided to take a leap of faith. To my surprise my face was in tact. I'm sure we would all look completely hilarious if we had a video of the first time we attempted to use a straight razor.

I remember when I first started several months ago and it was a great feeling, good luck and keep us posted.

As Dirty Harry said -- "A man's got to know his limitations." Concentration and patience seem to be key. Each day I do what I know how to do and what I'm comfortable doing. Then I go a little farther until I think I'm about to get dangerous. Then I back off and finish with a DE. It's a slow process, but I am enjoying the challenge. It sure beats the evil electric razor .

Slim Geezer said:

As Dirty Harry said -- "A man's got to know his limitations." Concentration and patience seem to be key. Each day I do what I know how to do and what I'm comfortable doing. Then I go a little farther until I think I'm about to get dangerous. Then I back off and finish with a DE. It's a slow process, but I am enjoying the challenge. It sure beats the evil electric razor .

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Best way to approach it, it's not a sprint to the finish line sort of skill to acquire.

it can never be said enough...it is ALL about the journey with Patience and a bit of trial and error. Thanks to heaven we live in the day with online help videos and forums like B&B to guide us lost souls learning the art.