Rough shave

Picked my straight up for a shave last night After 7 months not using my Straight, by the way i never was proficient, I just grow a beard for winter and hadn't picked it up yet this shave season. Anyways, I had a couple days growth, stropped my blade, lathered up with stirling spice and got to work. My blade seamed to skip and be rough on the beard. Not enjoyable at all. After one pass I picked up the Merkur progress and finished it off. Do I need to just work on my technique or is it worth sending the blade off for a hone? Angle I thought was good, skin was stretched and wasn't using pressure. An extra days growth shouldn't of caused this cruddy feeling right?

I enjoy a some extra growth better than just one day's. My skin likes it. Straights are great at it. And the straight is only seeing the whisker at the skin, same as a single day, anyway IMO. It's either technique, or your edge needs some hone attention, I think.

If you were to guess how many shaves do you think you have on the straight ? you should be able to get at least 60 or so shaves and been good if proper stropping is done then it would need a refresh on a high grit finisher, it could also possibly be technique in using one or you could have possibly rolled the edge stropping.

Do you have another shave ready straight to use to compare the shave, I can hone for you just cover shipping so PM if interested

Hard to say. If you're not certain the razor is shave ready, it should be honed. If it still doesn't shave comfortably, you have some technique work ahead. I don't think a couple of days growth will effect a properly honed razor, although your skin may feel a bit better because it's been a couple of days since you shaved it.

TonyB, how was it shaving the last time you used it? Did you have to work a little harder with it than you would have liked last time?

At last!! Somebody agrees with me! LOL

You make a great point about the condition of the skin and what the protection of the beard actually does. Letting your beard grow some is skin conditioning. Probably makes a bigger difference to people with certain skin conditions, and not as much to others.

As they say, YMMV

thackeray said:

at last!!, somebody has said it!, it don't matter how thick the beard is the razor is only cutting it at skin level!, i always enjoy a shave after a few days growth, so invigorating and satisfying!, i believ most bad shave scenarios are not bluntness or blade angle, it's the level of moisturization in the skin, after a few days growth your skin is packed with natural oils because the whiskers have protected it, thats what they are there for, and the shave is sublime, however, you must REALLY work that lather into the beard or the razor will snag and skip.

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Yeah, I'm so PC

thackeray said:

i forgot to add the YMMV!!!

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spoken36 said:

At last!! Somebody agrees with me! LOL

You make a great point about the condition of the skin and what the protection of the beard actually does. Letting your beard grow some is skin conditioning. Probably makes a bigger difference to people with certain skin conditions, and not as much to others.

As they say, YMMV

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My take on that phenomenon is that the skin has all the dead skin cells accumulated under the beard, which in turn protects the skin. For me too many close shaves in a row ensures super exfoliated skin being scraped raw unless utmost care it taken in lather quality and technique.

I'm with ya. You can only shave the skin so thin before it starts hurting. I've gone to three shaves a week, and it is great. It takes some discipline, because I just want to shave, or "need" to test edges/stones, but it is much better. That discipline rears its head regarding the technique, too. Bad habits from not-quite-there edges from the past are hard to break.

Kentos said:

My take on that phenomenon is that the skin has all the dead skin cells accumulated under the beard, which in turn protects the skin. For me too many close shaves in a row ensures super exfoliated skin being scraped raw unless utmost care it taken in lather quality and technique.

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Great read guys...never thought of it that way...guess there might be some validity in using pre-shave oil if you shave everyday and a really good soap/cream that offers a good glide.

I use a good ASB rather than a preshave treatment. I find shaving to go much better if I wash my face first; part of that is probably getting all the normal oils off the hair.

A good ASB makes a huge difference for me though. Any astringent would probably help, in lieu of that.